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

“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.”

Ahren thought. “Well, maybe it has something to do with them being brother and sister. Maybe that was the connection you sensed. Maybe the Ilse Witch discovered it was true, and that was what released all this pain you felt.”

Her eyes were huge and liquid in the moonlight. “Maybe.”

“Do you think Bek and the Ilse Witch are down in Castledown with Walker?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“Should we go back and look for them?”

She just stared at him, wide-eyed, frightened.

There was no way to know, of course. It was a vision, and visions were subject to misleading and false interpretations. They revealed truths, but not in terms that were immediately apparent. That was their nature. Ryer Ord Star saw the future better than most. But even she was not permitted to catch more than a glimpse of it, and that glimpse might mean something other than what it suggested.

Going back for any reason suddenly seemed unthinkable to Ahren, and he abandoned the idea. Instead, they rose and walked on. Frustrated and troubled by the seer’s words, Ahren found himself hoping that when she had another vision, she would have one they could do something about. Like finding a way out of their present dilemma, for instance. Visions of other people in other places were of precious little use just now. It was a selfish attitude, and he was immediately ashamed of it. But he couldn’t help thinking it nonetheless.

They continued on. It would be morning soon. If they hadn’t reached the shelter of the trees by then, they would be in trouble. They had the remnants of buildings to hide in, but if they were detected, they would be easily trapped. If they kept on after it grew light, they would be left exposed on the open roadways. Ahren didn’t know if it made any difference what he did at this point since they were without a destination or a plan for rescue. All he knew to do was to try to find a way to keep out of the hands of the Ilse Witch and the Mwellrets. Or maybe only the latter, if Ryer’s vision proved prophetic. Was it possible that Bek had made the witch a prisoner, had found some way to subdue her? He had magic, after all, magic strong enough to shatter creepers. Was it sufficient to overcome the witch, as well?

Ahren wished he knew more about what was happening. But he had wished that from the beginning.

They were close to the edge of the forest when he heard movement ahead. It was soft and furtive, the kind that comes from someone trying not to be discovered. Ahren dropped into a crouch, pulling Ryer down with him. They were deep in the shadows of a wall, so they would not be easily seen. On the other hand, it was slowly growing lighter and they couldn’t stay where they were indefinitely.

He motioned for her to keep silent and follow his lead. Then he rose and began to make his way forward, but more slowly. Moments later, he heard the noise again, a scraping of boots on stone, very close now, and he dropped back into the shadows once more.