by Terry Brooks
“Everything hurts,” he murmured.
She had given him medicines to help with the pain, but they weren’t doing much. She held one hand loosely, letting him know that she was there.
“I’m dying, Aphen.”
“Shhhh, shhhh,” she whispered. “Don’t talk.”
Arling, kneeling next to her, rose and cleared everyone out of the room. “I’ll be just outside,” she said before leaving.
Her sister knew. She was giving Aphen these last minutes alone. There was nothing she could do. There was nothing more any of them could do. Tears spilled down Aphenglow’s cheeks and fell on the sheet draping her life partner.
“I shouldn’t have let you go without me,” she told him, bending close. “I should have been with you.”
He sighed. “Think how much worse … I would feel … if you had done that.”
“I love you so much. I can’t lose you.”
“The choice … isn’t yours … or mine.”
“Stay with me. Try to stay.”
The faintest hint of a smile twisted his burned lips. “I’m right … here.”
Then he exhaled slowly and was gone.
“Brave Bombax,” she whispered, and released his hand.
31
They flew Wend-A-Way all night north into troll country to the village Garroneck, Krolling, and their companions called home, and left the injured Trolls to be cared for by family and friends before turning west. After that, they flew to Arborlon. The airship’s passengers caught snatches of sleep when they could, talked with one another now and then, and spent long periods of time looking out over the countryside as Wend-A-Way crossed the Streleheim Plains to the Valley of Rhenn and on into the Elven home city.
Leaving Woostra and the Trolls aboard Wend-A-Way at their own request—but only after arranging for food and water and fresh bedding to be supplied to them—Aphenglow, Arlingfant, and Cymrian wrapped Bombax in a sheet and carried his body from the airfield into the Ashenell through the fading afternoon light until they had reached a plot of ground close by that was designated for the Elessedils. Together they dug his grave, lowered him into it, and stood looking down at him in silence until Aphen began speaking. She spoke of his character and determination and of his contributions to the Druid order. She didn’t speak about them as a couple. She would have said something of that, of what he had meant to her personally, of what they had meant to each other—Bombax and she, lovers and life partners—but she could not manage to do so. It was too personal and hurt too much, and speaking of it would have been more than she could bear. She had been saying the words to herself ever since he had died. Better that she leave it there, she decided. What he had meant to her belonged to her, cradled in her memories, safely tucked away. One day she might speak of it to someone else, but this was not that day.
They walked back together afterward to the gates of the burial grounds and stood looking out at the city. No one said anything. It had already been decided that on the morrow Aphenglow and the Trolls would fly into the Westland wilderness in search of the Ard Rhys and the rest of the Druids. Woostra would wait in Arborlon for their return. Arlingfant, in spite of her objections, would remain behind as well, resuming her duties as one of the Chosen.
Cymrian, to Aphenglow’s surprise and confusion, insisted he was coming with her to find the other Druids. She told him it wasn’t necessary; he told her it was. She told him he had done what was required of him; he told her she couldn’t be certain of that.
“You still don’t know who was responsible for sending those men to steal the diary and perhaps try to kill you. You don’t know another attempt won’t be made, even if you aren’t in Arborlon. I took the job as your protector, and I don’t think it’s time for me to give it up yet. Unless, of course, you are dismissing me.”
“No, no, I wouldn’t do that.” She felt frustrated, trapped by her sense of obligation to him. “It’s just that you’ve done so much already, and I don’t want you to feel you have to do anything more.”
He smiled enigmatically. “What else do I have to do that matters? I’ve done exactly what I wanted to do by becoming your protector. All I’m asking is to be allowed to continue.”
It was impossible to argue with him, so she let it go.
“I’ll feel better knowing he’s with you,” Arling told her later as they walked back together to their cottage. Cymrian had gone, having obtained Aphen’s agreement that he could go with her. “If I can’t go, at least he can.”
Aphen nodded noncommittally. “I suppose.” She thought about it for a minute. “I guess I just don’t understand why he’s so insistent about this. You would think he would be glad not to have to put himself at risk for me any more than he already has.”
Her sister laughed out loud. “You still don’t understand, do you?”
Aphen frowned. “Understand what?”
Arling shook her head. “I can’t tell you. I promised.”
“Tell me what?”
Her sister shook her head. “I can’t talk about it. In fact, I refuse to talk about it. You’ll just have to figure it out on your own.”
They walked the rest of the way in silence.
Aphenglow was awake before sunrise the following morning. She dressed, slipped out of the house, and sat on the veranda steps to wait for Arling to join her. She had promised to walk her down to the Gardens of Life, where Arling would participate in the ritual greeting of the new day in the presence of the Ellcrys. By then, the sun would have risen and the day would have arrived; Aphen would be airborne and winging her way west.
In her head, she had already departed.
It was only a few minutes later before Arling was beside her, dressed and ready. “Sleep well?” her sister asked.
“I dreamed of him,” she answered.
Arling knew who she meant. “I’m sorry. I know it’s hard.”
Aphen shook her head. “That’s what’s so strange. It isn’t all that hard anymore. It hasn’t been since he died. I can’t explain it. In the dream, he was still there, alive and well, but I couldn’t touch him. He was smiling, laughing, enjoying himself, but I wasn’t with him.” She hesitated. “I think I’ve been losing him for a long time. I think subconsciously I might have known.”
“You’ve been letting go.”
She nodded. “It feels like it. I still hurt thinking of him. I still want him back with me. But …”
She shook her head, unable to finish. Then she added. “It makes me feel disloyal to think like this.”
Arling took her hand and squeezed it. “You’re grieving, Aphen. You’re entitled to do that in the best way you can. There isn’t any right or wrong to how you do it.”
Aphenglow supposed that was so, but it didn’t make her feel any better. Overall, nothing that had happened since she had found Aleia Omarosian’s diary had worked out for the better. Bombax was dead, Paranor was abandoned and lost, the members of the Fourth Druid Order were scattered to the four corners of the earth, and the Federation was hunting for them—all because she had thought it a good idea to find the missing Elfstones. She was beginning to question her judgment about almost everything in her life.
“I want you to be careful,” she told her sister suddenly.
Arling looked at her in surprise and then grinned. “Why would I need to do that? No one is interested in me.”
“I just want you to watch out for yourself. Just promise me. You said you’d feel better knowing Cymrian was watching over me. Fair enough. But I’ll feel better knowing you are watching out for yourself.”
She was serious enough that the smile dropped away from her sister’s face. “All right, Aphen. I’ll be careful.”
When they reached the gardens, they embraced and kissed. None of the other Chosen had arrived yet; Arling was early for the ritual greeting. Dawn was still half an hour away. They stood together for a moment, holding each other.
“Will you come back for me after you’ve found the Ard Rhys?”
Arling asked.
“I’ll come back as soon as I can. I promise.”
“Even if it’s only to tell me you are safe.”
“Even if it’s only for that.”
They smiled at each other, cried a little, and parted.
Arling watched Aphenglow walk into the trees, a hundred thoughts tumbling through her head, most of them having to do with going after her sister. But Aphen wouldn’t want that, having already made it clear that Arling would not be allowed to go with her. Further insistence would achieve nothing. It would only make Aphen feel worse. Arling had tried her best to convince her sister to take her along and failed. Because she loved her sister more than anyone in the world, Arling knew when to leave well enough alone—even though it cost her something to do so.
Instead she walked down into the Gardens of Life and sat beneath the Ellcrys, trying to calm herself. Gazing at the tree helped. The brilliant red and silver mix of leaves and bark, the grand sweep of her boughs, the shimmer of her canopy in the starlight, and the calm that seemed to envelop her like a protective mantle were a balm that soothed and comforted. Arlingfant always felt better when she was close to the Ellcrys, and that feeling infused her now, reminding her why she had sought to become one of the Chosen and why her selection had left her feeling so fulfilled.
Her thoughts drifted and she closed her eyes.
“Come back safe, Aphen,” she said softly.
She was still listening to the echo of her words in the ensuing silence when she felt a gentle touch on her shoulder.
Then, as if borne on the momentary breath of wind that blew ever so softly across her face, a voice whispered.
–Child, I have need of you–
HERE ENDS BOOK ONE OF
THE DARK LEGACY OF SHANNARA
THE STORY CONTINUES IN BOOK TWO,
BLOODFIRE QUEST
For Judine
forever in my heart
Bloodfire Quest is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2013 by Terry Brooks
Insert map copyright © 2012 by Russ Charpentier
Insert illustration copyright © 2013 by Todd Lockwood
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States of America by Del Rey, an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
DEL REY and the Del Rey colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
The insert map by Russ Charpentier was originally published in Wards of Faerie by Terry Brooks, published in the United States by Del Rey, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. in 2012.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Brooks, Terry.
Bloodfire Quest : The Dark Legacy of Shannara / Terry Brooks.
pages cm
eISBN: 978-0-345-52352-5
1. Shannara (Imaginary place)—Fiction. 2. Quests (Expeditions)—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3552.R6596B56 2013
813′.54—dc23 2012041705
www.delreybooks.com
Jacket design: David G. Stevenson
Jacket illustration: © Stephen Youll
v3.1_r3
Contents
Master - Table of Contents
Bloodfire Quest
Title Page
Copyright
Map
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Dedication
1
Arlingfant Elessedil sat frozen beneath the broad canopy of the Ellcrys, the words a whisper echoing in her mind.
Child, I have need of you.
Had she actually heard that, or only imagined it? Whose voice was she hearing? Her eyes were still closed, and her presence in the Gardens of Life carried little more impact than the space she occupied and the soft sound of her breathing. Sunrise approached, bringing the new day to life. The world was mostly asleep, and the Elves of Arborlon were just beginning to stir. Dreams still held sway.
She felt again the soft touch and opened her eyes to find its source. A slender silver branch adorned with scarlet leaves rested gently upon her shoulder. It moved slightly, a feather’s touch she could feel through her clothing, strange and reassuring.
–Child, do you hear me–
Heart hammering, a flush of fear and expectation rushing through her, Arling rose to her knees to face the ancient tree, rocking back on her heels and looking up. She was aware of the branch that lay across her shoulder moving with her, maintaining contact as she shifted her position.
“I am here, Mistress,” she whispered.
All around her, the light was changing, darkness giving way to daybreak, blackness turning silvery with the brightening of the eastern sky. And in that strange, in-between time the world seemed to hold still around her.
–Long years have I kept the faith of my calling, strong against the elements and the whimsies and vicissitudes of nature and Man. Long years have I been true to all expectations and challenges, never once regretting what I gave up to be so. But time wears down all living things, and so it is with me–
It was not her imagination, Arling thought. The tree was speaking to her. The voice she was hearing belonged to the Ellcrys. She could feel a connection between the voice and the branch resting on her shoulder. She could feel the link between them.
Could feel the link to herself.
Arling tried to parse this out, to understand what was happening, but now the tree was speaking again.
–It happens slowly, but there is no mistaking its direction. There remains time to do what is needed, but for that to happen I need you first to understand. You are a Chosen in service to me. Many others have been so. Others besides yourself are so now. But you are special to me, child. You bear the blood markings that tell me no other will serve my purpose so well or so long–
Arling blinked rapidly, aware that the Ellcrys was praising her for something the tree found in her that she had not found in others. But Arling had no idea what that something was. Blood markings?
“I don’t understand, Mistress,” she blurted.
She felt a wash of shame when she admitted this. She wanted to be helpful, was anxious to serve in whatever way she could. But the Ellcrys was telling her she was failing, that time was taking its toll, and Arling did not know what it was she was expected to do.
–I am dying–
There it was. The truth of things, the words clear and unmistakable. The Ellcrys was coming to the end of her life. Arlingfant felt tears spring to her eyes and found it suddenly hard to breathe. How could this be happening? The Ellcrys was showing no signs of deterioration—no wilt, no shedding, no loss of color or form. All looked to be as it should, yet the tree was telling her otherwise. Telling her! Arlingfant didn’t want to be the one made responsible by knowing. She had done everything she had been asked to do and more in the course of her time as a Chosen. She did not deserve this!
–Child, you are precious to me–
“Don’t tell me that!” Arling cried out. “I have failed you! I did
everything I could, but it wasn’t enough. Could you be mistaken? Could you be given medicines and special care to keep you from …?”
She couldn’t finish, her words dying away into a series of hiccuping gasps. She was crying uncontrollably, and she couldn’t seem to make herself stop.
Then the branch shifted against her body, and she felt a strange peace settle through her, bringing an end to the tears. She went still, the sounds of her lamentation ceasing. All around her the air turned soft with the scents of flowers and grasses and leaves, smoothing away the hurt and fear.
–There is much you can do to help me, Arlingfant. My service has been long and successful, and that service must continue. All of the Chosen must care for me in my final days, and you must tell them so. All must band together to keep me safe and comfortable during the time of my passing, but pass I must. Back to where we all one day will go. Back to our birthroots, to our pre-life, to where we await our next appointing. Try to understand–
Arling did not understand. Asking her to bring word of this to the others was unbearable. Why choose her as opposed to another? Why ask this of her when so much else was happening?
But this was selfish thinking, and she would not speak it aloud to her mistress. She was a Chosen, and the Chosen did not complain—ever—of what was asked of them during the time of their service.
“I will tell the others,” she agreed. Then she hesitated. “And we will do much more than you ask. We will find a way to stave this off, to cure you of what afflicts you and make you well and strong again!”
There was a long pause.
–Oh, child, no. You ignore the truth at your peril. Hear me once again. I have need of you. I have need of your strength and your dedication. I have need of what you are and what you will be when I am gone. Do you not see–
Arling shook her head in despair. “I see only that you need help and I don’t know how to give it.”
