A severed hand lies in the forest. Itzala, a former mining town beside a reservoir, is trapped between the mountains, the steel mill and the neglect of a declining industrial past. Nao (14) returns with her mother, Mari (50), to her family home for her grandfather’s funeral. While Mari slips back into the habits of her youth, night hunts and motorcycle rides, Nao feels alienated in a place she longs to escape.
Everything changes when she meets Alaitz, a fearless girl her age. Together, they set out to investigate the mysterious death of Nao’s grandfather, a former reservoir warden and hunter. Their search takes them through the forest, the dam, the steel mill’s looming towers and an abandoned mining colony.
What begins as a summer adventure turns sinister when brutally mutilated animals start appearing across the village. As locals whisper of a bad omen, Nao and Alaitz discover that a bloodthirsty saurian creature is behind the killings. When a young man disappears, fear grips Itzala and the hunters organise a manhunt.
Nao soon discovers that the monster is her own mother. She must choose between handing Mari over or protecting her, only to realise that the curse runs in her blood too: she is beginning to transform. In Itzala, an ancient legend of death and redemption is reborn, and Nao must discover who she is before the town decides to kill her.
