Reviled by her own people, Ku joins a Mongol tribe to discover why they pursue war across the face of their world. She must learn a new culture, find new friends, and most of all, she must earn their trust to fulfill the pledge she made to her god. In her quest for belonging and purpose, she finds a new name and embraces her new identity. Ku becomes Khavi; witch, midwife, and lover to the khan’s only son. When war threatens to destroy Khavi’s people, she seeks the help of sorcerers from the West—but she has no idea what it will cost her.

In Words of Thunder, the Sky-Blue Wolf spoke: “You will go to My people and ask why they have lost the love of their own land and their own ways. At the end of your journey, you will return here to tell me why My People must fill this Earth with their ruin. For your protection I will leave you a token of My will. And you will leave me your blood as a pledge.”