For centuries, the bright, sunny Kalamar Forest and the dark, dismal swamps to its west have lived in relative peace.
But as Pirosha, King of Kalamar, approaches his nineteenth year, trouble consumes his realm. Vanishings and rebellions are reported. Word of ravenous wolves reaches his ear. And rumors begin to spread that he is not sovereign, that there is another claimant to the throne, that the true king of both the forest and the swamp is about to reveal himself. His name is Milkweed.