As a consequence of vital fragments of her past coming back to her, Tahquil-Ashalind undertakes a journey to seek the Bitterbynde Gate, the only remaining way into the world of the Faran. However, with the returning of her memory, she has also regained the Langothe, a terrible longing for the world of the Faran, for which there is no cure but to return there, before it is too late. Accompanied by her two loyal friends, Caitri and Viviana, Tahquil must beat a path through sinister forests, riven valleys threaded by fast-flowing waters and vast, neglected orchards haunted by extraordinary creatures. When Tahquil's companions are ruthlessly abducted, she abandons her earlier purpose in spite of the yearning of the Langothe, and sets out to try to rescue them, venturing into the land of Darke, and the blackness of Evernight