What's a pretty young thing like you doing hanging around in a forest full of monsters?

Some stability has returned to Ivernia. Constantine has consolidated his hold on the Plains, and Mischief is helping the people and creatures in the Medials to rebuild their society. The two sides are separated by wilderness, forests crawling with the savage beasts that erupted through the crack in the skin of the world.

Karim is an ex-soldier in the Plains. Sickened by the violence of war, he's retired to a small farm that lies dangerously close to the forest. He's estranged from his family, struggling to forget his time in service, living a life of subsistence on land that no one else wants.

Ashley is a Medial, with the nascent powers of a shaman, that allow her to traverse the forest, fending off the creatures. She's supposed to be going on a quest to enhance her powers, but she's resisting, unwilling to risk the possibilities of death or insanity that come with the change.

What happens when they meet along the edge of Karim's field? Sparks fly, in more ways than one. Mischief, trickster goddess, sees an opportunity. Constantine's priests see a Medial shaman, who really needs to be tied to a stake and set on fire; in addition, they're pretty sure Karim has been corrupted by Ashley's presence, which doesn't bode well for his continued survival.

Ashley has to run. Karim probably does too. Does Ashley want to take him with her...or was it Karim who betrayed her to the priests? And what exactly is Mischief finagling out of all this?

This book is the third in the series, containing a single long episode from Mischief's Journey — The Lovers. You can continue to Book 4, Regression, or simply go to the complete volume, The Skin of the World: Mischief's Journey, if you want to get all the stories in one place.