When a mysterious merchant accosts Professor Charles Mortensen some 150 years ago, he discovers the man has slipped him a locket (the Locket of Fire and Water) that is the key to another world – Zartarbia.
 
Many years later a young girl, Isabella Zophie goes to visit her great aunt and discovers the locket in an attic. She finds herself transported to Zartarbia, an ever-changing jigsaw of territories. She is taken under the wing of Le Cirque de Magique, a bizarre group of circus performers headed by the roguish ringmaster Mr Krock O'Dile.

Isabella quickly finds herself caught between the shadowy world of The Syndicate (a dangerous organisation of villains) and The Federation Against Dark Forces (FADF) – both sworn enemies.

As she embarks on her Zartarbian journey she encounters the eccentric Thinker, flying camels, a talking compass and has to face the most deadly of battles with the evil Sectica, the Sin of Pride and one of The Syndicate, who will stop at nothing to get her hands on the locket.

In a world where nothing is as it seems, who can she trust?