unexpected reluctance to make even a short camping trip into the Duln — a trip they had all made dozens of times before. Was there something beyond the Vale of which they need be frightened? She frowned, remembering the concern voiced by her mother. Now it was Rone as well. The highlander had not been as quick as she to discount as rumors those stories of the Mord Wraiths. In fact, he had been unusually restrained. Normally, Rone would have laughed such stories off as so much nonsense, just as she had done. Why hadn’t he done so this time? It was possible, she realized, that he had some cause to believe it wasn’t a laughing matter.
Half an hour passed, and the lights of the village began to appear through the forest trees. It was dark now, and they picked their way along the path with the aid of the moon’s bright light. The trail dipped downward into the sheltered hollow where the village proper sat, broadening as it went from a footpath to a roadway. Houses appeared; from within, the sound of voices could be heard. Brin felt the first hint of weariness slip over her. It would be good to crawl into the comfort of her bed and give herself over to a good night’s sleep.
They walked down through the center of Shady Vale, passing by the old inn that had been owned and managed by the Ohmsford family for so many generations past. The Ohmsfords still owned the establishment, but no longer lived there — not since the passing of Shea and Flick. Friends of the family managed the inn these days, sharing the earnings and expenses with Brin’s parents. Her father had never really been comfortable living at the inn, Brin knew, feeling no real connection with its business, preferring his own life as a Healer to that of innkeeper. Only Jair showed any real interest in the happenings of the inn and that was because he liked to go down to listen to the tales carried to Shady Vale by travelers passing through — tales filled with adventure enough to satisfy the spirit of the restless Valeman.
The inn was busy this night, its broad double–doors flung open, the lights within falling over tables and a long bar crowded with travelers and village folk, laughing and joking and passing the cool autumn evening with a glass or two of ale. Rone grinned over his shoulder at Brin and shook his head. No one was anxious for this day to end.
Moments later, they reached the Ohmsford home, a stone and mortar cottage set back within the trees on a small knoll. They were halfway up the cobblestone walk that ran through a series of hedgerows and flowering plum to the front door when Brin brought them to a sudden halt.
There was a light in the window of the front room.
«Did either of you leave a lamp burning when we left this morning?» she asked quietly, already knowing the answer. Both shook their heads.
«Maybe someone stopped in for a visit,” Rone suggested.
Brin looked at him. «The house was locked.»
They stared at each other wordlessly for a moment, a vague sense of uneasiness starting to take hold. Jair, however, was feeling none of it.
«Well, let’s go on in and see who’s there,” he declared and started forward.
Rone put a hand on his shoulder and pulled him back. «Just a moment, tiger. Let’s not be too hasty.»
Jair pulled free, glanced again at the light, then looked back at Rone. «Who do you think’s waiting in there — one of the walkers?»
«Will you stop that nonsense!» Brin ordered sharply.
Jair smirked. «That’s who you think it is, don’t you? One of the walkers, come to steal us away!»
«Good of them to put a light on for us,” Rone commented dryly.
They stared again at the light in the front window, undecided.
«Well, we can’t just stand out here all night,” Rone said finally. He reached back over his shoulder and pulled free the Sword of Leah. «Let’s have a look. You two stay behind me. If anything happens, get, back to the inn and bring some help.» He hesitated. «Not that anything is going to happen.»
They proceeded up the walk to the front door and stopped, listening. The house was silent. Brin handed Rone the key to the door and they stepped inside. The anteway was pitch black, save for a sliver of yellow light that snaked down the short hallway leading in. They hesitated a moment, then passed silently down the hall and stepped into the front room.
It was empty.
«Well, no Mord Wraiths here,” Jair announced at once. «Nothing here except…»
He never finished. A huge shadow stepped into the light from the darkened drawing room beyond. It was a man over seven feet tall, cloaked all in black. A loose cowl was pulled back to reveal a lean, craggy face that was weathered and hard. Black beard and hair swept down from his face and head, coarse and shot through with streaks of gray. But it was the eyes that drew them, deep–set and penetrating from within the shadow of his great brow, seeming to see everything, even that which was hidden.
Rone Leah brought up the broadsword hurriedly, and the stranger’s hand lifted from out of the robes.
«You won’t need that.»
The highlander hesitated, stared momentarily into the other’s dark eyes, then dropped the sword blade downward again. Brin and Jair stood frozen in place, unable to turn and run or to speak.
«There is nothing to be frightened of,” the stranger’s deep voice rumbled.
None of the three felt particularly reassured by that, yet all relaxed slightly when the dark figure made no further move to approach. Brin glanced hurriedly at her brother and found Jair watching the stranger intently, as if puzzling something through. The stranger looked at the boy, then at Rone, then at her.
«Does not one of you know me?» he murmured softly.
There was momentary silence, and then suddenly Jair nodded.
«Allanon!» he exclaimed, excitement reflected in his face. «You’re Allanon!»
Chapter Two
Brin, Jair, and Rone Leah sat down together at the dining room table with the stranger they knew now to be Allanon. No one, to the best of their knowledge, had seen Allanon for twenty years. Wil Ohmsford had been among the last. But the stories about him were familiar to all. An enigmatic dark wanderer who had journeyed to the farthest reaches of the Four Lands, he was philosopher, teacher, and historian of the races — the last of the Druids, the men of learning who had guided the races from the chaos that had followed the destruction of the old world into the civilization that flourished today. It was Allanon who had led Shea and Flick Ohmsford and Menion Leah in quest of the legendary Sword of Shannara more than seventy years ago so that the Warlock Lord might be destroyed. It was Allanon who had come for Wil Ohmsford while the Valeman studied at Storlock to become a Healer, persuading him to act as guide and protector for the Elven girl Amberle Elessedil as she went in search of the power needed to restore life to the dying Ellcrys, thereby to imprison once more the Demons set loose within the Westland. They knew the stories of Allanon. They knew as well that whenever the Druid appeared, it meant trouble.
«I have traveled a long way to find you, Brin Ohmsford,” the big man said, his voice low and filled with weariness. «It was a journey that I did not think I would have to make.»
«Why have you sought me out?» Brin asked.
«Because I have need of the wishsong.» There was an endless moment of silence as Valegirl and Druid faced each other across the table. «Strange,” he sighed. «I did not see before that the passing of the Elven magic into the children of Wil Ohmsford might have so profound a purpose. I thought it little more than a side effect from use of the Elfstones that could not be avoided.»
«What do you need with Brin?» Rone interjected, frowning. Already he did not like the sound of this.
«And the wishsong?» Jair added.
Allanon kept his eyes fixed on Brin. «Your father and your mother are not here?»
«No. They will be gone for at lease two weeks; they treat the sick in the villages to the south.»
«I do not have two weeks nor even two days,” the big man whispered. «We must talk now, and you must decide what you will do. And if you decide as I think you must, your father will not this time forgive me, I’m afraid.»
Brin knew at once what the Druid was talking about. «Am I to come with you?» she asked slowly.
He let the question hang unanswered. «Let me tell you of a danger that threatens the Four Lands — an evil as great as any faced by Shea Ohmsford or your father.» He folded his hands on the table before him and leaned toward her. «In the old world, before the dawn of the race of Man, there were faerie creatures who made use of
