Elly Celendis is not like the other elves in the realm of Alendria. She is insecure, has unruly hair, loathes pink, lacks musical aptitude, and hates going to school, where she is tormented by the Three Flamingos, the meanest clique at Arvellon Academy. To top it off, she is dreading her twelfth birthday party and is now experiencing puzzling dreams and visions. Elly aspires to become an explorer like her grandpapa and heroine, Larabeth Goldberry, so she can venture into different realms-especially the human realm of Gaya, which has been sealed off for a hundred years. But her wish comes true much sooner than expected after she is fooled by a goblin and pushed through a portal into Gaya, where she becomes stranded. Desperate to find her way back home, Elly masquerades as a human as she attempts to track down an elusive blue amber that she hopes will repair the damaged portal. Along the way, Elly forges friendships and discovers secrets about her homeland with the potential to change her life forever. In this fantasy tale, a unique elf on the adventure of her life is about to realize powerful forces are at play in Alendria that are far more sinister than she ever imagined.

A year has passed since Elly the elf returned home to Alendria after being stranded in the human realm of Gaya. She has been undergoing exhaustive training with the Order of Kaizendil, and though she has learned to teleport, wield a sword, and use a bow and arrow with some skill, she is utterly terrified of the impending task that awaits her: to seek out the Four Guardians of Gaya in the hopes that they will restore the four poisoned orbs of power that sustain the Tree of Alendria. After a year’s wait, the Order finally receives the first signal from Graille, the Guardian of Light. As Elly embarks on a dangerous journey in Gaya to find the Guardian, she gets caught in a web of intrigue that takes her all the way to Korea, where she meets an old woman and her grandson who turn out to be pivotal to the restoration of the first orb. Along the way, she learns of a deep, dark secret that the adults in her life have kept from her since her birth, a devastating truth about a girl named Goldie, who has been hiding out in London from her abusive foster mother for the past year.