The Prophetic Moment

Seven years have passed. A spell has robbed Cormac of any memory of them. When the Princess calls him from Thanekeep and frees him from the enchantment, he is astounded to learn that he has become the Thane of Rivershome. He has no time to adjust to the news. Along with the Princess, he must immediately resume the quest. They must seek the only one who can explain the prophecy—an ancient, wrathful dragon legend says lives in a mountain cave somewhere far to the east.

As they travel east, Cormac becomes increasingly concerned with the Princess. She seems to withdraw from him and from the quest. Later they are almost overcome by the sweltering heat of the magic cornfields through which they must travel. They are finally rescued by strange beings that resemble sea otters. Accompanied by them, they continue their journey, seeking the mountain of the dragon.

As a younger man, Donald Haynes worked as a lumberjack and in lumber mills. He worked in gas stations and automotive parts houses. He was a warehouseman, a salesman, a truck driver, an inspector of army trucks, a janitor, and a clerk in a liquor store. He drove a route delivering groceries. He sterilized equipment in a pharmaceutical laboratory. He scraped garbage in a cafeteria. He earned a BA from the University of California, Berkeley; an MA from the University of Oregon; and a PhD from the University of Notre Dame. As a college professor he taught literature, primarily 20th Century American writing. He published scholarly and popular articles both regionally and nationally. He founded and managed Haynes & Associates, a consulting firm specializing in all phases of corporate communication. As Executive Producer of a division in an NBC television affiliate, he built a national client list. As a partner in a video production house, he wrote dramatic scripts produced on video, most for use in national corporate retreats for CEOs and CFOs. In recent years most of his energy has been directed toward stories about the Land of Otherwhere.