They came to New Skye in search of a better future. The colonists, descendants of the brave people who set out to reach a new planet, found a beautiful world, rich beyond their wildest expectations. Except for one thing. Crops will not grow in the soil of New Skye--not the way they should--and humans cannot eat the native animals. Desperate feats of botanical engineering have kept the colony alive, but time is running out as food becomes more scarce. Elias Trost will not sit idly by while his colony starves. The one hope for a solution is the Life Seed, a dormant plant organism kept under lock and key at the heart of the colony. In desperation, Elias steals the Life Seed to return it to its rightful place, making him an outcast in the unforgiving winter world. Pursued by colony soldiers armed to the teeth, including his former best friend, Tristan MacLeod, Elias soon runs afoul of a far greater threat. The wurl, the deadly reptiles that besiege the colony, are tracking him too, and they appear to be more intelligent than the colonists ever knew....