Long ago, Ritakhou was a flourishing empire filled with light, life, and magic. Then came the Schism. Now the kingdom is called Rimbaku and is a pale shadow of its former self, a land stripped of its glory and its power. The only magic left comes from aitachi, the Relicant Touch-the ability to absorb skills and memories by consuming aishone: the bones of the dead.
Rimbaku’s enemies are circling, testing the nation’s borders. They know the empire is weak, and are determined to push it over the edge and then strip its bones as it has done to its dead for so long.
Meanwhile, the brothers Kagiri and Noniki set out from their small village with a handful of aishone and a great deal of hope. They soon find the world a bigger, darker place than they imagined, and are forced to accept a dangerous proposal, one that will put both of them at risk for not only their lives but their very souls-and that may change the Relicant Empire forever.

Magic. Action. Intrigue. All these converge along the Trails of Bone.
The kingdom of Rimbaku has fallen on hard times. Under attack by its neighbors, the once-great empire struggles to defend itself even as it stagnates, its people obsessed with atachi, the Relicant Touch, and the skills and memories that magic lets them absorb from the bones of their dead. Amid all this chaos an emperor learns about his subjects firsthand, a warrior battles both foes and ancient tradition, a young man tests recently acquired prowess while another learns to rely on himself, a young grave robber struggles to overcome new scruples even as a different young woman with no scruples begins to amass power, a strange pair wreak havoc, and a mysterious new threat approaches the capital. What will happen when all of these trails cross at last? Will any of them survive? Will the Relicant Empire?
In this second volume of the epic fantasy series, the characters and storylines that began in Bones of Empire continue to develop, to deepen, and to reveal more about the kingdom, its people, and the spiral of events threatening to overwhelm one and all.