When a mysteriously carved walking stick arrives without explanation – bearing only the word Grenewyze – Flora sets out across a lawless, devastated land hoping to uncover its meaning and find the father who vanished long ago. Accompanied by her dying mother, and later joined by a stray dog, an abandoned baby, a homeless woman, and a young musician on a quest of his own, Flora’s journey leads her through perilous territory ruled by brutal Warlords and in constant fear of beast-like Outlanders.

Having escaped the repressive island community led by his father, Silver seeks freedom and a life in the wider world. Drawn briefly into the company of a travelling Circus whose work seeks to preserve echoes of a lost civilisation, he finds himself swept into the same dangerous quest.

As winter tightens its grip and their enemies close in, the travellers take refuge in a forbidden mountain stronghold. There the ensuing clash between the Warlords and the Circus brings about a finale that none of them could have imagined – and they discover the secret of Grenewyze, a secret that could restore hope to them and their shattered world.