Tehanu

Once upon a time—in the far-off days of their youth—an isolated young priestess and a powerful wizard named Ged had shared an adventure like no other. Now they were old. She lived as a widow on a farm; he was a broken old man, mourning the powers lost to him through no choice of his own. Far and wide in the islands that lay strewn across the great ocean on their world, the wind blew into people's mouths and out again, leaves fell from the trees in autumn, waves broke against rocky shores, snails crept along branches, honeybees droned, fish jumped from streams into pools high above in the mountains, eels moved downriver to spawn; but for all of this bustle and busyness there were two people who were no longer part of it and never would be again. They had fled years ago from terrible danger—she, a young priestess at an arcane seminary; he, a captive wizard whose knowledge was coveted by those who had captured him. Together they escaped with the help of a third: the master archmage Ogion, who placed his trust in them despite his reservations about their youth.