The inventive national bestselling author of the Samaria novels returns with the first book in a stunning new fantasy saga. Award-winning author Sharon Shinn has been hailed as "the most promising and original writer of fantasy to come along since Robin McKinley" by Peter S. Beagle. Now, she weaves a new world wrought with magic and mayhem, in which the fate of a troubled land may rest in the hands of those few who would remain loyal to their king-and each other... In the land of Gillengaria, ill feeling toward magic and those who use it rises to a dangerous level. The king dispatches the Mystic woman Senneth on a journey to see first-hand how dire the situation is. Accompanying her are Shapeshifters and Riders-unlikely allies who will enter a land under the sway of a fanatical cult that would purge Gillengaria of all magic users. They will face death-and worse. And they will come to realize that their only hope of survival lies in standing together, Mystic and Rider, side by side.