(Book One) The wilding Estin just wanted to be left alone, find shelter and food, and live to a nice old age. With war escalating around him, these may be beyond his reach. Instead, survival becomes his only goal as he flees civilization to pursue the chance at a better life by following a fox wildling into the mountains, far from the war's conflicts.
The war might still be raging elsewhere, but Estin will find the mountains are far from safe. Estin must decide what he is willing to do and become, as well as who to trust if he is to survive, no matter where he lives.