Five years ago, Kellam left to study magic at university. He promised to write every day. But he didn't. But Farrin is not one to sit and cry over the fool who used to be her best friend. Magic arises within her, and she wants to learn how to use it. Mother Ulla, the witch, will be a good teacher, right? Well, no. Mother Ulla is happy to have a student who scrubs the floors, weeds the garden, cooks and washes her strange witch supplies. But this is not the kind of training Farryn imagined. She fretfully tries to figure out magic herself... and accidentally attracts the attention of something living deep in the Whispering Forest. Something ancient. And dangerous. Now it's coming for Farrin. Will the young witch be smart enough to save herself from the horror she has attracted? Or will she need the help of a young man whom she has not been waiting for these five years?