Sadie has just passed a difficult trial to protect her father’s Netherbane Talisman, but her family doubts her strength, accusing her of luck and pushing her to surrender it for the family’s safety. Despite warnings that many covet the talisman and the risk of it falling into outsiders’ hands, Sadie refuses to give it up. Her family elders then challenge her to prove her power by defeating Mark in a fight, even though she is wounded from the trial. Defiant and determined, Sadie accepts the deadly challenge, risking everything to keep the talisman in her hands.