When the Governance comes calling, there are two choices: give in to their demands or run. Neri narrowly escapes after the Governance murder her family, heartbroken as she hides among strangers. But the enemy are convinced she holds the key to passing through the cursed forest splitting their land, and they will do anything to hunt her down. They chase her into the clutches of the resistance but her new friends are also hiding secrets, especially Niall, a mysterious young man who knows far too many truths about the land beyond the cursed forest. Marked by an affinity with birds of bad omen and the desperation to avenge her family, Neri must rise from the ashes of the past, or risk burning in the flames of the future.