Ren has proved she's one of the best wizards in her generation. But top marks mean nothing if she fails to get into one of the major houses at Balmerick University. Enter the impossibly rich Theo Brood. Fate has the two of them crossing paths at the public waxway portal the day before holidays; Theo is travelling home with the scholarship kids—which doesn't sit well with anyone. A fight breaks out. In the chaos, the portal spell malfunctions. All six students find themselves stranded as they are set down in the middle of nowhere. And one of them is dead. It's up to Ren to get them through the punishing wilderness with limited magical reserves. But no magic could prepare her for the tangled secrets the group is harbouring, or for what's following them through the dark woods ...