Description
An ancient chalice with great, mystical powers is buried in the heart of a fearsome, haunted desert. At night, a trader secretly overhears two passing army deserters and learns that it has been found. And that the soldiers may be on a journey to re-claim it, but have lost their way. Hoping to obtain this chalice in order to bring peace to his war-torn world, he appears to them and offers his services as guide. In their dangerous company, he searches with them for the legendary Cup of Knowledge - the soldiers unaware that he knows of this mystic treasure that they themselves are seeking. The plans of all three begin to go awry as they enter the realm of the destructive yellow demon, where the chalice has been cached. A lethal conflict leaves the trader alone with the demon, with whom he strikes a deal that will have grave consequences for the entire world. Many years later, with the help of a young friend, he seeks a way to set matters right again.
Decades in the making, this story was inspired by a legend in Persian literature. Presented as an ancient, recovered manuscript, this fantasy evokes the oral, storytelling traditions of the bards of old. Events, visions, desert landscapes - all are revealed and swiftly carried along in the enchanting, deftly phrased lines of the tale's rhyming, evenly metered river of verses. A story for the times we find ourselves living in that will appeal to fantasy lovers, young and old alike.