This is a novella or very short novel.Drade is just a villager manning a merchant table with his father Aren until two mysterious swordsmen come to town. They claim they are to take him and the other young men with them in their caged wagon. After a brutal sword fight helped with a magic potion Drade must fulfill a promise to his father and journey north to the farm of his grandparents. Along the way he meets many colorful characters. Some he helps and others help him on his quest to reach his grandparent's farm before the villains he fought get there first. There is no way he will be able to take them on again without a lot of help.