The Zhirrzh have won a temporary respite in their war with the barbarians.  But the Human  captive Pheylan Cavanaugh has escaped, and for that Thrr-gilag, the young Searcher, finds himself disgraced, his bond-engagement to a female of a rival clan imperilled.  Soon he becomes a target of hidden and powerful forces seeking to remake Zhirrzh society in their own merciless image.  His only hope is to prove that the overclan authorities are wrong:  that it was not the Humans who started the war.

But time is short.  The forces of the Zhirrzh are overextended and face swift retaliation.  The Zhirrzh have learned to conquer death itself -- but even that awesome power will be no match for the devastating might of the Human Conqueror armadas.  Thrr-gilag soon comes to realize that his people face a two-fold
threat:  destruction by Human technology. . . or destruction from within.