Two boys, separated by hundreds of years will never know each other--yet together they will battle a great evil at the very heart of the world--The Child Eater. One, Matyas, resides in a medieval world whose power rests with the Academy of Wizards. The other, Simon Wisdom, in present-day America. Their lives are vastly different: as a boy, Matyas is viciously beaten by his innkeeper father, yet he will grow up to become the greatest magician. Simon is deeply loved by his widowed father, Jack, yet even a father's dedication is helpless against the psychic terrors that overwhelm Simon from his earliest years. Matyas and Simon both suffer the same horrific visions: a dark tunnel, pieces of bodies, disembodied heads of children pleading for help. When a new boy's body is found without a head Matyas learns a terrible secret: a magician can live forever by devouring the lives of children. The magician who does this has hidden his name so no one can work a spell against him. He is the Child Eater.