After thirteen-year-old Schandrof falls asleep in a field of godflowers, he is visited by a goddess who shows him visions of the past—of a war in the heavens and a great evil buried beneath the earth.
These visions are too much for Schandrof to bear, and fearing for his sanity, he abandons the goddess in the field.
Years later, as the empire is struck by a blight and whispers of rebellion fill the air, a sign appears in the stars. Schandrof recognises this as the sign of the evil one which was shown to him in his childhood visions.
When he is conscripted to fight for the empire, he realises his only hope of survival is turning to the goddess he once abandoned.

Now, Schandrof must seek her aid to save himself, the empire, and all he holds dear. But what will the scorned goddess demand of him in return?