Nev is an old hermit who lives in a quiet village with his pet pig, Pig, and turtle for companions, and makes a living selling fish at the market. But there's a catch: Nev is one of the last remaining body mercenaries—which means that he's almost immortal. If his body dies, his soul can jump to another body, provided he has one on hand, and continue living in its new host. His kind is thinning, and are targeted by many governments. One day, after a paltry catch — just a few fish — at the river, two men approach Nev with barrels full of gleaming fish. They don't have a stall at the market, so ask Nev to sell their wares from his stall, in exchange for an 80% cut. Nev accepts, though the deal seems too good to be true, and sells nearly all the fish. Later that day, Nev returns to his cottage with the couple remaining fish. Pig, hungry for dinner, jumps up and begins eating one of the fish. As the animal bites into the flesh, a smell of cloves and rotting lemons pours out — the fish has been injected with a fatal toxin. Rushing to save his pet, Nev tries to tear the fish away, but gets some toxin on his hand. At the same time, one of the fish-sellers enters the house. Nev, realizing his body is minutes from death, murders the man and jumps into his body. Nev, in a new body, sets out to find the man's companion. As he tries to torture a confession out of him, a young woman, Branka, approaches with a crossbow and threatens to kill him, explaining the toxic fish killed her sisters. Nev explains he is a body mercenary, and together the two get a confession out of the man before killing him. The toxin, the man tells them, is a substance concocted by the necromancer, a mysterious figure, and does more than just kill bodies: it brings them back to life, so he claims. Nev and Branka visit the necromancer, an old woman, who confirms the toxin is meant to bring bodies back to life, with the goal of kicking body mercenaries out of their hosts and eradicating their kind forever. In a rash move, Branka shoots the woman with an arrow, unleashing a cloud of black flies that bite. The woman disappears in a puff of smoke. Suddenly, Nev feels a stirring in his body, and knows that the old host is coming back to inhabit it. He warns Branka to run away, and jumps into the body of the man he and Branka had killed. Returning to the cottage, Nev finds that the body of the hermit is gone, presumably re-possessed by its original host. Nev takes his one possession, his pet pig, and sets out to cross the river.