Xiao Yen is a paper mage: She folds paper into an animal or a thing, then does magic, so the paper becomes what she's folded. However, she's a woman trying to fill a man's roll during the Tang dynasty, in China, and the only people willing to hire her are foreigners.

Things go from bad to worse for Xiao Yen on her first assignment: She loses her lucky amulet, there are robbers on the trail, as well as treachery among her traveling companions. Before long, Xiao Yen must battle a warlord, attack a rat dragon, and destroy a Taoist immortal.

But even bigger battles await Xiao Yen up ahead...