In the north, the savage barbarian tribes of the steppe grow bold. Ballista, warrior of Rome, is sent on an impossible mission - to turn the barbarians against each other. He will face the Heruli - the Eaters of Flesh, the Wolves of the North - most terrifying of all the nomad tribes. But as Ballista and his retinue set out, someone hunts them, picking his people off one by one, and leaving a trail of terror and mutilated corpses. Ballista, in a strange land, among strange people, is about to discover that the greatest threat sometimes lies among one's own . . .