Come, sit with me beside the broad hearthstone and gaze into the depths of the fire when it burns low, for not among the leaping flames alone are there to be seen marvelous things.

Deep hidden from your eyes at first, but plainly visible as you look closer, are countless forms of brightness and of beauty. You will find them among the shining coals that glimmer in scarlet and gold before you when the embers lie clear and warm upon the hearth. You will behold them among the shadows that flit across the embers with delicate grace and changeful hues.

Here, spread wide open, is a part of the magical Land of Fire, the wonderland of the good and peaceful Ember Fairies. A golden gate gives entrance to it. Shining pathways lead through its bright gardens. Its skies are warm and glowing. Here, decked with flaming banners, stands the home of the good Prince Ember—his fairy Palace of Good Cheer. Here moves the beautiful Shadow Princess, in trailing garments of rose and amethyst. Here she may be seen in her dance of joy and ecstasy followed by her faithful band of Shadows.

Long ago, in the Land of Shadows, lived the Shadow Witch, the one beautiful and loving creature in all that dim and darksome land that lies away from the Land of Fire, and between it and the Chimney Back. Close to her domain is the great Plain of Ash, where the giant, Curling Smoke, rises, where the crafty Ash Goblin lurks, where the boisterous Wind in the Chimney swoops down from out the Chimney Mouth. Near by, also, in his Cave of Darkness, her brother the Wizard works his enchantments.

If you will but hearken, I will tell you how the Shadow Witch came to leave that grim land with its evil fairies, and why it is that she now dances with happiness amid the good fairies of the Fire, in the Land of Glowing Embers. You shall hear, also, of the noble Prince Ember, and of the quest upon which he once set out. What speed he had in his high adventure, and whether or no he brought it to a happy and fortunate close, this tale will make known to you.