Charlotte has found a new routine. Burn a field or quarterstaff. Sleep somewhere new every night. Keep those she loves away from her touch. The Alliance meets in days, and for the first time she will visit the dwarves' homelands. It's all going as expected when two strangers arrive with more secrets and offer her what she's wanted her whole life. Magic. But she has to go through an apprenticeship first. The magical world is changing. Will Charlotte learn fast enough to keep up, or will the darkness consume her before she has a chance to try?