Desperate to find answers to the whereabouts of her niece, Ellyn does the unthinkable and releases a criminal brought in from the Perished Woods. Believing him to be nothing more than a man caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, she enlists his aid as a tracker. But the dark night can only shield his true form from her view for so long and when Ellyn finally looks into Ash's ghostly eyes, she knows exactly what type of monster she's released. An orc . . . the same fearsome beast responsible for the burning of her niece’s village. Forced into the cursed woods with a traveling companion he never meant to keep, Ash wants nothing more than to lose the girl, but the longer he walks with Ellyn at his side, he realizes he's more apt to lose himself.