A young girl named Sooz lives in a small village that is terrorized by a griffin. It has been there since she was born and now, being nine, she watches as it begins to eat some of the children that she knows. The village sends word to the king who sends a single knight to take on the griffin. The knight is killed and so the king sends more knights who all die by the griffin. The village stops sending for people because they know that no one, but the king himself can kill the griffin. After her best friend Felicitas is killed by the griffin, Sooz decides that something must be done about the monster and so she sneaks out one night and into her uncle’s cart as he heads for a village near the king’s castle. She gets close to the castle and then begins walking on foot, though she doesn’t know where she is actually going. After wandering through the forest for a while she comes across a stream and hears a man and a woman nearby. The man calls out to Sooz, somehow knowing that she is hiding among the bushes and Sooz reveals herself. She tells them that she is going to King Lir to request that he kill the griffin and they tell her that they are also going to see the king. They introduce themselves as Molly and Schmendrick and say that they are old friends of the king. They begin to travel together and Sooz realizes that Schmendrick may be a magician. They finally get to the castle and Sooz is disappointed at how friendly the castle looks. They get to the king with ease who doesn’t seem to remember Molly and Schmendrick at first, but does after they mention a unicorn. Sooz tells King Lir about her village and agrees to help them. His assistant, Lisene, tells him he shouldn’t go, but he decides to anyway. They prepare to leave and right before they do Lisene pleads one more time for him not to go.  They ride for a few days and King Lir tells Sooz stories and tips about monsters and beasts. However, at night he seems to wander off and forget some things, but always comes back when someone mentions a unicorn. They approach the village and Schmendrick says that Sooz shouldn’t tell anyone that the king is there because it would cause too much celebration. She returns to her family, but remains quiet about the king. On the day that King Lir goes to fight the griffin, Sooz, Molly, and Schmendrick all accompany him. King Lir tells Sooz to return home and Schmendrick and Molly not to interfere in his fight. As he goes into the woods where the griffin lives, Sooz’s dog, Malka, runs wildly into the forest. Sooz chases after her and finds the King is battling with the griffin and Malka biting at the griffin’s feet. The griffin swats Malka out of the way and keeps fighting with the king. Sooz runs to Malka and sees that she is dead. She turns and sees that the king has stabbed one heart that the griffin has, but not the other one. The griffin gains the upper hand and pins King Lir to the ground. Schmendrick and Molly watch in horror as they can’t intervene, but Sooz runs at the griffin with a stick and a rock. The griffin grabs her and just when she is about to die she sees a flurry of white and a unicorn appears and kills the griffin. Sooz runs to Malka and begins crying over her dead dog and is somewhat comforted by Molly. They see that the king is dead and the unicorn comes to Sooz and heals Malka. The unicorn leaves and Schmendrick is angry that the unicorn didn’t heal King Lir instead. Molly and Schmendrick prepare to leave the village and Molly teaches Sooz a special whistle that she is only to use when she turns seventeen and wants someone special to come to her.