At the end of Vanessa's Story, Aliander and Matthew Snow have a brief tryst - then Ali takes refuge inside the crystal to avoid the law. We take up the story much later to find she had triplets from the union - who are now teenagers. They want to know about their backgrounds and where they came from. All of them are startled when the drums begin thumping the message that Karmak has returned.

He is bent on vengeance but is thwarted at every turn by Ali and her children. Ali manages to get one of the girls through the barrier between worlds and notifies Matt that he is a father and that they need help. Of course, Matt and the Keilings assist as a roiling adventure encompasses everyone on Imagination Island.