Novice knight Gair has a gift: he can hear the songs of the earth, and weave that music into magic. But in the Holy City, that makes him a witch, and that means he must be tortured until he gives up the name of his demon master ...except that he has no demon lord; it's just something he can do. After the Questioning comes the court, and Gair himself is as shocked as the knights to find his death-by-fire sentence has been commuted to excommunication, branding and life banishment - but only if he can make it over the boundary by sundown. Gair may be starved, broken in body and with a festering new brand on the palm of his hand - but his spirit has not yet given up, and with help from an unlikely source he escapes to the Western Isles, where he hears about the Veil that separate the worlds, and the Guardians who protect it. But this peaceful haven is threatened by Gair's arrival. Those who condemned him set an implacable witchfinder on his trail, for they want him dead. And a renegade Guardian is striving to tear down the Veil, releasing evil, unearthly monsters into the human world. Before his training is complete, Gair must take his place in the frontline against these forces - and he will pay a terrible price.