Fourteen year old Greg Worling’s life changed the day he found an eight sided coin along the edge of a pond on his parent’s farm. The coin sparkled as though it reflected the sun’s light even in the shade. Drawn to it, Greg discovers an inscription on the coin that read, “Greg, drop this coin into the fountain in front of the tree of life.” Weeks later, his little sister by his side, Greg tosses the coin into the small fountain and is instantaneously transported to a strange land. Alone and confused, before Greg can get his bearings, a young girl in strange clothing literally falls out of the hillside underbrush and knocks them both to the ground. She tells him that she is being chased by warriors of the Denza tribe who will kill her on sight. Greg hides her from her pursuers and learns that she is Fawn, a princess of the Cheerakoo people. She has a proclamation from the King that will settle a land dispute with another tribe, the Denza. The Denza will stop at nothing to prevent the proclamation from reaching the homelands of the Cheerakoo. Still not comprehending where he is or how he got there, Greg begins to realize that his purpose in being sent to this strange world is to help Fawn safely reach her destination. As if avoiding capture and death from the hands of the persistent Denza aren’t enough, Greg has to battle large serpents, wolves, and even avoid a saber toothed tiger before safely getting Fawn to her people. During the journey, Greg meets a prophet who helps him understand the peculiar world in which he has found himself. Greg also becomes acquainted with the Zeon, large thin apelike creatures critical to what has normally been a peaceful coexistence among all the tribes. After Fawn is safe back with her people, Greg discovers that he has the ability to speak and understand the Zeon, something none of the humans on this world have ever been able to do. He senses a purpose behind this gift, too, and informs the Zeon of the immediate threat from the Denza. A millennium of mostly peaceful coexistence between the tribes combined with no threat focused specifically at them had made the Zeon insensitive to the premeditated, large scale threat that the Denza now posed. Gone for days, Greg knows it’s time to return home, but without the coin is that even possible? He instinctively knows he must return to the spot where he first appeared in this world, but beyond that, what? He is chased into a waterfall, just feet from where he first arrived, by a large snake. Once in the water, he sees a hand reaching for him. He grabs it and is suddenly next to his sister. She has the coin in her hand and tells him that she had an irresistible urge to get the coin out of the fountain as soon as it went in. Only about five seconds had elapsed since Greg had tossed it into the fountain, and she insists Greg had been next to her the whole time. Greg wonders if it had all been a dream. He reaches into his pocket and finds the large jewel Fawn had given him. He looks again at the coin and sees the inscription had changed to just two words that said “Thank You.”