Mexico, 1517. The Aztec capital is awash with fear and rumours. A strange figure has been seen running through the streets. A man with the face of a serpent, his body covered with glittering green feathers: Quetzalcoatl – the Feathered Serpent – the most powerful of the Aztec gods. Yaotl, the Chief Ministers slave, has more important matters to worry about. Engaged in a desperate search for his son, hes on the run from his vengeful master, the all-powerful Lord Feathered-in-Black. If the Chief Minister catches him, Yaotl can expect a grisly fate. Attempting to escape his masters bloodthirsty warriors, Yaotl stumbles upon a dismembered, unrecognisable corpse. As he pieces together the clues to who the dead man was and how he died, Yaotl finds himself drawn into an affair of greed, jealousy and lust amongst the ancient, secretive society of the feather workers, the Aztecs foremost craftsmen. And, as he is to discover, the answers to those clues will provide the key to the search for his son.