Thirteen-year-old Maya is training to be a Halvard—someone who protects the Sands of Time, which keep the worlds of Olaman and Amrozan in balance. Battling intrigue and conspiracy, she comes face to face with the Warriors of the Shadows, who want to gain control over the Sands, and hence control time itself. For that, they need the Key, and in a strange twist of fate, Maya is the one who has it. With time running out, Maya must figure out who is a Warrior and who a friend. Her own abilities are increasing every day, but is that because she is prophesied to be an agent of the Warriors? How can Maya control her strength? Can Noah, her Watcher, protect her at all costs—even from herself? And what of her friend Yazid, now a prisoner of the Warriors? Will he have to die to save the worlds?