When a band of marauders, led by a strange creature ravages his village and kills his parents, young Craven Arneau escapes and seeks revenge. During his flight to safety he is befriended by Michal Vebermus, a reticent monk who takes him to the safety of his monastery. There he meets Danielle, a young peasant girl who tempers all thoughts of revenge. However, his contentment is short-lived when his past catches up with him in the form of a cuckold Baron who charges him with rape and murder. Craven is again forced to leave his life behind.
While on the dusty, dirt road to safety, more tragedy befalls him; those he left behind at the monastery fall prey to the evil creature who fed upon his village.
When his journey brings him to the French town of La Rochelle, Maurice Chassell, an ancient Vampire, convinces him that in order to destroy the horror that has tormented him all these years, he must die and become its equal. However, despite his alliance with Maurice, revenge constantly evades him. Only when he encounters Joseph, a Vampire even older than Maurice, does he come face to face with the lies and deception that have tormented him since his death and rebirth.