The Falconmaster

Wat, the crippled, one-eyed boy is the village grunt. He means nothing to his fellow villagers, and even less than nothing to the lord and his men. While hiding from the village bullies in the nearby woods, Wat sees the lord and his men capture two young falcon nestlings from their nest. In a rare burst of courage, Wat steals the two young falcons from the lord in order to return them to the forest where they belong. Now he is hunted as an outlaw. Fleeing deep into the forest with the falcons, Wat meets a mysterious old hermit who offers him shelter. He takes Wat in and teaches him how to care for the birds so that they may one day fly free. Wat slowly comes to realize that the old man is a wizard. The old wizard recognized something in the boy, too. He wants to help Wat come into his own powers, so that when his pursuers come, Wat will be ready. This action-filled fantasy combines wizardry and magic and a daring animal rescue as Wat overcomes his disability and gains freedom for himself and his falcons.