The Book of Magic Read Free

of gobsken . Although Rhia escaped, the two former friends would not meet again until after the Dance of the Giants , during Merlin 's quest of the Seven Songs . By then, Cwen had changed into a butterfly, which helped Merlin to discover his own power of transformation … and helped Rhia to forgive her at last. And so it was that, in the early days of Avalon , Cwen became one of the first people to join Rhia and Elen in the Society of the Whole .
    Dinatius
    Tall and strong, Dinatius lived in the squalid village of Caer Vedwyd, not far from the rock-bound coast of Gwynedd, the ancient name for Wales on Earth . He could carry heavy loads—and also survive regular beatings from the village smith who housed him. When he was not stoking the smith's fires, Dinatius cut and carried wood, worked the bellows, and hauled iron ore. Yet he still found time to lead a gang of young ruffians who tormented young Merlin and the mysterious woman who sheltered him.
    As much as Merlin hated this bully, he dashed into a raging fire to save Dinatius's life. But Merlin didn't learn, until much later, whether he had succeeded. For those very flames destroyed his eyes, forcing him to find a new way to see—a way befitting a wizard. And when Merlin did, at last, discover the truth about Dinatius, it was a wrenching surprise.
    Domnu
    … She is older than time.
    Beautiful is not the word to describe the ancient hag of Fincayra 's dreaded Haunted Marsh . She has no hair on her head; her scalp is so wrinkled that it looks like the folds of an exposed brain. One large wart sprouts like a horn from the middle of her forehead. Her mouth is filled with angular, crooked teeth. And her eyes, utterly black, never blink.
    Domnu, whose name means dark fate, wears a simple robe that resembles a cloth sack with many pockets and always goes barefoot. Yet despite her simple garb, she carries an aura of great power and deep mystery. She is, after all, older than time—and oblivious to the fickle demands of morality. As the bard Cairpré described her to young Merlin and Shim , "Domnu is neither good nor evil, friend nor foe, mortal nor immortal. She simply is." But she does have a merciful side: When she sees how frightened Shim is, she consoles him, "Be not scared. Dying isn't so bad after the first time."
    An avid gambler, she loves to place wagers on things she deems worthless, such as dice, chess pieces, or human lives. Piles of objects she uses for games of chance—bones, jewels,spools of yarn, cards, pebbles, shells, and eyeballs—are everywhere in her lair; the walls are covered with jumbled calculations, symbols, and runes. When Merlin asks for her help, she grins, showing her misshapen teeth, and replies, "What would you like to wager, my pet?"
    Elen of the Sapphire Eyes
    No wonder she helped Merlin become a man of many worlds and many times: Elen's life bridged Earth , Fincayra , and Avalon . On Earth, she was called Branwen; in Fincayra, she was known as Elen of the Sapphire Eyes; and in Avalon, she became Elen the Founder. Her breadth as a person enabled her to love two very different men—the gentle poet Cairpré and the ruthless king Stangmar .
    Similarly, Elen's spiritual breadth enabled her to draw from several different faiths. Combining the wisdom of Druids, Christians, and Jews, she became a skilled healer as well as a bard, and she had a special fondness for Greek myths. As likely to tell a tale about the healer from Galilee as she was to speak of Moses or Athena, she was respected by the most learned people in her midst—and reviled by the most intolerant. In fact, her son, the young Merlin , first called upon his magical powers to save her from being burned at the stake by some of her enemies, a gang of young ruffians led by Dinatius . While Merlin did manage to save Elen's life, he started a terrible fire that caused him to lose forever the use of his eyes. In time, with Elen's help, he learned to see in an entirely different, more