After being cast out of the Clan that had adopted her as a child by the new leader, Ayla shares a lonely valley with a herd of steppe ponies, harnesses their power, and discovers speech and love with Jondalar, a member of her own race.

Ayla and Jondalar continue their epic journey across Ice Age Europe to join Jondalar's people, the Zelandonii, confronting new hardships and perilous challenges along the way. After their epic journey across Europe, Ayla and Jondalar have reached his home, the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii, the old stone age settlement in the region known today as southwest France. Jondalar's family greet him warmly, but they are initially wary of the beautiful young...