Pathfinder

The book begins with Rigg, a boy that has the strange ability to see the path of any living being, no matter how long ago it existed. He spends his time hunting with his father in the mountains, trapping for valuable pelts. His father is his mentor, and so he has taught Rigg everything he knows. His father dies impaled by a tree, and the man's parting words were to find not Rigg's mother, but his sister, a person of whom Rigg had had no knowledge. After his father dies, Rigg tries to save a boy named Kyokay on the Stashi Falls (the waterfalls close to Rigg's home). During this rescue attempt, the paths around him solidify and people begin to appear in these paths. Someone else's path overlaps with Kyokay and because of that he is unable to save the boy. His brother Umbo sees this, starts throwing stones at him, thinking he could make him fall, and tells the villagers that Rigg murdered his brother. Shocked at this discovery, Rigg returns to his town only to find a mob ready to kill him for what they perceived as the murder of Kyokay. The innkeeper, Nox, hides Rigg, and gives him money, an address, and nineteen jewels inherited from his father. As Umbo's father was ashamed of him for perceiving it wrongly, he kicked Umbo out of their house. Umbo travels with his friend Rigg as he had nowhere to go. In a place called Leaky's Landing, they meet a new man, Loaf, who offers to take the duo to the city of O, where they can sell the jewels for more money.