When James's father disappears up on the moor, the whole village, including James's mum, thinks David Peck has simply 'done a runner'. Unconvinced, James tries to retrace his father's steps and soon finds a weird footprint near the old circle of stones up on the moor. His mind runs riot and in his struggle to get back to the village, he has an asthma attack. He soon encounters a wizard called Mendel, banished to Scotland in the form of a goldfish. The wizard makes a pact with James that will take the boy and many of the villagers of Drumfintley on a quest to the doomed world of Denthan. Village rivalries and family tensions reach breaking point in a world where monsters compete to survive Denthan's inevitable destruction. Will James find his dad? Will the villagers escape Denthan in time? Which of the four ancient races of Denthan will avoid extinction?