When slaves rebel in ancient Sparta, twelve-year-old Lysander, guarded by an heirloom amulet, the Fire of Ares, is caught between the Spartan ruling class, with whom he has been training as a warrior since his noble heritage was revealed, and those among whom he was recently laboring as a slave.

When Persians invade Sparta while thirteen-year-old Lysander is training to be a soldier, he finds his loyalties are divided between Spartan honor and the Helot slaves with whom he lived most of his life.

When Lysander and his barracks are sent to Taras, Italy, to protect a vital trading post threatened by a local uprising, he spies a statue of a figure wearing the Fire of Ares and sets out to discover his connection to the city, hoping to learn more of his mysterious heritage.