Onna can write the parameters of a spell faster than any of the young men in her village. So when the arcane academy decides it's untoward to teach a woman magic she sets sail for the city-state of Hexos in search of more enlightened attitudes. Tsira has never felt at home within her troll clan. Striking out alone to find work in a human city, she stumbles on a half-dead soldier in the snow and the two form an unexpected bond. But a string of mysterious murders draws them both into a deadly conspiracy and now Onna and Tsira must uncover who is targeting trolls before their homeland is torn apart...