Sesha must race to find a priceless scroll before time runs out. After a brutal fire takes their parents’ lives, Sesha and Ky, children of the pharaoh’s royal physician, are left charming snakes and stealing food to survive. Unsure of who to trust, the pair are found and brought back to the palace, where the pharaoh tasks Sesha with finding a rare medical document her father was transcribing. But are the royals hiding something? Befriended by a fellow scribe and a young princess, Sesha navigates palace intrigue and temple treachery while urgently seeking the valuable papyrus. For the scroll doesn’t just have the power to keep the pharaoh’s army alive and reveal the secrets around her parents’ death — it may be the only thing that can save Ky’s life.

Sesha and her friends must decide where their future lies. Forced to abandon her brother and the priceless scroll that saved his life, Sesha, joined by Paser and Reb, flee Thebes, venturing up the Nile and into deshart, the red lands. They are in search of a hidden oasis and Princes Merat, who was given to a Hyksos chieftain against her will. Led by a freed spy, the friends battle endless dunes, unrelenting heat and blinding sandstorms before straggling into the Hyksos camp, where the rebels prepare for combat. As they spend time with the tribe, the lines in the sand blur and Sesha wonders if there’s anything she can do to prevent war. When she takes on a secret mission and learns of a prophecy that could change the course of history, Sesha and the others must decide where their loyalties — and futures — lie.