The Great Tree of Avalon Read Online Free

paused a moment to study the staff, turning it slowly in his hand. Then, with a sigh, he tapped its knotted top. The runes shimmered and vanished completely.
    “Your staff.” He took the eagleboy’s small hand and placed it on the wood below the handle. “It has served me well, over many long years. And now, I hope, it will serve you.”
    The eagleboy’s fingers curled around the staff. Seeing this, the old man’s bushy white brows drew together. “Promise me, now, that you will keep this staff safe. It is precious—more precious than you can imagine.”
    The boy nodded.
    “Good. The word of an eagleboy is worth a hundred wizard’s spells.”
    The boy’s shoulders straightened. He took the staff, hefted it, then brought it close to his chest.
    The elder’s expression brightened for an instant, then turned somber again. “Are you too young to have heard of the Dark Prophecy?”
    He just frowned.
    The old man bent even closer and whispered into his ear. Slowly, the eagleboy’s eyebrows arched in amazement. The woman could hear only a few clipped phrases: “For the child . . . terrible, terrible danger . . . when, at last, the wizard’s true heir . . .”
    At last, his face grave, the old man arose. He placed one hand behind his hip and straightened his creaky back. “Ah, to be an eagle all the time,” he said wistfully. “Flying is far more pleasurable than standing or strutting about! And better on the back, too.”
    Once more he fixed his gaze on the eagleboy. “This is no small task I leave you, my young friend. It will be lonely. And dangerous. And long—as long as seventeen years. But this, at least, I can promise. One day, you shall have great wings of your own. And then you shall fly! High and far, you shall fly.”
    One last time he ran his finger down the gnarled staff. Then he turned back to the woman. Bending over her baby, he asked, “A boy?”
    She nodded.
    “And his name?”
    Her cheeks flushed. “Tamwyn.”
    “Hmmmm, yes. Tamwyn.” He stroked his beard in thought. “His future is much more clouded, I fear.”
    At this, the woman stiffened.
    “His name means Dark Flame in the language of your people, does it not?”
    Hesitantly, she gave a nod.
    The old man sighed. “A fitting name for a night such as this. But I wonder, will it fit the boy as well? Will he bring to Avalon the light of flame or the dark of night?”
    He reached toward the infant and placed the tip of his bony finger upon the tiny brow. “Unlike your new brother, you will have no wings of your own. And yet, perhaps . . . you might find your own way to fly.”
    Smiling ever so slightly, he took a step back so that he stood on the very edge of the cliff. In a ringing voice, he said: “Farewell, my good people. I doubt we shall ever meet again.” He paused, viewing them with eagle-bright eyes. “Yet I shall still be with you.”
    Once again the woman put her hand on the eagleboy’s shoulder. And this time he let it stay.
    “And now I must go. To other worlds, other times.” Just to himself, the old man whispered, “Such is the fate of Olo Eopia.”
    “But . . .” the woman protested. “How will you go?” She waved a hand toward the massive pile of rubble that had buried the vent of green flames. “The portal is gone.”
    He didn’t seem to hear. Shimmering light glowed all about his body, and he transformed again into a great eagle. Wings spread wide, he leaped into the air and surged upward. Higher and higher he climbed—then suddenly veered back toward the cliffs. With a screeching cry that rolled across the ridge, he plunged toward the smoking stack of rubble.
    The eagleboy shrieked in fright, as the woman’s hand squeezed his shoulder.
    Just before hitting the rocks, the eagleman tucked his immense wings behind his back. He shot downward, gaining speed. But he did not crash. Instead, he dissolved straight into the stones, leaving only a whoosh of wind . . . and then silence.

PART I

1 • Land of