At five years old, Kasiel was found with the pointed ends of his ears cut off. Despite that brutal start, he's lived twelve peaceful years with the man who took him in. Keeping his hair long over his mutilated ears helps him hide the fact that he is Vanrian, a child of the enemy.

Everything changes when mercenaries arrive hunting for Kasiel. The last people he expects to come to his rescue are Vanrian soldiers, one of whom claims to be his spirit brother. They plan to take him across the war zone to deliver him to his real father, a man whose name strikes terror in his enemies.

With his secret exposed, Kasiel can't return to his old home. This is his chance to find out who he was supposed to be. It means traveling to a foreign land where they have unusual psychic abilities he may share. It also means leaving behind everything he's ever cared about. If he is to survive, he will need to learn their language and culture and earn his place in their society.

Meanwhile, the man who cut Kasiel's ears will do anything to keep him out of his true father's hands, even if it means killing him.