It's been two months since Alice TodHunter Moon--who insists on being called Tod--left her home in the seaside PathFinder village to pursue a life of Magyk in the Castle. Being Apprentice to ExtraOrdinary Wizard Septimus Heap is tricky, though--there's loads of new Magyk to learn, and she dearly misses her friends Oskar and Ferdie. But at least she's mastered the UnSeen Charm. She's lucky she has, too--that UnSeen will come in handy when she sets out with Oskar and Ferdie on a perilous journey to retrieve the Egg of the Orm from the Desert of the Singing Sands. If they don't reach the Egg before it hatches, the new baby Orm could imprint on the evil sorcerer Oraton-Marr, giving him unlimited Magyk to do with what he wishes.