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

“What if they don’t hear?”


He walked over to the door, laid his staff against the hinges, and summoned the magic. In seconds, the fire had burned through the iron clasps and the door was hanging open. Debris blocked the way through from the other side, but gave before him as he pushed past it. The room beyond was cavernous, but mostly empty. It might have been the basement level of a warehouse in an earlier time, but whatever had been stored there was long gone.

On the far side of the room, a broad roll-up door stood open at the top of a ramp.

“Are you finished?” he asked her.

She nodded and walked over to join him. “How did you do that?”

He gave her mottled face a deliberate stare. “My special staff.”

They moved past the debris and through the room to the roll-up door. Logan took a moment to be certain the Lizards hadn’t guessed what he might do, but he did not sense their presence. Nor did he detect any danger. He stepped through the opening, the girl right behind, and was back outside.

They walked for a long time after that, circling away from the storeroom before heading back to where he had left the AV. The silence was deep and pervasive and the dark of the night a willing accomplice to their flight. They didn’t speak at first, keeping silent out of necessity, not wanting to give any indication of where they were. If the Senator decided to come looking for them, they didn’t want to give him any help.

“We don’t have to hurry,” the girl said suddenly, turning her mottled face toward him. “He won’t come looking for me right away.”

Logan raised a questioning eyebrow. “He won’t? Why not? Won’t he want his property back?”

“He won’t believe you’ve agreed to take me with you. Not at first. He’ll think you’ve left alone.”

“I thought you said he was worried about losing his property.”

She looked away. “He is. He knows I will try to go with you; I’ve tried leaving before. He just doesn’t think you will agree to take me.”

“He won’t? Why is that?”

“Because I’m a Freak, and he doesn’t think anyone would want me but him.

“

They were passing back through the neighborhood where he had first encountered the girl when Rabbit reappeared, falling into step beside them, her strange hopping motion revealing her identity even before they could make out her features.

“Can we take her with us?” the girl asked.

Logan shrugged. “A cat who knows enough to look beneath the skin to judge a person’s character is too valuable to leave behind.”

Even though her face was turned away, he could have sworn he caught a glimpse of a smile.





Chapter TWENTY-ONE


MOONLIGHT BATHED the shadowed landscape, draping the roofs and walls of buildings, staining the flat, empty fields and layering the highway’s dark surface. Candle trailed the boy with the ruined face by a few paces, working hard to keep up, not wanting to feel the sharp jerk of the cord he had tied about her neck to prevent her from bolting. She had said almost nothing since they had started out, too frightened to do more than follow his directions. But they had walked a little more than two miles by now, and she was already growing tired.

“How much farther are we going?” she asked.

“As far as I want to.”

“How far is that?”

“Far as necessary to get back.”

“Back to where?”

His scarred face turned toward her. Irritation reflected in his one good eye. “To where I was when your friends took me away.”

“To your family?”

“To my tribe.” He cleared his throat and spit. “You’re the one with the family, not me.”

She walked on a little farther before saying, “I don’t want to go.”

“I don’t care what you want.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?”

“Taking me with you.”

“Because I feel like it. Because I can.” He muttered something she couldn’t hear, then said, “I’m doing to them what they did to me.

I’m taking you away like they took me. Let’s see how they like it.”

She was silent again for a moment. “What are you going to do with me?”

“I don’t know yet. I haven’t decided.”

“You shouldn’t do this.” She was on the verge of tears.

“You should let me go.”

“Shut up.”

She did, and they walked on without speaking, following the dark ribbon of the highway as it stretched away into the distance. She found herself thinking of the booming sound of Bear’s flechette as it discharged, wondering what it meant. Something had happened, and she hadn’t been there to prevent it by warning them.

And it was all because she had tried to do the right thing.

“I set you free,” she said defiantly, believing her declaration said everything that needed saying.

“Thanks,” he replied.

“So you should let me go.”

“Don’t try to tell me what to do. You don’t know anything.”