296 The Talismans of Shannara
head that glimmered on the black robes, but he couldn’t seem
to focus on them.
“I told you when we met that I was a Shadowen. I gave you
the Sword of Shannara and let you test it against me to find
out if I was lying. I warned you that your magic was a danger
to you, that it was changing you, and that you might not be
able to control it without help. Where was the lie in any of
this?”
“You took my brother prisoner after making me think I had
killed him!” Par howled, on his feet now in spite of his re-
solve, threatening. “You let me think he was dead! Then you
let him escape with the Mirrorshroud so that he would become
a Shadowen and I might kill him again! You set us against
each other!”
“Did I? ” Rimmer Dall shook his head. “Why would I do
that? What would doing that gain me? Tell me what purpose
any of that would serve.” He stayed seated and calm in the
face of Par’s wrath, waiting. Par stood there glaring, but did
not answer. “No? Then listen to me. I didn’t make you think
you killed Coil—you did that on your own. Your magic did
that, twisting you about, changing what you saw. Remember,
Par? Remember the way you thought you had lost control? ”
Par caught his breath. Yes, it had been exactly like that, a
sense of flying out of himself, of being shifted away.
The big man nodded. “My Seekers found your brother after
you had fled and brought him to me. Yes, they were rough
with him, but they did not know who he was, only that he was
where he shouldn’t be. I held him at Southwatch, yes—trying
to persuade him to help me find you. I believed him my last
chance. When he escaped, he took the Mirrorshroud with
him—but I didn’t help him steal it. He took it on his own. Yes,
it subverted him; the magic is too strong for a normal man
You, Par, could have worn it without being affected. And I
didn’t set you against each other—you did that yourselves.
Each time I came to you I tried to help, and each time you ran
from me. It is time the running stopped.”
“I’m sure you would like that!” Par snapped furiously. “It
would make things so much easier!”
“Think what you are saying. Par. It lacks reason.”
Par clenched his teeth. “Lacks reason? Everywhere I go
The Talismans of Shannara 297
there are Shadowen waiting, trying to kill me and my friends.
What of Damson Rhee and Padishar Creel at Tyrsis? I suppose
that was all a mistake? ”
“A mistake, but not mine,” Rimmer Dall answered calmly.
“The Federation pursued you there, took the girl and then sub-
sequently the free-born leader. The Seekers you destroyed in
the watchtower when you freed the girl were there on Federa-
tion orders. They did not know who you were, only that you
were an intruder. They paid for it with their lives. You must
answer for the fairness of that.”
Par shook his head. “I don’t believe you. I don’t believe
anything you say.”
Rimmer Dall shifted slightly in the chair, a ripple of black.
“So you have said each time we have talked. But you seem to
lack any concrete reason for your stance. When have I done
anything to threaten you? When have I done anything but be
forthright? I told you the history of the Shadowen. I told you
that the magic is our birthright, a gift that can help, that can
save. I told you that the Federation is the enemy, that it has
hunted us and destroyed us at every turn because it fears and
hates what it cannot or will not understand. Enemies, Par? Not
you and I. We are kindred. We are the same.”
Par saw the dream suddenly, and its memory sparked some-
thing dark and inexorable inside. Running from himself, from
the magic, from his birthright, from his destiny—it was possi-
ble, wasn’t it?
“If we are kindred, if you are not the enemy, then you will