People suffered under Det Morson's power. When the wizard Mor joined the fight, Det & his infamous Rondoval castle were destroyed. But the victory was not complete, for the conquerors found a baby amidst the rubble: Det's son, Pol. Unwilling to kill the child, Mor took him to a world where the ways of magic were considered mere legends--a world called Earth.
Young Mark Marakson is obsessed with devices, building water wheels & later, steam engines. He doesn't understand why people rely on magicians rather than using machinery. Young Pol, meanwhile, grows up a poet, musician & singer, marked by a white streak in his dark hair. He's a disappointment to the man he regards as his father, an engineer. Sometimes he sees glowing strands in the air which he touches to make things happen.
Ostracised, Mark wanders the hills & finds a machine graveyard from an ancient war between magic & technology. Restarting them, he returns on a flying machine for his childhood sweetheart, only to be assaulted by the villagers, losing an eye. Returning to the graveyard he creates a machine army for revenge.
Realizing the world's balance is disturbed, Mor goes to retrieve Pol to counter Mark, revealing Pol's heritage & powers to him. Once Pol is back, Mor has to return to the technology world to balance out the transfer. He dies in a park where every tree, bird & insect is artificial.
Pol must find his way around Castle Rondoval. The strands he uses to perform magic are all about. He finds a thief who was in the castle when Mor cast a sleep spell on it. Revived, the thief becomes his helper. He also discovers Det's dragons asleep in the dungeons. Reviving the mightiest one, who recognizes him as his former master's son, he then has to set out on a quest to find the three segments of his father's magical staff, scattered across the world by Mor. He's accompanied by Mark's former sweetheart, creating a romantic triangle.
 The quest requires him to defeat several magic guardians & traps. Completing it, he's able to take on & defeat Mark Marakson, restoring the world balance. In doing so, he loses the girl's affections. He's left to seek his future in Rondoval, among old magics left by his father. The tale's next part appears in Madwand.