The author writes, 'This book, although it can be read as a separate story, is the third of the trilogy of which Marie and Child of Storm are the first two parts. It narrates, through the mouth of Allan Quatermain, the consummation of the vengeance of the wizard Zikali, alias The Opener of Roads, or 'The-Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born,' upon the royal Zulu House of which Senzangacona was the founder and Cetewayo the last representative who ruled as a king.