The Ancient Enemy — Christopher Rowley

"For poison in the waters had become poison in their seed, and Man thinned with each generation until his light faded From the world. And there came a time when no sound broke the stillness of the world except the plat) of the wind. Man was no more."
--Inheritance Prasler

Thru Gillo was prepared to follow in his father's footsteps: farm the marshes, raise a family, and be an ordinary citizen of Arna. But Fate instead sent the young watermot to the Assenzi, a race of teachers and scholars living isolated in the mountains far from his home. There, he learned the history of his race. Of Man the Creator, Man the Cruel. Man who destroyed the world, and then disappeared into the mists of time and legend, a story told to frighten young children.

But Man the Cruel has returned. And a young farmer's dreams must turn to battle--and survival...