There are strange beings in the woods, and young Rioletta Eris has seen them. Many doubt her story, but Rioletta eventually realizes she has opened the door to a secret history. When Rioletta is about to join the Council of Sorcerers, she is set an unusual task: solve the mystery of her childhood abduction. She’s forced to face facts that don’t fit with her strict traditional upbringing: animated leaves that seem to be stalking her, a creepy changeling made of twigs, and a best friend who turns out to have practiced the Forbidden Skills. When a coup in a nearby village leaves an entire Council missing, Rioletta and her forbidden knowledge may be the only key to their rescue. For a century, the Councils have relied on their charter to save them from the disaster that ruined their cities. Have they been on the wrong path all along?