"The final book in Alex Marshall's Crimson Empire trilogy, which began with A Crown for Cold Silver, an outstanding, game-changing fantasy epic featuring an unforgettable warrior. Former warrior queen and now pariah, Cold Zosia wakes in the ashes of a burning city. Her vengeance has brought her to this - her heroic reputation in tatters, her allies scattered far and wide, and her world on the cusp of ruin. General Ji-Hyeon has vanished into the legendary First Dark, leaving her lover Sullen alone to carryout the grim commands of a dead goddess. The barbarian Maroto is held captive by a demonic army hell-bent on the extermination of the Crimson Empire, and only his protégé Purna believes he can be saved. Zosia must rally her comrades and old enemies onelast time, for what will prove the greatest battle of her many legends...if anyone lives to tell it"--