At the end of The Spider King, in the series the “Quartet of Innocence.” Vikram, Sita, Becky and Jojo vanquished the enchantress Enneth. At that moment the King was changed back into his human form but the joy of release was destroyed when they discovered his son Prince Idwal, had been turned into a mouse by the enchantress.
Now the children were back in Quandah to offer their assistance in reversing the enchantment. After much debate they found there was an elusive sorcerer in an African type land who could work that kind of magic, but how were they to get there?
Lamghi, the beautiful, lonely, black and gold dragon was prepared to transport them. Sita devised a harness with sitting/sleeping pouches to fit her friend the dragon.
Soon they set off and passed through this world’s airspace where they are seen and filmed by an airline passenger. They stopped at a tiny oasis with a spring and a waterfall flowing over a rock. However, the rock turned out to be an abandoned troll with vivid blue eyes, unlike the yellow-eyed ones who lived in Quandah. Later they stopped to rest in a thickly forested area in the mountains and were attacked by baboons. They fought them and received help from an unexpected quarter, a group of gorillas.
Finally, they made it to a dry, grassy area and make contact with some locals who escort them to the Rain Queen’s compound. They met her two children S’bu and his sister, the heir apparent Toko. After an unpleasant incident, they decided for safety they would sleep in their pouches. They experienced an unusually heavy rainstorm. Of course, that was how the Rain Queen arrived.
After much debate, Lamghi offered to transport all the children to the sorcerer Nkosi. On the way, S’bu learnt to respect the healing powers of little Sita and realized together the children were a formidable team, capable of ferocious fighting and incredible healing abilities.
Nkosi listened to their story and said he would help but they must do the work. He gave his instructions in a very difficult to understand manner but eventually the four children with the help of Ozy, the dog magician, worked out what each quest will involve. Each child must go alone to find a specific ingredient and when they did there will be an accompanying sound which they must remember.
While not out on a quest they needed to learn how to make the clay pots needed for the ritual, as well as gather the wood and haul the water from the river which was required to make the muti. Toko accompanied the questors to the campsite to ensure everything was done according to instructions. When they returned with their ingredients and their sounds it was time for the ritual to begin. S’bu and Toko also took on important roles in the process. When it was done they bottled the precious liquid and returned. They stopped off on the way to collect the blue-eyed troll Belas. He gave Lamghi a stone he had guarded for eons. She recognised it as a dragon’s egg. The prince was anointed with the potent juice for three days while everyone waited expectantly, to see if it worked.
Read the next book to discover the results.
