By the time a truce is declared, the kingdom's beloved city of Sinna is in ruins and their greatest technological advances lost. For Ky, the king's nephew turned rebel, the truce means having to condone his uncle's tyrannical rule and allowing his people to pay the price for peace. The rest of the citizens of Stanelgar start to rebuild and hope they have seen the worst. They are wrong. Their dead start to reanimate and turn into creatures, known as the Mass. Far from lumbering and mindless, the Mass are strong, resilient and cunning and they have their own plans. As the king seizes the opportunity to break the truce, the rebels are caught between the Mass encroaching from the north and the king's army gathering to the south. Ky must face agonizing secrets from his past as he tries to stop a horde that can raze all of Stanelgar, and defeat an uncle who seeks to destroy everything he loves.