Frantically the Sedt began to speak, the words tumbling over one another in his haste to get them out. He revealed all that had befallen him-the stranger in black, the betrayal by Slanter, and the escape of the Valeman with the magic voice. His muscled body thrashed against the bonds that held him fast, words inadequate to halt the fear that tightened about his throat. "I tried! Master, I tried! Free me! Please, free me!"

His voice broke, and the flood of words died away into stillness. His head drooped downward, and sobs wracked his body. For a moment, the figure above him remained motionless. Then one lean, black-gloved hand reached down to fasten on the Gnome's head, and red fire exploded forth. Spilk shrieked, a single, terrible cry.

The black-robed figure withdrew his hand, turned, and disappeared back into the night.No sound marked its pa.s.sing.

In the empty clearing, Spilk's lifeless form lay slumped within its bonds, eyes open and staring.

9.

Across the towering, jagged ridge of the Dragon's Teeth, the night sky had gone from deepest blue to gray; the moon and stars were beginning to fade in brilliance, and the eastern sky began to glimmer faintly with the coming dawn.

Allanon's dark eyes swept the impa.s.sable wall of the mountains that stood about him, across cliffs and peaks of monstrous, aged rock, barren and ravaged by wind and time. Then his gaze dropped quickly, almost anxiously, to where the stone split apart before him. Below lay the Valley of Shale, doorstep to the forbidden Hall of Kings, the home of the spirits of the ages. He stood upon its rim, his black robes wrapped close about his tall, spare frame. There was a sudden wistfulness on his face. A ma.s.s of black rock, glistening like opaque gla.s.s, crushed and strewn blindly, stretched downward to the valley floor, forming a broken walk. At the center of the rock stood a lake, its murky waters colored a dull, greenish black, the surface swirling sluggishly in the empty, windless silence-swirling like a kettle of brew that some invisible hand stirred with slow, mechanical purpose.

Father, he whispered soundlessly.

A sudden sc.r.a.ping of booted feet on the loose rock caused him to glance quickly about, reminded of the two who traveled with him. They emerged now from the shadow of the rocks below to stand beside him. Silently, they stared downward into the barren valley.

"Is this it?" Rone Leah asked shortly.

Allanon nodded. Suspicion cloaked the highlander's words and lingered in his eyes. It was always evident. There was no attempt to hide it.

"The Valley of Shale," the Druid said quietly. He started forward, winding his way down the rock-strewn slope. "We must hurry."

Suspicion and mistrust were in the eyes of the Valegirl as well, though she sought to keep them from her face. There was always suspicion in those who shared his travel. It had been there with Shea Ohmsford and Flick when he had taken them in search of the Sword of Shannara and with Wil Ohmsford and the Elven girl Amberle when he had taken them in search of the Bloodfire. Perhaps it was deserved. Trust was something to be earned, not blindly given, and to earn it, one must first be open and honest. He was never that-could never be that. He was a keeper of secrets that could be shared with no other, and he must always veil the truth, for the truth could not be told, but must be learned. It was difficult to keep close what he knew, yet to do otherwise would be to tamper with the trust that had been given to him and which he had worked hard to earn.

His gaze flickered back briefly to be certain that the Valegirl and the highlander followed him; then he turned his attention again to the scattered rock at his feet, picking his way in studied silence. It would be easy to forgo the trust he kept, to reveal all that he knew of the fate of those he counseled, to lay bare the secrets he kept, and to let events transpire in a fashion different from that which he had ordered.

Yet he knew that he could never do that. He answered to a higher code of being and of duty. It was his life and purpose. If it meant that he must endure their suspicion, then so it must be. Harsh though it was, the price was a necessary one.

But I am so tired, he thought. Father, I am so tired.

At the floor of the valley, he came to a halt. Valegirl and highlander stopped beside him, and he turned to face them. One arm lifted from within the black robes and pointed to the watersof the lake.

"The Hadeshorn," he whispered. "My father waits there, and I must go to him. You will stand here until I call. Do not move from this place. Whatever happens, do not move. Except for you and me, only the dead live here."

Neither replied. They nodded their a.s.sent, eyes darting uneasily to where the waters of the Hadeshorn swirled soundlessly.

He studied their faces a moment longer, then turned and walked away.

A strange sense of expectation swept through him as he approached the lake, almost as if he were at the end of along journey. It was always that way, he supposed, thinking back. There was that strange sense of coming home. Once Paranor had been the home of the Druids. But the other Druids were gone now, and this valley felt more like home than the Keep. All things began and ended here. It was here that he returned to find the sleep that renewed his life each time his journeys through the Four Lands were finished, with his mortal sh.e.l.l hung half within this world and half within the world of death. Here both worlds touched, a small crossing point that gave him some brief access to all that had been and all that would ever be. Most important of all, he would find his father here.

Trapped, exiled, and waiting to be delivered!

He blocked the thought from his mind. Dark eyes lifted briefly to the faint lightening of the eastern sky, then dropped again to the lake. Shea Ohmsford had come here once, many years ago, with his half brother Flick and the others of the small company who had gone in search of the Sword of Shannara. It had been prophesied that one of their number would be lost, and so it had happened. Shea had been swept over the falls below the Dragon's Crease. The Druid remembered the mistrust and suspicion the others had exhibited toward him. Yet he had been fond of Shea, of Flick, and of Wil Ohmsford. Shea had been almost like a son to him-would have been, perhaps, had he been permitted to have a son. Wil Ohmsford had been more a comrade-in-arms, sharing the responsibility for the search that would restore the Ellcrys and save the Elves.

His dark face creased thoughtfully. Now there was Brin, a girl with power that surpa.s.sed anything that her forebears had possessed in their time. What would she be to him?

He had reached the edge of the lake, and he came to a halt. He stood for a moment looking down into the depthless water, wishing...Then slowly he lifted his arms skyward, power radiating out from his body, and the Hadeshorn began to churn restlessly. The waters swirled faster, beginning to boil and hiss, and spray rose skyward. All about the Druid, the empty valley shuddered and rumbled as if awakened from a long, dreamless sleep. Then the cries rose, low and terrible, from out of the, depths of the lake.

Come to me, the Druid called soundlessly. Be free.

The cries rose higher, shrill and less than human-imprisoned souls calling out in their bondage, straining to be free. The whole of the darkened valley filled with their wail, and the spray of the Hadeshorn's murky waters hissed with sharp relief.

Come!

From out of the roiling dark waters the shade of Bremen lifted, its thin, skeletal body a transparent gray against the night, shrouded and bent with age. Out of the waters, the terrible form rose to stand upon the surface with Allanon. Slowly the Druid lowered his arms, black robes wrapping tight as if for warmth; within his cowl, his dark face lifted to find the empty, sightless eyes of his father.I am here.

The arms of the shade lifted then. Though they did not touch him, Allanon felt their cold embrace wrap about him like death. Slow and anguished, his father's voice reached out to him.

-The age ends. The circle is closed.- The chill within him deepened, froze him as ice. The words ran on together as one, and though he heard them all, each in painful detail, they were strung and tightened like knots upon a line. He listened to them all in silent desperation, afraid as he had never been afraid, understanding at last what was meant to be, must be, and would be.

In his hard, black eyes, there were tears.

In frightened silence, Brin Ohmsford and Rone Leah stood where the Druid had left them and watched the emergence of the shade of Bremen from the depths of the Hadeshorn. Cold sliced through them, borne not on some errant wind, for there was none, but by the coming of the shade. Together they faced it, watched it stand before Allanon, tattered and skeletal; and saw its arms lift as if to embrace and draw the Druid's black form downward. They could near nothing of its words; the air about them filled with the shrill cries let free from the lake. The rock shuddered and groaned beneath their feet. If they had been able, they would have fled and not looked back.

At that moment, they were certain that death had been set loose to walk among them.

Then abruptly it was ended. The shade of Bremen turned, sinking slowly back into the murky waters. The cries surged higher, a frantic wail of anguish, then died into silence. The lake churned and boiled anew for a brief instant, then settled back, the waters swirling once again with placid calm.

In the east, the crest of the sun broke over the ragged edge of the Dragon's Teeth, silver gray light spilling down through the dying night shadows.

Brin heard Rone exhale sharply, and her hand reached over to grip his. At the edge of the Hadeshorn, Allanon dropped to his knees, head bowed.

"Rone!" she whispered harshly and started forward. The highlander seized her arm in warning, remembering what the Druid had told them, but she pulled free, racing for the lake.

Instantly he was after her.

Together they rushed to the Druid, slid to a halt on the loose rock, and bent down beside him. His eyes were closed, and his dark face was pale. Brin reached for one great hand and found it as cold as ice. The Druid seemed to be in a trance. The Valegirl glanced hesitantly at Rone. The highlander shrugged. Ignoring him, she put her hands on the big man's shoulders and gently shook him.

"Allanon," she said softly.

The dark eyes flickered open; met hers. For an instant she saw clear through him. There was a terrible heedless anguish in his eyes. There was fear. And there was disbelief. It shocked her so that she moved back from him quickly. Then all that she had seen disappeared; in its place there was anger.

"I told you not to move." He pushed himself roughly to his feet.

His anger meant nothing, and she ignored it. "What happened, Allanon? What did you see?"

He said nothing for a moment, his eyes straying back across the murky green waters of the lake. His head shook slowly. "Father," he whispered.

Brin glanced hurriedly at Rone. The highlander frowned.She tried again, one hand touching lightly the Druid's sleeve. "What has he told you?"

Depthless black eyes fixed upon her own. "That time slips away from us, Valegirl. That we are hunted on all sides, and that it shall be thus until the end. That end is determined, but he will not tell me what it is. He will only tell me this-that it will come, that you will see it, and that for our cause you are both savior and destroyer."

Brin stared at him. "What does that mean, Allanon?"

He shook his head. "I don't know."

"Very helpful." Rone straightened and looked away into the mountains.

Brin kept her eyes on the Druid. There was something more. "What else did he say, Allanon?"

But again the Druid shook his head. "Nothing more. That was all."

He was lying! Brin knew it instantly. Something more had pa.s.sed between them, something dark and terrible that he was not prepared to reveal. The thought frightened her, the certainty of it an omen that, like her father and her great-grandfather before her, she was to be used to a purpose she did not comprehend.

Her thoughts snapped back to what he had said before. Savior and destroyer to their cause-she would be both, the shade had said. But how could that be?

"One other thing he told me," Allanon said suddenly-but Brin sensed at once it was not the thing he kept hidden. "Paranor is in the hands of the Mord Wraiths. They have penetrated its locks and broken through the magic that guards its pa.s.sages. Two nights earlier it fell. Now they search its halls for the Druid histories and the secrets of the ancients. What they find will be used to enhance the power they already possess."

He faced them each in turn. "And they will find them, sooner or later, if they are not stopped. That must not be allowed to happen."

"You don't expect us to stop them, do you?" Rone asked quickly.

The black eyes narrowed. "There is no one else."

The highlander flushed. "Just how many of them are there?"

"A dozen Wraiths. A company of Gnomes."

Rone was incredulous. "And we're going to stop them? You and me and Brin? Just the three of us? Exactly how are we supposed to do that?"

There was a sudden, terrible anger in the Druid's eyes. Rone Leah sensed that he had gone a step too far, but there was no help for it now. He stood his ground as the big man came up against him.

"Prince of Leah, you have doubted me from the first," Allanon said. "I let that pa.s.s because you care for the Valegirl and came as her protector. But no more. Your constant questioning of my purpose and of the need I see has reached its end! There is little sense to it when your mind is already decided against me!"

Rone kept his voice steady. "I am not decided against you. I am decided for Brin. Where the two conflict, I stand with her, Druid."

"Then stand with her you shall!" the other thundered and wrenched the Sword of Leah from its scabbard where it lay strapped across the highlander's back. Rone went white, certain that the big man meant to kill him. Brin darted forward, crying out, but the Druid's hand lifted quickly to stop her. "Stay, Valegirl. This lies between me and the Prince of Leah."

His eyes fixed on Rone, harsh and penetrating. "Would you protect her, highlander, as I might myself? If it were possible, would stand as my equal?"Rone's face hardened with determination across a mask of fear. "I would."

Allanon nodded. "Then I shall give you the power to do so."

One great hand fastened securely on Rone's arm, and he propelled the highlander effortlessly to the edge of the Hadeshorn. There he returned the Sword of Leah and pointed to the murky green waters.

"Dip the blade of the sword into the waters, Prince of Leah," he commanded. "But keep your hand and the pommel clear. Even the smallest touch of the Hadeshorn to mortal flesh is death."

Rone Leah stated at him uncertainly.

"Do as I say!" the Druid snapped.

Rone's jaw tightened. Slowly he dropped the blade of the Sword of Leah until it was completely submerged within the swirling waters of the lake. It pa.s.sed downward without effort-as if there were no bottom to the lake and the sh.o.r.eline marked the edge of a sheer drop.

As the metal touched the lake, the waters about it began to boil softly, hissing and gurgling as if acid ate the metal clean. Frightened, Rone nevertheless forced himself to hold the blade steady within the waters.

"Enough," the Druid told him. "Draw it out."

Slowly Rone lifted the sword clear of the lake. The blade, once polished iron, had gone black; the waters of the Hadeshorn clung to its surface, swirling about it as if alive.

"Rone!" Brin whispered in horror.

The highlander held the sword steady before him, blade extended away from his body, eyes fixed on the water that spun and wove across the metal surface.

"Now stand fast!" Allanon ordered, one arm lifting free of the black robes. "Stand fast, Prince of Leah!"

Blue fire spurted out from the fingers of his hand in a thin, dazzling line. It ran all along the blade, seering, burning, igniting water and metal, and fusing them as one. Blue fire flared in a burst of incandescent light, yet no heat pa.s.sed from the blade into the handle. While Rone Leah averted his eyes, he held the sword firm.

An instant later it was done, the fire was gone, and the Druid's arm lowered once more.

Rone Leah looked down at his sword. The blade was clean, a polished and glistening black, the edges hard and true.

"Look closely, Prince of Leah," Allanon told him.

He did as he was asked, and Brin bent close beside him. Together they stared into the black, mirrored surface. Deep within the metal, murky green pools of light swirled lazily.

Allanon stepped close. "It is the magic of life and death mixed as one. It is power that now belongs to you, highlander; it becomes your responsibility. You are to be as much Brin Ohmsford's protector as I. You are to have power such as I. This sword shall give it to you."

"How?" Rone asked softly.

"As with all swords, this one both cuts and parries-not flesh and blood or iron and stone, but magic. The evil magic of the Mord Wraiths. Cut through or blocked away, such magic shall not pa.s.s. Thus you have committed yourself. You are to be the shield that stands before this girl now and until this journey ends. You would be her protector, and I have made you so."

"But why...why would you give me...?" Rone stammered.

But the Druid simply turned and began to walk away. Rone stared after him, a stunned look on his face."This is unfair, Allanon!" Brin shouted at the retreating figure, angered suddenly by what he had done to Rone. She started after him. "What right have you...?"

She never finished. There was a sudden, terrifying explosion and she was lifted off her feet and thrown to the valley floor. A whirling ma.s.s of red fire engulfed Allanon and he disappeared.

Miles to the south, his body fatigued and aching, Jair Ohmsford stumbled from night's shadows into a dawn of eerie mist and half-light. Trees and blackness seemed to fall away, pushed aside like a great curtain, and the new day was there. It was vast and empty, a monstrous vault of heavy mist that shut away all the world within its depthless walls. Fifty yards from where he stood, the mist began and all else ended. Sleep-filled eyes stared blankly, seeing the path of mottled deadwood and greenish water that stretched that short distance into the mist, yet not understanding what it was that had happened.

"Where are we?" he murmured.

"Mist Marsh," Slanter muttered at his elbow. Jair glanced over at the Gnome dumbly, and the Gnome stared back at him with eyes as tired as his own. "We've cut its border too close-wandered into a pocket. We'll have to backtrack around it."

Jair nodded, trying to organize his scattered thoughts. Garet Jax appeared suddenly beside him, black and silent. The hard, empty eyes pa.s.sed briefly across his own, then out into the swamp. Wordlessly, the Weapons Master nodded to Slanter, and the Gnome turned back. Jair trailed after. There was no sign of weariness in the eyes of Garet Jax.

They had walked all night, an endless tiring march through the maze of the Black Oaks. It was little more than a distant, clouded memory now in the Valeman's mind, a fragmented bit of time lost in exhaustion. Only his determination kept him on his feet. Even fear had lost its hold over him after a time, the threat of pursuit no longer a thing of immediacy. It seemed that he must have slept even while walking, for he could remember nothing of what had pa.s.sed. Yet there had been no sleep, he knew. There had been only the march.

A hand yanked him back from the swamp's edge as he strayed too close. "Watch where you walk, Valeman." It was Garet Jax next to him.

He mumbled something in response and stumbled on. "He's dead on his feet," he heard Slanter growl, but there was no response. He rubbed his eyes. Slanter was right. His strength was almost gone. He could not go on much longer.

Yet he did. He went on for hours, it seemed, trudging through the mist and the gray half-light, stumbling blindly after Slanter's blocky form, vaguely aware of the silent presence of Garet Jax at his elbow. All sense of time slipped from him. He was conscious only of the fact that he was still on his feet and that he was still walking. One step followed the next, one foot the other, and each time it was a separate and distinct effort. Still the path wore on.

Until...