In the depths of the Sarladais, 'a land of ghosts, cool caves and woods', a teenage boy is sent to live with a thirty-five-year-old priest. The man becomes more than just his teacher. Soon the adolescent meets a young boy in the village square; they make love to each other like shadows in a cave. The priest knows of their involvement and guides his pupil to seek out his own soul in strange, almost supernatural rituals. It becomes clear that this tense, shadowy tale, burning with love, is a eulogy in praise of difference, an act of worship to beauty in nature.