The group known as the Shadow Prophets are freed from their imprisonment in the Elysian Empire’s capital to aid the king’s sister, Charlotte Wisteria in learning the truth about the attack on the city that left her parents dead. They learn that the assassin was sent as a ploy to turn the Elysian Empire against the neighboring kingdom, Ilvaluna, but instead was sent from the Everheir Empire. The group flies out Elysia and searches the Kingdom of Vicai for a mage that can help them identify the complex magical artifact that they retrieved from the assassins. In Raesha Vicai, they encounter other Everheir operatives that have been sowing chaos in the name of the deity, Pavror. One such operative, an iron dragon named Feraghast, alerts the empress of the Everheir Empire of shadowtouched in the city, so she sends in armies to bring it to the ground. The largest of these is a massive beast known only as The Endling, which is a creature that has the potential to end the world.
Escaping from Raesha Vicai with the help of the steel dragon, Stahloknir, and the presumed dead royal guard, Cal, they team heads north to inform the archmage triumvirate of Jruska that the capital city has fallen and the king was slain. There, they learn the nature of their recovered artifact, a relic called a Spirit Cage. The cages are, at face value, a soul that is trapped inside a prison instead of being allowed to enter the cycle of resurrection. Not just any soul in fact, but the soul of a powerful mage called a Divinae. There are eight of them in total, with the remaining seven being in posession of high ranking Everheir commanders known as the Elite Eight. When brought together, they create a weapon of mythical power. The group realizes that they need to collect and destroy the Spirit Cages, and begin searching for the commanders that possess the other seven.
This leads The Shadow Prophets towards The Gate, a portal that enters the Feywild. There, they learn the truth about Cal’s past being romantically intertwined with one of their own member’s previous lives, and need to hunt down and kill the man responsible for the guard’s illusive and secretive nature towards the group. They purse Therron Rithe, another one of the Everheir’s Elite Eight, to The Temple of the Deck of Many Things. After a long fight, they are victorious, and secure their second Spirit Cage.