At the close of the eighteenth century, the Appalachian Mountains separated Continental US civilization from the frontier wilderness.

In a desperate gamble for freedom, mixed-race fourteen-year-old Rachel flees from the Piedmont plantation owned by her incestuous father and is doggedly pursued by the overseer. Alone in the wilderness, she is befriended by three warriors sent as emissaries by Shawnee war chief Blue Jacket and the Confederation of tribes north of the Ohio. Their secret mission is to recruit the Cherokee and southern tribes to join the Confederation in a coordinated "Great Storm" of violence to stop the Continental expansion beyond the mountains. Smitten with one, she accompanies the three in a frantic race to avoid being overtaken by Choctaw loyal to the Continentals. But they collide headlong with a deadly battle between the overseer's men and river pirates preying on flatboats.

Meanwhile, seventeen-year-old indentured Tommy in passage from Scotland is swept overboard along the American coast when the ship is lured onto rocks. Captured by the Redondo, an untouchable network of plundering shipwreckers, he is sold into Cherokee slavery. There, he meets and has feelings for Lily, an orphan being held. As the "Great Storm" erupts along the frontier's length, Lily is abducted by a vile renegade. Tommy joins the Cherokee search for her and barely survives a Choctaw ambush. Injured and alone, he makes his way toward civilization and revenge as his, Rachel's, and Lily's odysseys continue.