When nine year old Prince James visits the temple to find out about the god Maxos, little did he expect to be carried off to a fortress in the far west of his father's realm. 'You need to grow up and out of the comfortable little niche you live in.' Maxos' dragon tells him. James arrives with a bump outside a fortress door far in the west where it is only just dawn. Eventually he is let inside and he has to contrive an explanation of how he arrived. He tells them he was kidnapped and claims aquaintance of a distant cousin of his mother who lives in the north so they allow him to stay until his relative can be informed. At least the fortress is an army post and James feels quite secure there. A junior cadet is told to mind him. James is delighted to stay but as the dragon told him that he needed to stay in the west for two years to grow up, he is wondering how he can keep his exciting adventure from being brought to a rather fast end.