Aaloniel Bellinon is a dealer in magical artifacts, the daughter of an elvish noble and a human dowser, living and working in the bustling port city of Marave. But when the caravan that her father is travelling on disappears, Aaloniel leaves her home and sets out to uncover the truth. As she braves fire, magic and nature itself, she quickly discovers that no one she meets is quite whom they seem to be. Can she unearth the secrets of her past in time to save her future? Set in the river valleys and craggy mountains between a dwarven kingdom and an empire of men and elves, this book is an introduction to the medieval world of Taiu.