After a cataclysmic battle, the rightful owners of Carn Merioneth
have reclaimed the ancient castle and released the pryf - spawn of dragons from
their prison. But for Mychael ab Arawn, son of the last rulers of Merioneth, there is no
peace after victory. Urged by a restless yearning to forsake his monk's vows, he now
searches through the endless tunnels and caves beneath the castle, hoping to find the
dragons that appeared to him in a fiery vision.
Others, though, seek to turn Mychael to their own purposes. Rhuddlan, leader of the Quicken-tree clan, would keep him tied to the world of men, leaving the dragons for Rhuddlan to rule. The witch Madron urges Mychael -- the first male, forbiddenly conceived, in a line of priestesses -- to stand in his mother's place as seer.
Only the Quicken-tree maid, Llynya, with her lavender scent and lighting-fast blade, follows Mychael's dangerous path. Seeking to redeem the honor she believes she has lost, she vows to discover with Mychael the deepest memories of the earth and time. Yet even as he is drawn to her by a sensual power more potent than the dragon's blood that flows through him, Mychael resists her pleas to journey with him. For he is certain she will find not honor, but death.
Already portents herald the return of monstrous forces, ancient enemies of man and the Quicken-tree clan. And a prophecy demands that Mychael and Llynya stand together against the darkness, find the enscrolled Magic Blade, and call forth the dragons in a confrontation with an unimagined evil that threatens to sweep them all into a vortex without end... .
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Jacket illustration -© Alan Ayers Hand-lettering - Ron Zinn Copyright 1998 Glenna McReynolds
