Following the epic events of The Mythic and the Rosetta Engine, Lucy Knight surely might finally get some well overdue down time. Unfortunately, a dead dragon just landed on a packed Tokyo stadium. But worse, for Lucy at least, the words HELP MYTHIC are carved into the serpent’s body.

Tracing the path of the dragon leads to the Celestial Sphere, an otherworldly realm separate from both Aedea and the Beyond, where the royal families that rule each Aedean season reside. But the message was a trap. Lucy is literally put on ice by Emperor Wodiñ, the baleful ruler of the Wiñter Empire. It looks like our heroine will get that break after all!

Lucy’s friends—Henry the minotaur, Potter the otter, and Vikram Varma-Khan—aren’t so lucky as they’re sold to Celestial Fear, a kill-or-be-killed gladiatorial contest that is the biggest show in the Sphere.

Henry Bulman, takes centre stage in this, the first book of The Mythic Series where Lucy Knight isn’t the star. Henry is in for the fights of not just his life but for lives of Potter and Vik. He’ll face an endless stream of foes, each deadlier than the one before. If Henry dies, so do his friends along with any hope they have to rescue the Mythic. Our resident man-bull is a skilled warrior but just how many battles can he survive in the death-soaked Celestial Fear arena? He’s about to find out!

How was Henry to blame for Lucy’s incarceration? Who are the Season of the Son and what will they expect in return for agreeing to help Henry rescue Lucy? Which character who last appeared in The Mythic and the City of Sweet Sorrow makes a jaw-dropping reappearance? And finally, what revelatory fate awaits our heroes in the far-off Sky Castle?

The Mythic and the Season of the Son will exact a toll that can only be paid in blood—Henry’s blood. If Lucy Knight is to be saved then will Henry will need to sacrifice his life? The shocking answer is “Yes”!