Synopsis
The book opens with a boy called Jarred, a friend of Prince Endon. After the death of King Alton and his queen, Endon is proclaimed King in his father's place. To consummate this, a magical steel belt, the Belt of Deltora, is set around Endon's waist. The Belt recognizes Endon as Deltora's rightful king. Jarred goes to the library and later learns that the evil Shadow Lord, a Sauron-like intelligence located in the Shadowlands, once tried to seize the land in which is the kingdom of Deltora. Because the people of those days were divided into seven tribes, the Shadow Army soon overwhelmed much of the land. Jarred learned that a blacksmith named Adin gathered the sacred talismans from each tribe and attached them to a chain of steel medallions. The people's trust in Adin, channeled through the gems, was powerful enough to drive back the Shadow Army into its own dark home, the Shadowlands. Adin later became king of the united land called Deltora; yet he never forgot that the Enemy was not destroyed. He therefore never let the Belt out of his sight. With every generation, the Belt was worn less and less, diminishing its effect, until the belt was worn only once, in the coronation. The kings and queens also let their power go to the administrative council, diminishing its power.
The advisors all created a series of laws on the royal council called "the law", which enforces the power of the royal family for generations.
Jarred, learning of this, urges Endon to put on the Belt and revive the custom of Adin. However, Endon disagrees, arguing that The Rule enforces that. Before he can explain in detail, Chief Advisor Prandine, who is evil, enters and accuses Jarred of treason and called Jarred 'a spy' and 'one that has a bad influence on Endon' Jarred desperately reaches for his book, but Prandine accuses Jarred even more, saying that he was there to murder the king. Prandine tries to have Jarred hanged but Jarred escapes Prandine and finds that the city has fallen into disrepair, and Deltora has become a virtual dystopia, with people fighting and arguing for the leftover bones and apple cores the palace threw away. Jarred then faints on Crian the blacksmith's doorstep and eventually becomes apprentice and successor to Crian, later to marry Crian's granddaughter Anna.
Jarred also realises that the Shadow Lord sent many spies to act as advisors, secretly ruling Deltora with an iron fist. After an amount of time, the Shadow Lord would dispose of one advisor. However, Jarred was convinced that Prandine was evil.
However, the Shadow Lord did not know that Adin had five children with his wife, Zara, and four of them are in the kingdom somewhere. The eldest son was the ancestor of King Endon, which meant that there still was an heir, even if there was none.
Seven years later, the gems of Deltora were stolen by the Ak-Baba under the Shadow Lord and were scattered throughout the land. This also allowed the Enemy to enter the land. Jarred helps King Endon and Queen Sharn (Endon's pregnant bride) escape the invasion through a secret tunnel, but not before Queen Sharn pushes Prandine out the topmost window of the castle.
Sixteen years later
Sixteen years later, the Shadow Lord tyrannically rules Deltora, because of Prandine's evil work. On the morning that Prandine died, the Shadow Lord first shut down the Bone Point Lighthouse, shutting down all merchant ships. Then, the Shadow Lord posted Grey Guards on the road to Del, the capital city, ready to kill anyone that dared anger or pass them. The evil lord also put Ols, a type of shapeshifting beings that worked for him, everywhere.
A person identified as Jarred's son and apprentice, Lief, has been born during this uncanny time. He has been raised to reject the Shadow Lord, but never to show any obvious opposition. Jarred and Anna homeschool Lief even though he complains about education; because none of his other friends were educated. His parents told him the history of Adin in great detail, but the time just before Lief was born they refused to tell, claiming that a spy might be listening to them right now. However, Lief's friends covered up the plot hole his parents set at the time before Lief was born. They said that the Shadow Lord had invaded the land, who already had a cowardly ruler, Endon, and Lief hated the old royal system as a result. They also spoke about the mysterious mist that covered the castle, but the moment the Shadow Lord took charge, the mist was removed. Lief soon put two and two together and made five.
On his sixteenth birthday, Lief's parents said that Lief was free from the afternoon. He meets his friends, and soon eat rare apples. Lief was soon wandering at evening, a time strictly prohibited by the Shadow Lord. Lief almost got cornered by Grey Guards, if not for a mysterious rope that was tied to the top of a building. By midnight, Lief's parents gave him some birthday presents. Lief's father, gave Lief a legendary sword that he crafted for lots of months, and Lief's mother gives him a mythical cloak that makes the wearer invisible. Jarred says that the Shadow Lord sends Deltora's military might to neighbouring continents, seeking land and power. Lief's father sends his son, accompanied by a disguised soldier named Barda, who was disguised as a beggar, to find the lost gems from the Belt and restore them to the belt to defeat the evil Shadow Lord.
The nearest gem, the golden topaz, is to be found in Mid Wood, which is one of three perilous Forests of Silence. While travelling to the forest, Wenns capture them and take them into First Wood as an offering to the predator known as Wennbar. Before being eaten, a wild forest-dwelling girl of Lief's own age, called Jasmine appears. Jasmine, after a brief reluctance, rescues Lief and Barda, later to leads them to the Dark in the heart of Mid Wood. There, they discover a wall made of steadfastly cultivated vines, enclosing a clearing in the very center of the forest. In that center grow three flowers called the Lilies of Life, whose nectar possesses healing properties and grant everlasting life. The wall of vines was guarded by a Jalis knight called Gorl, who sought to drink of the Nectar of Life and become immortal but killed his two brothers' millennia ago because they stood in his way. Over the years, Gorl's body has rotted away, leaving nothing behind but his memories and his intentions. He captures Lief and Barda.
Under their questions, Gorl narrates all, while Barda strives to break the psychokinetic control held by the knight over their bodies. Barda breaks the grip, but is given a mortal wound by Gorl's sword. As he is about to kill Lief, Jasmine persuades a tree to drop a limb onto Gorl, thus destroying him and breaching his wall. Sunlight enters the Dark, and the Lilies of Life bloom at last. Jasmine and Lief use their nectar to heal the dying Barda. As the Lilies fade, Jasmine takes the last of the nectar into a jar, so that she might use it on future injuries.
Lief takes the topaz from its position as the pommel of Gorl's sword and fits it into the Belt of Deltora. The three relax and recuperate, while animals from all over Mid Wood enter the breach in Gorl's wall and devour the vines. Later, Barda and Lief re-embark, with Jasmine and her animal companions Kree and Filli in company.
