No one crosses the Dry Country unchanged. For those desperate enough to journey in search of a better life, there are Guides, who can navigate the Dry’s mirages and transformations.

With beauty and a fierce temper, young MISKIN runs away from a comfortable life and two rich suitors. She wants to cross the Dry and become a Guide. But most people cross the Dry to escape poverty and loss, so Miskin must keep her previous life a secret.

SAM, the Guide, has good reason to think that Miskin is a criminal—until the real criminals stage a mutiny and the Dry Country retaliates with visions of giant scorpions and flying horses, shifts in time and space, wild winds, grass that acts like quicksand and hills that move around.

The travelers are scattered and time is running out. In only a few days, Sam will lose her Dry sense, leaving everyone to wander the Dry forever. With help from big ARKITEL, Miscin conquers her temper, fights GARAK and others who don’t believe in the dangers of the Dry, and brings the group back together.

But the Dry Country’s antics are nothing compared to human foolishness.