**A young bugler with supernatural powers is swept up into an epic struggle for the fate of the world. Cry havoc and sound the song of war. ** In Arboral Year 1294, the world is dominated by nine massive towers known as the Spires—remnants of an advanced civilization, they are filled with lost secrets and powerful knowledge that nations struggle to possess. Luca is a bugler in a mercenary company who wants nothing more than to leave the battlefield behind and become a true musician, a maestro. But marked as one of the enigmatic Branch-hexed, and gifted with the strange ability to see the sound of his instrument, Luca finds himself drawn reluctantly into a war of epic proportions. The Pontiff’s expedition to Gallia has reached the capital of Limoges. The city is held by the forces of the Looking Glassists, and defended by the Looking Glass herself—only Zoe has the power to even attempt to take her on. If Zoe fails, so does the entire operation. Though the Looking Glass will give her enemies no quarter, she also sees something of herself in Zoe. During the battle, Luca encounters a mysterious interloper, and discovers more secrets of the Branched—including a new phase of their development, the Flowering