A married pair of old Britons, Axl and Beatrice, have to put up with a large number of inconveniences, for they are forbidden to use candles. They are made to spend their evenings in complete darkness, while other members of their community, even drunks and fools, are granted such a privilege. Such a disrespectful attitude makes them wonder about leaving their village and visiting their son, who dwells in a different village, not far from them. They delay and delay their departure till Beatrice encounters a cloaked figure. The mysterious woman has a small talk with Beatrice after which Axl’s wife has a lot to think about. Both of them have been noticing strange forgetfulness which makes the villagers to forget not only their past but even events which have happened recently. For instance, no one seems to remember a redhead, whose healing skills, used to be so praised by her community, is well-forgotten by everyone. Warned by the cloaked woman to beware of such forgetfulness, the pair makes up their minds to start getting ready for a trip as soon as possible. Frankly speaking, neither Axl nor his wife can remember why their son doesn’t live with them.
As soon as they granted a permission to leave the village, they take to the road. Looking for a shelter from rain, the husband and the wife enter the remains of a villa. It soon gets clear that they are not alone. A tall and thin man and a black cloaked woman are there too. The pair notices that the elderly woman holds a rabbit and occasionally brings a knife to a creature’s throat. She does it to taunt the man, for she blames him for her separation from her husband. The man, who introduces himself as a boatman, explains that he is not one to be blamed. For the pairs, who want to cross a river together and live on the island together, are always questioned, for many people, who claim to be in love with each other, are bounded with feelings which are an opposite of love. He begs the pair to influence the woman and make her leave him alone. They do as they asked and hurry to continue their trip, for both of them are scared of the boatman and the cloaked woman. They reach a Saxon village before the night falls. Axl sees that something troubles Saxons, for the village is full of shouting people, barking dogs and guards. The fiends carried off a local boy. A knight from fenlands, Wistan, agrees to lend a hand and save the boy.
Worrying about the old couple’s safety, one of the elders of the village, Ivor, invites them to spend a night in his house. Wistan returns with the boy and everyone rejoices, but then someday notices a bite mark on Edwin’s chest and everything turns upside down. The Saxons want to kill the boy. To prevent the injustice from happening, the old pair agrees to take Edwin with them to their son’s village. Wistan, who seems to be extremely interested in Axl, promises them to share a part of their trip with them, protecting them from the dangers. When they reach a bridge and see soldiers of Lord Brennus, the warrior pretends to be a mute half-wit in order to avoid a confrontation. They cross the bridge and move forward when they hear somebody’s voice. It is Arthur’s nephew, Sir Gawain. An old knight invites them to share his dinner. Later on, Wistan stops pretending and introduces himself to the old knight properly. Suddenly, one more person join the company. It is one of Lord Brennus’s soldiers. He accuses Wistan of terrible crimes, but can’t name even one. However, he doesn’t lie when he claims that Wistan came to kill a dragon. It infuriates Sir Gawain, for this is his task assigned to him by Arthur. Although he is angry with the warrior, he refuses to help Brennus’s soldier. A short fight and the soldier is dead. Sir Gawain admits that he heard the rumors about Brennus’s wish to start a new war. Wistan says that he is going to kill the dragon to prevent him from taming it and using in the battle. Sir Gawain reassures him that there is no need to worry, for he is the one to slaughter the beast. The four of them continue the trip and soon reach the monastery.
They spend some time there and get permission to see the monk Jonus, who tells them that strange forgetfulness that plagues them is the dragon’s deed. Soon enough the soldiers of Lord Brennus enter the monastery. Sir Gawain saves the couple and the boy, while Wistan is left to fight the enemies. The old knight says that many years ago, to stop the war, Arthur asked Merlin to bewitch the dragon, so that her breath would make people forget their past. He also reveals that it is Axl, who is responsible for broken peace between Britons and Saxons and he, Gawain, is the dragon’s protector. After an extremely exhausting trip, the couple and the warrior meet again. Wistan is going to perform an order of his king. Being a devoted knight of his master, Sir Gawain measures swords with Wistan and dies. When the dragon is killed, the spell is destroyed, which means that the new war is going to start soon, for Saxons want to revenge for death of their women, children and elderly killed by Britons. The pair says good-by to the warrior and the boy. Beatrice wants to settle down on the island, while Axl is opposed to this idea. The boatman questions them and allows them to step on the shore on the island together. Axl tells the boatman about his deepest regret. His wife was unfaithful to him once which led to birth of her son. When the boy learned the truth and heard the harsh words from Axl, he left his home and never came back, for he died from plague. What was more, he didn’t allow his wife to visit his grave. The pair embraces and the boatman takes Beatrice to the other side, while Axl stays on the shore.
