Rista takes her people, now called the Chinaustrine, to a new life in the Woodlands after their crystal mining mountain falls in the Cleansing. When she remembers she must have the last Stone Seed hidden in a small, crystal box to bring about the Harvest of the indigenous First Ones and restore the balance of the world, she travels to Rigil Kentaurus with her brother Meryt in search of it. There, a chance encounter with Waret Wod Thane, another of the Chosen Ones, takes them on an adventure that has them both wondering about curious events the Keepers of the Stone Seeds never mentioned.