For longer than their legends can recall, the lives of the Stone-Age Burnt Shin tribe have revolved around the migrating herds on which they depend for food. But the herds are dwindling and the tribe is suffering. Finn, orphaned from a slaughtered tribe, has a vision of the future: living deep in the forest, he discovers a herd of larger, more docile deer. He believes they can be made to follow Man rather than the seasons but he has to convince the tribe to change their time-honoured traditions... and as an outsider, he is not respected in the councils of the Burnt Shin.