The girl is strange

The Raven watches, hidden in the misty shadow of the old oak's dead branches. The tree provides good cover. From its perch, it can see her clearly.

The girl doesn't know she's being watched. She plays with gusto, imagining all kinds of adventures. The plants, animals and birds in the forest are her companions. She prefers them to the company of other kids her age. They're not like her or she's not like them; she's not sure which way it goes. But no matter. She keeps her distance to avoid their whispers.

Her name is Hanaria and she would live in the forest if she could. But Delbreth, her father's creepy Apothecary, constantly cautions that the forest isn't safe for anyone, much less naive young girls such as herself. He warns her every day to stay out of the old forest or risk capture.

No one in the town of Paradesia is allowed to wander too far into the forest. Nor do they want to. She is the only one who pushes that boundary. For she is drawn to discover the wonders that the forest hides. She has heard the Bard songs sung for drinking and dancing. She doesn't do either, so while others dance and play, she sits and listens to the tales the Bard songs tell. She listens as deeply as if she'd had every adventure, imagining all the while that she has.

And then one day it happens. Hanaria wanders into the forest too far beyond the safety of the guardsmen, allowing the trouble Delbreth warns of to ensnare her. Caught in the powerful grip of something ancient, she has no choice but to step into the fire.

As Hanaria reaches her 15th year, strange events begin to unfold around her and a repeating dream haunts her. She holds the dream like a coveted secret hidden from all but her trusted handmaiden. So begins the adventures of Hanaria and the Sorcerer's Son, Book I in The Sorcerer's Legacy series.