After Beya flees her home in the village of Chemestuk, burned to the ground during the civil war, she realizes there is only one place she can go. Her niece Magier owns a small tavern in the port town of Miishka - which, unfortunately, is many days' journey away, far on the west coast. And Beya has never traveled more than a few leagues from her hut in her life. As always, undaunted, she decides to travel through her war-torn homeland with what she could find from the ashes of the village. But soon enough she finds herself on an unfamiliar road and risks facing two dangers at once: deserters and soldiers who are now in the same desperate situation. She has always been independent, but she understands that she may not survive this journey alone... until, by chance, she encounters a very unusual young man. The only problem is that this guard may be more dangerous than anything Beya can face on the way.