Hunter won the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject.

She recalls standing in one of the brochs, ten years earlier, wondering how they came to be built and considering that because of their uniqueness they must have sprung from an idea in a single brilliant mind.

Nectan puts forth the proposal that the warriors should no longer fight the Roman raiders but rather retreat when they approach, as the tribe's very existence is threatened by their losses.

The Chief Druid strongly opposes the idea, saying they must continue to fight; he declares it a matter of faith and therefore his domain, directly challenging Nectan's leadership.

He has been developing the idea, drawing plans and building models, since he was five, when a Roman raider killed his father, abducted his mother and shattered Coll's leg, crippling him.

Taran arrives, introducing himself as a member of the tribe who was seized for a slave when he was twelve and recently escaped by killing his master.