The story starts normally enough: a guy in a bar shooting off his mouth about justice, morality and the higher good to an ex-girlfriend is interrupted by a beautiful blonde who hangs on his every word. There is seduction, followed by a touching and tender morning after, vulnerability, sharing, need, trust. Gabriel spends every moment possible with Kamilah and when he leaves Baltimore to visit his pregnant sister in Brussels it is a natural thing to go as a couple by way of Turkey to see Kamilah's homeland. Isolated by the barriers of illness, language and culture, his only hope for rescue is distant loved ones and the caprice of woodland spirits.

"You understand goodness because you understand evil", Kamilah informed Gabriel on their first night together. With these words Gabriel unknowingly took his first step toward understanding.