The day his best friend is murdered, Viper is a thirteen-year-old apprentice whose only goals are to graduate to sorcery's third level and to save enough money to buy a new book. But now he's running from a killer, battling monsters large and small, and trying to keep up with his prickly companion. Traveling the world is great fun, if a bit dangerous, but trouble follows him like a vulture spiraling down on dead meat. He can't tell if he's the target, or if it's all his imagination.