Lief begins his journey with Barda to collect the seven gems of Deltora and save the land from the evil clutches of the Shadow Lord.

Lief and Barda are captured by the Wenn, but eventually saved by a girl named Jasmine. The three head to the center of the forest, where they meet Gorl.

Lief and Barda attempt to fight Gorl, but fail, with Barda being injured. Again, they are saved by Jasmine who succeeds in killing Gorl. They take the topaz and the elixer.

Lief, Barda, and Jasmine much each solve a difficult riddle in order to safely cross a bridge.

Lief, Barda, and Jasmine stumble upon what appears to be a kind old couple, living in a house in the middle of a swamp. As they walk to the house, they fall in quicksand. The old couple saves them, and takes them into their home. However, they turn out to be Jin and Jod, two of the witch Tegan's monster children.

Lief, Barda, and Jasmine accompany Marasu, a boy of the Rara Tribe to the city of Raradin. They then go to fight the monster of the lake, Sorudein.

The fight with Sorudein continues resulting in the red ruby being claimed. The witch Thaegan appears and interrupts the brief moment of hope.

Lief, Barda, and Jasmine continue their journey now with the Topaz and the Ruby. They are chased by some strange wolves and eventually come to Tom's strange shop.

Lief, Barda and Jasmine awaken in a mysterious city of Nezunuku. The inhabitants are meticulously clean. Filli frightens the people of Nezunuku and Lief and his friends are captured and must play a game of luck to determine if they live or die.

Lief, Barda and Jasmine manage to escape with the help of a friend and make a shocking discovery about the supposedly imperfect food.

Lief, Barda and Jasmine discover the location that the mysterious food is being transported too and come into contact with a strange acquaintance. They are provided with several gifts before trying to find passage over a broad river.

Now being across the broad river Jasmine decides to leave the group. Lief and Barda continue onto the city of rats only to be confronted by the keeper of the Opal.

Now having left the city of the rats with the opal Lief, Barda and Jasmine are forced to hide from a worth adversary. During this time Lief tells the story of Endon and Jarrad.

Lief continues the story of Endon and Jarrad. He delves into how the belt of Deltora was broken and the gems scattered around the land. We also learn the identity of the spy in the castle doing the shadow lords bidding.

The troupe find themselves in the company of a rather interesting old lady once across the Broad River. Once they are on their way they encounter a travelling hustler and decide to enter the Rithermere games.

The Rithermere games begins! Lief, Barda and Jasmine pool their respective fighting styles to try and get past the preliminary round of the tournament.