"I am a wheel whose edge is death. This is the mantra that Andines are taught from their first day as novices. Their swords are their souls, and their patron saint, Andos, was the living embodiment of their tenets--Protect the helpless. Obey the emperor in Axumwiste. Pray for guidance in times of peace, and pray with steel in times of strife. A time of strife has come once more. Brother Caida is sent on a quest to rescue a princess kidnapped by bandits en route to her wedding. Armed with a great sword and armored in his faith, Caida soon finds both tested beyond endurance--for nothing is as it seems, and it is the world that needs to be rescued from the princess, not the princess from anything or any one. And waiting in the darkness, behind stolen faces, are the skin walkers--an ancient evil long thought banished from the world of men."--Back cover