When offered the choice between a stuffed red lizard and entrance through a doorway marked ADVENTURE, 11-year-old Oklahoman cowboy Danny Ray went for the door and found himself in King Krystal's Elidor, a kingdom on the shores of the bizarre Checked Sea containing giant chess pieces, miniature dragons, and small singing soldiers. The court is in an uproar because the White Queen has been kidnapped by pirates--right before the Great Chess Game! The frightened king ordered a hero from the Dream Machine to find her, and Danny's not quite the knight in shining armor he had hoped for. Danny nonetheless sets off in search of the Queen and encounters much more than he bargained for.