accomplish!” He gave his friend a plaintive look. “Confound
it. Par, how can we lose by trying when by trying we have
everything to gain?”
Steff reached over and poked him. “Don’t push so hard,
Highlander. Give the Valeman room to breathe!”
Par stared at them each in turn, at the bluff-faced Steff, the
enigmatic Teel, the fervently eager Morgan Leah, and finally
Coll. He remembered suddenly that his brother had never fin-
ished revealing his own decision. He had only said that if he
were Par, he would go.
“Coil. . .”he began.
But Coil seemed to read his thoughts. “If you’re going, I’m
going.” His brother’s features might have been carved from
stone. “From here to wherever this all ends.”
There was a long moment of silence as they faced each other,
and the anticipation mirrored in their eyes was a whisper that
rustled the leaves of their thoughts as if it were the wind.
Par Ohmsford took a deep breath. “Then I guess the matter’s
settled,” he said. “Now where do we start?”
XVII
As usual, Morgan Leah had a plan.
“If we expect to have any luck at all locating the
Sword, we’re going to need help. The five of us are
simply too few. After all these years, finding the Sword of Shan-
nara is likely to be like finding the proverbial needle in the
haystack-and we don’t begin to know enough about the hay-
stack. Steff, you and Teel may be familiar with the Eastland, but
Callahom and the Borderlands are foreign ground. It’s the same
with the Valemen and myself-we simply don’t know enough
about the country. And let’s not forget that the Federation will
be prowling about every place we’re likely to go. Dwarves and
fugitives from the law aren’t welcome in the Southland, the last
I heard. We’ll have to be on the lookout for Shadowen as well.
Truth is, they seem drawn to the magic like wolves to the scent
of blood, and we can’t assume we’ve seen the last of them. It
will be all we can to do watch our backs, let alone figure out
what’s happened to the Sword. We can’t do it alone. We need
someone to help us, someone who has a working knowledge of
the Four Lands, someone who can supply us with men and
weapons.”
He shifted his gaze from the others to Par and smiled that
familiar smile that was filled with secretive amusement. “We
need your friend from the Movement.”
Par groaned. He was none too keen to reassociate with the
outlaws; it seemed an open invitation to trouble. But Steff and
Teel and even Coil liked the idea, and after arguing about it for
a time he was forced to admit that the Highlander’s proposal
made sense. The outlaws possessed the resources they lacked
and were familiar with the Borderlands and the free territories
surrounding them. They would know where to look and what
pitfalls to avoid while doing so. Moreover, Par’s rescuer seemed
a man you could depend upon.
“He told you that if you ever needed help, you could come
to him,” Morgan pointed out. “It seems to me that you could
use a little now.”
There was no denying that, so the matter was decided. They
spent what remained of the day at the campsite below the foot-
hills leading to the Valley of Shale and the Hadeshom, sleeping
restlessly through the second night of the new moon at the base
of the Dragon’s Teeth. When morning came, they packed up
their gear, mounted then- horses and set out. The plan was sim-
ple. They would travel to Varfleet, search out Kiltan Forge at
Reaver’s End in the north city and ask for the Archer-all as
Par’s mysterious rescuer had instructed. Then they would see
what was what.
They rode south through me scrub country that bordered the
Rabb Plains until they crossed the east branch of the Mermidon,
then turned west. They followed the river through midday and
into eariy afternoon, the sun baking the land out of a cloudless
sky, the air dry and filled with dust. No one said much of any-
thing as they traveled, locked away in me silence of their own