As disaster threatens Dovella's world of Edlena, all hope rests on the shoulders of one determined young woman.Sixteen-year-old Apprentice Engineer Dovella is eagerly awaiting the moment that will bring her heart's desire: in four days she will undergo the once-in-a-lifetime Rites of the Healer and become a fully-fledged member of the Healer's Guild. But when there is trouble with the sacred machine that provides power for the Village, an evil regime, threatens to overthrow the Council. Is the power failure a sign of the disfavour of the gods, or are there darker human forces at work? Dovella is the only one who can make the journey to the faraway source lake to find out, but to get there in time she would have to miss the all-important Rites ...