When Ren was whisked away by a scarred and grizzled old man to a magical military compound across the country, she wasn't in the mood to hear how her parents, and the group of Harbingers they belong to, were the real enemy. Now thrust into the middle of a civil war, she is desperate to defect and return to her family. To do so, she must give in to the terrifying and extraordinary world of the Elementals she was born into and learn what she is truly made of-perhaps literally.
Aided by Ila, an Earthborn Elemental with her own violent reasons for tracking down the Harbingers, Ren escapes to find her parents. Accompanying Ila on her quest for revenge, Ren discovers more than she bargained for about what is going behind the scenes of their shadowy leader.