On the banks of Upper Kwanta, eleven-year-old Kofi Offin has long heard the call of the water, and he truly feels most at home swimming in the river. But Kofi's life is turned upside down when his brother is chosen to represent Upper Kwanta in the wrestling contest at a festival between the villages of Upper and Lower Kwanta, and his brother accidentally kills his opponent, the nephew of the King of Lower Kwanta. The king soon gets his revenge, and Kofi finds himself embarking on a perilous journey across land and sea when slave traders arrive.