Above Tyniry's dark alleys, a fleeting shadow darts across the rooftops, swift as a raptor: it's Ashtiri, a 17-year-old former slave. She's become a thief just to survive. And shes the best: her reputation reaches beyond the Tyniry's borders to the King of Ofayne, who bids her undertake an important mission. Powerless before an implacably advancing demon army, he lives in the mad hope that Ashtiri can recover the last Alabaster Lion, a mythical warrior mae. Her quest takes her into unfriendly territory even as her convictions waver when she is confronted by cosmic goddesses who control men's fates.