a deep breath. “To be honast. Coil, I think that’s just about the
last thing I ever expected to hear from you.”
Coil smiled. “That’s probably why I said it. I don’t like to be
Predictable.”
“So you would go, would you? If you were me?” Par studied
his brother silently for a moment, letting the possibility play
itself out in his mind. “I don’t know if I believe you.”
Coil let the smile broaden. “Of course you do.”
They were still staring at each other as Morgan wandered up
and sat down across from them, faintly puzzled as he saw the
same look registered on both faces. Steff and Teel came over as
well. All three glanced at one another. “What’s going on?”
Morgan asked finally.
Par stared at him momentarily without seeing him. He saw
instead the land beyond, the hills dotted with sparse groves,
running south out of the barren stretches of the Dragon’s Teeth,
fading into a heat that made the earth shimmer. Dust blew in
small eddies where sudden breezes scooped at the roadway lead-
ing down. It was still beneath the tree, and Par was thinking
about the past, remembering the times that Coil and he had
shared. The memories were an intimacy that comforted him;
they were sharp and clear, most of them, and they made him
ache in a sweet, welcome way.
“Well?” Morgan persisted.
Par blinked. “Coil tells me he thinks I ought to do what the
shade said. He thinks I ought to try to find the Sword of Shan-
nara.” He paused. “What do you think, Morgan?”
Morgan didn’t hesitate. “I think I’m going with you. It gets
tiresome spending all of my time tweaking the noses of those
Federation dunderheads who try to govern Leah. There’s better
uses for a man like me.” He lunged to his feet. “Besides, I have
a blade that needs testing against things of dark magic!” He
reached back in a mock feint for his sword. “And as all here
can bear witness, there’s no better way to do so than to keep
company with Par Ohmsford!”
Par shook his head despairingly. “Morgan, you shouldn’t
joke. . .”
“Joke! But that’s just the point! All I’ve been doing for months
now is playing jokes! And what good has it done?” Morgan’s
lean features were hard. “Here is a chance for me to do some-
thing that has real purpose, something far more important than
causing Leah’s enemies to suffer meaningless irritations and in-
dignities. Come, now! You have to see it as I do, Par. You
cannot dispute what I say.” His eyes shifted abruptly. “Steff,
how about you? What do you intend? And Teel?”
Steff laughed, his rough features wrinkling. “Well now, Teel
and I share pretty much the same point of view on the matter.
We have already reached our decision. We came with you in the
first place because we were hoping to get our hands on some-
thing, magic or whatever, that could help our people break free
of the Federation. We haven’t found that something yet, but we
might be getting closer. What the shade said about the Shad-
owen spreading the dark magic, living inside men and women
and children to do so, might explain a good part of the madness
that consumes the Lands. It might even have something to do
with why the Federation seems so bent on breaking the backs
of the Dwarves! You’ve seen it for yourself-that’s surely what
the Federation is about. There’s dark magic at work there.
Dwarves can sense it better than most because the deeper
stretches of the Easdand have always provided a hiding place
for it. The only difference in this instance is that, instead of
hiding, it’s out in the open like a crazed animal, threatening us
all. So maybe finding the Sword of Shannara as the shade says
will be a step toward penning that animal up again!”
“There, now!” Morgan cried triumphantly. “What better
company for you. Par Ohmsford, than that?”
Par shook his head in bewilderment. “None, Morgan, but. . .”
“Then say you’ll do it! Forget Walker and Wren and their
excuses! This has meaning! Think of what we might be able to