Twenty-two armies failed. The twenty-third intends to erase history.

For more than eleven hundred years, the fortress city of Karastian stood as the unconquered shield of civilization. Twenty square miles of towering stone walls had humbled every invader who dared challenge them. Until now...

After losing his parents to a deadly plague known only as The Black, fifteen-year-old Steffan has already learned that life can change in an instant. When the ruthless Surxii destroy his village and everyone he has left, he escapes to Karastian believing he has finally found safety. Instead, he finds himself trapped inside the greatest siege the world has ever known.

As eighty thousand enemy warriors surround the city with monstrous siege engines, terrifying beasts, and a young ruler consumed by revenge, Steffan must confront more than the armies outside the walls. Angry, broken, and searching for purpose, he faces a battle within his own heart that may prove even harder to win.

Some battles decide the fate of empires. Others decide the fate of a single heart.