Smoke Season

"When the horizon burns blistering red, and the blue sky is colored dark with smoke, we will know the Smoke Season has begun, and the time of war will come."

It was the day that Taurus finally earned his name that the smoke clouds filled the sky from the west. It had been a truth all the tribes knew; that the forest surrounding the river valley grows and grows, until it burns itself down to grow again. It is a truth that during these times, the tribes go to war, fighting brutally until the fires stop and the skies return to normal and the cycle can begin again.

The last Smoke Season to pass left Taurus' tribe torn asunder, with little more remaining of the Bonemen than a few isolated camps. It was Alba's tribe who had been driven into hiding, and their histories erased from the cliffsides, only to be known as the nocturnal Nightmen.

North's tribe - the powerful, fearsome Redmen warriors - reigned supreme over the river valley, prosperous with a terrible power. But as his father grows weak, North finds himself held captive by the enemy, and he discovers where his tribe's loyalty truly lies.