Quickfang, a short-legged herder in a tribe of anthropomorphic dogs, has finally achieved the rank of guardian. He will be able to leave the fortifications of the village''''s stone age walls and protect the sheep, a task decreed millennia ago by the tribe''''s long-dead two-legged gods. But on his first day as a guardian, he discovers that the society he serves is far removed from the ideals he once thought sacred.