Diviners have told Audrun that the child she carries must be born in a haven of peace, far from her war-scourged homeland, but as she flees she finds only far greater danger. For her karavan is overtaken by Alisanos, the deepwood, a dangerous magical forest that harbors not only demons, gods, and other otherwordly creatures, but also its own sinister intentions-and which may have already claimed Audrun and her child for its own.