Pellar, a gifted tracker, sets out to find out if reported thefts of coal are the work of the Shunned, criminals condemned to a life of wandering. Kind and gentle Halla is a child of the Shunned. Tenim is in league with Tarik, a crooked miner. Tenim has a plan to turn tragedy to his own advantage, and only Pellar, Halla and Tarik's son Cristov, can stop him.