A young boy arrives to the island of Korcula to train as an apprentice under the posthumous doctor. The doctor, a Moor, performs surgeries to cut the hamstrings of the deceased so that they cannot resurrect as werewolves. The young boy's island has had a recent outbreak of werewolves, so he was sent to learn the craft. However, given the doctor's lowly social status, and the surgery's taboo nature, they must perform the procedures in the underground caves at night. One night, the doctor and the apprentice must perform the surgery on a count's daughter, Nediljka. The apprentice is distracted and does not seem interested in learning the craft. A few days later, the other island's surgeon, alongside the apprentice, comes to the doctor's door telling him that a werewolf has been spotted in the woods. In fact, the apprentice saw the werewolf and said it was the Nediljka because he could see her red hair. As hunters roam the woods looking for the beast, the doctor travels to other homes on the island, even to the count's home, to try and exculpate himself. On his way home from the count's, the doctor finds his daughter following him almost blue from the cold. As they travel home, they see an enormous bear, which the doctor sees as a sign he is innocent. However, when he arrives home his wife still does not believe him. He decides he will perform the surgery on himself, and then slit his own throat, so as to prove the surgery's efficacy. The doctor awakens from his surgery that was supposed to have killed him. He is running out of the cave when he realizes he is a werewolf.