EXCERPT continued
From Chapter 8: Out of the Shadows
Only now the geyser's white water did not flow down into Waterroot and its neighboring realms—but stopped here, trapped behind the dam. To the very few explorers who had ever reached this remote place, the sight of the dam, the lake, and the dry canyons below Prism Gorge, would have been shocking. And the sight of slaves—even more so.
"I shall use that staff, mmmyesss, my Harlech. For something most special. Most special, indeed. And then . . . I shall destroy it! And at the same time, I shall destroy forever Merlin's hold on this world."
Harlech tilted his head and scratched the jagged scar that ran across his jaw.
"The wizard ain't goin' to like that, Master. Nor, I 'spect, his true heir."
"You think that matters?" The sorcerer released a high, whistling laugh, like the hiss of a satisfied snake. "The lost staff will soon be the least of their problems. For I will use it, my Harlech, to gain something far greater: the control of Avalon."
"Jest how, Master?" Harlech edged closer to the shadows. "Can ye tell me?"
The white hands rubbed together. "This much I will say, all your feeble mind can hold. With the help of that staff, I will make something powerful—so powerful that, before long, I will control all Seven Realms, the very roots of the Great Tree . . . roots that support the entire Tree, give it strength, and produce the élano that runs through its veins. And as the roots go, my Harlech, so shall the Tree. All of Avalon, to its remotest branches, will then be in my grasp! Mmmyesss, as surely as the spirit lord Rhita Gawr rules on high."
