Doro, upon discovering one of his villages has been decimated by slavers, discovers a pull within his supernatural sense and follows it west. After miles of travel, he discovers Anyanwu, who appears as an old woman tending her garden. Her senses are extraordinarily sharp, and she very quickly senses that she is being “stalked” by a strange man. She is surprised when he steps out into the open upon discovery and introduces himself.

They reveal themselves to each other. Anyanwu is over 300 years old and can change her form to any animal, human or otherwise. She is strong enough to crush stones with her bare hands. She is also a healer, able to produce both toxins and cures within her body. Doro is far older and reluctant to show his true power, at first: “I can do only one thing to show you what I am, and that is to kill a man and wear his body like a cloth,” he says (13). Though he values Anyanwu for her power, Doro secretly fears that he will have to kill her if she threatens him, which he may do by executing his power with a mere thought.