The summer before college should be a time to relax and enjoy freedom. But, when Dara's father turns to the secret science of alchemy in order to develop a revolutionary renewable power source, disaster threatens their quiet rural community. His power conduits reach into mystic underground realms, stealing light and energy from Faerie, home of the elves. He releases ravenous shadow-creatures from an even deeper land. When he uses the stolen cup of the goddess Ceridwen to deal with the waste products his process creates, he poisons the land of the elves. Electricity behaves strangely. Earthquakes are rampant. Hungry shadow-creatures prowl the earth. The queen of the elves, is furious but helpless. She cannot challenge the alchemist or slow his destruction of her land. Through a dream, she urges Dara to stop her father. When the alchemist is trapped in the conduit he opens, Dara and her friends must find a way to undo the damage and rescue him. After running a family sheep farm for thirty years, Cathy Hird now lives in the woods on the shores of Georgian Bay, the traditional territory of the Saugeen Ojibway. She retired from work as a United Church minister in December 2020 and now has more time to write. Cathy weaves tapestries and scarves, and she tells stories that draw together the threads of modern questions and ancient myth.Cathy has published novels, stories and poems. She writes a weekly spirituality column for the online news magazine, owensoundhub.org. She is an avid reader who loves to discover new authors and the worlds they build.Cathy's first YA series was set in ancient Greece. Her second is a contemporary fantasy trilogy that draws on Celtic mythology and Arthurian legends. She is working on a near future novel where magic and artificial intelligence collide. A contemporary fantasy series drawing on Celtic mythology and Arthurian legends.
