A classic adventure tale that is sure to take the reader on a whirlwind of romping good fun. Long-time friends, Des and Ajak, have fallen on hard times, in no small part due to Des. He just can't seem to stay out of trouble. Either he finds it, or it finds him, in quick order. Des and Ajak's failing guard duty business, Heroes for Hire, is going nowhere fast. Fate brings them a lucrative offer from a mysterious client. They are to escort Syriah Sweetwater, a member of one of Antero's most powerful families, to the Wildlands of the north, a dangerous place for a sheltered woman of the city elite. Syriah, an apprentice at the famed Academy of Arcane Arts, must complete a final stage in her training to attain the rank of journey mage at the Academy. What is supposed to be a routine guard duty detail turns into a disastrous adventure fraught with peril. Pursuit by a ruthless bounty hunter, assassins, and mercenaries, along with encounters by unexpected companions, takes them down roads none of them are prepared to travel.
