Debt of Bones is a short novel by Terry Goodkind. It was first published in the August 1998 anthology Legends then later published as a stand-alone book in hardcover in 2001 and in paperback in 2004.
During the war against D'Hara, a young peasant woman named Abby meets with Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander, Wizard of the First Order, the most powerful man in all the land. The young woman demands that Zedd pay a debt of bones that is owed to her according to an ancient agreement. Abby needs the bones in order to save her dying child, however Zedd cannot fulfill this request without forsaking his duties as a wizard. Abby and Zedd end up in a desperate fight to save a child's life, all in the middle of a raging war in which Zedd is a key leader. On their quest, they ultimately initiate the series of events leading up to the end of the war with D'Hara and the division of the Westlands, Midlands, and D'Hara by the boundaries.[2][1]