But just as work begins to get under way Linyaari begin mysteriously disappearing - including Acorna's lifemate, Aari. Searching for Aari, Acorna makes an astonishing discovery: the remains of the subterranean world of the legendary Friends - a technologically advanced society that populated Vhiliinyar before the time of the Ancestors.

Anne McCaffrey, the Hugo award winning author of the bestselling Dragonriders of Pern novels, is one of science fiction's most popular authors. She lives in a house of her own design, Dragonhold-Underhill, in County Wicklow, Ireland. Visit the author's website at www.annemccaffrey.net
Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, winner of the Nebula Award for her novel The Healer's War, is the author of numerous fantasy novels. She has co-authored eight other novels with Anne McCaffrey. She lives on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State.