Hanem is a young girl marked as an omen of suffering, by the sign of the red moon. She escapes her isolationist home by riding a dragonbird through her world of skies and floating islands.

The Kingdom of Ashlind is structured to keep its citizens in the dark. Magic is shunned and feared, only allowed and taught under the strict employ of the Throne, though witches, phenomenon, and dangerous creatures lurk in the dark regardless. Peace is incompetently kept by wayard, charismatic knights. Oswin, young, struggling, and new to the world at large, attempts to find his place in the crushing structures, and in his wandering begins glimpsing behind the curtains.

The gods have been choosing mortal champions, bestowing them power and curses to combat an impending doom. In succession, they've all failed, and the world is ending. Rune, a woman with a troubled past living with nomads in the wastes, finds herself picked out as the last champion - with no expectation of success.