When Sirscha Ashwyn restores her best friend Saengo to life, Sirscha is drawn into the domain of the Spider King and events surrounding the Dead Wood. After years of training to become the queen's next royal spy, Sirscha Ashwyn's plans are derailed when shamans attack and kill her best friend Saengo. Then Sirscha, somehow, restores Saengo to life. Unveiled as the first soulguide in living memory, Sirscha is summoned to the domain of the Spider King....

Queen Meilyr is dead, and a tenuous peace has settled over Evewyn. King Meilek's acension has ended his sister's oppression of the shamanborn, marking a new start for the country where Sirscha, once a prisoner, has been elevated to a position as the King's Shadow. Yet, beneath the surface, tensions between shamanborn and other citizens remain high. Conflicts rage at Evewyn's borders. The Soulless still lurks in the darkness. And while some might call...