Orphaned Niann has one wish, to go up the mountain to seek a spirit guide like the rest of his peers. Instead, he's forced to wait until frustration drives him to go without permission on his eighteenth birthday. There, he meets his guide--the kala deer, the tribe's patron animal and one that grants its disciples the ability to heighten the power of others's animal spirits. Unbeknownst to him, the tribe's shaman, Heyka, plans to use Niann to harvest enough spiritual energy to transcend into the spirit world. Jennar, a talented carver and hunter who's cared for Niann since Niann's infancy, has a secret of his own; he went up the mountain to seek his spirit guide, but none came, and he's been lying about his spirit animal ever since. Jennar leaves to find the reason for his lack of a spirit guide, but returns to find Niann under the sway of Heyka and living as a woman, as those with the deer totem usually do. Jennar's focus turns from saving himself into saving the man he loves, but all his love and determination may not be enough to stop the relentless ambition of Heyka and his snake patron.