thing he could to bind the boy to him He’d appealed to Timothy’s sense of pride by offering to make him his assistant Animal Tamer He had sickened the boy’s mother and imprisoned his sister Sarah Marie Now he would use their friend the curly-haired Jessica Church as bait When Timothy returned Balor would own him But first the Travelers Market must be destroyed He opened the caravan door and walked down the folding steps The sharp air bit at his face He would search Timothy out just as he hunted his exotic animals He was the Animal Tamer he would catch Timothy the Filidh by birth a keeper of memories and wisdom Timo thy would have no choice but to lead him to the map he needed to find the Stone of Destiny Once he had the map and the stone he would have no further use for Timothy and his companions If he eliminated the boy and his sister no one else would remain of the true line of Filidhean He Balor would rule without contest The old stories would be forgotten He would establish his own truth and that truth would become the memories of the people An animal mewled One of the snow leopard cubs was restless its cries only a minor distraction from his plan The Light wouldn’t easily give up the Market and its Filidh A defeat at the Market would tip the balance of power It would put other worlds at risk If it came to a battle he would need allies The sound of murmuring voices made Balor pause But it was only the wind stirring up the leaves vi i i
The Greenman moved through the forest of old trees circling the Market assessing his troops The oldest an oak Quercus robur had seen one thousand years Its thick trunk was muscled like the torso of an aged wrestler Even six men arms outstretched could not circle its girth While the oak was the eldest many of the trees in this part of the forest had lived through more than a hundred cycles of life sap run ning leaf budding green unfurling and color turning golds and reds falling to the wind-rattled bare limbs of winter Soon the trees would be awakened needed for battle He scanned the sky it was a cloudless wash of blue There was a time beyond most human memory when the trees had rarely slept When they had been the guardians of the earth and humans mere caretakers That time had long passed and the Greenman grieved its loss knowing it would never come again He stretched straightening his limbs a bird flew from his branches He moved less stiffly now though still more tree than man in appearance In these next days the Market would be at risk Balor would grow bolder now that Timothy was of an age to claim his title The Greenman listened to the wind rising It rustled his leaves as a breeze might lift the hair of a man or woman The quest had been thrust upon Timothy Maxwell But Timothy he knew was not alone He Cerri dwyn and Gwydon had known Filidhean throughout the centuries and others had known them as well Mr Twig and Julian Sarah and Jessica had their own roles in the story that was unfolding Still it would take ix
time for Timothy to grow into his powers Whatever the outcome it would be witnessed by Electra one of the Pleiad sisters come to observe this intersection of history to bear witness to the events leading to the crowning of a new Filidh Timothy had escaped Balor twice once from his workshop and once from a challenge in the Market And Timothy had risked him self for Jessica Church even before she was his friend The Greenman thought of the leaf he had plucked from his own branch In Timothy’s hand it had grown as hard as glass and its color shaded from cool blue to hot red It allowed Timothy to measure danger to gauge whom to trust The leaf grew warmer to the touch as danger increased It seemed a small thing against the growing Dark Yet the Greenman knew Tim othy kept it with him always For now the leaf and its ability to warn was his only defense x
