- What kid armed only with a bag of stage-magic tricks wouldn't like to believe that he could fight a powerful wizard . . . and win?When fourteen-year-old budding stage illusionist, Matt Collins vanishes in a vortex of purple smoke, the live audience is astonished. So is Matt. The purple vortex is not his magic trick gone astray; it is the wicked wizard Crius swapping bodies with Matt. Trapped in the wizard's aged body and marooned in a medieval world of real magic, Matt seeks to return to his own body and time. While Matt lives in this strange world, his body grows younger to reflect his soul. Meanwhile, Crius' stolen body - Matt's previous body - rapidly ages to reflect its occupant. To permanently secure Matt's youth as his own, Crius spins a web of intrigue to set his enemies against Matt, but Matt has none of the wizard's magical abilities with which to defend himself. Aided by the drunken wizard Alaric and the untrained apprentice Basil, Matt must thwart the knave Harold, avoid the wrath of the knight Sir Michael, and free the kidnapped Princess Ileana. If Matt fails, then Crius keeps a young body, and Matt will not live to celebrate his fifteenth birthday. Matt's only weapons in his quest are the magic tricks and illusions he practiced for the stage. Perhaps if he masters his presentation, these will be enough.