A hermit named Gale lives in the far north of a world in the early stages of an ice age. He lives alone with no human contact, but he has a bear-like companion called a Murthan. One day they rescue a woman seemingly left to die in the elements. Her memories are sparse, and she has no recollection of who she is, or why she was in the vast snowfields. Gale and his Murthan companion nurse 'Autumn, ' as they name her, back to health. After she recovers and learns what it is to live the life he has chosen for himself, Gale and the nameless woman head south to retrace her steps. She learns that she is a sacrifice for some sort of ritual far in the north, and with the help of Gale's old flame, they go to see what her destiny in the north holds for her. There's far more going on up there than it seems though. Fierce storms and strange meteorological phenomena surround the center of everything, aptly named the Heart of Winter. As they approach the center of the disturbances, it becomes clear that someone had a hand in all that is occurring. Plots centuries old and feuds just as old surface. A species forgotten by the world emerges, and the true ties between the Heart of Winter, the Murthan, the changes in the weather, and the other races of the world are discovered.