When Lea's family is murdered by Mertonan soldiers from the North, her misery is unleashed in a powerful force that causes the ground to quake. Unable to control her unusual gift, she wanders the woods alone, grieving for her lost people. When Lea discovers she is pregnant by the soldiers who raped her, she falls into deep despair. Elmond is a mystic aligned with the wind and is far from home when the Mertonans attack the southern towns along the Helian Sea. A refugee family begs him to guide them north to Halen through the dangerous Brenan Woods. In the forest, they are under constant threat from renegade soldiers but find strength in their own solidarity, a protective spirit wandering in the woods, and the Ria, the life force that flows through all nature. Only by aligning with the Ria, can Lea recover from her past and follow her own destiny, and only through its power, can she and the other mystics overcome the violent Mertonans to protect the creatures and forests of Terralena.