Sebastian desires nothing more than to leave home and travel the world. Late one afternoon as the local market draws to a close, a strange vagabond bestows his journal to the boy. The ancient tome is filled with maps, illustrations and peculiar anecdotes which speak of magical creatures thought only to exist in the distant past or mythology.

An incident permits Sebastian to leave home under the black cloud of grief and he follows a series of unnatural fires with only the journal and a new friend to guide him.