The Sound of Winter

IN THE WASTELAND

The seasons changed in a matter of minutes ... glistening foliage caressed the senses . . . giant furry worms screeched their horror . . . and, occasionally, a simurgh dug his claws into the shoulder of a human being—and stayed there until he had drained his victim of life and knowledge.

Here, Michael St. Claire, revolutionary and exile, had come to find his answers. He was afraid—not so much for himself as for Elizabeth, a deaf-mute child-woman, his sister ...

But as their coach entered the prohibitive plains of the Wasteland, as sudden snow encompassed them, and a giant worm appeared on the horizon, Elizabeth seemed to come alive. Her miraculous transformation had begun ...