Natasha, wayward daughter of nobles in the castle of a long-ago king, she wants only a horse and her freedom from the court. But Prince Vassily, seeing her wild beauty, tries to ravish her and is attacked by her dogs. Natasha is disgraced and banished. Then an ancient stone comes to her, full of mysterious power. The Kindred, last of a primordial line, the chosen of the Earth Mother, hidden in the wilds of faraway Silverisle. These few stand between the earth and her destruction. Now a cataclysm threatens their land and only Natasha can save them from certain death. But first she must unravel the mystery of her lineage and master the power of the stone.