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, they are filled with lost secrets and powerful knowledge that nations struggle to possess. 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! The siege of the island fortress of Mont Tombe continues. Luca and his squad have breached the wall, but the Garland is within the sanctuary at the peak of the island, and protected by a powerful Branched ability. The key to the sanctuary, however, lies somewhere outside it, and finding it is no small task--any of the Empire's soldiers could have it, and the battle is far from over. Luca enacts a plan to recover the key that will bring him and Zoe face-to-face with the Garland's mysterious and powerful protector, Akira. The outcome of this all-out clash of Branch-hexed powers will not be anything anyone expected.