Salo's queen has finally accepted his desire to be a mystic despite taboos concerning men's use of magic. But her acceptance is not support, it is strategy.
Under a disguise of the queen's making, Salo enters Jungle City as a pilgrim to the Red Temple, only to find a magical barrier barring his entrance. Left at the mercy of the warring political factions that run the city, Salo faces a series of obstacles wrought by an unseen hand, knowing he cannot return home without completing his pilgrimage.
But Isa, King of the Saire clan, has her own plans for Salo. She needs his help to extract the Covenant Diamond from the Red Temple's inner sanctum — an artifact with the power to end her tribe's divisions, prevent a genocide, and even save herself from her fate. His new task in hand, Salo navigates a cursed maze of invisible authority — and when he encounters shocking revelations about the power residing in the depths of the undercity, he must wield his magic to finally bring the truth about his world's history to light.
'Raised in Swaziland and Zimbabwe but now residing in South Africa, C. T. Rwizi is a remarkable new talent. He deftly juggles five very different protagonists; establishes a vast yet intricate new magical system unlike anything else I've ever seen; and unfolds stories scattered across the distant past, the chaotic present, and in entirely different planes of existence.' — Tor.com
'A promising new series by a promising new author.' — Fantasy Literature
