It has been four years since the orphan boy Darian sought sanctuary with the mysterious Tayledras Hawkbrothers when his village was sacked and burned by barbarians. Born a Valdemarian, but now steeped in the mystical ways of the Tayledras, it has become Darian's dream to be their emissary-forgind an alliance and providing a diplomatic link with his own people. Back in Errold's Grove, a young woman, Keisha Alder, has taken over the job formerly held by Darian's old teacher, Wizard Justyn. With no formal education, working with only the natural instincts of her inborn Healing Gift, she has devoted herself to the care of the people of her now bustling community. Yet with the heightened empathy of her Gift, and the inability to sheild herself because of her lack of training, it is...