Deer is a young man born with an incredibly rare magical disease in which magic is so attracted to him that it settles inside his body rather than on his skin like it's supposed to for the magically inclined. Day-by-day, year-by-year, the magic eats him from the inside out and forms deep cracks in his skin. He is always in extreme pain. He goes from wizard-to-wizard in an attempt to cure the disease, but none can help him until he finds Risha, an elven wizard who claims she can help him.