Ebon has survived the attack upon the High King's Seat, and now the Academy struggles to piece itself together in the midst of civil war. Now a quiet urgency hangs over all the lessons taught within the citadel; every student knows the spells they learn now may one day save their lives from the enemies of the King.

Then an instructor is found dead in the Academy's halls—their throat slit by an unknown assassin.

Panic creeps in, while Ebon and his friends hear of thefts from the Academy's vaults. Artifacts of incredible power are disappearing one by one, and are clearly connected to the murder. Theren thinks she knows who the thief is, but cannot prove it. And so Ebon and his friends must reveal the identity of the murderer, before they strike again.