The year is 1540. Strangers wearing shells like turtles and carrying sticks that roar and spit killing stones are on the rampage in what will become Mississippi in the New World. The Spanish expedition led by Hernando de Soto has just destroyed a village to the southeast, and is headed for the Chickasaw village of Chicaca.

A young Chickasaw maiden named Swift Doe has had a dream about a white dog, but it's not until the tribe's shaman tells a similar tale that it becomes apparent that Swift Doe has not had a dream, but rather a vision. The tribe bands together to mount a defense against the invaders, but it's the internal threat of a traitor that threatens to destroy the village when de Soto and his conquistadors come calling. This is historical fiction at its best, crafted by master storyteller Tom Hooker.