The waterholes of the Plain are drying up, and Wulfgar, leader of the Altaii people faces many other challenges. This is Robert Jordan's never-before-published first novel, which he wrote before his well-known Wheel of Time series.

As Pelican Island's history-making drought wears on, the water level on Bex and Davey's beloved marsh reveals the hand of a statue that has been underneath the water for who knows how long, and the siblings are determined to find out more.