Irian, Ulana and their Clan have made the cave their home ever since they used fire to drive off the Beast a sabre-toothed tiger that had been preying on them. Protected by an ongoing fire at the cave mouth, they continue to keep the Beast at bay until one fateful night when the fire goes out! What happens next shatters the Clan and leaves Ulana badly injured and Irian too traumatised even to speak. Alone and adrift in their dangerous prehistoric world, they have little hope of survival. What saves them is a chance meeting with a prickly old woman called Trug.

Grudgingly, she takes them on a strange, unexpected journey of discovery, flinging them into the many wonders and hard realities of ancient times. And that hazardous journey will eventually lead them full circle: back to the challenge of the cave, and the enduring reality of the Beast . An exciting story set in a richly-recreated Paleolithic past, this novel for middle-grade readers is both an extraordinary adventure and a moving exploration of loss, survival and courage.