Zetterburn and his loyal legion return to the Fire Capital after vanquishing the Air Armada ships that preyed upon the Fire Empire's far-flung trade routes. The Fire Army has attacked the Smoke hideout while he skirmish in the Fire CapitalДЇorsburn races back to his new home without finding his real brother or confronting the false Emperor Loxodont. Then Forsburn sees a blaze in the distance. The Fire Capital pulses in purple shadow.

When he arrives, however, he is greeted by a familiar figure.ДЄs Forsburn uses his new powers of Smoke to defeat his brother, Zetterburn vanishes. Despite his loyalty to the Smoke Clan, Forsburn decides he must find his brother.Дonning a battle mask from the Smoke Clan, Forsburn uses a smoke portal to return to the Fire Capital. He is given a grey cloak of secrecy and a new identity.Д«efore long, Forsburn hears news from the Fire Capital: Zetterburn has disappeared. He renounces the false light of fire and vows to learn the truthful deceptions of smoke. She offers him a home in the hidden Smoke enclave in exchange for his allegiance.ДЇorsburn vows his loyalty. They seize the wandering Fire Citizen and bring him to their settlement.Д¬laiyen, Chief of Smoke Clan, learns of Forsburn's plight and his skill in espionage. They emerge from the ring of smoke and identify themselves as sentries from the Smoke Clan. One night, seeking refuge on the border of the Wastelands, he awakes to find himself surrounded by murky strangers He tells no one of their clandestine altercation or of Forsburn's escape.ДЇorsburn flees to the far outskirts of the Fire Empire. Zetterburn, convinced his brother is guilty of patricide, is devastated. The brothers fight, and Forsburn flees-wounded and betrayed. Suspected of murder, Forsburn seeks to warn his beloved royal brother and prevent the Fire Council from seizing the imperial throne.Д«ut when Zetterburn returns to the Fire Capital he doubts Forsburn's conspiracy theories. Now, all too late, he discover their treacherous goal.ДЇorsburn flees the scene and seeks refuge in the maze of aqueducts underneath the Fire Capitol. A knife, identical to Forsburn's dagger, is buried deep in the Emperor's chest.Д®mperor Renburn's loyal spy and illegitimate son, Forsburn has long distrusted his father's Fire Council. They set off together to find the source of the strange menace to Aether.ДЇorsburn returns home from a diplomatic mission to find his father, Emperor Renburn, slain. Maypul and Forsburn conclude that the danger lies to the west. Taken aback, Forsburn explains his own encounter with the mysterious purple shadow and the disappearance of his brother. Maypul demands to know what role Forsburn plays in the shadowy sickness. In the same moment, Maypul witnesses Forsburn's smoky sorcery and presumes him to be in league with the twisting shadows infecting the Forest. Seeing his adopted home under attack, he mistakes Maypul for one of the assailants. Suddenly, Forsburn appears in a whirlwind of smoke.

When she creeps closer to investigate, she discovers the Fire Guard attacking the Smoke Clan's hideout. With each day away from the Forest, she feels herself growing weaker.ДЄ few months into her journey, she comes upon an enclave under siege. Maypul crosses the continent scouting and searching, following the sickness within the Earth. Mayreed worries that Maypul is too reckless and begs her to stay, but both sisters feel the danger lurking beneath their roots. Maypul tells her sister to share the letter with any forest dweller who will read it. Maypul gives Mayreed a letter that details all of her discoveries about the purple rot and its source. She leaves Lily in the care of her younger sister, Mayreed. The source of the sickness seems to lie beyond the Rock Wall.

Wherever the shadows touch, the plants turn twisted and ugly Maypul and Lily soon discover that the Forest is infested with a mysterious purple shadow. But Maypul knows the Forest is one they will thrive or perish togetherДЄnd now Maypul feels a disturbance through the roots of the Forest. High in the canopy, the Treetop Dwellers look down on the lowly denizens of the forest floor. Maypul, self-appointed Guardian of the Aetherian Forest and daughter of the Treetops, protects the Treetop Lodges and the floor below with her companion plant, Lily.

Rivals of aether cracked