meets in this fantastic tale of lovers torn asunder amid a planet's growing danger. Aran native Cort has risen to head the premier gang in the rough slums that surround the aliens' military base on his beloved planet. But his life is shattered when a powerful slumlord abducts his dearest friend Dilia to sell to the alien commandant. When Cort's daring rescue attempt fails, the slumlord marks him for death. Cort's only remaining hope is to flee to the one place the man and his minions can't follow-the wilds of Aran's strange, forbidding forest-and become the hunter, not the hunted. On her own in the heavily fortified base, gentle healer Dilia fends off the commandant's advances while working on ways to escape and rejoin her love. Deep in the forests of Aran, Cort faces his own challenge: to confront his kinship with the ancient consciousness that lies deep in Aran's heart, and to terminate the monstrous mission of the aliens, who are rapidly plundering the forest for profit. If they complete its destruction, they will imperil every living thing on Aran. Read to learn Aran's innermost secret and see how Cort and Dilia overcome the forces that seek to destroy them and the home planet they love.