A pseudo-orphaned semi-outcast since his father left his mammoth hunting tribe on a secret, prophecy-related mission, D'Leh grows up as protégé of master hunter Tic'Tic. Putting truth first, he sacrifices his cheater chance to win status and the charmed girl Evolet, who thus falls to his rival-buddy Ka'Ren. The couple is among the captives taken by horse-riding slave-hunters, but D'Leh takes charge of an epic rescue mission that follows the caravan all the way to the pyramid building site of a 'living god'. By winning the support of a people he impressed on the way thanks to a saber-tooth he once saved and secretly forging a slave rise, he bids for his people's liberation.