Sorela, a frustrated court mage, is tasked with finding her high lord's son who went missing in a border skirmish near the cursed forest known as the Blackwood, or else he will go to war with his perceived enemies. As a mage, Sorela must support a higher ideal, and prevent this war from happening. To confound her troubles, Sorela's wool-brained handmaiden, Leisa, has insisted she come along as part of her trials, so that she may prove she deserves admittance to the Mage Academy and tutelage under Sorela in the immediate future. Against the mage's better judgment, she allows the girl to accompany her on this most important quest, as she and her lord's captain commander set out in secrecy with a band of barely trained boys.
What's missing from Sorela's company are swords with experience. That's where the questionable travelers come into the fold…