Deana is gone. Stolen in the night by the powerful shrouded one, Astrid, who insists she is not aligned with Idir. But as Astrid begins to teach Deana how to embrace her power, the seething rot of Idir's curse starts to show beneath her honied words and motherly actions. If Deana doesn't figure out how to escape Astrid's clutches fast, then she risks becoming the very thing she has always feared: the avatar of destruction that will destroy the isles and all in them. Agnes is finally free of Kent and Savita, but the trauma they put her and her magic through has grim consequences. Is it just magical exhaustion or something more sinister, and can she be saved once the magical trap Idir seeded inside her keen two decades ago is triggered? As they race to find Deana, save Agnes, and stop the curse Idir started several centuries ago from destroying the isles, Bran stumbles upon a revelation of his own. One that will clear the mystery shrouding his origins and reveal the true nature of his destiny.