Thousands of years ago an orphan boy and his wolf cub companion challenge a demon bear that threatens to destroy their world forever. With the help of the World Spirit, Torak destroys the bear, but his beloved Wolf is lost in the ensuing avalanche.

And Torak's quest is far from over. A strange, creeping sickness, silent and deadly, is threatening the Ravens, whose leader Finn Kedinn has told Torak something of his history. Word arrives that the Seal Clan have the cure and Torak must face a lonely journey across treacherous terrain alive with menace and danger to find it. He must search for the rare herb which is part of the cure and find it by Midsummer. On the Seal's Island he stumbles into a world utterly unlike his own. And here Torak is welcomed by the kindly Seal Mage, Teneris, and kinsman, Bale. But all is not as it seems, Torak must keep his wits about him to judge who might be friend or foe, to face the dark art of the Soul Eaters, who haunt him even in his dreams, and to master his fears.