Xandr is a recluse and a wanderer. Thelana, having lost her family to famine, survives in the slums as a thief. They are the last of the Ilmar, primitives shunned by society. But when a star falls from the heavens, only the secrets guarded by their people can save civilization from ruin. With the aid of Grimosse, an over-protective golem, and Emma, a young witch who talks to ravens, Xandr and Thelana must race to the frozen peaks of the Pewter Mountains before a second cataclysm reshapes their world.