The year is seven-hundred-and-eighty-eight in the era of a Sanctum of Swords. Three years have passed since Akopia kingdom and her allies overcame the Children of the Sun and the joint threat of the Esoteric Void’s invasion. A lingering truce between the warring kingdoms has seen Khios enjoy some respite, and peace endures throughout the eastern realms.
Realizing that she will not be inheriting the Throne of the Sun Caller Kings or the Carth Dominion, Shoushan Sar Amun resolves to depart the Golden Valley for the foreseeable future.
With her Ashen Blade Syndicate companions, Gadara and Zagir, the three journey into the desert lands of the Southern Wastes and the Sukhan kingdom. These ancient lands harbor myriad secrets for those daring enough to seek them out, no matter the perils to one’s life.
Descending into a web of political intrigue and civil strife plaguing the realms of Sukhan, now freed from tyranny after her mother, Karayan Akara’s death, Shoushan now seeks to understand who her mother was, and her origins.
Seeking the High Throne of Akara Sanctuary is her other ambition, but she will need to seek out unlikely allies from across the Southern Wastes to have any hope of victory.
Meanwhile, distress signals from beyond the veil reveal that Zahira, the Goddess of Death, may no longer be absent from the realms of Thearus after three thousand years of silence.
Sabah and Zesiro, along with the Goddess of Death, maneuver their mortal pawns against each other in an Hourglass Game, where there is no victory, but only a choice to decide when and how one’s life might end.