not be disturbed.
He reached the lake’s edge and stopped. All was silent. He
took a deep breath, the air raiding from his chest as he exhaled
like dry leaves blown across stone. He fumbled at his waist for
a pouch and loosened its drawstrings. Carefully he reached
within and drew out a handful of black powder laced with silver
sparkle. He hesitated, then threw it into the air over the lake.
The powder exploded skyward with a strange light that
brightened the air around him as if it werc d^ Bg'””- There was
no heat only light It shimmered and danced against the night-
time like a living thu^- The old man watched, robes and forest
cloak pulled close, ey^ b1^111 wlth the reflected gtow. He rocked
back and forth slightly and for a moment felt young again.
Then a shadow appared in the light, lifting out of
it like a wraith a W^ ^orm mat “”ght have been something
strayed from the dark^^ beyond. But the old man knew better.
This was nothing straY^’ttus was something called. The shadow
tightened and took s^P®- K was the shade of a man cloaked au
in black a tall and forbidding apparition that anyone who had
ever seen before wou^ have recognized at once.
“So, Allanon,” the old man whispered.
The hooded face tit^” s0 tnat me “§”1 fevealed the dark,
harsh features clearly^t11® angular bearded face, the long thin
nose and mouth the fierce bTOW that “”S”! have been cast of
iron the eyes beneatflthat seemed to look directly into the soul.
The eyes found the o^ man and held him fast-
-I need you-
The voice was a whisper in the old man’s mind, a hiss of
dissatisfaction and ur^Y- The shade communicated by using
thoughts alone The c^d man shrank back momentarily, wishing
that the thing he had called would instead be gone. Then he
recovered himself an^ stood firm before hls fears-
“I am no longer one of V0″‘” he snapped, his own eyes
narrowing dangerous^’ forgetting that it was not necessary to
speak aloud. “You can command me!”
-I do not commad – Listen to me- You are all that
is left, the last that m^V be unti1 “^ successor is found. Do you
understand-
The old man laughed nervously. “Understand? Ha! Who un-
derstands better than me
-A part of you will always be what once you would not have
questioned. The mastar within you. Always. Help me. I
send the dreams and Shannara children do not respond.
Someone must go to them- Someone must make them see. You-
” Not me’ I have ^ved BP^ from the races for years now- I
wish nothing more to do with their roubles!” The old man
straightened his stick and frowned. I shed myself of such
nonsense long ago.”
The shade seemed t° nse anu broaden suddenly before him,
and he felt himself li^d free ofme earth- He soared skyward,
far into the night. He did not struggle, but held himself firm,
though he could feel the other’s anger rushing through him like
a black river. The shade’s voice was the sound of bones grating.
-Watch-
The Four Lands appeared, spread out before him, a panorama
of grasslands, mountains, hills, lakes, forests, and rivers, bright
swatches of earth colored by sunlight. He caught his breath to
see it so clearly and from so far up in the sky, even knowing that
it was only a vision. But the sunlight began to fade almost at
once, the color to wash. Darkness closed about, filled with dull
gray mist and sulfiirous ash that rose from burned-out craters.
The land lost its character and became barren and lifeless. He
felt himself drift closer, repulsed as he descended by the sights
and smells of it. Humans wandered the devastation in packs,
more animals than men. They rent and tore at each other; they
howled and shrieked. Dark shapes flitted among them, shadows
that lacked substance yet had eyes of fire. The shadows moved
through the humans, joining with them, becoming them, leaving
them again. They moved in a dance that was macabre, yet pur-
poseful. The shadows were devouring the humans, he saw. The