THE VOYAGE OF THE JERLE SHANNARA : Morgawr (BOOK THREE)

Bek shook his head, running his hand through his shaggy hair. “I couldn’t sleep. I was dreaming about Grianne, and it woke me. I think the dream was telling me something important, but I can’t remember what. It bothered me enough that I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I came up here.”


Alt Mer shifted his feet restlessly. “You still can’t reach her, can you? Little Red can’t either. Never thought she’d even try, but she goes down there every day and sits with her.”

Bek didn’t say anything, so Alt Mer let the matter drop. He was growing tired, wishing suddenly that he hadn’t been so quick to send Kian off to sleep.

“Are you upset with me about Rue?” Bek asked suddenly.

Alt Mer stared at him in surprise. “Don’t you think it’s a little late to be asking me that?”

Bek nodded solemnly, not looking back. “I don’t want you to be angry. It’s important to both of us that you aren’t.”

“Little Red quit asking my permission to do anything a long time ago,” Alt Mer said quietly. “It’s her life, not mine. I don’t tell her how to lead it.”

“Does that mean it’s all right?”

“It means . . .” He paused, confused. “I don’t know what it means. It means I don’t know. I guess I worry about what’s going to happen when you get back home and have to make a choice about your lives. You’re different people; you don’t have the same background or life experience.”

Bek thought about it. “Maybe we don’t have to live our old lives. Maybe we can live new ones.”

Alt Mer sighed. “You know something, Bek. You can do whatever you want, if you put your mind to it. I believe that. If you love her as much as I think you do—as much as I know she loves you—then you’ll find your way. Don’t ask me what I think or if I’m upset or what I might suggest or anything. Don’t ask anyone. Just do what feels right.”

He clapped Bek lightly on the shoulder. “Of course, I think you should become a Rover. You’ve got flying in your blood.” He yawned. “Meanwhile, stand watch for me, since you’re so wide awake. I think I need a little sleep after all.”

Without waiting for an answer, he walked over to the main hatchway and started down. There was a hint of self-confidence in his step as he did so. One way or another, it would work out for all of them, he promised himself. He could feel it in his bones.





The company was awake and at work shortly after sunrise, continuing repair efforts on the damaged Jerle Shannara. Using axes and planes, Spanner Frew and the other two Rover crewmen took all morning to shape the mast from the felled tree trunk. It was afternoon before they had hauled it back to the ship to prepare it for the spars and rigging it would hold when it was set in place. The painstaking process required a careful removal of metal clasps and rings from the old mast so that they could be used again; the work would not be completed for at least another day. Those not involved were sent out to complete the foraging begun the other day by the Wing Riders, who had been dispatched to make certain the company was still safely ahead of the Morgawr.

They weren’t. By late afternoon, the Wing Riders returned, landed their Rocs close by the airship, and delivered the bad news. The Morgawr’s fleet was less than six hours out and coming directly toward them. In spite of everything, the warlock had managed to track them down once more. If the enemy airships continued to advance at their present pace, they would arrive on Mephitic shortly after nightfall.

Anxious eyes shifted from face to face. There was no way that the repairs to the Jerle Shannara could be finished by then. At best, if she tried to flee now, she would be flying at a speed that would allow even the slowest pursuer to catch her within days. The choices were obvious. The company could try to hide or they could stand and fight.

Redden Alt Mer already knew what they were going to do. He had been preparing since the night before, when he had decided that no one else was going to die under his command. Assuming the worst might happen, he had come up with a plan, suggested by something Bek had told him, to counteract it.

“Gather up everything,” he ordered, striding through their midst as if already on his way to do so himself. “Don’t leave even the smallest trace of anything that would suggest we were here. Put everything aboard so we can lift off. Hunter Predd, can you and Po Kelles find hiding places for yourselves and your Rocs offshore on one of the atolls? You’ll need a couple of days.”

The Wing Riders looked at each other doubtfully, then looked at him. ‘’Where will you be while we’re safe and snug on the ground?” Hunter Predd asked bluntly. “Up in a cloud?”

Alt Mer smiled cheerfully. “Hiding in plain sight, Wing Rider. Hiding right under their noses.”