Nic, the central protagonist, drives the plot forward and narrates the story in first person. At the beginning of the book, he is a teenager enslaved in the mines outside of Rome. When his enslaver, Sal, forces him inside a cavern to search for Julius Caesar’s lost treasures, he ends up stealing a bulla—an ancient amulet filled with the goddess Diana’s power. With magic suddenly at his fingertips, Nic becomes determined to find freedom, and the story follows his hero’s journey as he learns what it means to be free in both body and mind.

From the very beginning, Nic is established as a kind-hearted and protective person. He saves the life of Sal, despite his cruelty, and he tries to protect his younger sister, Livia, for whom he feels responsible since their mother was sold away. Nic also befriends and saves Caela, the griffin he meets in the cave, even though she initially attacks him. However, while Nic is generally a person concerned with morals and the well-being of others—regardless of his thievery—he struggles to control his emotions. An early glimpse of his temper reveals this after Felix shackles him in the caravan and Nic’s frustration leads to a dent in the wall.