The thin membrane of magic separating the human and demonic planes has been destroyed. Nightrender, the immortal warrior of the gods, must find a way to rebuild it, but Hanne--the serpent girl, always too cunning to be trusted, too hungry for power--has become High Queen, and is too consumed with ambition to cooperate. Meanwhile, Rune--married to Hanne, but in love with Nightrender--is lost in the realm of demons after a disastrous battle, wandering alone in a twisted landscape of mercury seas, black-glass spires, and winds blowing ash ... In this second and final installment of the Nightrender duology, the circle will close, and the world will be saved--or burnt to a cinder.