The story of the one-hundred year-old oak tree with a consciousness culminates in an all-out battle between the lumber company and the men and women who would save him from the impending clear-cut. Thorn imparts his remaining wisdom upon Paxton, challenging him to become a prophet for his next incarnation, even as he attempts to convince Claire to be the mother of the Earth's next great spiritual master. Tucker is caught between his loyalty to his friends and Thorn's ominous warning that the counterpart to the coming Messiah has already been reborn and is even now plotting humanity's demise.