Martin, a poor student, volunteers to go on a quest to find a cure for the princess Adriana, who is stricken with a strange illness. Unknown to Martin or anyone else, the princess is actually under the spell of the powerful magician Andlobrandini, who is preparing a rejuvenating elixir made from the blood of nine men's hearts.

Young blacksmith Mikeš sets out into the world for an adventure, accompanied by the miller's assistant Matěj and the boy Ondra. On their journey to rescue three enchanted princesses, the young men encounter a mischievous old hag, magic, and traps set by the Black King, but most importantly, they face their own temptations.

Twelve-year old Kosta, a little boy of an overactive imagination, makes friends with equally sensitive eleven-year old Blanka. Fantasy leads the two children to the forgotten attic in the house of Blanka's parents. For them, this is the forbidden "thirteenth chamber," and to Kosta, an old glass vase becomes a magic ball with the help of which he can play his favorite play "on fate". The children observe the adults and unconsciously sense that something has gone wrong in Blanka's family. Her dad is a physician and her mother is not happy with him, still recollecting her former wooer Petr who left for India upon his graduation.