As seen through the eyes of Corax, a runaway Roman slave skilled in the healing arts, Jeshua is a burly Essene falsely accused of betraying his fellow rebels. Forced to flee Palestine, Jeshua encounters Corax, the real betrayer, on the perilous road east, and the two become unlikely traveling companions. Corax is headed for the source of the sacred Ganges River, whose purifying waters flow through the country of his father's birth. Jeshua is on a different kind of journey altogether-one of spiritual growth and self-discovery. As they cross the chaotic remnants of Alexander's empire, eluding violent Scythians and Huns, encountering Zoroastrian magi and Buddhist sages, Jeshua undergoes a gradual metamorphosis from rebel into mystic. And by the the time the two reach the foothills of the Himalayas, Jeshua is ready to return to Palestine and take up his mission.