Rahzel and her two companions get lost but chance across a town which takes part in a type of sky burial where corpses are placed on stakes in a forest near town to decay and be eaten by birds. Rahzel meets a young girl named Larawel whose father runs an inn in town, and Rahzel and her friends plan to stay there; Larawel's father even gives Alzeid a clue as to his father's murderer. After Larawel goes missing, Rahzel and the others search for her and eventually discover that the town has changed since Larawel was born eight years previous, and that there is growing belief that Larawel's father participates in black magic in order to keep Larawel alive.