Humanity has been brought to the brink of extinction. A scant few hamlets and half-starved city-states are all that remain of a once-proud civilization, and it is only by hiding behind wards, ancient symbols with the power to repel the demons, that they survive. But there are those who stand against the night. Ragen Messenger, ready to retire from his dangerous trade, ventures into demon-haunted swamps to find a runaway child. Arlen Bales, still an inexperienced young messenger, sets out on new adventures in the deserts of Krasia and the frozen mountains of Miln. And Selia Square, the woman they call Barren, leads the community she has forged into a desperate battle against demons unlike any they have seen before.
