After it is known throughout the town that all born after the war have magic in them the "Afters" are more free to practice their powers in front of the "Befores", those born before the war. Some of them use their gifts to help the town, Liza and Matthew do just this by going on patrols. The point of their patrols is to find shadows, spirits of those who died during the war, and lay them to rest before they reach the town in search of lost loved ones. One day during an ordinary patrol they come across something far from ordinary, a child's charred body buried in the snow. They return to town and tell Tara, Liza's mother, about their discovery so that the child may have a proper burial and the cause of his death can possibly be found. On their next patrol they find another child, but this time he is alive and a firestarter, one who can start fires in his mind. They bring him to the village so that they can possibly find out what happened, but he does not trust their intentions. One day he turns on them setting their house ablaze, Liza uses her gift and calls to him leading out of the house as well as her mother. Upon seeing what he had done he calls the fire back into him, putting his life at risk and burning him horribly. They must go get Kaylen from his town to heal him and Matthew insists on travelling alone so that they will be there sooner, Liza agrees on the condition that he will be back by sunrise. She wakes up and finds Matthew is not back yet so she decides to set out to find him. To learn what befalls her on her journey read Faerie Winter by Janni Lee Simner.