On the day of her eleventh birthday, Nyxie's mother made her promise to never speak again. And with that, her mother disappeared from her life.

Handed over to an aunt and uncle she barely knew, Nyxie reluctantly learns to get around not speaking by using American Sign Language. She never imagined that knowing sign language would get her involved in aiding a young male orangutan's escape from the zoo to search for his mother in the faraway rainforest of Sumatra.

Their journey to Indonesia is an epic battle against natural elements and enemies, perhaps supernatural ones as well. Can Nyxie and the young orangutan survive the rage of sea storms, the plundering of pirates, or the hunger of predators? Will they ever discover the birthplace of all orangutans, Cloud Mountain? Or learn the real identity of those who called themselves the Paladins? Tag along with Nyxie and the young orang on their heroic journey of nine thousand miles to find his mother.