Elias and Laia are on the run, their lives hanging by a thread. After the harrowing events of the Fourth Trial, they flee the city of Serra, pursued by relentless Martial soldiers through the treacherous heart of the Empire.

Laia is desperate to break into Kauf—the Empire’s most secure and deadly prison—to rescue her brother, the key to the Scholars' survival. Elias, risking his last chance at freedom, is determined to help her succeed, no matter the cost.

But dark forces, both human and otherworldly, conspire against them. Their enemies are formidable: the bloodthirsty Emperor Marcus, the merciless Commandant, the sadistic Warden of Kauf, and Helene—Elias's former friend and the Empire's newest Blood Shrike.

Bound by duty to obey Marcus, Helene faces an unthinkable mission: to hunt down Elias and Laia—and kill them both.

As danger closes in from all sides, can Elias and Laia outsmart their adversaries and ignite hope in a world shrouded in darkness? Or will their sacrifices be in vain?