Welcome to the world of Helen and Lysander, a brother and sister in ancient Sparta. It is the eve of their seventh birthdays and the following morning they are set to enter one of the world's harshest training programmes. In this first book, Helen and Lysander must overcome hunger, pain and injury in a series of life-threatening challenges. Their biggest challenge is surviving the annual festival designed to introduce the new trainees to the rest of Sparta. But Helen and Lysander do not face their challenges alone. They have help from Pylos, a helot or slave boy, who considers Lysander to be his only friend and who quietly helps them at key moments. He does this at great risk to himself and to Lysander and Helen; for it is forbidden for Spartans and helots to be friends. So, join Helen, Lysander and Pylos on a series of heart-stopping adventures on their journey through to adulthood and their involvement in some of the critical points in Spartan history. This book is suitable for readers aged 10 and upwards.