Stoneheart

Stoneheart

While on a school trip to the Natural History Museum, George breaks off the head of a stone dragon. This causes a stone pterodactyl to seemingly come alive, peeling itself off the top of the building and beginning to chase George. During the chase, George bumps into the Gunner, a statue of a World War I soldier who helps him escape the pterodactyl. He explains to George that by breaking the stone dragon, he has entered a different version of London where statues move and talk. There are many worlds and the world George has entered is one where all the statues and sculptures are Spits or Taints and are at war with each other. No one else can see what is happening to him, except Edie Laemmel, a glint. She has the power to experience past events recorded in stones by touching them. With the Gunner as a guide, George and Edie go to seek help from two Sphinx statues. After George solves a riddle, one of the Spinxes tells him to find The Black Friar. On the way to The Black Friar, George, Edie and the Gunner are attacked by a guardian Dragon statue. The Dragon cuts a mark into George's hand before the Gunner intervenes, allowing the children to escape. Once they reach The Black Friar, he identifies George as a maker, someone with a special gift for sculpting things from stone or metal. The Friar also tells them to find the 'Stone Heart' and put the broken dragon carving back to make amends for the damage George has done. But on the way the Gunner has sacrificed himself by breaking his promise sworn in the Maker's name to the Walker to try and save Edie, and ultimately falls into the clutches of the Walker. It is left to George to use his new-found gifts as a maker to rescue her. In so doing he sacrifices his own safety and is fated to take 'The Hard Way', remaining with her in this dangerous unLondon.