As the prophets have foretold, a child of power has been born unto the Turtle People of the Iroquois Nation. The Elders call him False Face Child, for he is the son of a powerful spirit. A living talisman, the child has inhuman eyes--black mirrors, ageless and deep--and all fear him.

All but Jumping Badger, the most powerful war leader of the Bear People. He destroys an entire village to take the boy to use as a spiritual weapon. But his triumph is short-lived. The Bear People suffer terrible visions and hear the voices of the spirits. Strange ailments and mysterious deaths take them one by one.

Though he is a seer, False Face Child is also a sad and lonely young boy named Rumbler. Twelve-year-old Wren befriends him and together they escape across the winter landscape of New York and Ontario with Jumping Badger close behind. He now fears the boy's power and seeks to kill him. Their only hope is to stay alive long enough to find Rumbler's legendary father, known only as The Disowned.