To save the future of their homeland, a young herald and petty thief must face off against a boy consumed by dark magic
Illmoor's capital has a problem: rats. And lots of them. Desperate for a solution, the chairman of the Dullitch Council seeks the help of Illmoor's roving mercenaries, hoping to find someone who can tame the ever-swelling tide of rodents. Jimmy Quickstint, the chairman's grandson and junior thief in training, returns to Dullitch with the hulking Groan Teethgrit and his angry dwarf sidekick, Gordo Goldeaxe. Together, they are Dullitch's best hope to eradicate the rats—until Diek Wustapha arrives.
Diek, still just a boy, has been possessed by a magical power that gives him the uncanny ability to control not just animals, but also people. He gets rid of the rats in town, but the relief in Dullitch is short lived. The city refuses to pay Diek, and he does not take the insult lightly. He is determined to strike back at Dullitch by kidnapping all of the capital city's children. That is, unless Jimmy Quickstint and his two new friends can find a way to stop him.