Twelve-year-old Raffa Santana is a prodigy apothecary who has always loved the Forest of Wonders for all the mysterious and potentially magical vegetation he finds there. But when he saves an injured bat using a mysterious red vine that he finds deep in the forest, he is faced with a magic that is both life-saving and dangerous. Intent on warning his uncle and cousin, who are also apothecaries, of the plant's potentially dangerous effects, Raffa travels to Gilden where he realizes the botanical research going on there could threaten the very creatures he hopes to protect.