In the distant future, humanity struggles for survival against the threat of creatures called Shades. A boy named Nier lives with his little sister Yonah in one small village, scraping by on the goodwill of neighbors and friends.

When a terrible illness assails Yonah, Nier's life begins to change at a dizzying pace. Lunar Tears. The Black Scrawl. The Song of the Ancients. The Shadowlord. Petrification. These things and more will turn his world upside-down—and change it forever.