"The genesis of this book was a desire to find out what were the effects on society of the most lethal disaster of recorded history - that is to say, of the Black Death of 1348-50, which killed an estimated one third of the population living between India and Iceland. Given the possibilities of our own time, the reason for my interest is obvious."
'What happens if there is more to our reality than what we see? We are like a fly, Alexander, which lands on a piece of bread and thinks that only what it can see and taste exists. We are like that, Alexander. We are small creatures in God's cosmos and we reach the arrogant conclusion that only what we see actually exists.' The exorcist's voice rose. 'Now as Christians we know different. We believe our reality is only part of a greater one and that beyond the veil exist spiritual beings who, like us, are in a state of conflict. The Apostle himself says that we do not fight against flesh and blood but against all the forces of Hell.'
The clearing with its gardens and dwelling was empty of human life, though a ragged gray wolf scampered into the woods from there. Some might say that the wolf was Giannon transformed, but I only had the sense that the wolf was hungry and weak, for the past winter had been fiercely cold.
I entered the dwelling and found the inside also strung with dried plants, jars, and staffs. There were shelves on which a chaos of boxes and jars sat along with feathers and scrolls and dust. The only furnishings were a table, a small bench, and a bed made of straw covered with the skins of bear and fox. More scrolls, codices, and tablets sat upon these furnishings, as though the originals had multiplied in some orgy when their master was away.
I walked carefully through this strange chamber, afraid that all of Giannon's belongings and the dwelling itself were capable of collapsing in to a dusty pile of rubble. And I believed that a druid's dwelling could likely be set with spells from which I would emerge transformed into a beetle or a bee. I waited for Giannon outside, until the world grew dim and I could see wolves running along the tree line beyond the small clearing in which Giannon's home nested. Finally I saw Giannon approach
