With peace reigning in the Magic Kingdom at last, Ben Holiday is finally free to lie back and enjoy the finer things in life - like watching his daughter grow, which she does by leaps and bounds. Born a seedling and nourished by soil from Landover, Earth and the fairy mists, Mistaya is a unique child, fully as dazzling as her mother, the sylph, Willow - but fiery and impatient with those who can't keep up with her lightning-fast development. But Ben's idyll is not to last.

The dark and pitiless Rydall, king of lands beyond the fairy mists, arrives at the gates of Sterling Silver. His armies are ready to invade if Ben will not accept his challenge: to face and defeat seven different champions of Rydall's choice. And accept he must, for Mistaya has been snatched from her guardians by foul magic and only Rydall holds the key to her fate. . .