The summer before college should be a time to relax and enjoy freedom. But, when Dara's father turns to the secret science of alchemy in order to develop a revolutionary renewable power source, disaster threatens their quiet rural community. His power conduits reach into mystic underground realms, stealing light and energy from Faerie, home of the elves. He releases ravenous shadow-creatures from an even deeper land. When he uses the stolen cup of the goddess Ceridwen to deal with the waste products his process creates, he poisons the land of the elves. Electricity behaves strangely. Earthquakes are rampant. Hungry shadow-creatures prowl the earth. The queen of the elves, is furious but helpless. She cannot challenge the alchemist or slow his destruction of her land. Through a dream, she urges Dara to stop her father. When the alchemist is trapped in the conduit he opens, Dara and her friends must find a way to undo the damage and rescue him.