As young britas lovers Anyon and Hala prepare to flee Hettel before their kuza overlords turn them into breeding stock, Anyon is captured attempting to foil an assassination plot involving the provincial governor and his daughter Neelyn. With the help of a sympathetic kuza commander he escapes, only to find Hala has been sent to the slave market in Effrenus. Risking everything, Anyon follows her there, but learns she has been sold to the flesh eating rana. He embarks on a desperate quest that takes him across the planet, from the melee ring in Effrenus, to the kuza homeland of Matagot, and on to the notorious rana slave pens in Lystragonia. As his life rushes to a climax, he finds himself questioning his motives: Is it Hala's love that drives him on, or something else?
