Free The Book of Magic by T. A. Barron Page A

flames of his own soulfire. As a child, he attempted to make his soulfire burn brighter by trying to swallow hot fire coals. He lost his ability to taste by doing so—but in all the years since, he has never lost his passion to burn bright.
    Hac Yarrow
    Long before Scree was born, Hac Yarrow was, along with Ilyakk , the most celebrated flyer in the history of the eaglefolk. The story is told that, only a few minutes after she was born in a nest on the ridges of Olanabram , this eaglegirl saw a cloud floating high above her. She reached for it, stretching her tiny arms skyward, but could not touch its fluffy form. So upset was she, the story goes, that she cried for several days on end. And the tears finally ceased only when her eagle wings appeared at last, much earlier than usual for eaglefolk. Immediately, Hac Yarrow leaped out of her nest, flew up toward the clouds—and rarely stopped riding the winds for the rest of her life.
    When, in her elder years, someone asked her why she still kept flying, she answered crisply, "I haven't yet found that cloud."
    Halaad
    A young child of the mudmakers of Malóch , Halaad had only begun to learn the ways of her elusive people when she was brutally attacked by gnomes. Gravely wounded, she crawled to the edge of a spring that bubbled out of the élano -rich mud of the plains. The magical qualities of this water immediately healed her wounds. And so, in the Year of Avalon 421, the Secret Spring of Halaad was discovered. Although this spring has long been celebrated in the stories and songs of bards throughout Avalon , its exact location is kept secret by the mudmakers. In all the centuries since its discovery, only two other people are known to have found it. They are the great wizard Merlin , and a young man whom Aelonnia of Isenwy dubbed a true Maker: Tamwyn .
    Halona
    Although she was born a princess of the flamelons, Halona rejected some of her people's fundamental values: their fierce enthusiasm for battle, their admiration for the warlord of the spirit world Rhita Gawr , and their disdain for any other races of people, especially humans. When she saw a human explorer, Krystallus Eopia , about to be killed, Halona acted boldly. She rescued the man and guided him to safety. Then, unexpectedly, they fell in love. Ignoring the danger of the Dark Prophecy, they married and conceived a child during the Year of Avalon 985—the Year of Darkness. Halona and Krystallus named the child Tamwyn , which means dark flame in the language of the flamelons. Tragically, the family was attacked soon after Tamwyn's birth. Believing that Krystallus had been killed, Halona escaped with her son into the remote cliffs of Rahnawyn 's Volcano Lands.
    High on those cliffs, a strange and wondrous old man saved both their lives. At the same time, he brought them together with a recently orphaned eagleboy named Scree , who became Tamwyn's adopted brother. As full of grief as Halona was about having lost Krystallus, she never told Tamwyn the identity of his father, fearing that the knowledge might put him in danger. Meanwhile, it pleased her deeply to see how well the two brothers bonded—exploring, playing, and wrestling without end. At last, Halona decided that Tamwyn was old enough to learn the truth about his past. But before she could tell him, a band of ghoulacas bred by Kulwych flew out of a portal and killed her.
    Hanwan Belamir (Olo Belamir)
    … No one since Merlin himself has been so revered.
    A simple gardener at heart, Hanwan Belamir has the weathered, dirt-crusted hands of someone who enjoys working with plants. He wears a simple gray robe with long, wide sleeves and many hooks and pockets for garden tools. Around his neck is a string of garlic bulbs; one thumbnail is broken from digging in the soil.
    Yet despite his appearance, Belamir is also more than a gardener. He is a charismatic teacher, with a deep voice that is both resonant and comforting. His teachings about improved techniques for