Acorna's people, the Linyaari, are once more without a home. Though they survived the brutal attack from the cold-blooded Khleevi, the battle left their planet, narhii-Vhiliinyar, horribly scarred. Banding together, the Linyaari decide to rebuild their homeworld. But just as work gets under way, Linyaari begin to disappear - including Acorna's lifemate, Aari. Searching for Aari, Acorna makes an astonishing discovery: the remains of the subterranean world of the legendary Friends - a technologically advanced society that populated Vhiliinyar before the time of the Ancestors. Where did the Friends go and why has so little remained of their society? Acorna knows that to save Aari and the rest of the missing Linyaari she must begin to seek the answers, deep in the realms of space...