Chapter 23 Into The Black Wood
Chapter 24 The Beginning Of The End
Chapter 25 The Waiting Game
Chapter 26 The Long Retreat
Chapter 27 Morlock's Castle
Chapter 28 The Battle For Valerian
Chapter 29 Tara
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THE WIZARD AND THE SYLPH
Chapter One
Creation - Part one
On the western border of the highlands called Eloki in an ancient tongue of the ancestors of the Northern Elves, nearly three furlongs northeast of the evergreen eaves of the Black Wood, dwelt Belloc the wizard and his apprentice, Anest of Brand.
They lived in a large house which had been built from the stone of nearby ruins. If the windows of this house had been a little larger, and if it were not situated so near the wood and all it concealed, one might have found the place friendly-looking, open and inviting. As it was, its thick grey walls and twin turrets gave it a look of defensibility, as though it were here despite the quiescent malice of the forest.
To the occasional traveller, or to passing soldiers and scouts, the sight of Belloc's house was a welcome relief to the angst that followed one around this wild and dangerous northern country. For them, it was a welcome respite, a place of sanctuary.