In Anadon, the animal kingdom, every child is born with a diadon—a dormant mark that ignites only once, when fate claims them. For Rhorin Vale, that moment arrives late, after a lifetime of waiting, when he finally bonds with his andol, a rare white lion-hound named Kiedo.

His enlightenment should have marked the beginning of peace. Instead, it awakens something long buried.

When Anadon is breached for the first time in its history by war-beasts from beyond the forest, Rhorin learns the truth too late. His ignited diadon bears the Septenary’s Star, the mark of an ancient prophecy tied to the end of the last age of peace. The star names him as a unifier of seven elemental realms long hidden from one another after a betrayal that reduced the world’s heartland to ruin.

To save his home, Rhorin must leave it behind, carrying a fate he never wanted and the fear that the war beginning now may be his fault.