Kirrin dreads the walk home from the public bath-house, and rightly so. Being smaller than the other boys, quiet, and somewhat foreign makes him their ideal target- as numerous beatings attest. He prays to the gods to get him home safely, but they don't seem to be listening. Trying to escape from one such attack, he dives into a parked carriage and hides under the seat. A ride that takes him out of the city into the world of powerful lords and estates- where he is caught for trespassing and theft. In his fervent and frantic attempts to escape, he impresses the Lord; and His men are instructed to teach Kirrin to fight. Kirrin has no idea what he has gotten himself into. He is being groomed, but for what? The gods have saved him from the bullying, but soon he’s caught up in a web of deceit and corruption that has no escape. The old gods have been dormant for over a thousand years. Now they are stirring. And Kirrin has a part to play – if he can manage to survive.