Synopsis: Annat Vasilyevich is a young shaman who longs to escape her strict aunt and the small village where she grew up. She wants to use the powers that are growing stronger now she is no longer a child. When she and her brother go to live with their shaman father, who works as a guard on the steam railway, it seems her dreams of adventure will be realised. He takes them to the northern terminus, a place on the edge of maps. But her dream turns dark when an evil force drags her brother into the frozen world of La Souterraine. As Annat and her father set out in pursuit, they face an implacable enemy who wants to kill them - and worse. In the journey that follows, Annat is drawn into the adult world of loyalty and betrayal, friendship and desire, as she and her family fight for survival against a powerful Goddess. The Goddess can bestow life as well as death, but her legend will pursue and trap the characters in her domain.