Hailing from crude message boards, relics of an online beforetime, hordes of white people blacken up their social media profiles in order to infiltrate online discussions about justice.
|
|
Halfway down, they come across a ruined Beforetime city in a large cavern. After exiting the mountain via a large waterfall, they are nursed back to health by a rebel couple. In return, the group agree to go to Aborium to see if their son, Brydda, is fine. Domick leaves them to travel to Sutrium to set up the safe house.
|
|
The novel is written in the first-person and is based around a journey made to the lower lands. Beginning at Obernewtyn, they travel through the White Valley to the Druid's Camp, then through Tor mountain to Rangorn. They then travel on to the major city of Aborium, and then on to the Beforetime ruin. Returning home, they go back to Rangorn and through the secret pass over Tor.
|
|
The group find a wild girl, capable of causing horrific visions with her mind, and discover that she is the Misfit they seek. After being coaxed with food, the girl, dubbed ‘Dragon’, eventually follows them back and joins their group. They also take back many books from the Beforetime library. After returning to Brydda's parents house, Domick rushes in to warn them of the approaching soldierguards, and tells them that Ariel is alive.
|
|
Convincing them that her powers can help find him, she makes her way on foot through the blizzard to the far mountains, with Maruman as her guide. Inside the cave network she finds a dying Cameo, who tells her the Beforetime weapons Alexi and Vega are searching for caused the Great White, but they do not know this. She also reveals it is Elspeth's destiny, as the Seeker, to destroy them. After mourning her death, Elspeth overhears that Rushton, imprisoned in the next cavern, is the true heir of Obernewtyn.
|
|
Cameo begins disappearing from her bed at nighttime, and Elspeth fearfully suspects that Cameo is the subject of some of these experiments. That night, Elspeth sneaks into the Doctor's office to retrieve a map and compass, but on finding forbidden books and maps from before the Great White, the "Beforetime", she realises they must be searching for something from long ago. She leaves empty- handed. Rosamunde, a fellow orphan from the Kinraide orphan home, arrives at Obernewtyn and coldly informs Elspeth that her brother Jes had discovered he also had mental abilities, but was killed by guards in an escape attempt.
|
|
Rushton comforts the distraught Elspeth, and asks her why she plagues him. Fearful that someone will soon be after her as well, her group's escape plans begin in earnest. Elspeth returns a second time to the Doctor's office, but when Vega, Alexi and Ariel enter, she learns Ariel is part of the Obernewtyn family, and that they are searching for a Misfit to help them find the location of Beforetime weapons. Pre-warned that two Councilmen are coming to fetch her for questioning by the Herders, at nightfall she makes to escape but Rushton stops her.
|
|
Rushton returns from a journey around the highlands and immediately calls a meeting of all the leaders of the guilds (guildmerge). At the meeting, Elspeth and Pavo propose a joint expedition of their guilds to the West Coast, in order to recover an untouched Beforetime (time before Great White) book cache, as well as rescue a person with very strong mental abilities. Rushton proposes a safe house be set up in the capital, Sutrium, so they can be informed of the Council's movements, with the person to do this joining their expedition. This expedition is unanimously approved.
|
|