Federick Altzair is an ordinary boy growing up in an ordinary Krionian village. But there's one problem: he was born Alarian, the enemies of Krios in a thousand years' civil war. His life takes an uncertain turn when a wood courier he is working for is attacked by a group of bandits, and their leader returning to Fred's hometown puts the boy in a place he doesn't want to be--the middle of a Neit investigation rooting out Alarians in Krios.