1855, New Zealand.
Deep in the Coromandel forest three Pakeha gold prospectors and their Maori guide, Kepa, are attacked by an unseen force. While fleeing they take refuge with a group of local Maori, led by the fearsome Huinga, who are stockpiling weapons for a rebellion against the government. After members of both groups are killed by the invisible creature it is left to the remaining Maori and a Pakeha to form an uneasy alliance in order to survive. Is it a curse on the local Maori or the Pakeha’s presence that has incurred the creature’s wrath? And why does the creature remain invisible to some but reveal itself to others?