The Book of Magic (6 page)

Stangmar
, the wicked king of the
Shrouded Castle
who had sworn allegiance to the warlord
Rhita Gawr
, tried to capture all the Treasures to enhance his own power. Though his favorite was the Cauldron of Death, he also twisted the power of the Caller of Dreams to silence forever the voices of the people from Caer Neithan, the Town of Bards. In time, he found all the Treasures—except for the Last Treasure. Most people believed that it was a mysterious pendant, the
Galator
. But as Merlin,
Rhia
, and
Shim
ultimately discovered, the Last Treasure was really something quite different.

Trouble

This bold hawk with fire-bright eyes and deadly talons made up for his small size with sheer ferocity and feistiness—and proved so loyal to
Merlin
that many people consider him to be the very first
maryth
. The young man had saved his life in the
Druma Wood
of
Lost Fincayra
, even though the hawk caused enough problems to earn the name Trouble.

In the ultimate confrontation with the spirit lord
Rhita Gawr
at the
Shrouded Castle
, Trouble played a crucial role. For this small hawk with the great heart gave his own life to save the lives of Merlin,
Rhia
, and
Shim
—which led to the victory of the
Dance of the Giants
. In the years that followed, Merlin saw Trouble in spirit form only three times: during his visit to the
Otherworld
in search of the Elixir of
Dagda
, his final battle to save Fincayra and restore the
lost wings
, and his wedding to
Hallia
. Yet Merlin's affection for the hawk never diminished. Some believe that, in honor of Trouble, he chose to carry a hawk or an owl wherever he went on
Earth
. And no one doubts that his name was inspired by the merlin hawk who was such a true friend.

Tuatha

Long before
Merlin
's birth, the wizard Tuatha ruled
Fincayra
with wisdom, but also with unbending severity. He was most stern with his only son,
Stangmar
, who had not inherited any of the wizard's magical powers. Only many years later, when his grandson Merlin visited Tuatha's grave in a dark and eerie glade, did the elder wizard's spirit show any compassion. Maybe that was the influence of Tuatha's wife,
Olwen
, a mer woman who loved him so much that she chose to leave her people and her home beneath the sea just to be with him. Or maybe Tuatha finally recognized his own frailties.

Whatever his reasons, Tuatha finally agreed to help young Merlin find the Elixir of
Dagda
in the
Otherworld
, the only hope of saving Merlin's mother,
Elen
. Although he spoke with characteristic gruffness, Tuatha explained the first crucial step in solving the riddle of the
Seven Songs of Wizardry
. And as a parting gift, Tuatha gave some new magic to Merlin's staff,
Ohnyalei
—magic so powerful that it still radiated from the staff a thousand years later in
Avalon
.

Urnalda

All the dwarves of
Fincayra
feared this enchantress with wild red hair, torch-bright eyes, and earrings of dangling shells that clinked whenever she moved. Sometimes, in a fit of temper, she used her magic to shorten the stubby legs of dwarves who questioned her decisions—or, even worse, to make their precious beards disappear. Yet she successfully guided her people through the Blight of
Stangmar
, ensuring their survival in tunnels deep below the surface.

When
Merlin
first met Urnalda, he felt more like her prisoner than her guest. She glared down at him from her throne of carved jade, stole his staff, and insulted him relentlessly. Later, she destroyed his instrument of musical magic and even tried to rob him of his wizard's powers. Yet despite such behavior, Urnalda remained loyal to the great spirit
Dagda
, and above all, to the survival of the dwarves. That is why Merlin decided she could be his ally . . . if she didn't kill him first.

Valdearg, Wings of Fire

The last and most feared of a long line of emperor dragons, Valdearg blackened much of
Fincayra
with his fiery breath. At the height of his power, he incinerated whole forests and swallowed entire villages—and earned the name Wings of Fire.

Finally, the powerful wizard
Tuatha
, grandfather of
Merlin
, drove the dragon back to his lair in Fincayra's Lost Lands. After a prolonged conflict, the Battle of Bright Flames, the wizard prevailed. Valdearg succumbed to an enchantment of sleep. Why didn't Tuatha simply kill the dragon, as many urged? The wizard had his reasons, though subtle, which he set down in a poem called "The Dragon's Eye." But by the time young Merlin first arrived on the isle of Fincayra, the poem had been forgotten; only a few bards, such as
Cairpré
, could remember any of it. Valdearg, meanwhile, remained in his flame-seared hollow, slumbering fitfully.

Until he awoke—more wrathful than ever. No dragon of the past had ever possessed such a deadly combination of power and intelligence. And no dragon of the future would rival him, either—at least not for centuries, until
Avalon
's two greatest dragons would appear:
Basilgarrad
, mighty lord of the sky; and
Hargol
, emperor of the waters. When Valdearg awoke, only one creature could quell his rage. And that was
Gwynnia
, his lost child.

Crystal Cave

Glowing crystals! The walls, ceiling, and floor of this cave radiated a
n
d danced with color. Crystals sparkled and flashed all around us, as if the light shining on a rippling river had been poured into the very earth. And I am quite sure that my own face glowed as well, for even in the days when I could see with my own eyes, when colors ran deeper and light shone brighter; I had never seen anything as beautiful as this crystal cave.

So
Merlin
described the crystal cave of the
Grand Elusa
. Of all the wondrous places on the isle of
Fincayra
, none made a deeper impression on the young wizard. No wonder that, many years later in
Earth
's realm of
Camelot
, he sought to find his own crystal cave.

Dance of the Giants

Signifying both the climactic battle in the Dark Hills of
Lost Fincayra
and the place where that battle occurred, the Dance of the Giants saw the destruction of the
Shrouded Castle
and the end of
Stangmar
's brutal reign. The battle also ensured Fincayra's well-being, thanks to the bravery of the hawk
Trouble
, by sending the spirit lord
Rhita Gawr
back to the
Otherworld
. Centuries later, bards still sing about the sacrifice of Trouble, the heroism of young
Merlin
and
Rhia
, and the unexpected bravery of a small fellow named
Shim
—who hurled himself into the Cauldron of Death to save the lives of his friends. In doing so, Shim fulfilled Fincayra's most mysterious prophecy and revived the giants, Fincayra's most ancient people. At the same time, his bravery transformed him into a giant—which proved the truth of the
Grand Elusa
's observation that "bigness means more than the size of your bones."

And so, in this battle, Fincayra was saved, the lost
Treasures
found, and a young wizard's memory restored. That same young wizard gained the name Merlin, inspired by the merlin hawk who had given his all. The crumbled remains of the Shrouded Castle took a new name, as well: Its ring of mammoth stones, standing in a stately circle, became
Estonahenj
, meaning
Dance of the Giants
in the land's most ancient tongue.

Years later, the great spirit
Dagda
helped the followers of
Elen
transport the circle of stones to the new world of
Avalon
. Rebuilt in
Stoneroot
, it became the Great Temple in the center of the compound dedicated to the
Society of the Whole
. Within that circle, a thousand years later, a young apprentice priestess named
Elli
would often meditate, wondering what marvels those stones had witnessed.

Drama Wood

Home to young
Rhia
, and to the great oak
Arbassa
that sheltered her in its branches, this deep forest held wonder, magic, and an astounding diversity of life. It was here that Rhia taught
Merlin
how to speak the languages of rivers, trees, and stones. And it was here that
Elen
, at the very edge of death, drank the Elixir of
Dagda
, which allowed her to survive. So great was Elen's gratitude to this place—and so great was the power of Nature that it contained—she chose the name Drumadians for members of the
Society of the Whole
, the guiding force in the new world of
Avalon
.

Fincayra (Lost Fincayra)

This mist-shrouded isle teemed with wondrous places. Here one could find the
Druma Wood
, in whose glades lived
Rhia
, the
Grand Elusa
, and the ancient tree
Arbassa
. The legendary Carpet Caerlochlann, made from the misty threads of story, was woven on the island's shores.
Varigal
, the original home of the giants, rose from the highest mountains. The Town of Bards, where the beloved poet
Cairpré
composed, often rang with story and song. Far to the north, the mysterious
Otherworld
Well, pathway to the spirit realm, lay hidden. And the
Haunted Marsh
held treasures as great as a Mirror of destiny—and dangers as great as the hag
Domnu
.

The Isle of Fincayra was, like
Avalon
, a world between worlds. Part mortal, part immortal, Fincayra was the first true home of young
Merlin
—and the place he lived during his
Lost Years
. It was also home to some of the first citizens of Avalon:
Elen of the Sapphire Eyes
, who founded the
Society of the Whole;
the wise young woman Rhiannon, who taught Merlin the languages of trees, rivers, and stones;
Lleu of the One Ear
, who became a scholar of
élano;
and
Shim
, who had the heart of a true giant.

For many years, a terrible Blight spread across the isle. When, at last, Fincayra was saved, it was also lost. For with the defeat of
Rhita Gawr
and the return of the
lost wings
came the island's ultimate merging with the spirit realm. Thick vapors began to flow over Fincayra, bubbling out of its very soil. Slowly the land withdrew into the Otherworld, leaving only the mist behind. But something different happened in the region once called the
Forgotten Island
—the place where Merlin had planted a magical seed that beat like a heart. From that seed, a Great Tree sprouted, ensuring that its roots would be anchored forever in the mists of Lost Fincayra.