Even as a simple soldier, Yaroslav Volkov dreamed of a title and a land grant in order to live a calm, peaceful life. And his dreams came true: Duke Reberneree personally accepted his vassal oath and granted him the fief-land called Eschbach. But as it turned out, peace is far away—the holdings of the new lord, Fon Eschbach, lie at the very center of competing political and trading interests, and there, too, wolves reign, among which there is a huge and terrifying creature—too clever and frightening to be a mere predator.