Yanda-a gifted surgeon whose powers of sight and healing grow ever stronger-has returned to the watery world where she endured a long captivity. Terlond, home to peaceful elves and ancient sentient stones, bears deep scars from centuries of colonizing. Woven into its history is the fate of the enigmatic Xentu, a great race thought lost, until now.

Having revealed their secret refuge on a forbidding moon in the far reaches of unknown space, the Xentu summon Yanda-the daughter they abandoned at birth-to bring them back into the Known Universe as well as draw the moon they inhabit to orbit Terlond.

As Yanda grapples with this troubling demand, she faces burdens closer to home: the daughter she freed from an elite, sinister academy that forges children into living weapons is hunted by secret government organizations who want their investment back.

With loyal allies-including those who have loved her and love her still-Yanda must fight to safeguard mind-gifted beings like herself from those who both fear and covet powers. To do this, she must face the truth of her own origins and the source of her gifts. The Xentu secret may spell salvation, or the downfall of all that is good in the universe.