Dalan, a six-teen-year-old orphan, can't wait for the day he can leave the orphanage and return to his hometown to find the truth behind his father's death. He thinks he's found the way to escape his life as a poor orphan when he finds a bright red gemstone in the middle of the woods. Instead, it puts his life at risk. He hopes the gemstone will provide a way to go back to the wealthy lifestyle he knew as a commander's son, but the suspicious magic it contains keeps anyone from buying it. Not only does it fail to yield riches, but it haunts him with dreams telling him to take the gemstone further than he's ever traveled: Hashna. Dalan has never visited the country that is home to the tiny, green-eyed people who filled the gemstone with magic, but when winged beasts armed with sharp talons and teeth--who are supposed to be mythical--attack him, he is driven to take the gemstone to Hashna to find answers. The gemstone turns out to play a vital part in the affairs of the entire county, and Dalan is charged with its safety. Dalan sees the opportunity to follow in his father's footsteps and gain fame and glory from the task.

But his quest for recognition may be the downfall of a country.