A hunted mage. A cursed land. An impossible debt. When Hitomi first crossed the Burnt Lands to rescue her mentor from unjust imprisonment, the phoenix came to her aid. His price? Release the monster-riddled lands from the curses that have raged there for centuries--a fight more than a few mages have lost their lives to. Now Hitomi is back, her magic bound within her and the High Council of Mages' best rogue hunters on her heels. Luckily for the phoenix, Hitomi's not about to let little details like that keep her from paying her debts. But when an allied mage wreaks havoc with her plans, Hitomi plunges into a desperate race to stop the work she started. It will take every ally Hitomi can summon, and whatever tricks she has left up her sleeve, to divert the spells of the Burnt Lands before their cataclysmic power destroys everything--and everyone--in their path.