Pena de la vida para el que volviere la cara atrás; pena de la vida para el tambor que tocare retirada; y pena de la vida al oficial que lo mandare, aunque sea yo mismo. Juan Sánchez Ramírez
Mucho conozco al pueblo dominicano. Abandonado siempre a sus propias fuerzas, ha luchado siempre por su libertad, y siempre sus esfuerzos se han visto coronados por el éxito deseado. Puede por un momento ser dominado por los extraños, porque la sorpresa del acto que cambie su condición política, le embargue los medios de resistencia y acción; más pesado ese primer momento de estupor, se levantará como un solo hombre, obedeciendo a un solo pensamiento, para oponerse a quien pretenda arrebatarle su libertad, su independencia. Tomás Bobadilla
Having barely escaped the clutches of the Guard, Sefia and Archer are back on the run, slipping into the safety of the forest to tend to their wounds and plan their next move. Haunted by painful memories, Archer struggles to overcome the trauma of his past with the impressors, whose cruelty plagues him whenever he closes his eyes. But when Sefia and Archer happen upon a crew of impressors in the wilderness, Archer finally finds a way to combat his nightmares: by hunting impressors and freeing the boys they hold captive.
With Sefia’s help, Archer travels across the kingdom of Deliene rescuing boys while she continues to investigate the mysterious Book and the secrets it contains. But the more battles they fight, the more fights Archer craves, until his thirst for violence threatens to transform him from the gentle boy Sefia knows to a grim warrior with a cruel destiny. As Sefia begins to unravel the threads that connect Archer’s fate to her parents’ betrayal of the Guard so long ago, she and Archer must figure out a way to subvert the Guard’s plans before they are ensnared in a war that will pit kingdom against kingdom, leaving their future and the safety of the entire world hanging in the balance.