It has been twenty years since the end
of the war. The dictatorial Augurs – once thought of almost as gods – were
overthrown and wiped out during the conflict, their much-feared powers
mysteriously failing them. Those who had ruled under them, men and women
with a lesser ability known as the Gift, avoided the Augurs' fate only by
submitting themselves to the rebellion’s Four Tenets. A representation of these laws is now written into the flesh of any who use the Gift, forcing
those so marked into absolute obedience.
As a student of the Gifted, Davian suffers the consequences of a war fought – and lost – before he was born. Despised by most beyond the school walls, he and those around him are all but
prisoners as they attempt to learn control of the Gift. Worse, as Davian
struggles with his lessons, he knows that there is further to fall if he
cannot pass his final tests.
But when Davian
discovers he has the ability to wield the forbidden power of the Augurs,
he sets into motion a chain of events that will change everything. To the
north, an ancient enemy long thought defeated begins to stir. And to the
west, a young man whose fate is intertwined with Davian’s wakes up in the forest, covered in blood and with no memory of who he is…
