In a world choked by the Creeping Gloom, a plague that feasts on death and despair, a sheltered princess feels every wound to the land as if it were her own. Imprisoned by her tyrannical father’s war—a war that only feeds the blight—Princess Gabrielle must escape her gilded cage and embrace a forbidden magic that connects her to the world’s dying soul.

Her only hope is an impossible alliance with the scattered heirs of forgotten dynasties: a grim rebel leader who has sworn to kill her, a cynical fire-wielding mercenary with a dangerous secret, and a fugitive scholar who holds the key to a last-ditch ritual. Together, they must journey to the mythical Isle of Whispers to perform the Convergence, a working of ancient power that is the world’s only chance for survival.

But the path to salvation is paved with a horrifying truth. As they are hunted by the King’s armies, a charismatic prophet seeking to usurp a god’s power, and fleets from every kingdom, they discover the ritual demands a price far greater than blood. To mend the world, a soul must be forfeit. They must not only survive the war for the world’s future but also choose which of them will be the ultimate sacrifice.