The crystal betrothals ended in ruin, and the nation is sure to follow. Crystara knows the Great Crystal has awoken, but she is the prisoner of a corrupt and twisted church official known only as 'The Viper'. Jacoby and Timori have agreed to join a group of revolutionaries, but the schemes grow increasingly violent. Racquela, a living symbol of status and privilege, has become targeted by the desperately poor. Julio, a survivor of the Great War, knows the stirrings of a violent uprising when he sees them. For Paulo, the last scion of a dead emperor, it may all be according to plan...