Dowyr Mawkin doesn't have much going for him. A mute orphan from birth, not quite pleasant to look at, and to top it all off, he's stuck in the most religious capital in the world, whose gods he has no belief or interest in. All he wants is to escape to the south where the warmth and the 'heathens' are, but things take a turn when he gains an Emogic, a magic power triggered by intense emotion. He is quickly sent to the Academy of Emogic to learn to harness his new abilities, and there he meets Weynon Rozbury and Elethe Klausgow, two teens who would change his life forever.

Weynon is an earnest, if simple boy, having grown up in a peaceful town raised by his mother and grandmother. His ability to make friends and redeem bullies is uncanny, and the only thing that matches his strength of faith is his strength of Emogic. Nothing appears to shake him, but can his faith stand up against a war with an unstoppable opponent? He thinks it can. Moreso, he thinks it will win. It has to, doesn't it?

Elethe has the weight of the world on her shoulders, in more ways than one. As the most powerful Empath to ever live, she has no choice but to feel others' emotions for miles around. All she wants is to make the people around her laugh and be happy, but there's not much to smile about when there's a war on your doorstep, especially a war that she's expected to help win.

Fantasy and theological drama clash in this emotional war story of children against gods, faith against the void, and truth against good intentions.