Nyroc has exiled himself from the Pure Ones. He flies alone, feared and despised by those who know him as Kludd's son, hunted by those whose despotism he has rejected, and haunted by ghostly creatures conjured by Nyra to lure him back to the Pure Ones. He yearns for a place he only half believes in—the great tree—and an uncle—the near-mythic Soren—who might be a true father to him. Yet he cannot approach the tree while the rumor of evil still clings to him. To prove his worth, Nyroc will fly to The Beyond the Beyond to seek the legendary Relic as a talisman of his own.

KATHRYN LASKY has written many books, both fiction and nonfiction. Among her fiction books are The Night Journey, a winner of the National Jewish Book Award, and Beyond the Burning Time, an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults. She often collaborates with her husband, photographer Christopher Knight, on her nonfiction books, which have won the Newbery Honor among other awards. They live in Cambridge, Massachusetts.