Working as a Palace Scribe, Cassian is stunned to be called before his ruler, Great Monarch Maurus, and be told he is to be the bait to trap a Firebird. A dangerous predator and beast of legend that lives high in the mountains on his country's border. However, injured as he climbs the mountain, Cassian is rescued and finds Firebirds are not animals. Instead, he uncovers Arturri,an intelligent being from another world, living as a castaway. Forced to return down the mountain, Cassian is helpless to prevent Arturri's capture by Maurus' head of security Phrixus who is a dangerous and evil adversary. Cassian then finds that Maurus is more monstrous than even he ever imagined when the secret beneath the palace is revealed. Who can he trust and can he save not just Arturri, but the other prisoners of Maurus?