Kara had a strange childhood, her step father wanted to prepare his daughter for anything. His training and forward thinking paid off when Hawk took over the world, leaving Kara the only with the ability to go through the portal and stop the take over from ever happening. Along the way she learns dark family secrets and learns more about herself, changing into someone she wants to be. This is the first novel in the series that follows along Kara's struggle to stop Hawk and save her family as she knows it.

Mages are the protectors of the realm, each elemental power having a specific responsibility and school to coordinate with element. There's a fifth, forbidden element that will get you killed if you have that power. Every 6 year old goes through testing to determine which element is their main power source. However, any child who tests for Soul is immediately removed from the family and is never seen again. Very rarely there are the kids, like Larissa Winters, who slip through the cracks.