Hildegard is a shieldmaiden, tasked with defending her clan from Issarya, the kingdom to the south. The clans' territory sits atop rich, fertile land that the starving desert kingdom desperately wants. They'll do anything to take it for themselves and Hildegard is determined to stop them and keep her family safe, trusting in the gods to grant her victory. But the gods have been strangely silent...
Aleksander is a seer-the only one in Issarya-working for the king. He yearns to be a soldier and help strike back at the northern raiders, but a weak heart prevents him from doing so. Plagued by troubling visions of the future and pressured by the king to make sense of them, Aleksander finds himself caught up in a plot threatening the king's life.
Suddenly, both Hilde and Alek meet violent ends at the hands of others and find themselves not in a peaceful afterlife, but the Shadowlands, caught up in an eternal war between the gods. For the one who can prove themself worthy and bring an end to the war, they will be returned to the living world, their life restored, a second chance secured.
But to do so, Hildegard and Aleksander will have to compete against their fellow soldiers in the afterlife-and each other. For only one can live again.
