This story begins as all things do: In fire.

Soot and sorrow plague the air when a hoard of Wilderfolk fall upon a caravan. Running at the head of that hoard is Knalc, a man hardened by battle and the horrors of the Wilderlands. The screams that rise from the caravan come from Valforians, who hide behind the walls of their five cities, who carry things rare and precious—things of want and need for the Wilderfolk, who live in the every growing green of the world. In their attack, Knalc and his clan find a Valforian man, all in red and blade bloodied, who can hold his own against Wilderfolk.

This man in red protects a boy who cannot speak and a girl—Dhorena—with more spite than sense. Once Knalc manages to best the man in red, the fate of Red and his wards lies with Knalc.

Through the twisting of fate and the sinister bend of circumstance, Knalc decides to form a ramshackle alliance with the Valforians to bring them back to their city. What lies between are monsters, gods, and the very Wilderlands. The wild places of the world are ever growing and creeping closer.