An evil necromancer queen, defeated and executed, has a dark, sinister ally. Jinua the Paladin and Ontiku the Necromancer have traced them to the town of Paramis, and have managed to survive and even respect each other in the process. But their uneasy alliance to track and handle their new foe is tested when the leaders of Paramis ask Jinua to execute a fifteen-year-old boy. After all, a necromancer cannot be allowed to live, no matter how young and innocent. It's only a matter of time before they become corrupt and evil, right? Even worse, the town's enchanted forest—ruled by an ancient nature spirit—is uplifting its roots and leaving for reasons unknown, taking its magical healing properties with it. And the young necromancer swears his sister—long thought dead—is alive and living in those enchanted woods. Jinua's beliefs are further questioned as she must decide who to rescue, who to execute, and who is friend and foe.