In response to a report about souls being stolen, a little girl must find out who the soul stealer is before the missing souls leave their owners to die.

Eleven-year-old Pingzi Po loves her freedom as a demon queller. In a few years, she could end up in an arranged marriage. But as long as she succeeds as a demon queller, Pingzi believes she can keep her freedom. 

When the emperor of the medieval Far East receives a report about soul stealing in a distant province, he sends Pingzi to that province to find the soul stealer. Thrilled at any opportunity for adventure, she departs at once with her guardian and companion, Benzel of the Wolf, a dragonslayer from the Northlands.

But when Pingzi confronts the man who sent the report, he claims to know nothing about it. It’s true that souls are being stolen from the most promising young men in the province. If their souls don’t return soon, they’ll die. Confounded, Pingzi must figure out how to investigate such a puzzling case. 

While in search of a sorcerer, Pingzi meets a dragon keeper and a dragon oracle, a dragon with the power to predict omens about the future. As truths collide, Pingzi struggles to find a way to quell demons, save lives, and tell a very delicate truth to the emperor. A truth that could result in the deaths of the very people she’s trying to save.