In the waning days leading up to the long night, fifteen year old Ak¿aq finds herself alone in the Alaskan wilderness with only the clothes on her back, a bone knife, and a bow with a single arrow. Her village has been burned to the ground by the Russians, but there is little hope to be found in a land where she is not at the top of the food chain. Her only hope of survival may come from a strange white grizzly bear that she has seen since she was a child. Its disposition toward her is uniquely gentle, and even the Russian priest advised her to follow it. Now, it seems, she has no choice, though why it chose to save her and where it intends to take her are entirely unknown. With predators closing in faster than the long night, and starvation closing in faster than that, Ak¿aq must make some perilous decisions, knowing her life is on the line.