In a fantasy wilderness a young hunter breaks all the rules and steals an exotic animal said to be a charm for easy childbirth. He risks his livelihood and his life to save his beloved wife and their new child.
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Varushky believed he was a hunter for all the right reasons. His work served the good of his people, he was well-respected and well-rewarded, he admired the untamed strength of the animals, and he adored the beauty of open Wilds with a religious fervor. At times it actually threw him to his knees in rapture. "Surely this is why my country is called the Motherland", his heart would choke with emotion as he looked across it from the top of Gods-Eye Peak, "for only a woman could be so beautiful, remote, tempting, and forbidding, all at the same time."
With his hunt-mate Peyter, Varushky runs with the magnificent zebra-cats, a dangerous secret sport among the brave men of the Wilds. Having already lost one babe in childbirth, when his wife falls ill with their second, Varushky determines to save them both by any means, even if it’s illegal and very dangerous.
Varushky has heard the legends about the zebra-cats – that its breath is life-saving magic for newborns and mothers. But it’s against tradition to bring live animals from behind the Walls into the village. To save this child, Varushky must risk his profession, his friendships, and his own life.
