Ruby Swift is the queen of Ariel. Marcus Swift is the king of Ariel. Shintaro Carter is the Light Wielder and guardian of Ariel. Falte is the trusted adviser and librarian of Ariel. Gabriel Smith is the blacksmith of Ariel. Emily Swift is the princess of Ariel. Or... They were. Ruby has been dethroned. Marcus has been changed. Shintaro has been defeated. Falte has been discarded. Gabriel has been chained. Emily has been hidden. All that remains are several broken souls and unspoken hope that is slowly flickering away. The kingdom of Ariel has fallen at the hands of Darkness itself, and the rest of the world is next.

Ruby Swift is the queen of Ariel, but lately a lot of her subjects have either mysteriously gone missing or are brutally murdered by someone or something unknown. Marcus Swift is the king of Ariel, but even with all his efforts to thwart the mysterious villain, nothing seems to work for him. Shintaro Carter is the Light Wielder who protects the borders of Ariel, but even he hasn't been able to deduce or catch what has been abducting and murdering the citizens of Ariel. Falte Watson is the queen's trusted adviser and friend, and even though he has a knack for knowledge, he is unaware of how to put an end to the murderer's schemes. Gabriel Smith is Ariel's blacksmith, but the armor he creates for the kingdom's guards apparently isn't enough to protect them, and he doesn't know what to do to enhance it. Emily Swift is the princess of Ariel, and even though she tries to keep everyone's spirits alight, the recent murders and abductions have been frightening her. Although Ariel is the most defended and thriving kingdom, things seem to be falling apart for everyone living there - including the rulers. Marcus and Ruby refuse to let their kingdom fall to a faceless killer, but if they don't know the full extent of the problem... How are they going to prepare for what's coming next?

Shintaro wishes he had done more to stop the end of the world. His whole life's purpose was to keep the Abyss and Dark Magic in check, and he had failed from the day he was born. Dark Magic grew out of hand because he wasn't brave enough to stand up to his father all those years ago. Dark Magic grew out of hand because Shintaro was a coward. His only success in containing was just barely managing to put his father in a place of eternal darkness, and even that nearly killed him. That day, he stumbled back to his home, into the loving arms of his wife, not daring to tell her what had happened. He came up with a brilliant lie, one that he doesn't care to remember. After his father's defeat, his life went on smoothly. He was able to watch his children grow into wonderful young people. He was able to live as peacefully as the keeper of peace could. He shamefully tried to ignore his duty and get a few years of peace with his family. And that led him to Thorn's release, which evidently led to the murder of his wife, the capture of his children, and then destruction of his life. The only good thing that came out of that adventure was his new friends, the ones that he grew closer to over five years. But now his son is dead, it's his fault, and the boy who was like another son to him is gone. Simply because Shintaro was too cowardly to try to put up a fight against his father. No matter how many times he convinced himself, he was afraid. Afraid of losing, afraid of his father. But he is done sitting back and doing nothing. He isn't about to give up this time. He isn't going to lose anyone else. He's going to defeat his father once and for all. He is going to get Kai back.

It's been five years since Kai's life was completely turned upside down, but he is extremely grateful for the things that have happened. The deaths not included, things have changed for the better. Kai feels that if those men and Thorn hadn't showed up at his home, Abby wouldn't be his girlfriend, Chase wouldn't be his best friend, Shintaro wouldn't be an amazing "therapist" (as Chase calls it) to Kai, Linda wouldn't be like a mother to him, Gabriel wouldn't be the funny-in-his-own-antisocial-way friend (he had his own home in the town, so he often visited), and Kai wouldn't be as close to his father has he is now. Kai is actually enjoying his new life in this strange town. The village is "ruled" by a young woman named Ruby, and everyone there adores her for being such a great leader. Kai has only met her once or twice, but she seems very nice. But there is something prickling at the back of Kai's mind, and it unsettles him greatly. Ever since Moon vanished after killing Luke, she hasn't been spotted anywhere. Kai often wonders if she is somewhere far from where they are now, planning her next attack. When a series of strange events start happening around the town, Kai is certain that Moon is back and playing her game with them. In a way, he is right. But there are many things that he is also wrong about. During the midst of it all, Shintaro gets captured, sending Kai down a path of despair and hopelessness. He feels responsible for getting Shintaro back, but he doesn't know what he's up against. Thankfully, his friends don't let him do it by himself. As always, they have his back. And soon, new friends are there behind him, too. The group finds that Moon is behind all of this, but she isn't doing it for herself. She has Shintaro for a certain reason, and the friends are soon to find out what is at stake. The lives of others, including loved ones.

Trauma is a scary thing. Kai, age ten, figures this out the hard way. His mother is brutally murdered right in front of him, and his father was never seen after leaving for work that day. Kai is taken away by a scary, commanding man with blood red eyes. The man takes Kai to a big space underground, where there are many beaten and exhausted looking people in cages. Kai doesn't understand what is going on, but he doesn't want to ask the scary man who calls himself Thorn. Kai soon finds out the place is ruled by Thorn, and there are many other scary people with strange powers. There is a large, empty space in the middle, and that place is used for fighting. Kai is in awe of all of this, but mostly scared of what Thorn will do to him. Kai wakes up the next morning in one of the big cages. He doesn't remember what happened, but he feels different. What will Kai do when he finds out that he is now one of Thorn's minions -- a Dark? How will he escape this torture? Where is his father? Is there any point in living when all Thorn does is almost kill him?