Anything that could have possibly gone wrong since The Human War did. The human rebel Esau and the ape leader Seneca are facing a trial for crimes against the ape state. Once triumphant, they now await a hangman's noose. Never in their wildest dreams did they think they would be rescued mere seconds from certain death by the once great gorilla warrior, Attar! But Attar has an ulterior motive. Usually reclusive, he has received a cryptic message that could finally lead him to his friend, the long-disappeared chimp, Ari. Soon hunted by the implacable Commander Kharim, Esau, Seneca, and Attar head deep into the uncharted wilds where they find a besieged outpost of apes and humans, masters and servants, fighting side by side in a battle with a primal, ancient evil...one that reveals the dark side to the origins of ape and human alike!