Tory goes to rescue Neal from Garten. Norlis comes along by offering to take her out of the Cloud-Jumper Forest.  In order to avoid thinking about his torture under Garten, Neal continues to remember what it was like waking up after invocation of the spell. He knows they are close to King Delphic and isn't sure what's going to happen when he gets there. Spurred by Tory's absconding from the Kingdom Tree, Jake decides to take his leave as well. Before going he discusses the idea with Marina,...

In a flashback, Neal wakes up after being exhausted from spell working. He realizes that he is now connected to the castle Hildegarde and through her,  the countries which surround Westover. In the present though, he continues to be tortured by Garten. Garten views it as entertainment. Alex recovers from his poisoning, and gives Tory and Jake some information about Neal and King Delphic. Tory decides to leave the Cloud-Jumper Kingdom in order to save Neal.

Forest tells Jake about the party. Jake decides that he feels well enough to attend. Tory meets up with Jake again at the party. She and the rest of the travelers enjoy the food, until Seth performs a spell using the story quilt. The spell performs as none of them expect, leaving both Jake and Seth completely out of sorts.

Jake is reunited with Alex.  Tory, Marina and Seth are shown around the Kingdom Tree by Norlis, who shows them to their rooms. While the others are resting, Tory takes the opportunity to look through her items, and finds an object she's never seen before. Puzzling over this, she falls asleep. Marina wakes her, and tells Tory the object which she found is a curiously small calling globe. Tory puts it on as a necklace and follows Marina into the party Micah has thrown for their welcome.

Delphic speaks with Linden about stopping Tory and her friends from retrieving the objects they need to break the spell. Tory, Seth, Alex, and Marina follow Micah to the Cloud-Jumper Kingdom Tree. Alex accidentally poisons himself with some berries. Micah informs Tory of how the Kingdom Trees work, to a certain extent. Luckily, they soon get a chance to see exactly what one looks like.

Neal allows himself to be recaptured by Garten. Tory witnesses his torture and wishes to save him. Seth, in an effort to convince her that Neal is okay, tells her Neal shouldn't be saved just yet. As Seth is trying to answer Tory's questions, Micah shows up. Jake wakes up in the Cloud-Jumper kingdom, finally recovering from his illness.

Tory, Alex and Marina make it to the Cloud-Jumper domain. On their walk in, they meet Seth, who finds a place for them to sleep for the night. While they’re sitting around the fire, Seth takes out an instrument that Tory recognizes. He plays an interesting tune, which Marina finds annoying.

Neal and Jake escape from Garten. While on the run, they meet a farmer who helps them out. Jake is sick with snowcold, and Neal keeps him safe by lying to the farmer about who they are. They leave as soon as they can. The farmer points them in the direction of the Cloud-jumpers. Micah, King of the Cloud-Jumpers, meets them at the tree line of the Cloud-Jumper domain. After ordering that Jake be taken to the domain's Tree, Micah asks Neal what happened two hundred years before. Neal...

Trying to piece things together, Neal again thinks back two hundred years. While protecting the castle of Westover, Neal finishes a picture of a village and a man with an ox-cart full of fruit. With Marina's help, Tory gets to the Tower where she meets Alex. The two of them 'enjoy' a dinner with Alex’s mother. Alex decides that he and Tory should continue together. As part of his preparation of their journey, Alex gives Tory a knife for her own protection. Tory introduces Alex to...

Tory asks Bryna where they are going and learns they are headed toward the Inland Sea. They stop in a small town and ask for a place to stay for the night. Tory watches Bryna be refused a berth. Neal and Jake continue their way over the mountains, while Neal works on trying to escape. Tory and Bryna make it to the town on the Inland Sea. Tory is told she must travel to a tower in the middle of the Sea on her own. When she gets to the boat, Tory meets Marina, Bryna’s half sister and...

Alex's mother is very worried about Jake - and with reason. Alex cares too, but he's there and Jake isn't. It feels unfair, somehow. After Jake and Neal are captured, Bryna takes Tory and Jeremy into her troupe. Tory begins to perform with Bryna’s dance troupe as they make their way to the tower where Alex lives. Neal flashes back to when he was a painter for the Queen of Westover. He witnesses the Queen declare war on the Delphic kingdom. Once she declares war, the Queen asks Neal...

Alex wanders around a tower in the middle of the Inland Sea. He worries about his mother, and reassures her that his father, King Delphic, won't try to take them back to his castle. Tory, Jake, Jeremy and Neal escape from Garten. Bryna and her troupe of dancers pick them up. She takes them back to the oxcart and loads some of the fruit which was in the cart. She also helps Jake get his cart from the ditch. During their effort, Garten catches up with the troupe. This time, he only takes Jake...

Leaving the castle, Neal is ecstatic with freedom. The three of them make their way down the final hills, with Tory and Jeremy trying to ignore the babbling coming from Neal. At the last hill they're overtaken by Garten, King Delphic's Captain of the Guard, and captured. King Delphic hears from his messenger that Jeremy, Tory and Neal are no longer on their way to help his son with the oxcart. The messenger wonders if the King is going too far in his quest to make the spell focused on...

Once in the castle, Jeremy goes exploring, leaving Tory in the entrance hall. While she waits for him to return, a strange man shows up. Though she is scared, Tory holds her own by offering the man food and a warm sweater. He takes both the food and the sweater, but tries to bolt when Jeremy comes back from his exploration and tells Tory how he's found a place where he thinks someone must be sleeping, Jeremy finally notices the man Tory is struggling to keep with her. When Jeremy asks the man...

While visiting her Aunt, Tory is taken by a picture of a man and an oxcart in the dining room of the house. That night, she has a dream about it that wakes her up. The dream makes her so curious about the painting that she needs to see it. She is surprised to meet her cousin Jeremy in the dining room. Then, with Tory leading the way, the two of them venture into - and through - the painting. In the new world Tory meets Karen and Paul. They help Tory and her cousin by taking them in to their...

The trees are moving apart, and the kingdoms are separating with them. The tension is pulling the land into war. The Queen and the Head bard conspire to keep the kingdoms together using an ancient spell. Before asking any one, they lure Neal, a painter magician into working with them without telling him why. Neal accepts the offer to paint for the Queen thinking it's simply another job.