A new emperor rules each year in Yohuachanca.

Only the most delicious of food graces his palate; the realm’s most beautiful women fill his harem; his palace dazzles the mind in its beauty; and four priestesses counsel him in all matters. The life of an emperor is good, luxurious, and short. 

For at the year’s end, he is sacrificed to the Nightlords under the light of the Scarlet Moon.

I am Iztac. A pisspoor orphan and the year’s emperor. A sacrifice bound for the altar. 

But the vampires have made a mistake this time. For I am a sorcerer, whose soul journeys into the secret underworld to plunder the secret spells of the dead. There, in the darkness, hides the power to drag the Nightlords off their throne. I have a year to find it, or perish for good.

I may not be the first emperor, but I will be the last.