Every family has its secrets. Sixteen-year-old Merelin Lindon always knew there was something different about her family. There were the ethereal glimmers that always showed up in photos of her dad. The way her mom always seemed to know exactly what she was thinking. The nagging feeling that she never quite belonged. To make it all worse, her father disappeared four years ago, and Merelin could never shake the feeling that everyone stopped looking for him much too quickly. When she receives a curious medallion that belonged to her missing father, her whole world changes-literally. She finds herself swept into a harsh but beautiful world, where an ancient civilization faces annihilation at the hands of an enemy they have no weapons to fight. Some fear she will be their ruin. Some of them think she will save them all. And one of them makes her imagine she could. With the help of the fascinating and sometimes frustrating Guardian named Yatol, Merelin chooses to hazard everything in a daring attempt to find her father and save his people. But it will be more dangerous than she can even imagine.