At his coming of age, Thorvald learns a devastating secret, and steals away on a perilous voyage in search of the father he has never known. His loyal friend Creidhe was never meant to be part of his desperate journey – but Thorvald has underestimated her.
Suspicious, frightened and ruled by a cruel tyrant, the Long Knife people of the Lost Isles are not what the weary travelers were expecting. The Unspoken sing away the souls of the newborn, and the chieftain of the isles answers to nobody. But then a baby is born, and Creidhe discovers the truth of the horrific curse the vengeful Unspoken have placed on the Long Knife people. For the future of the islands depends on a visionary child: the powerful seer, Foxmask. To return him to the Unspoken, and restore peace to the islands, the Long Knife people must endure the annual ritual of the hunt.
But there are deeper secrets in this battle for survival – and another, unthinkable way to lift the curse, one that the newcomers anly discover when it may already be too late…