The world of Eruna, where the wind never ceases, is inhabited by winged beings (known as "Wings") and beings without wings (known derogatively as "Grubs"). Every winged child in the Eight Realms and Northern Provinces is sent to Cliffside School by the age of eight to be educated and prepared to participate in the Wind Trials, which they must pass to become a Wind Dancer and be allowed to study magic. The three gigantic trees of Cliffside have been "seen" by a gifted young winglet far, far to the north, who is determined to make her way to Cliffside. She elicits the aid of her grandfather, the leader of the Clans of the Northern Plateaus, and several warriors, to accompany her on her perilous journey. At Cliffside, two eighth-level students have undergone the "Desideratum" in which they have become irrevocably bound together by love to be eventually joined as life-mates. The young wingwoman is the daughter of the High Matriarch of the Eight Realms, who has dark plans for Eruna and whose use of dark magic has corrupted her. The young wingman is the son of the Patriarch of the lowliest Tree in the land due to the actions of an ancestor, who seeks to return to Eruna with the help of a powerful demonic creature, to exact revenge on those whom he believes betrayed him. Living between the roots of the giant trees of Eruna, the wingless people have been made to serve the Winged. Their lives are not their own, but they find joy and happiness despite their enslavement. One such young man finds his plans for a bright future blown away during the Turn of Winds and sets out on a journey of his own.