Cause/Effect

In the book, Shadows on the Stars, the constellation called Merlin's Staff has gone dark. Some ancient and deadly evil caused this to happen in the first book, and now it's up to the young heroes, Tamwyn, Elli, and Scree to journey on separate quests in order to bring peace to this world of Avalon. 

Elli must journey to the dark world of Shadowroot in order to destroy a crystal that was created to destroy. It was first created of élano, a powerful substance that creates. But after the god of war, Rhita Gawr wraps around it, some evil and horrible magic turns it into a substance he calls vengélano, the opposite of élano. Instead of creating, it destroys anything it touches. Elli's job is to take the crystal and somehow destroy it,even though she will have to face Rhita Gawr's wrath. This was caused by the dark wizard that the heroes have dubbed 'White Hands,' because he brought Rhita Gawr to full power and he also created the crystal of élano using Merlin's staff. 

Scree, after getting injured and being left by his brother in an eaglefolk village, wakes up and helps out until he is well enough to leave on his quest. But almost as soon as he is, some eagleman, coming from another vengeful tribe, shoots almost everyone in the village, including his healer, Arc-kaya. Because he couldn't join his brother, he sets out on his quest to find this tribe, and kill the leader, to save the eaglefolk tribes and to avenge Arc-kaya. It will be difficult, because of something that happened with the leader of the tribe that he has to face. She had took him in, gave him affection when he was lonely, and she used him. Therefore, he has to muster up all his courage to face her again. 

Tamwyn, after realizing he was Merlin's heir, must carry the real staff of Merlin and relight the darkened stars of Merlin's Staff. He must do this before all-out war breaks out between the creatures who have a Treaty of Peace, and the ones who rejected the treaty, a long time ago. He doesn't yet know how he will relight the stars, but he believes he needs to find something that was carried by his father and famous explorer, Kyrstallus, a torch that would never go out until the day he died. He learned about his father in the last book. He figured it out on his own, and now he has a real drive to find him. If he never lost faith in living, he would never die. So Tamwyn thought he would be able to find his father at the top of the Great Tree.