Explorer Koralei Halloway investigates a mysterious message reporting her father and his adversary have somehow returned from their graves. Seeking the truth, she stumbles upon a life-saving secret which propels her into a realm encompassing her universe. The sun now shines upward through bodies of water and seeps through the soil, lighting a land ringed by the Impenetrable Mountains: soaring peaks whose unknown crests are perpetually shrouded in blackness above the secreting sun-line. With all of the links to her universe gone except for her blue bracelet, a gift from her father, Koralei finds herself high in the mountains overlooking a deep, cloud-covered valley. Found by Errow, an Earthman, she is led to his bush home at Terracul, where she learns she possesses the water bracelet, one of eight power strands. She also learns the Terrans believe a rising Simerath is trying to capture all of the bands to form two rainbow bracelets which will allow the bearer to wield the elements to their hand. In a bracelet-induced vision, Koralei discovers her father is still alive, and she joins an expedition seeking the truth of the strange circumstances portending a Simerath. On the journey, the Explorer also hopes to find her father and a way home. But trouble, intrigue, and surprise await her at every turn, and she is swept into an epic adventure which takes her deep into the mysterious realm and plunges her into the heart of the rising Simerath's terror.