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. Filled with lost secrets and powerful knowledge, nations struggle to possess them. 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! Luca and his Branched squad have entered the Duchy of Normandy to hunt down and eliminate the Garland before she can call down another meteor strike. The Duchy, under the control of the Doppelganger, is also known as the Land of Thralls for its disturbing use of identical slave-soldiers. The Pontiff has narrowed the Garland's potential location to four forts, and Luca's squad must infiltrate each in turn. As they rove through the countryside, Luca learns more about Demi's tragic past than he wanted to know.