<p>After twelve hundred years gathering dust, the only unfulfilled prophecy of Amatt the Blind, Alondria's most celebrated seer, has returned.</p><p>Not that ancient predictions mean much to Torrin-Ashur.&nbsp;Commanding the Pressed, a motley collection of slaves, debtors and petty criminals, his military career has had an inauspicious start.&nbsp;The prejudice of peers keeps him busy.</p><p>Jorra-hin, by contrast, revels in all things ancient.&nbsp;Uniquely gifted in the magical language of A'lyavine, he is a brother of the Adak-rann, a scholastic order dedicated to the preservation of history.</p><p>These two young Alondrians are about to find themselves playing pivotal roles in the fulfilment of Amatt's final prophecy.</p><p>For Baroness Alishe Daka of the Tsnatharré Empire has her eye on their homeland.&nbsp;She sees the Northern Territories and what lies hidden beneath its mountains as the path to her destiny.</p><p>Ruthlessness unchecked, ambition without bounds, she is prepared to start a war to achieve her goal.</p>