Read Online The Book of Magic by T. A. Barron - Free Book Online Page A

the One Ear was the first person to write about its life-giving power in his masterwork, Cyclo Avalon .
    Elements (Seven Sacred Elements)
    The seven sacred Elements of Avalon constituted the philosophical core of the Society of the Whole . In the words of the Society's founder, Elen , they were "the seven sacred parts that together make the Whole." Each of the Elements—Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Life, LightDark, and Mystery—inspired many treatises, ballads, and meditations. Together, they produced the life-giving power of élano , which flowed through every part of the Great Tree of Avalon. Because of that power, the Secret Spring of Halaad could heal any wound; portals could carry travelers to distant realms; and Ohnyalei , the precious staff of Merlin , could radiate wisdom. As Aelonnia of Isenwy explained to Tamwyn , her people's ability to create new life sprang from combining the Elements of Avalon with the magic of Merlin.
    Elliryanna Lailoken (Elli)
    … Elli's laughter was always as lilting as the song of a meadowlark.
    One year after the dreaded Year of Darkness, Elli was born in Mudroot . A playful and resourceful child, she roamed with her father, a Drumadian priest who played the harp, and her mother, an herbal healer with extensive knowledge of the plants in the jungles of Africqua. Then, just before her tenth birthday, her life was torn asunder: Gnomes murdered her parents and stole Elli to make her a slave. For six brutal years, she lived in the gnomes' dark underground caverns, keeping herself alive (as well as sane) by playing her father's harp. Finally, she managed to escape. Having heard about the Society of the Whole from her father, she went to the Drumadian compound to learn the ways of Avalon 's founding spiritual guides, Elen and Rhiannon . By a mysterious coincidence, an ancient pinnacle sprite by the name of Nuic arrived at the compound simultaneously. Despite Elli's penchant for skipping her assigned duties, and her habit of missing formal prayers to meditate at the Great Temple whose origins dated back to the Dance of the Giants , she was made an apprentice third class priestess. Nuic became her loyal maryth , though he refused to reveal his own past.
    Despite her childhood losses and the trauma of slavery, Elli's laughter was always as lilting as the song of a meadowlark. Her brown hair, with curls as thick as a faery 's garden, surrounded her face, highlighting her hazel green eyes. While she had no idea that she would one day carry a gourd with magical healing water from the Secret Spring of Halaad , she had long carried something that was, to her, even more precious: her father's harp. The harp accompanied her everywhere—until the day she met Tamwyn .
    From the first moment she encountered High Priestess Coerria , Elli revered the elder woman. Coerria's spirit seemed every bit as lovely, graceful, and unique as the shimmering gown of spider's silk that she wore. Secretly, Elli admired the gown, which was made by the famous Grand Elusa of Lost Fincayra . But she was certain that she herself would never deserve to wear something of such beauty and heritage. Perhaps that was why she was so surprised when Coerria predicted that Elli would play a truly remarkable role in the future of the Society, as well as Avalon.
    Ethaun
    This brawny blacksmith looks more like a bear standing upright than a man. His muscular arms are as knotted as tree roots from working the bellows and forging tools; his chest is broad and powerful. Yet despite Ethaun's fearsome size, the gap-toothed grin within his gray beard reveals a friendly disposition. He is partial to expressions such as "tickle me toenails," and enjoys puffing on his pipe as he trades stories.
    And he does have some intriguing stories to tell. As Tamwyn discovers when he meets Ethaun in Merlin's Knothole , high on the trunk of the Great Tree , the blacksmith actually traveled with Krystallus Eopia , Tamwyn's father, on the fateful expedition to the