You start off in this book with Will, an apprentice ranger, and Evanlyn in a Skandian cabin in the Northern mountains of Skandia after Will and Evanlyn escape a harsh life of slavery. The book follows Will, Evanlyn, Halt, Will's master, Horace ,an apprentice form the battle school, and other smaller characters in their own perspectives of their time in Skandia. When a foreign army from the South the Araluens and the Skandians must come together to ward off the enemy so that not only Skandia but all the countries in the region will stay independent of a foreign rule. As the foreign army marches towards the capitol of Skandia they encounter attacks from not only land but from sea too; all thanks to Halt's careful planning. Everyone helps out from Halt's planning to Horace's protection to Evanlyn's spying and ideas to Will's forming of a smaller archer unit. Everyone's help is need if everyone wants to stay free of a foreign oppressor. On a scale of one to ten I would rate this book at an eight. I loved the tactics but thought that some of the parts in the book seemed to run a little dry.
