Dragonclaw (The witches of Eileanan)

DRAGONCLAWBook One of the Witches of EileananA complex and gripping story of witches, enchantment, magical creatures and dragons. Dragonclaw is the debut novel from Kate Forsyth, a fresh new talent in the tradition of Anne McCaffrey and Marion Zimmer Bradley.Since the Day of Reckoning witches and magic have been outlawed on Eileanan. The great towers, once centres of learning, are now abandoned ruins. The penalty for practising witchcraft is death.Yet the lodestar still calls to the Righ, king of Eileanan, making him uneasy. And there are those determined restore witches and their craft to their rightful place in Eileanan. In a hidden valley deep in the mountains, in the shadow of the peak of Dragonclaw, Isabeau the foundling grows to womanhood in the care of Meghan, an old wood witch. Meghan can call animals to her hand and knows the secrets of herb-lore. But Isabeau dreams of adventure ...Carrying a magic talisman that contains the last hopes of the persecuted witches, Isabeau is hunted through the land by the evil Banrigh. Meanwhile the sea-dwelling Fairgean stir, children mysteriously disappear in the night, and Isabeau's guardian climbs Dragonclaw to seek guidance from the most ancient and dangerous wisdom in the land ...