Eleven-year-old Barclay Thorne yearns for the quiet life of a mushroom farmer, but after unwittingly bonding with a beast in the forbidden Woods, he must seek Lore Keepers to break the bond and return home.

Thirteen-year old Barclay and his fellow Lore Keeper apprentices are excited to travel to the Desert to study at the respected University of Al Faradh, but when dangerous, unnatural sandstorms and a magical library appear, more than their exams are at stake.