Talking to Trees

By: Kathryn Sullivan

The highly anticipated sequel to Amber Quill Press's best-seller and 2002 EPPIE Award Winner for Best Fantasy, The Crystal Throne...

Jody Burns takes her brother Peter's silvery bracelet because it looks good with her outfit. Little does she realize it's the key to another world--until

a green-haired girl steps out of midair in the shopping mall and asks Jody to help in a quest to find a wizard or a demon-slayer and rescue her family from a great evil. Jody ignores Peter's warning about the land on the other side of the Watcher--until the haunted tree pulls her inside. Now she's trapped in a land where no one listens to her, and worse yet, there are no malls!

Peter Burns knows he can help his sister, since he and Jeanne Tucker have special powers in that other world. To aid Jody, they are prepared to return.

But the Watcher has other ideas...

Read what the reviewers are saying...
"Great characters, a fascinating world, a scary villain, griffins and talking trees, what more can a reader ask for in a good Fantasy novel?"--Carrie Masek, author of A Dragon's Tail

Read a short excerpt...
"What do you mean, 'it's found you'?" Jody asked. "That's just smog!" It was odd that there was such a small patch of it, but there was no reason for Twyl and Rafi to act as if it was something serious. They had made her frightened of it, too, but that was only at first, before she realized what it was.

Twyl stared in horror at the swirling brownish gray mist. "The life-destroyer. This is what it used before."

Jody looked from the small cloud to Twyl. Did she really think a cloud was going around looking for her?

"Run!" Rafi ordered. He sneezed, but continued to flap at the cloud with powerful strokes. Jody blinked. The cloud actually seemed to be held in place by the flapping. And it seemed to be shrinking as well.

Twyl tugged at Jody's arm. "He said run!"

Jody pulled away. She was tired of being dragged all over the place. Anyone could see this wasn't dangerous. It was just a patch of smoke. "Don't be so worried. Rafi is blowing it away."

The smoke thinned to mere wisps. Suddenly one wisp darted past Rafi straight at Jody.

Jody opened her mouth in surprise. The tendril of smoke clamped over her mouth and nose. Startled, she tried to take a breath, but couldn't. She tried to pull whatever it was off, but her fingers slipped through the mist. There was nothing there, but she couldn't breathe!

She could see Twyl and Rafi staring at her as, struggling to breathe, she fell to her knees. Rafi pushed Twyl behind him. He reared up and began fanning his wings at her. Her vision turned red, then black…

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