The Mysterious Cities of Gold

The year is 1532. In Barcelona lives 12-year old Esteban, an orphan boy who has been raised by Father Rodriguez, the Dean of the Cathedral. No-one really knows where Esteban comes from, but he has a strange and wonderful power.

The Esperanza sets sail on its long voyage to the New World amid much celebration. Esteban and Zia make friends, discovering that they wear identical medallions.

As the Esperanza draws closer to the Straits of Magellan, Mendoza is calm and confident. He spends four days and nights at the wheel without sleep and successfully guides the ship through without event.

The Esperanza is in the grip of a tornado. As the crew tie themselves down and Captain Perez himself takes the wheel, Mendoza goes below deck to retrieve Esteban and Zia, who are still prisoners in a cage in the hold.

To their great relief, Esteban, Zia, Mendoza, Pedro and Sancho have landed on an island in the Galapagos. It seems uninhabited - they find only find giant animals, one of which they manage to catch.

Tao, now very hospitable to his new friends, shows them his giant tree house. He tells them that he is the descendant of the people of Heva, a race of high civilization whose empire was destroyed by a terrible disaster.

As the Solaris sails away from the Galapagos, Tao bids farewell to the island that he will never see again. Everyone inspects the ship from tip to bottom, while Tao carefully studies a book he hopes will reveal how to operate the ship.

The Solaris and its crew shelter in a bay for the night, but at dawn they are captured by Spanish soldiers and taken to a fortress.

Esteban and his friends have hardly left the bay when they meet the Saint Miguel, a Spanish warship under the command of Gomez and Gaspard, which begins to fire at them.

Tao is overcome by the loss of the Solaris. The friends decide to head to Zia's village. But in order to get there, they will have to go back to the fortress, where Pizarro and his soldiers are stationed.

Esteban, Zia and Tao walk through the mountains, in the direction of Zia's village. But they are being followed by two men, both of whom are strangely dressed.

Esteban, Tao and Zia, led by Vaina and Ketcha, are heading towards the Old Peak when they realize that they are being followed by Gomez and Gaspard, now accompanied by Mendoza, Sancho and Pedro.

No one in Macchu Picchu knows where the City of Gold is, except perhaps Mayucca, a wise old man whom the children set off to find.

With Tao's conclusions and calculations, the friends now know where the City of Gold is, but first they have to get the other half of Esteban's medallion from Mendoza.

Esteban and his friends are trapped along with Mendoza, Pedro and Sancho in the Fort of the Black Eagle, which is now surrounded by Gomez's men.

Back at the Old Peak - Macchu Picchu - Esteban, Zia and Tao find Mendoza, Pedro and Sancho with Chief Kraka. Offering to guide them, the three Spaniards set off with the children to find the Cities of Gold.

Heading for the mountains of Pacha Mama, Esteban and his friends again come across Kuruga who has now been wounded. He has been abandoned by his people because he failed in his attack on Lana's village.

Having fallen asleep beside the golden condor, Esteban and his friends are awoken by an earthquake.

Esteban and his friends are airborne in the golden condor. While they have no idea how to pilot it, they eventually realize that it is following the course of the sun.

Esteban and his friends fly towards the Old Peak - Macchu Picchu - where they hope to tell Kraka everything that has happened to them.

The golden condor flies over the Amazon forest. Esteban flies low so that they can all admire the river - but suddenly the sky is covered with cloud that hides the sun.

In the Queen's palace, the friends are well looked after. However, the Priestess Omoro remains very hostile and tries to persuade the Queen that they must now sacrifice Morka, one of her own servants.

The golden condor flies over the sea towards the land of the Mayas. Suddenly losing height, the bird flies down to the ground and into an immense cavern.

Tao returns to the underground chamber to investigate the jade mask. Looking into the eyes of the mask, he sees inscriptions that he can read.