He had hoped it would never be repeated; yet here they were,
face to face once more. Rimmer Dall, First Seeker of the Fed-
eration, the man who had tracked him across the length and
breadth of Callahom and nearly had him so many times, had
caught up with him at last.
The door through which Par had entered remained open be-
hind him, a haven that beckoned. The Valeman poised to flee.
“Wait, Par Ohmsford,” the other said, almost as if reading
his thoughts. “Are you so quick to run? Do you frighten so
easily?”
Par hesitated. Rimmer Dall was a huge, rangy man; his red-
bearded face might have been chiseled out of stone, so hard and
menacing did it appear. Yet his voice-and Par had not forgotten
it either-was soft and compelling.
“Shouldn’t you hear what I have to say to you first?” the big
man continued.’ ‘What harm can it do? I have been waiting here
to talk to you for a very long time.”
Par stared. “Waiting?”
“Certainly. This is where you had to come sooner or later
once you made up your mind about the Sword of Shannara. You
have come for the Sword, haven’t you? Of course you have.
Well, then, I was right to wait, wasn’t I? We have much to
discuss.”
“I wouldn’t think so.” Par’s mind raced. “You tried to arrest
Coil and me in Varfleet. You imprisoned my parents in Shady
Vale and occupied the village. You have been chasing after me
and those with me for weeks.”
Rimmer Dall folded his arms. Par noticed again how the left
was gloved to the elbow. “Suppose I stand here and you stand
there,” the big man offered. “That way you can leave any time
you choose. I won’t do anything to prevent it.”
Par took a deep breath and stepped back.’ ‘I don’t trust you.”
The big man shrugged. “Why should you? However, do you
want the Sword of Shannara or don’t you? If you want it, you
must first listen to me. After you’ve done so, you can take it
with you if you wish. Fair enough?”
Par felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle in warning.
“Why should you make a bargain like that after all you’ve done
to keep me from getting the Sword?”
“Keep you from getting the Sword?” The other laughed, a
low, pleasant chuckle. “Par Ohmsford. Did you once think to
ask for the Sword? Did you ever consider the possibility that I
might simply give it to you? Wouldn’t that have been easier than
sneaking about the city and trying to steal it like a common
thief?” Rimmer Dall shook his head slowly.’ ‘There is so much
that you don’t know. Why not let me tell it to you?”
Par glanced about uncertainly, not willing to believe that this
wasn’t some sort of trick to put him off his guard. The vault was
a maze of shadows that whispered of other things lurking there,
hidden and waiting. Par rubbed briskly the stone that Damson
had given him to brighten its light.
“Ah, you think I have others concealed in the darkness with
me, is that it?” Rimmer Dall whispered, the words coming from
somewhere deep down inside his chest to rumble through the
silence. “Well, here then!”
He raised his gloved hand, made a quick motion with it, and
the room was flooded with light. Par gasped in surprise and
took another step back.
“Do you think, Par Ohmsford, that you are the only one who
has use of magic?” Rimmer Dall asked quietly. “Well, you
aren’t. As a matter of fact, I have magic at my command that is
much greater than yours, greater perhaps than that of the Druids
of old. There are others like me, too. There are many in the
Four Lands who possess the magic of the old world, of the world
before the Four Lands and the Great Wars and man himself.”
Par stared at him wordlessly.
“Would you listen to me now, Valeman? While you still can?”
Par shook his head, not in response to the question he had
been asked, but in disbelief. “You are a Seeker,” he said finally.