In a village on the edge of Svarelek Forest, Brother Caspian arrives to administer the Elixir of Renunciation, the only sanctioned cure for the affliction known as the Malady. But when the victims appear in greater numbers than expected, certainty begins to fracture.

As whispers circulate of an older presence in the forest and the Church insists that what lies beyond its doctrine is delusion or heresy, Caspian finds himself caught between obedience and lived experience.