The Book of Magic (14 page)

Tressimir

… He hoped that his life might seem luminous.

Before he became the elder historian of the wood elves, Tressimir witnessed many great moments in
Avalon
's history. He helped
Krystallus
create the Eopia College of Mapmakers, rode on
Basilgarrad
into the Battle of Fires Unending, and was one of the few people who actually met the elusive
Lady of the Lake
.

But his life's greatest joy was something simpler: his bond with his granddaughter,
Brionna
. She called him Granda, and they were each other's only family. He also shared Brionna's deep green eyes and pointed ears, as well as her ability to remain utterly motionless in the forest. His robe, woven of green riverthread grass, often smelled like lemonbalm, which he used to ease his aching joints.

It was said among the elves that Tressimir could name every living tree in the forests of
El Urien
—and describe all the sights, sounds, and experiences that the tree had known throughout its seasons. He once confided to Brionna that, when it came his time to die, he wanted to be buried beneath one of those trees: an ancient beech tree known as Elna Lebram, whose name means
deep roots, long memories.
He hoped for a traditional burial, where he would be wrapped in several layers of shrouds, woven from silverplume flowers, laurel roots, and leaves of everlasting. And he hoped that, on that day, his life might seem as luminous as the flames of the resinwax candles that elves would set afloat on a nearby stream—flames that, while very small, could still bring light to the darkened boughs above.

Tulchinne

For thirty-eight years, this
Ayanowyn
woman had been married to
Gwirion
, but she came to see him anew when
Tamwyn
entered their home. For this young man sparked her husband's hope. Like Gwirion and his sister,
Fraitha
, Tulchinne's soulfire burned very low. She wore a heavy shawl for warmth. Woven from hurlyen, a sturdy red vine, the shawl also covered her wings that were now—like those of all fire angels—too weak to fly.

Tulchinne loved to cook, and regularly served lauva, a traditional meal of the fire angels, in ironwood bowls. Although her husband was grateful for the delicious smells, he couldn't cook a successful meal himself. (This stemmed from the fact that he could not taste anything, having burned his mouth badly as a child.) Similarly, Gwirion often whistled, and Tulchinne enjoyed the music, but gave up long ago trying to master the art. "Whenever I try to whistle," she confessed, "small birds drop dead at our doorstep." Perhaps, Tamwyn muses, this arrangement helped their marriage: They filled each other's gaps, like two pieces of dovetailed woodwork.

Uzzzula

Resembling a bee with purple-tinted wings, this hive spirit was
High Priestess Coerria
's devoted
maryth
. Known by all at the
Society of the Whole
, her language was a rhythmic mixture of hums, buzzes, and airy whistles. Uzzzula was often seen buzzing around Coerria's head, busily braiding the woman's long strands of white hair.

Willenia

… She wrote over five hundred poems and ballads.

Here was a bard who celebrated the wonders of her world! As exuberant as a meadowlark announcing the arrival of dawn, she wrote over five hundred poems and ballads. Willenia was revered by the people of
Avalon,
as was her more dismal contemporary,
Pwyll the Younger
. Yet much like
Cairpré
in the days of
Lost Fincayra,
this bard gave people a renewed sense of hope in themselves and their future. Willenia's cornerstone work was a complete history of Avalon, from the planting of
Merlin
's magical seed through the ages of peace, war, and renewal that followed. Its opening lines, commonly called "Born of a Seed That Beats Like a Heart," are often sung by bards:

As one world dies, another is born. It is a time both dark and bright, a moment of miracles. For even as Fincayra is saved, it is lost—passing forever into the Otherworld of the Spirits. But in that very moment, a new world appears. Born of a seed that beats like a heart, a seed won by Merlin on his journey through a magical Mirror, this new world is a tree: the Great Tree. It stands as a bridge between Earth and Heaven, between mortal and immortal, between shifting seas and eternal mist.

Its landscape is immense, full of wonders and surprises. Its populace is as far-flung as the stars on high. Its essence is part hope, part tragedy, part mystery.

Its name is Avalon.

Avalon (The Great Tree of Avalon)

Long ago, on the mist-shrouded isle of
Fincayra,
the young wizard
Merlin
planted a magical seed that beat like a heart. In time, it sprouted into a tree so vast and wondrous that it constituted an entirely new world: the Great Tree of Avalon.

Avalon is a world in between all other worlds, a bridge between mortal and immortal. Rooted in the mists of Lost Fincayra, it is a place of infinite wonders, with endlessly varied creatures and places. And Avalon became—for a time—the only world where humanity and all other creatures found a way to live together in true harmony. All of that changed when human greed and arrogance grew too powerful. Then, as the
stars
on high began to vanish, causing the sky to darken, the future of the Great Tree darkened as well. Whether Avalon would be saved or lost, no one could foresee. Just as no one could tell who was the true heir of Merlin, destined to save Avalon—and who was the child of the Dark Prophecy, fated to destroy it.