Young French Officer Augustin Robert escorts artist Jean-Michel Venture de Paradis to Egypt during Napoleon's Egyptian campaign. Napoleon sent Jean-Michel to record Egypt's great monuments and temples that were destroyed by French soldiers in acts of barbarism. During combat, Augustin and Jean-Michel are separated from their regiment, and they start wandering through the desert, fighting for their life. In one of the canyons, Augustin meets a leopard he names Simoom and a strange bond between them appears.