Misfortune never comes alone. So it happened that bad luck arrived together with his niece, whom the retired legion necromancer took as an apprentice. What could possibly happen, you might think? But then a storm comes—and the galley crashes during a voyage through enemy waters. Now he must save not only his own skin, but also the skin of this inept student. And to save her, he needs to teach the girl the necromancer’s craft in the shortest time possible. Which means forcing the undead to fight, build a refuge, gather the wreckage from the shattered ship, and so on, and so on, and so on. On top of all that, there’s a chase behind them— and in this race, the stakes are life itself.