Alex is the black sheep in the Barnes Clan, a Christian community concealed in the Blue Ridge mountains near Salem, VA, dedicated to a simple, godly life. He was born an outsider, reads the wrong things, wants to write about non-religious spirituality, thinks, like the pagans, that nature is divine and, worst of all, is too old to be flirting with the young women of the community. One such woman, Libby, who has eyes for Alex, controls the community through her father, the shepherd of the Barnes Clan flock, Father Andrew. Libby is the most important person in Andrew's life following the passing of his wife, Natalie, who committed suicide, some say because of Libby. Alex suspects Libby may not just be a master of deception, but also a practitioner of the dark arts, placing Alex in great peril, for not only is he troublesome for the community at large, but he's fallen in love with Libby's best friend, Miranda. Being in love, Alex can't bring himself to flee from the peril closing in all around him, even as it threatens to crush him. Seeking refuge in the surrounding forest, he uncovers a mystical sanctuary possessing mysterious powers connected to old legends, to a deity called The Forest King, and to a Native American tribe, The Star People, rumored to have once tapped into nature's power like no people before or since, yet who are now feared to have gone extinct. There, in the magical realm he adopts, filled with strange wonders, Alex begins to cultivate a new community, dividing the village as charges are brought against him for harassing young women and committing the worst act of heresy there is: pretending to be The Messiah.