In the woodlands of what are now New York and Ontario, the child Rumbler has been identified by prophecy as the Manitou Child. War Leader Jumping Badger murders Rumbler’s mother, destroys his village and abducts him in the hope of turning the boy’s spiritual reputation into a political weapon.
Rumbler escapes into the winter forest with twelve-year-old Wren as Jumping Badger’s warriors die under mysterious circumstances. Pursued by a leader who now wants him dead, the children search for Rumbler’s father, the outcast known as the Disowned, while competing communities struggle over whether prophetic power can be possessed.