Just as the invasion begins, an ambitious and vicious Japanese officer orders the massacre of a village of the Ao Naga tribe. Among those killed is Uti, grandson of the eldest Ao chief.

Gojen is his best friend, and on hearing the news of Uti's death he is unable to stay in school in Calcutta and so returns to the ancestral home, where he embarks on a gruelling journey of revenge.

As the war unfolds and Gojen finds himself ever more embroiled in the battles and struggles for survival, it soon becomes clear that he is fighting for more than his homeland and the memory of his dead friend.