d? Aboard the floating city of Sylphicus, secrets abound. It's one year after the Battle of the Prismwood, and Althea Crimsonheart-future Empress of Endellion and esteemed hero of the southern war-is on a journey to learn about the wider world, alongside her companions: Gorn, a scholar of Arivolli; Kamil, an outcast of the Kingdom of Ormilla; Zianna, daughter of the ousted House Aghamora; and Dzarò, Althea's bonded companion, a hybrid spiròt desperate to understand his place among Spiròt-kind.

While travelling through the skies, the group begins to uncover a clandestine plot that connects Gorn's family with the Arivollish black market and a horrifying series of experiments that, if allowed to continue, will lead to the creation of an invincible army of chimeras. Upon receiving a sacred task from the primordial spiròt Itl, Althea and her companions must decide who they can trust: the enigmatic hermit, or the secretive primordial dragon.

Their quest places them in the middle of yet another conflict, this time in Zianna's homeland of Uayat, a nation divided by desire and ideology. Dark secrets and betrayals continue to unfold as Althea stands resolute in her convictions, following her own path just as she did a year ago. However, she soon realizes that the will of others has just as much of a role to play in her destiny as her own choices, and she and her allies are pushed to accept all that they cannot control.

When many forces collide, those caught in between must understand the consequences of their choices, or risk being swallowed by the turbulent tides of destiny.