The vampire demigod Balaur has been destroyed, along with his scheming sister Athena. The New Congregation has fallen, but the world has fallen with it. In striving to fill the power gap left by the vampires, other monstrous factions have fought each other to a standstill, destroying the very world they sought to conquer. The earth now lies in ruins, truly a realm of the damned!It is the early 15th century and Athena struggles to defend her ancestral home from the predations of the Ottoman Empire. When she learns that House Petrova has struck a fateful pact with the Church of Rome, the pagan vampire commits the ultimate blasphemy. Desperate to save her land and driven by demons of her own, Athena forges a living weapon with which she will rout the enemies of Transylvania. But this is a weapon that cares for nothing but blood and butchery, and Athena may realise too late that she has started a fire that may consume both herself and the world.