It’s hard having a father who’s an infamous traitor. It’s even harder having a mother who’s an omen of doom.

After a summer away, Kelcie Murphy is excited to be back at the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts. But she and her friends have barely settled in when they receive a visit from her mother—the war goddess, Nemain—with a warning of coming calamity, one only Kelcie and her friends can stop.

As they travel with the rest of the students to Summer City to take part in the glorious Ascension ceremony, Kelcie has no time for the military parade, the lavish ball, or even to visit her father: She’s determined to protect her new home. But the Lands of Summer are still not a welcoming place for
Kelcie, and many still see her and all Saigas as the enemy.

As the world is plunged into darkness, Kelcie will have to decide: Does she keep fighting for a place that may always see her as a traitor’s daughter, or for a future greater than the war to come?