Maggie Stuart has never exactly been your ordinary, average 13-year old, but her dreams are more like nightmares lately, and they've started to come true. First, her estranged father shows up out of the blue with a mysterious young man who shows an unnatural interest in Maggie. Then, she's torn from home, school, and family and thrown into the middle of an ancient struggle between Char, a being of almost limitless power, and his terrifying children. Will Maggie be pawn, or player? Will she escape from Char's clutches, or be transformed? And above all, can she find a way to overcome her greatest fear - of what she herself is becoming?