After an incident in the school cafeteria, sixteen-year-old Marko Fember discovers he has magic - fire magic. Not only that, but he learns that he comes from another realm and nothing is as it seems. All of a sudden, finding a date to the Homecoming dance doesn't seem so important anymore.
Escaping the war that nearly destroyed their realm, the people of Aardon have lived peacefully in Simmerton. Hiding in the quaint little town, they tried to start fresh lives, unaware that evil followed them through the portal to Earth. Now their hopes - and lives - rest in the hands of Marko. He's the only one who can reopen the portal and send them back home once and for all. The problem is, he doesn't know how.
Between fighting an evil warlock who wants the very powers Marko is desperately trying to harness, inheriting mysterious dog tags that belonged to his father, and coping with all the stresses of growing up, Marko has more than his work cut out for him.
Will he be able to rise to the challenge, hone his magic, and save the people of Aardon?