Lakam, a babaylan (wisewoman) is pitted against the might of the Spanish Reconquista to keep the old ways alive.
It is 1607 and the Spanish have landed in shores of the Philippines, then known as the Islas de San Lazaro. Others called it the Isles of Gold. Lakam is a Babaylan – the Pre-Hispanic name given to women who were healers, mediums between the dead and the living, the spiritual adviser of the Datu or chieftain.
The Spanish Reconquista is meant to subdue the natives. Headstrong and loyal, Lakam refuses to submit to Spanish imperial authority and convert to Christianity. With her village destroyed and her people killed, she seeks refuge in the Cave of Rituals in the jungle vastness of the sacred mountains, but she is caught, raped and tortured. On the eve of her execution, she regains her freedom with the help of her jailer, Joaquin Santiago, who refuses to see her killed. Now a remontada (an outlaw), Lakam realizes the old ways will cease to exist unless she finds a way for it to continue in the ruined ashes of the world she knows.