When Zelie seized the royal palace that fateful night, she thought her battles had come to an end. The monarchy had finally fallen. The maji had risen again. Zelie never expected to find herself locked in a cage and trapped on a foreign ship. Now warriors with iron skulls traffic her and her people across the seas, far from their homeland.

Then everything changes when Zelie meets King Baldyr, her true captor and the man who has ravaged entire civilizations to find her. The ruler of the Skulls, Baldyr's quest to harness Zelie's strength sends Zelie, Amari, and Tzain searching for allies in foreign lands.

But as Baldyr closes in, catastrophe charges Orisha's shores. It will take everything Zelie has to face her final enemy and save her people before the Skulls annihilate them for good.