When his predecessor died without an heir, Valens jumped from leading the palace guard to the entire Rhatian Empire, or what was left of it. When an ambitious general bested him in a bloody civil war, however, his reign was cut short. Blinded and cast out to the Empire's borderlands, he struggled for long years to resume an old life as a monster hunter, learning to fight without the use of his sight.

Decades later, his vision is slowly returning. All the while, his brilliant nephew and right-hand man Petrus, left a eunuch after their failed bid to rule, has bided his time in the palace, scheming to regain control of the Empire by any means he can.

But the Rhatian Empire once again stands on the brink of crisis. Terrible and disturbing monsters have poured in from the dark forests of the north, and to the east, a new faith marches to spread by the sword. To save Rhatian civilization, will Valens need to grasp power, or let it go?