in the second volume of the hit romantic fantasy series, a liberator of her people faces a war she never asked for--and gods who refuse to let her go. max and her partner, nash, fought to free the valley from the grip of a false god and her prophet. they succeeded in defeating them, but peace still eludes their land. with the valley's leadership in shambles, factions rise to seize control, and max struggles to protect the innocent from the fallout. now, with the people looking to her to save them, she's caught between protecting the valley and resisting the call to rule. worse, she's increasingly afraid that, to maintain order, she'll have to become as ruthless as the prophet she killed. just as max begins to falter, a mysterious stranger appears, one whose very existence casts everything max knows about her world into question--again. this man, elias, comes from a land where more than just the chosen few have power, a brutal guild rules, and friends have turned into enemies. elias offers max a trade: allies and power to help bring peace to the valley in exchange for her assistance taking down the guild. she must embrace her new abilities to vanquish the forces at home and in this new, strange land before her enemies destroy the family she's found with nash and his daughter, elsie. but those aren't the only challenges ahead of them. when the brutal guild discovers the valley, they see an untapped land, ripe for conquest. not to mention, the gods are watching . . . they know what max has done. and if she's learned anything, it's that the gods will never let their experiments run unchecked. the war isn't over. it's only just begun. the second volume of the hit progression fantasy series--with almost 200,000 views on royal road--now available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook!