Twelve-year old Lykos is training to be a Spartan warrior. For the last five years the only life he has known is the regimented routine and harsh discipline of the barracks. All the same, he is the best in his class, a confident boy and natural leader. Then, without warning he is taken out at dead of night for a clandestine single combat in which he is seriously injured. At a stroke, all his old certainties are undermined. Apart from a crippling injury which he struggles to overcome, he is faced with the mystery surrounding his opponent's unexplained death and before long he finds himself embroiled in a dark world of political intrigue and assassination.

As he fights to regain his strength and reassert himself he is forced to become the partner of another, weaker boy whom the others despise. But when the boy's true identity is revealed he is faced with the hardest decision of all. Should he protect him and risk becoming an outcast or leave his partner to his fate? The choice he makes determines not just his own future but that of his country.

This fast-paced and exciting book gives a fascinating glimpse into the ancient world's most secretive society.