On the surface of the great swamp that is Greenworld the A-Z sail their reed rafts and mourn for the forests that were once theirs. Their perpetual enemies, the Marcher Lords, brood in the Golden Pinnacle which every year sinks further into the mire. The Gez, Masters of the Icelands, have vanished - along with the ice. Beneath it all the Mountain Kings mine the rock under the mud in a millennia-long search for a mountain root from which to grow a little mountain. Far to the south the Mud Master creates a world in which only he can live. The fitful war between the tribes is reaching its long prophesied climax: only one of the peoples can inherit Greenworld. Just one last battle is needed - just one hacking smashing Prince and Hero is needed to lead one tribe to a total annihilating victory over all the rest. Greygarth the AllKnowing, Master of Prophesy - with a little magic - will bring this royal killer into Greenworld to fulfil the great purpose and start the slaughter. But, there are dreamers: Crump, a Marcher Lord, who dreams of a selfless bravery that he has never seen; Girl, an A-Z, who wants to see Genetics, and his Law of Survival of the Fittest, get his face rubbed in the mud; Jade, a Mountain King, who wants a future for her children. At seaside Rottingdean Charles Llewellyn Crowthorne, in whose veins - so he says - flows the blood of Welsh princes, broods and prepares his great war banner for his sun-rise tryst with destiny on the beach. An A-Z raft scours the swamp where Greygarth says the Prince will be found. A hand bursts through the shingle from the swamp beneath Rottingdean and grasps - Frankie: trust Charlie's twelve year old sister to get up before him just for once Frankie is not a great believer in hacking and smashing and nothing she does is ever going to be quite like anybody's prophesies.