The Mysterious Cities of Gold

Father Rodriguez, who has looked after Esteban since he was a baby, tells him a great secret on his deathbed: somewhere his father may still be alive. So Esteban decides to begin his search in the New World. With the help of Mendoza, a mysterious man who claims to have rescued him as a baby, Esteban hides as a stowaway, aboard the Esperanza. As they are about to set sail, he meets a young Inca girl: Zia.

The two children, Esteban and Zia, find out that they both wear the same strange medallion. The Esperanza crosses the Atlantic and nears the entrance of the Straits of Magellan, where wild seas and strong winds create terrible storms. Mendoza, the navigator, prepares to spend four days and nights at the wheel.

Buffeted by a fierce wind and a wild sea, the Esperanza manages to sail through the Straits of Magellan, under Mendoza's guidance. But now, the ship faces another trial of strength: it is in the grip of a hurricane.

Esteban and his friends barely cross through the terrible Straits of Magellan before their ship, the Esperanza, sinks in a storm. Tossed around on a small raft and attacked by sharks, they're left in the middle of the ocean, with no provisions. But a seagull overhead guides them towards the closest shores, and they finally reach a small island.

After a dangerous journey, Esteban and his friends are washed up on a mysterious island. That night, a shadowy figure comes creeping towards them. Silently, the figure steals a chart and a pistol, then snatches up Zia. Esteban gives chase. He discovers a curious house in a tree, where Zia is a prisoner. To Esteban's surprise, the mysterious shadow turns out to be a friendly boy of his own age, called Tao.

On a small island among the Galapagos, Esteban and Zia find a young boy living all alone: Tao. His ancestors left a magnificent ship, the Solaris, which contains their ancient secret knowledge, hidden in a temple on the island. Esteban and Zia want to use the ship to reach the mainland.

Six months after their adventures in South America, Esteban, Zia and all the team are back in Barcelona. There, the mysterious Zarès put in jail Mendoza, Sancho and Pedro. But Esteban, Zia and Tao will succeed to help them to escape.

Esteban has disappeared the morning after Mendoza told him the truth about his father. Thanks to Pichu, his friends follow his traces to find him.

After a long journey, our heroes arrive in the south of China and settle in the region of Guilin. Here, they make the acquaintance of a young Chinese boy called Zhi and his Panda, Yang-Yang who welcome them to their village during the ceremony of the Dragon.

Our heroes try to escape the pirates but Esteban and Tao are captured and taken to the pirate camp.

Will our heroes be able to escape the jaws of Pang-Li's alligator?

The pirates attack Ambrosius' ship that transforms itself into an incredible flying Nave!

After leaving China under the threat of Zares, our heroes finally arrive in Japan. They must absolutely find there the third City of Gold against which the infamous Zarès promises to release Athanaos, the father of Esteban.

The one who attacks Esteban, Tao and Zia is Yoshi, an old man who keeps fiercely the impressive Orichalcum sphere. Yoshi reveals to the children that it is a utsuro bune, a sacred object, rejected by the sea thousands of years ago and revered since as a gift of the gods.

Using his gift to make the sun reappear, Esteban allows Zia to take off the Condor. Under the astonished eyes of Yoshi, the immense golden bird finally emerges from the waves. Mendoza, Sancho and Pedro manage to escape from the castle.

Near the temple of Izumo, the children succeed in extracting Esteban from the water, but attract the attention of one of the guards who go after them. Within the walls of the temple, our heroes finally see the mirror shield out for the parade, but an earthquake creates panic!

Inside the temple, the shield-mirror leaves the children perplexed: according to the silhouette in the utsuro bune, it is the path and the key to the next golden city. They realize then that the ornaments of the mirror represent a volcano, off Kagoshima. Will the city be underneath?

At night, as Ichiro goes to take his guard duty at the castle, Esteban follows him and tries to convince him to help him to escape Mendoza and his men. Ichiro refuses, reminding Esteban how his presence and those of his friends already endangers his whole family.

After Arabia, our heroes set course for Africa. In pursuit of Ambrosius, the climb Lalibela, in Ethiopia. There, Esteban and Tao explore a church whose walls are covered with religious murals. To their shock, one of them depicts the pyramid of Mu being carries in a procession! But the church hides something else: a strange machine from Mu. Convinced this machine will provide them with a clue leading to the next city of gold, Tao is hesitant to leave, against the advice of Esteban who suspects a trap laid by Ambrosius. Rightly so...

At Lalibela, Zia uses all her mental energy to create a force field and free Esteban and Tao from the rubble of the church. As night falls, Zia has a strange, piercing dream, plunging her into an incredible vision of an African mask leading her to a city of gold.

Arriving at the city of Kilwa, out heroes split up to find the famous Cinza. While exploring the city, they discover the sad reality of the slave markets. Moved, Zia convinces Mendoza to help them free the captives.

After having proposed to Esteban that they join forces to find the fifth city of gold, the deceitful Gomez sends his men to capture our heroes. But only Mendoza and Esteban fall into their hands. So the others are able to execute their plan to help free the captives at Kilwa threatened with being sold into slavery. Finally, Mendoza fights Gomez in a duel while Esteban steals the map leading to the city of gold. Meanwhile, Ambrosius heads for a secret base where a surprising welcoming committee awaits him...

Guided by the map stolen from Gomez, our heroes are flying over the city of Zimbabwe when, believing they have been beaten by Ambrosius, Esteban crashes. The children are taken to the palace gardens of the king Neshangwe. Seeing Zia's medallion, the king shows them "The Gate of the Ancients", a very old orichalcum arch. Thanks to their medallions, our young heroes pass through the mysterious arch which teleports them to Francis I, the king of France, in his castle at Chambord...

Teleported to Chambord thanks to the gate of the ancients, Zia and Esteban are welcomed by the king of France, meanwhile Tao makes the acquaintance of Nostradamus in the workshop of the founder of the Order of the Hourglass, the late Leonardo da Vinci. Back in Zimbabwe, the two sailors discover some hidden gold and Mendoza speaks with Laguerra, imprisoned on the ship by Ambrosius.