by T.A. Barron
As he finished, his gaze met that of the eagleman Scree, who had once lost his own mother to a murderer's arrow. In Scree's strength, Hawkeen found a touch of hope. And in the eagleboy, Scree found a reflection of his younger self. He recognized this sad but sturdy youth; he knew this mixture of anguish and resolve. The bond between Hawkeen and Scree would grow, so much that they would one day fight together at Avalon's Battle of Isenwy.
Helvin
This bard is beloved by the Ayanowyn fire angels. Although he was born blind, his other senses were so acute and his descriptions were so vivid that Helvin's rich, entrancing tales inspired the fire angels' first storypaintings, the spectacular murals that now cover the walls of caverns and tunnels throughout the Middle Realm of the Great Tree. Tamwyn's friend Gwirion, himself a storypainter, is most fond of Helvin's tales of Ogallad the Worthy. For those tales carry the hope that the fire angels might someday burn bright again—and possibly fulfill their dream of soaring up to the stars.
Henni Hoolah
Henni, whose full name is Henniwashinachtifig, stands half the height of Tamwyn. But he has more than double the young man's capacity for making mischief. As a hoolah, he has no sense of caution, no sense of honor, and no sense of dignity—basically no sense at all. To Henni, life is just a game. Any mischief is good fun; any danger is irrelevant. As he tells Tamwyn soon after they meet, "I've never met a death trap I didn't like."
Like other hoolahs, Henni has very large hands (good for climbing trees or hurling fruit) and silver eyes surrounded by circular eyebrows. He laughs easily—especially at Tamwyn's clumsiness—and releases a raucous "eehee, eehee, hoohoohoohahaha" that can be heard from one end of a forest to another. In the custom of his people, he dresses simply, wearing only a baggy tunic and a red headband, and carries a slingshot in his belt.
Something about Henni may be changing, however. Gradually, he seems more conscious of his actions, and he may actually be showing signs of concern for others. It may even be true that he is more aware of the value of life (including his own). Yet these changes may not last. And for now, at least, none of this is as meaningful to Henni as the simple fun of pelting Tamwyn with fruit—or pushing him into the Spiral Cascades.
Hywel
As the oldest of the Drumadian Elders, Hywel has lived in the compound longer than anyone else—including High Priestess Coerria, who is nearly two hundred years old. Hywel was a leader of the Society of the Whole before some of the current Elders were even born. As such, she takes very seriously her role as the keeper of the Society's traditions, through her responsibilities as the Dean of Timeliness and Decorum. After all, many of those traditions reach back to the days of the first priestesses, Elen and Rhiannon.
When Hywel stands beside the clanging Buckle Bell—which was made from the belt buckle of a giant, melted down by the breath of a fire dragon, molded by dwarves, and decorated by faery artisans—she wears woolen earmuffs to protect her hearing. But there is precious little hearing left to protect. Hywel's eyes, however, remain sharp. As she scans the newest crop of young apprentices, who are about to begin their formal prayers, she looks for any signs of disarray. What she does not expect is that one apprentice has skipped formal prayers altogether—for in all her years, she has never met anyone quite like Elli.
Ilyakk
No member of the eagle people, except possibly Hac Yarrow, loved to fly more than Ilyakk. And no other eagleman, except perhaps Scree, ever flew more courageously. As a young fledgling in Rahnawyn, Ilyakk decided to soar to the top of the highest volcano he could find. When that proved too easy, he rode the swells even higher, sailing over the Burnt Hills of the fire dragons. Finally, when he was too exhausted to fly any longer, he settled down for a rest—not on land, but on the scaly snout of an airborne fire dragon. The dragon, amused by this intrepid youngster, carried Ilyakk higher still, until at last they glimpsed the rumpled ridges of the Great Tree's trunk rising upward. This experience merely whetted the eagleboy's appetite. As he grew older, he constantly pushed himself to fly higher and higher, rising to the Swaying Sea and beyond. No creature from the root-realms of Avalon—save only the great dragon Basilgarrad, who once carried Merlin to the stars—has ever flown so high as Ilyakk.
Imbolca
This Drumadian priestess, known for her perpetual scowl, is an ally of Llynia. She believes that the Society of the Whole must regain its original purity. As such, she is deeply offended by Coerria's decision to admit Elli into the order, even as an apprentice third class. Imbolca's normally nasty mood always brightens a bit when her maryth, the ginger cat Mebd, scratches someone annoying.
Kerwin
Even as a young eagleman, Kerwin proved himself a warrior of great ability in many battles to defend the Tierrnawyn clan of upper Olanabram. Like his fellow eagleman Scree, Kerwin fought with supreme ferocity, but always within the bounds of honor. So it was no surprise that he was chosen to represent the allies of Avalon at the parley before the great Battle of Isenwy. Like the rest of his clan, Kerwin had skin as brown as the muddy plains, flashing eyes, and eaglefeathers marked with black stripes—as well as fierce devotion to his people's way of life.
Kree-ella
Kree-ella, an eaglewoman of the Bram Kaie clan in Fireroot, was bold enough to resist the murderous ways of the clan's leader Quenaykha. For this action, Quenaykha ordered her caught, tortured, and killed, then hung to a post as an example to other potential traitors. Such is the gentle temperament of the leader of the Bram Kaie—someone Scree must confront.
Krystallus Eopia
… All that seemed certain was that somewhere on his journey to the stars, this great explorer had perished.
The boy who would become Avalon's greatest explorer was born to the wizard Merlin and the deer woman Hallia in the Year of Avalon 27. Although he was almost crushed as an infant when the giant Shim tried to kiss him, Krystallus survived. Lacking his father's magical powers, as well as his mother's ability to run with the grace of a deer, he suffered from grave self-doubts. But from an early age, he demonstrated a strong passion for exploring. Blessed with an exceptionally long life, thanks to his wizard ancestry, he became the first person to explore many remote parts of Avalon, including the Great Hall of the Heartwood deep within the trunk of the Great Tree. Like his rival, the elf queen Serella, he developed considerable expertise in the dangerous art of portalseeking. He founded the Eopia College of Mapmakers in Waterroot, and chose for its emblem the star within a circle, the symbol for magically Leaping between places and times.
In the Year of Darkness, Krystallus journeyed to Fireroot. He was attacked by flamelons, but was subsequently rescued by the flamelon princess Halona. Despite the danger of the Dark Prophecy, they married and conceived a child. But soon after Halona gave birth, the family suffered a brutal attack. While Krystallus managed to escape, he concluded that both his wife and their son, Tamwyn, had been killed.
Beset with grief, Krystallus embarked on his most ambitious journey ever—to find the secret pathway to the stars. Neither he nor any members of his expedition ever returned. By the time Tamwyn decided to search for his father, no one could say what route Krystallus might have taken to reach the highest realms. And no one could say what might have happened to his magical torch, a gift from Merlin, which continued to burn as long as Krystallus remained alive. All that seemed certain was that somewhere on his journey to the stars, this great explorer had perished.
Kulwych (White Hands)
As he prowled in the dark shadows of a stone wall above Prism Gorge in High Brynchilla, this cloaked sorcerer was all but invisible. Only his pale white hands could be seen: The fingernails were perfectly clipped; the skin bore not a single callus. The rest of Kulwych, called White Hands by some, remained hidden. But his actions were more easily viewed—whether by finding the disemboweled bodies whose entrails he had read, or by seeing the enslaved creatures whose lives he had destroyed. For the sorcerer had forced those slaves to build a massive dam across the gorg
e, a dam whose true purpose was known only to Kulwych and his master: the warlord of the spirit realm, Rhita Gawr.
Kulwych pulled the hood of his cloak tight around his head whenever the wind howled through the canyon, wishing he could return to his lair deep underground in Shadowroot. When, at last, Tamwyn made him remove his hood, the sorcerer's face looked more dead than alive. A jagged scar ran diagonally from the stub of what was once an ear down to his chin, taking out a chunk of his nose along the way. Where his right eye should have been, there was just a hollow pit, full of scabs and swollen veins. His mouth, burned shut on one side, was merely a lipless gash. Even so, as Elli and Tamwyn discovered, the most hideous part of Kulwych was not his face, but his mind.
Who had caused Kulwych's disfigurement? According to the sorcerer, it was Merlin himself, at the height of the War of Storms. Kulwych's will to live helped him survive, but brought him centuries of pain. During all that time, he plotted his ultimate revenge against Merlin—and against Merlin's beloved world of Avalon.
Ever cloaked in shadow, Kulwych the sorcerer plots revenge against Merlin and the world of Avalon.
Lady of the Lake
Revered and dreaded throughout the realms, the Lady of the Lake first appeared in the deepest forests of Woodroot in Avalon's sixth century. Where she came from, or how she gained her vast powers, no one can say. Even her precise location has never been confirmed. Of the many brave souls who have tried to find her, none succeeded and only a few ever returned.
Some people believe that the Lady must be a shape-shifting sorceress; others maintain that she is really the incarnation of the goddess Lorilanda. Still others claim that she is just an elderly woman who lives in a tree called New Arbassa, who surrounds herself with glowing light flyers, and who enjoys eating rivertang berries. Whatever her true identity may be, she remains shrouded in mystery as thick as the mists that swirl around her magical lair.
For reasons known only to herself, the Lady of the Lake has long favored the Society of the Whole. Yet even High Priestess Coerria only saw the Lady once, and that was in a vision. When the Lady appeared, aglow with blue light, she began by reciting the famous Dark Prophecy:
A year shall come when stars go dark,
And faith will fail anon—
For born shall be a child who spells
The end of Avalon.
The only hope beneath the stars
To save that world so fair
Will be the Merlin then alive:
The wizard's own true heir.
Then she revealed a secret—a secret about Merlin and his precious staff, Ohnyalei. Coerria told no one about this for many years. But that finally changed when she met a remarkable young apprentice priestess named Elliryanna.
The Lady of the Lake approaches, surrounded by mystery as thick as the magical mists.
Le-fen-flaith
Among the vaporous sylphs of Airroot, Le-fen-flaith is celebrated as the realm's greatest architect. He designed many structures, including whimsical cloud sculptures viewed by appreciative audiences all across Y Swylarna in the seventh and eighth centuries of Avalon. He also perfected the first successful anchors for the strings of aeolian harps stretched between clouds. His most practical construction project was the bridge whose cloudthread ropes span the narrow gap between Mudroot and Airroot. Although the bridge was finally completed centuries ago, in the Year of Avalon 702, it has continued to stand—albeit shakily, as Elli discovered. The architect named it Trishila o Mageloo, which means the air sighs sweetly in the sylphs' native language. But in time, travelers came to call it the Misty Bridge. The first people to cross it, other than sylphs, were two special guests of Le-fen-flaith himself: the Lady of the Lake, whose eyes opened wide with wonder, and her good friend, the pinnacle sprite Nuic, whose eyes remained shut tight through the entire crossing.
Lleu
This tall, lanky priest of the Society of the Whole has sharp eyes crowned by thick, dark eyebrows. He is often accompanied by his maryth, Catha, a silver-winged falcon who likes to perch on his shoulder. Lleu was a good friend of Elli's father, during their years together at the Drumadian compound, and is now one of High Priestess Coerria's closest allies. Accordingly, he is deeply suspicious of the priestess Llynia, whose actions are guided more by her personal ambitions than her Drumadian principles. And he is willing to do anything to protect Avalon—even if that means facing the deadly changeling Neh Gawthrech in battle.
Lleu's great-grandfather, Lleu of the One Ear, authored the famous Drumadian text Cyclo Avalon. He was a good friend of Merlin and one of Elen's original disciples in the earliest days of Avalon.
Llynia el Mari
Once she became the Chosen One, who would eventually become High Priestess, Llynia's arrogance and ambition began to overcome her devotion to the basic principles of the Society of the Whole. Not only was she the youngest Chosen One since Rhiannon herself, she possessed the gift of seeing visions of the future. Those visions may have been only occasional, and vague, but they were still enough to win her renown—and also to win her advantage in political schemes. As Llynia told herself regularly, she should use whatever means were necessary to climb to the highest levels of power. For she alone represented the purity of faith that could bring glory once again to the Drumadians.
Although she resented the efforts of High Priestess Coerria to humble her—requiring, for example, that Llynia wear the same simple greenish brown robe as other priestesses and priests—Llynia felt certain that she would prevail in time. She remained convinced of her own superiority even after a strange green mark appeared on her chin, the Lady of the Lake unexpectedly snubbed her, the lowly priestess Elliryanna outwitted her, and her devoted maryth, Fairlyn, finally rejected her. Fortunately, the wise teacher Olo Belamir appreciated her singular virtues, and proclaimed her Llynia the Seer.
Lott (Master Lott)
The only activities that Lott enjoys more than bossing around his roof-thatching laborers is eating a big, sumptuous meal—and then napping for several hours afterward. Having done much of both over the years, he is enormously fat. His eyes, sunk deep into the rolls of flab on his cheeks like a pair of almonds in a mound of dough, study his laborers suspiciously. Especially laborers such as Tamwyn—who, in Lott's view, is clumsier than a blind troll. Like many people who live in central Stoneroot, he often speaks in alliteration. Thus he shows his affection for Tamwyn by calling him "horrible hooligan," "lame-brained lout," and "sluggish scalawag,"
Mananaun
The last seer of the Ayanowyn fire angels, Mananaun lived a long life. She died only eighty flames before Tamwyn arrived at the village of Gwirion's clan, located near the upward-flowing Spiral Cascades in the trunk of the Great Tree. Despite the misery of her people, whose soulfires had dimmed almost to the point of going out completely, Mananaun left behind a prophecy of hope. The fire angels, she predicted, would one day regain the power of their wings and the brilliance of their flames. They would fly back to the stars, where they had come from long ago in the days of Ogallad, and would be greeted by the great spirit Dagda. Then, at long last, the fire angels would gain their true name and their remarkable story would be renewed.
Marnya
The daughter of Bendegeit, highlord of the water dragons, Marnya spent her youth swimming, diving, and cavorting in the iridescent waters of the Rainbow Seas. Her luminous blue scales and azure eyes often gleamed in Waterroot's waves. But this adventurous young dragon dreamed of doing something else, something no water dragon had ever done: She longed to fly. Finally, the brave dragon Basilgarrad showed her how. In return, she showed him the strength of her loyalty and the power of her love.
Maryths
… “Our friends, the maryths, will ensure that none of us will forget to open our ears to other songs.”
Every priestess and priest in the Society of the Whole could count on the companionship of a maryth, whose loyalty would last as long as their lives as Drumadians. Inspired by Merlin's friendship with t
he brave hawk Trouble, the Society's founders decreed that maryths could be any kind of creature but human. In the words of Elen, "Our friends, the maryths, will ensure that none of us will forget to open our ears to other songs—no matter how different the melody, or how strange the rhythm." Consequently, maryths are as varied as the pinnacle sprite Nuic, the tree spirit Fairlyn, the bold falcon Catha, the irascible cat Mebd, and the hive spirit Uzzzula.
Maulkee
To Quenaykha, the eaglewoman who leads the renegade Bram Kaie clan of Fireroot, Maulkee is her most promising lieutenant. But to the eagleman Scree, who saw Maulkee kill the healer Arc-kaya, he is nothing but a bloody murderer. Maulkee is broad-shouldered and muscular, with a mouth that often twists into a haughty sneer. Though he is no more than seven years old, the eagleman is fully grown, the equivalent of a human in his twenties. And he is very experienced in the ways of warfare, a sport he quite enjoys. When he faces Scree in battle, both warriors feel unbridled rage—although Scree also feels a troubling hint of familiarity.
Morrigon
Despite his advanced age, Morrigon is spry enough to serve his master, the teacher Belamir, quite effectively. And he is also mean-spirited enough to encourage the violent excesses of Belamir's Humanity First movement. Although he looks rather frail, with scraggly white hair sprouting from his chin and both sides of his head, Morrigon is adept at archery. But it isn't his skill with the bow and arrow that arouses the elf Brionna's curiosity. Rather, it is Morrigon's irritated eye, which is so bloodshot that it looks pink—unnaturally pink—the sign of a changeling.