The Elves of Cintra (Book 2 of The Genesis of Shannara)

“Tragen found your body!”


“Is that what he told you?” Even in the near darkness, Kirisin could see his eyes twinkle. “Were you sad for me? Did you think the demons had found me out? Did you think they had caught and killed me?”

“We all did!” Kirisin declared, relief flooding through him. “After Ailie and Erisha were killed, we thought the demons had gotten you, too! We didn’t have time to do more than make a quick check; we had to flee Arborlon right away.”

The old man ambled forward a few steps, dropping the beam of his solar torch and nodding his understanding. “You were right to do so. No point in taking unnecessary chances. I certainly didn’t. I waited until it was safe to do so, and then I followed you. I tracked you all the way here, to these caves.” He looked around. “Impressive, aren’t they? An Elven safe hold.”

He looked back quickly. “Did you find it? Did you find the Loden Elfstone? Do you have it?”

Kirisin held out his hand, revealing the Stone cupped within his curled fingers. “Inside the dragon’s maw. Guarded by the magic of Pancea Rolt Gotrin, just as you thought it might be. You were right about everything.

We couldn’t have done this without you.” He shook his head. “I still can’t believe you’re alive. How did you manage to get here on your own?”

Culph shrugged. “Well, I had help. And I know a few things about getting places. Flying hot-air balloons is a skill I mastered some time back, for example. Come out of there, and I’ll tell you everything. We can take as much time as we need.”

Kirisin walked toward him, treading lightly on the dragon’s icy tongue, stepping carefully over its rows of teeth and out into the cavern chamber once more. He had his solar torch back on—it was working again—but he kept the light lowered so as not to blind the old man. Culph, for his part, had set down his own torch, letting its beam flood the space that separated them in a wide arc.

“I still can’t believe you made it all this way,” Kirisin said. “Or even that you managed to find us.”

“As I said, I had help.” The old man smiled. Then abruptly, as the boy stepped into the circle of his torchlight, he held up his hand.

“That’s close enough. Why don’t you just stand where you are while we talk?”

Kirisin stopped short, surprised at the change in the other’s tone of voice.

Then he caught sight of something just behind Culph, a figure slumped on the ground. Simralin. He recognized her clothing and blond hair. She lay motionless, blood on her face.

“Stay where you are, Kirisin,” Culph ordered quietly, and now he didn’t sound anything at all like Culph. “Don’t give your sister another thought. She’s fine where she is.”

Kirisin stared at Simralin’s still form and then at the old man. “What’s going on? What happened to her?”

“She took a blow to the head. A rather hard blow, I’m afraid. She’s a strong young woman.”

Kirisin stood frozen in place, trying to make sense of what he was hearing.

“Did you do this?”

Culph shrugged, and then nodded. “I had to. She was a distraction.”

“A distraction? What are you talking about?” Kirisin blinked. Then a cold realization swept through him. “You,” he said quietly.

“You’re the…” He couldn’t bring himself to say the word demon. “All this time.”

The old man nodded. “All this time.”

Kirisin’s heart sank. He gestured toward his sister. “Did you kill her?”

“Kill her? No, that would serve no useful purpose. I just made sure she wouldn’t interfere with us. I need her alive so that you don’t do anything foolish while we talk. You won’t, will you? Do anything foolish? You won’t make me really hurt her, will you?”

Kirisin glared at him. “You killed Erisha. And Ailie. And you tried to kill me. Why didn’t you? If you wanted to stop us from finding the Loden, why didn’t you just finish the job and kill me, too?”

The old man cocked his head quizzically. “What makes you think I wanted to stop you from finding the Loden? From finding any of the Elfstones, for that matter? Finding them is what I wanted you to do, right from the first time you told me the Ellcrys spoke to you.”

He rocked back on his heels. “It’s not so complicated, really. You and Erisha were searching for the Elfstones. If you found them, you would use them to save the Ellcrys. I thought it an excellent idea. So I researched the matter.

I found the information I needed right away—not all of it, but most. I found some of it in the histories and some of it in the private notes and journals of the old families. As keeper of those records, I had access to all of it. I just didn’t tell anyone what I had found. I made certain no one else found any of it, either.”

“But you were helping us!”