Free and easy, no comitments—that's how Eric Banyon lived. He wouldn't get rich as a street musician or playing flute for tourists at medieval Faires around the country. But he treasured his freedom and had never regretted his lack of close ties. At least, no until recently.

Maybe it was because his girlfriend left him (and made an ugly scene behind the mainstage of the Los Angeles Faire). Or maybe it was a sense of always being an outsider, never quite fitting in. The bottom line was, Eric has the blue, and a broken heart was a perfect excuse to wallow. Grabbing his flute and a flask, he went in search of solitude—and found it in a grove of ancient oak trees.

There, he filled the night with sorrow, one melody leading into another—flawlessly, effortlessly. And then, unbidden, the music changed. It began to flow through him, wild and fey...

The next day, he met Korendil.

There were wierdos all over L.A. The last thing Eric Banyon needed was attention from a guy who called him "Bard" and claimed to be an elf who'd been bound by an evil spell, until the music of Eric's flute Awakened him.

And that was just an appetizer; the rest of Korendil's story was even harder to swallow. There was a war going on, he said, between the elf Prince Terenil and Perenor, and another elf lord bent on usurping all the world's magic, leaving not only elvenkind but humanity trapped in a grim new world. Perenor was winning that war. Casualties could be seen in shopping malls and seedy bars—elves who were slowly dying as human encroachment cut them off from their magical groves.

Korendil insisted that Eric could turn the tide, for he truly was a Bard—one of those rare mortals born with the magic to create. But Eric didn't think of himself as the epic hero type. He was only human.

Fantasy fiction author Mercedes Lackey was born in Chicago on June 24, 1950, and she received a B.S. from Purdue University in 1972. She is also a professional lyricist and has rehabilitated raptors. Lackey started writing her own short stories when her favorite science fiction and fantasy authors weren't producing new books fast enough for her. She began writing professionally with the encouragement of author C.J. Cherryh, whom Lackey had met at a science fiction convention. Many of Lackey's books, including the Queen's Own trilogy, the Vows and Honor series, and the Last Herald-Mage and Mage Winds trilogies, take place in the imaginary world of Valdemar. She has authored numerous series, including the Bardic Voices series and a series of occult mysteries featuring Diana Tregarde, a modern-day witch. Lackey enjoys collaborating and has co-written books with authors such as C.J. Cherryh, Anne McCaffrey, Piers Anthony, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Mark Shepherd, and Ru Emerson.