It is the thirteenth century in the West African Empire of Mali. Wali, an eleven-year-old boy, is embarking on the journey of a lifetime Mansa Musa, the great emperor, is putting together a legendary caravan to cross the Sahara Desert on his pilgrimage to Mecca. Wali is leaving home for the first time to help his uncle, a camel driver, along with Ahmed, the slave boy. Together they must learn to endure the rigors of such travel as they run into attacks by both man and beast. In the midst of this, they come face-to-face with the greatest danger of all Is it human? Alive or dead? More importantly, in the back streets of Cairo, can they defeat its evil plot?