He rested his cheek against her temple and held her, waiting for a response. It was a long time coming, but at last she lifted away and placed her small hands against his cheeks.
“All right,” she said quietly. She gave him a small, sad smile. “I won’t.”
They rose and walked out of the shadow of the black tower and into the maze, then back through the ruins. They kept to the shadows and did not hurry, stopping frequently to listen for sounds that would warn them of danger. Ahren led, holding Ryer Ord Star’s hand, the link between them oddly empowering. He had not lied when he told her he still needed her. Despite his recovery of the Elfstones and his successful battle against the creepers, he did not yet feel confident about himself. He had passed out of boyhood, but he was still inexperienced and callow. There were lessons still to be learned, and some of them would be hard. He did not want to face them alone. Having Ryer there to face them with him gave him a confidence he could not entirely explain but knew better than to ignore.
Yet he thought he understood at least a part of it. What he felt for the girl was close to love. It had grown slowly, and he was only just beginning to recognize it for what it was. He was not certain how it would resolve itself or even if it would survive another day. But in a world of turmoil and uncertainty, of monsters and terrible danger, it was reassuring to have her close, to be able to ask her advice, just to touch her hand. He drew strength from her that was both powerful and mysterious—not in the way of magic, but in the way of spirit. Maybe it was as simple as not being entirely alone, of having another person with whom to share whatever happened. But maybe, too, it was as mystical as life and death.
They walked a long time through the ruins without hearing or seeing anything or anyone. They moved in a southerly direction, back the way they had come, toward the bay in which the Jerle Shannara had once anchored. She was in the hands of the Ilse Witch now, of course—unless things had changed, which was possible. Things changed quickly in this land. Things changed without warning. Maybe this time they would change in a way that would favor Walker’s company rather than the Witch’s.
Suddenly Ryer Ord Star drew up short, her slim body rigid and trembling. Ahren turned back to her at once. She was staring into space, into some place he could not see, and her face reflected such dismay that he found himself quickly scanning his surroundings to find its cause.
“He’s dead, Ahren,” she said in a small, grief-stricken whisper.
She sank to the ground, crying. Her hand still clutched his, as if that were all that held her together. He knelt beside her, putting his arms about her, holding her close.
“Maybe he’s at peace,” he said, wondering if that was possible for Walker Boh.
“I saw him,” she said. “In my vision, just now. I saw him being carried by a shade into a green light over an underground lake. He wasn’t alone. On the shore were three people. One was Bek, the second a cloaked form I didn’t recognize. The third was the Ilse Witch.”
“The Ilse Witch was with Bek?”
Her hand tightened on his. “But she wasn’t doing anything threatening. She wasn’t even seeing him. She was just there, physically present, but at the same time she wasn’t. She looked lost. Wait! No, that isn’t right. She didn’t look lost,—she looked stunned. But that isn’t all, Ahren. The vision changed, and she was holding Bek and he was holding her. They were somewhere else, somewhere in the future, I think. I don’t know how to explain this, but they were the same person. They were joined.”
Ahren tried to make sense of this. “One body and one face? The same in that way?”
She shook her head. “It didn’t look like that, but it felt like that. Something happened to connect them. But it was as much a spiritual as a physical joining. There was such pain! I could feel it. I don’t know whom it was coming from, who had generated it. Maybe both. But it was released through the connection they formed, and it was a trigger for something else, something that was going to happen after. But I didn’t see that,—I wasn’t permitted.”