Leaving the valley of horses with Jondalar, the handsome man she has nursed back to health and come to love, Ayla embarks on a journey that will lead her to the Mamutoi, the Mammoth Hunters, who are Others like her.

As she settles into this new life among a people at first strange and disturbingly different, soon Ayla begins to feel at home, finally leaving her painful memories of the Clan behind and finding female friends. Yet Ayla is also drawn to Ranec, the dark-skinned, magnetic master-carver of ivory.

Ayla must choose: remain with Ranec and the Mamutoi, or follow Jondalar into the unknown . . .