The Last King of Eskeling — Robert A. Erickson

Fifteen-year-old twins Lenny and Cassy must learn the secret of the Man-Thrall before it destroys their adopted home of the Kingdom of Duscany.“Oh, this can't be,” Cassandra declared. “The man-thrall is alive. That means we're all in danger.”“What do you mean?” Skeldon replied. “What do you see?”“The man-thrall is moving. The movement is extremely slow, but it is moving as if time is changing a thousand times slower than normal but in reverse. That's why the ruin is here. It's rebuilding itself a particle of sand at a time, and it's speeding up. We don't have much time to solve this riddle, Skeldon, perhaps ten days. We have to find the relationship between the man-thrall and the city before then or else Scapita's fears will become reality.” Skeldon stepped closer and said, “Then we better get to it. I think many of the other sorcerers will stick around a while longer to study the ruins, but nothing keeps us here now. I think we should collect Leonard and go to the archives as soon as possible.” “Why do we need Leonard?” Cassy asked. “We can do this on our own.”“You might not need him, Cassandra,” he replied, “but he's my Wizor. I can't train him if he's not here. Besides, he has his moments, and he could help.”. . . the biggest “fault” in Erickson's tale is that we become so close to his characters that we don't want their story to end . . . -- USReview on The Wizor Fair