In this prequel to The Darkness in the Midst trilogy, Cadda ni Caridos awakens from tragedy to find out nothing will ever be the same. Her clan has been driven into the forest, her mother enslaved, and her father murdered. And nobody has done anything about it. Cadda vows to change that, all while struggling to come to grips with her new physical reality - something has made her physically stronger, something has given her heightened senses - and though it may seem like a boon, Cadda's not so sure it is.