Extraordinary events transform the life of Sparrow after an encounter on the mountain with the wizard Puckel, who gives the boy three magical gifts: the ability to fly, to understand the speech of birds and beasts, and to take the shape of any creature or thing. Now Sparrow needs all the magical help he can get, for he and his friends Bull and Goggs, Kittel, Ormand and Lissie find themselves up against many elusive, cunning adversaries - including the Polymorphs - as they seek to free their world from the power of the dragon.