Will is a fifteen-year-old foundling who is proud that his father was a mighty warrior and died in battle many years ago. Only Will can hardly be called mighty—he is short, too weak for his age. With impatication and fear he awaits the Day of Choice, because on that day it will be decided what he will do for the rest of his life. To honor his father’s memory, he dreams of getting into the Military Academy. But everyone understands that a good and strong war won’t come from a boy like him.
And yet someone does take Will as an apprentice—a mysterious and frightening man in a black cloak. A RANGER.