Rebellion, revenge and bloody war threaten the uneasy alliances between Te Rauparaha's Ngati Toa iwi and the many tribes of Aotearoa. Ngato Toa are weakened and depleted after many years of battle and re-settlement, but still enemies from Waikato and Taranaki lurk unseen at the edge of their territory. Inside Te Rauparaha's war party, the aging warrior-slave Rou begins to have vivid dreams - portents of a dreaded future - even as he begins to win recognition for his bravery and ferocity in battle. The race for supremacy has begun, but what do Rou's dreams foretell? What role will the Outsiders play in the coming war, and who will survive the battlefield? The only certainties are that the quiet days of Kawhia are over, Ngati Toa are at war. Crammed with fascinating historical details and powerful traditional oratory from the late-18th century, this novel continues the story from "Tides of Kawhia" (2003), and takes the reader even closer to the enigmatic figure of Te Rauparaha.