Three hundred years later, the Zebak devise a plan to invade Rin via the air, using flying creatures called grach, then taking the Travelers and Maris-folk by surprise through a land attack. Rowan of Rin travels to the Zebak city to find his sister, and returns with Norris and Shaaran as well, the last two descendants of the original Rin slaves. Shaaran brings the silks with her to the new Rin, causing the leader of the Travelers, Ogden, to suspect that the people of Rin and the people of the Valley of Gold are one and the same.