A human teacher travels to another planet to teach aliens about Manifest Destiny, and the benefits of being colonized by humans — from textbooks created by his employers, a mining corporation. After he develops an understanding of alien lives, he decides to help the aliens to fight for themselves.

After being recruited by a band of Norman soldiers with magical powers, a teenage girl who can summon fire is forced to participate in a war against her own people. But when she and her captors suddenly come under attack, she must decide where her loyalties lie.