After Saul reappears with an army of soldiers with Effigy-like abilities, threatening to unleash the monstrous Phantoms and bring death and destruction to the world, eighteen-year-old Maia and the other Effigies hope to defeat him by discovering the source of their power over the four classical elements, but they are betrayed by the Sect and bogged down by questions about the previous Fire Effigy's murder.