Everyone knows that rebellion ends in fire. Dissatisfied with her life, Sorne Thayer finds an escape in the training offered by an orc locked away in the depths of Mauléon's dungeons. When she is seized for an act of silence, Duke Aldana's brutal punishment sparks a flame that cannot be contained. With a darkness growing in the west and answers to be found in the north, Sorne must leave everything she has ever known behind. Finding a new home with the orcish hordes, war-loving giants, and the companionship of a dragon is hardly easy, but as the drums of Ash Kordh beat for battle, Sorne hears of smoke on the wind. The end of the world is coming and she has to be ready.