The old world is dead and bloated. And in its remains, humanity struggles through its final death throes.
The Deep, a corrupting, unstoppable darkness, slithers past ancient borders, killing all in its wake. And Wes-Seeker, Runesmith, and madman-scrambles to stop it. Even if it means gunning through countless scores of fools standing in the way. And in the city of Kesan, where the honorable rot in undug graves and the living hold the shovels, there's plenty of fools in Wes's bloody warpath.
Cia, his partner and ex-slave, wants nothing more than to be free of her Deep-touched sorcery. Trouble is, Kesan's most powerful keep trying to get them killed. And being a conduit for life itself is awfully convenient for staying alive.
Oben, a man better than most, has spent the last few years trying to forget the sins he's left behind in Kesan. But Wes's schemes are bringing him back. And even a past as buried as his is bound to get dug up eventually.
Old grudges burn and new plots hatch as the three outcasts struggle to do more than just survive in a world that wants them very, very dead.