The start of an all-new, two-book epic fantasy series in which nothing is quite as it seems, and every secret hides three more beneath. Perpetually wrapped in fog through rain and shine, the massive bulk of Mount Neherru holds at its heart an unsolvable mystery. Legend has it that either a mage or a demon dwells high up its slopes, but no mortal has ever climbed far enough to discover the truth; any who have made the attempt have either perished or lost their minds. As it happens, legend is mostly right- A mage and a demon dwell there, ruling together over the lands below and trapped in an eternal stalemate both are desperate to break--their endless days given form only through their mutual obsession with chess and their ongoing attempts to eliminate the other. But things are about to change when an unlikely but charismatic rebel leader arises one country over--a demagogue in the making who seems determined to annex all the world. This they cannot allow, so for the first time, three chosen humans--an emotionally scarred bladesmith, an apprentice mage with a dreadful secret, and the leader of an all-girl street gang--will be allowed into their inner sanctum to serve as their agents in this matter . . . that is, if these three can survive the treacherous climb to reach them.