When fifteen-year-old Will is rejected by battleschool, he becomes the reluctant apprentice to the mysterious Ranger Halt, and winds up protecting the kingdom from danger.

Chasing the Skandian slave-traders who kidnapped Will and Evanlyn, Ranger Halt and warrior student Horace find themselves in the frozen northern islands, where they battle a ruthless black-clad knight as they attempt to rescue their friends.

After escaping slavery, Evanlyn is taken captive by a Temujai warrior, leaving Will to use his Ranger training to find her, despite being outnumbered by an enemy scouting party and the entire Temujai army.

Will, now a full-fledged Ranger responsible for a sleepy fief, finds a new adventure as he seeks the traitors who poisoned the king, investigates rumors of sorcery, and tries to rescue his friend Alyss, who is taken hostage.

Skandian outcasts Hal, Stig, and others do battle at sea against the Wolves and the Sharks, in the ultimate race across icy waters where not everyone thinks of the competition as playing.