One day, when they are left alone, Hem finds a room with a mural of a tree-man. There they stay and Hem and Zelika are trained as child spies. As Hem, Saliman, Zelika and Irc travel South to remain safe from the Black Army, they pass through an ancient underground city. One day while wandering around the nearly empty Turbansk, Hem meets an orphaned girl called Zelika, whose parents were killed by the dark army of the Nameless One. Under the request of Saliman, Hem stays at the School and works to heal those wounded in battle. The children are mostly evacuated from Turbansk. A few days later, Turbansk receives news that the army of Sharma, the Nameless One, have destroyed cities and towns to the South, and are expected to attack Turbansk soon. Hem names the crow Irc, (the Pilani name for 'bird'), and keeps him. After a quarrel with one of his teachers, Hem escapes to a garden, where he rescues a white crow from the attack of several black crows. Because he does not know the Suderain language, Hem finds it very hard to make friends. There Hem becomes a Minor Bard, and has lessons with other Bards of Turbansk. While his sister, Maerad, was in the north in search of the Treesong, as told in The Riddle, Hem and his mentor Saliman arrive in Turbansk, the centre of the light in the Suderain, which is Saliman's School. According to the author, this book is the third part of her translation of the 8-part book Naraudh Lar-Chanë (the 'Riddle of the Treesong'). The book is set in the fictional world of Edil-Amarandh. It is the third book of her Pellinor tetralogy. Presented as a new translation of an ancient text, ‘The Naming evokes the rich and complex landscape of Annar, a legendary world just waiting to be discovered.The Crow is a fantasy novel by Alison Croggon. The first book in a projected quartet, Alison Croggon’s epic about Maerad and her remarkable yet dangerous gift is a beautiful, unforgettable tale.

Now, she and her mysterious teacher must embark on a treacherous, uncertain journey through a time and place where the forces of darkness wield an otherworldly terror. It is only when she is discovered by Cadvan, one of the great Bards of Lirigon, that her true identity and extraordinary destiny unfold.

She doesn’t yet know she has inherited a powerful gift, one that marks her as a member of the noble School of Pellinor and enables her to see the world as no other can. Maerad is a slave in a desperate and unforgiving settlement, taken there as a child when her family is destroyed in war. ‘An epic fantasy in the Tolkien tradition, with a strong girl hero…

The Crow by Alison Croggon