From a lethal mountain blizzard to a holocaust of madness and murder, the saga of Danny Fisher and the nighthorse Cloud continues as Hugo Award-winning author C. J. Cherryh returns to the universe she created in 'Rider At The Gate'. Here a fragile human colony struggles to survive in a world of telepathic predators and scavengers. Here illusions can destroy - and emotions can kill. Here only the Riders, bonded to the alien nighthorses, can protect humanity from the horrors beyond its village walls.
In a blizzard white-out on ice-covered cliffside trails, Danny and Cloud feel the full force of the High Wild winter. They are on a mission of mercy to a mountaintop village with a previous cargo: three children, sole survivors of another village destroyed in a vermin swarm triggered by a rogue horse. The horror of the annihilation of the children's village is echoing across the mountains, drawing riderless, feral nighthorses and unknown predators - one of which, powerful and intelligent, is following, stalking the children . . .
