Alister never thought his name would be significant enough to earn a place in the histories, but now it looks like the fate of Mount Era rests in his hands. Despite all the times Lark, the travelling merchant, told the sixteen-year-old Alister about the cities of the Union, he never believed he'd be one of the few to leave home and explore them. But after his rash actions lead to a young girl's death, Alister sees no choice but to run away.
His guilt might have overwhelmed him if not for a message from Lark, who recently went missing. The message reveals the plot of Baudouin, an unnervingly charismatic king of the western side of Mount Era. The ambitious king desires the entire mountain, and to gain control of it, he plans to find and use the powerful but dangerous Stone of Dominus, buried in the centre of Mount Era millennia ago.
With the rest of the Union oblivious to Baudouin's plans and fooled by the aid he's given them over the years, Alister sets out to free Lark, so the two of them can stop Baudouin from using the Stone of Dominus and risk destroying the Mount with its power.
