The four hundredth anniversary of the city of Fioretti's founding brings Sienne's family to Fioretti, with news that changes her life and threatens her association with her companions, as well as her relationship with Alaric. To escape her fate and Perrin's vengeful father, the friends accept a job that takes them far from the city, to the eastern mountains.

The job seems simple. A struggling community of settlers needs scrappers to clear out a ruin where something dangerous lurks. But the companions soon discover that nothing is as they expected. What the settlers actually want proves complicated even for these experienced scrappers. And a confrontation with a terrible enemy may end in someone's death.

A thrilling tale of duty, honor, and the choice between the two.