Deccan had always wondered what had happened to his father. When he learns that he was killed by a neighboring tribe, he longs for revenge, even though it is forbidden by the rules of his tribe.

Deccan, last of the Neolithic hunter-gatherers, whose father vanished under mysterious circumstances, wants to know what happened to him, but all his mother would tell him, was that he had died in a hunting accident. Refusing to be satisfied, he wants to know more and to get revenge. Before he can even plan it, he is captured by a nearby warlike tribe. He meets Bekah, a girl who, like he and his cousins, is confined to a slave pen. Later, when an opportunity to escape (a fortuitous kitchen fire) arises, they take it, boldly rushing out into the wild, to get even, later. But things are never...