A new bairn. Born of a king, cast into the wasteland, raised an orphan. He will rise up against you, King of Michelruud. Dead you are; dead you will be. The kell stone will be his to wield and all folk will harken to his command. The dragon flies above him. All laid waste below.

Leah Hallowsing's world is crumbling around her. Her beloved Kirche has become ruthless and cruel. Prenalin acts a friend, only to prove he cannot be trusted. Lost in the beast forest, fearing for her life, she discovers that the devotion of her people is false. Worse, she finds herself to be a smooth liar. All she wanted for her future is slipping away.

Could she alone hold the secret to the kell stone?

Forced from his homeland into the hill country and beyond, Fenn Foster is determined to prove he is not the evil bairn of prophecy. He must first find the truth of his parentage, but the gang of thieves known as The Wretched have stolen the only thing that links him to his past.

Should he risk his own life, and the lives of his friends, to get it back?