An empire in crisis.Siblings with nothing left to lose.A ruby that could change it all. With their sixteenth birthday fast approaching, recently orphaned twins Lia and Tyler Ford are still settling into their new normal in Sydney, Australia, when a young stranger shows up and turns what's left of their fractured world upside down in an instant. Still grieving the loss of their parents and their idyllic family life in Ardsley, New York, Lia wouldn't have thought life could surprise her any more than it already has. But, with Coen's unexpected arrival comes more questions than ever before for Lia and Tyler about their family's mysterious past, but also-finally-the chance to maybe find some answers, too. That possibility has them readily following Coen to Gaea: a parallel world which perfectly mirrored Earth millennia ago, though the two worlds have evolved to be markedly different realms today. Gaea is in crisis. The North has already fallen, and the people of the South live in fear of a force so evil and powerful it may be impossible to defeat. With an empire hanging in the balance, the stakes are impossibly high, as are the expectations being placed on Lia. She must rise to the challenge and play her part in the resistance, or die trying-as the people of Gaea surely will if she fails. Rise. Ignite. Or die trying.