 Stig, Ulf and Wulf compete in the annual Maktig contest to determine the supreme warrior in all of Skandia when an unexpected-and unwelcome-visitor at Stig's home changes plans.Olaf, Stig's father who had run away with his own shipmates' plunder some years past and thus made himself a widely hated man in Hallasholm, has a request for the Heron crew.He had become the palace guard commander of the city of Byzantos, but the Empress' son had been kidnapped by a fierce pirate named Myrgos and he needed to return the boy for fear of his life.