Enchanted Pilgrimage Author:Clifford D. Simak A scholar, a goblin, and a gnome, among others, pursue the secrets of a vanished ancient race through a wasteland of dark magic in this enthralling fantasy quest adventure. — On an Earth that is different from ours, the young scholar Mark Cornwall becomes a target of the Inquisition, and specifically its most evil and obsessed agent,... more » Beckett. A manuscript is stolen from a library and from a young man's obstinate questions emerges an answer of stupendous import as the quest for an elder civilization becomes a terrifying ordeal. Damned for asking questions, Mark is forced to escape over the border into the Wastelands, a magical realm that is home to all manner of flesh-devouring monsters.
He is accompanied by a cadre of stalwart companions, including the rafter goblin Oliver, Snively the gnome, and secretive Mary from one of three parallel planes, who could free the horn of a unicorn and said she was born in the Wastelands. Somewhere beyond the vengeful, blood-hungry Hellhounds, somewhere past the horrific legacy of the now-destroyed Chaos Beast, the mysteries of the Old Ones are waiting to be revealed, and only those with the courage to seek them will be able to alter the destiny of their worlds. If they survived, there was the alien Caretaker with a message of Destiny.« less