Centuries ago, during a cataclysmic event the world was shattered. In order to protect their beloved homeland, the ancient elves cast every ounce of their magic, and their souls, upward to the heavens to create a barrier around the continent known as Aanloein, shielding it from the sun, the storms, and the very apocalypse that destroyed the rest of the world. Now, four hundred years later, Tryztyn finds out that the world is not as it should be, and he knows how to fix it. After a violent and near-fatal escape from the prison-like elven city of Vundranis, he finds himself in the world of humans, suspect and feared for what he is. He finds companions who are surly, untrusting, and full of questions for the taciturn elf, questioning his goals and his past, but mostly his motive. With the aid of an acerbic Spirit Woman from a freshly-extinct tribal culture, a sketchy councilor, a bemused man with too-sensitive skin, and an honorable guardsman, Tryztyn will fight his way through hosts of elves sent to destroy him before he can reach the final goal, to steal a magical, diamond-arrowhead known throughout myth as the Arrow of Ordanthal. He must use the Arrow to relight the great Flame of Ordanthal, and remove the barrier that blocks the sun from the suffering world. Such things will not deter Tryztyn, however, who is gifted with extraordinary sight, and unimaginable courage. Throughout this story of racism, fear, hatred, and greed comes the tale of Tryztyn Nkayt'hei, the Archer, who will learn what love is, and what exactly it will cost to walk beneath the sun as a free elf.