Forced to decide between an endless life of servitude or certain death in monstrous wilds, Eihla chooses life. She is bound by the Dragon to her people, given strength and power, and forced to fight leviathans of stone. When her mentor dies in battle, Eihla’s struggles to take on the responsibilities leave her people desperate for security. Some think Rolt should be their giant, but he has his own concerns. The village relies on him and his dwindling hunts to pay tribute to its patron city or risk losing a safe haven if Eihla fails. An “if” that every day looks more like a “when." After Eihla brings home a stranger—a girl who saved her life and hints at freedom from gianthood—tensions near riotous unrest. Rolt goes on a last-ditch hunting trip, leaving Eihla an ultimatum: cast out the stranger or Rolt will kill Eihla and take her power. Eihla must make an impossible choice: banish her only friend or leave her people defenseless against the monsters that prowl the wilds.
