Eric dreamed his mother sang to him, his father told him a tale of dragons and the fearsome Tagrali; the dream darkened, flames and cries of despair drowned his mother's song. A child cried, 'No, no--please--no! I don't want to go!'

"Eric!" His sister, Cateline, shook him awake, her voice whispered in the dark. "Quickly, we must leave this place."

For two nights, Eric and Cateline had stayed at the orphanage ran by the Monks of St Saxxa.