Par flushed angrily. “Just because . . .”
“There hasn’t been a single moment during this entire expedition or trek or whatever you want to call it that you haven’t needed help from someone.” The dark eyes narrowed. “Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying you were the only one. We’ve all needed help, needed each other—even Padishar Creel. That’s the way life works.” One strong hand lifted and a finger jabbed Par roughly. “The thing is, everyone but you realizes and accepts it. But you keep trying to do everything on your own, trying to be the one who knows best, who has all the answers, recognizes all the options, and has some special insight the rest of us lack that allows you to decide what’s best. You blind yourself to the truth. Do you know what, Par? The Mole, with his family of toy animals and his underground hideout—you’re just like him. You’re exactly the same. You create your own reality—it doesn’t matter what the truth is or what anyone else thinks.”
He slipped his hand back into his blanket and pulled the covering tight again. “That’s why I’m going. Because you need me to go. You need me to tell you the difference between the toy animals and the real ones.”
He turned away again, directing his gaze back out the rain-streaked window to where the night’s fading shadows continued to play games in the mist.
Pars mouth tightened. His brothers face was infuriatingly calm. “I know the difference, Coll!” he snapped.
Coll shook his head. “No you don’t. It’s all the same to you. You decide whatever you want to decide and that’s the end of the matter. That’s the way it was with Allanon’s ghost. That’s the way it was with the charge he gave you to find the Sword of Shannara. That’s the way it is now. Toy animals or real ones, the fact of what they are doesn’t matter. What matters is how you perceive it.”
“That’s not true!” Par was incensed.
“Isn’t it? Then tell me this. What happens tomorrow if you’re mistaken? About anything. What if the Sword of Shannara isn’t there? What if the Shadowen are waiting for us? What if the wishsong doesn’t work the way you think it will? Tell me, Par. What if you’re just plain wrong?”
Par gripped the edges of his blanket until his knuckles were white.
“What happens if the toy animals turn out to be real ones? What do you plan to do then?” He waited a moment, then said, “That’s why I’m going, too.”
“If it turns out that I’m wrong, what difference will it make if you do go?” Par shouted furiously.
Coll didn’t respond right away. Then slowly he looked over once again. He gave Par a small, ironic smile. “Don’t you know?”
He turned away again. Par bit his lip in frustration. The rain picked up momentarily, the drops beating on the shed’s wooden roof with fresh determination. Par felt suddenly small and frightened, knowing that his brother was right, that he was being foolish and impulsive, that his insistence in going back into the Pit was risking all their lives, but knowing too that it didn’t make any difference; he must go. Coll was right about that as well; the decision had been made and he would not change it. He remained rigid and upright next to his brother, refusing to give way to his fears, but within he curled tight and tried to hide from the faces they showed him.
Then Coll said quietly, “I love you, Par. And I suppose when you get right down to it, that’s why I’m going most of all.”
Par let the words hang in the silence that followed, unwilling to disturb them. He felt himself uncurl and straighten, and a flush of warmth spread through him. When he tried to speak, he could not. He let his breath out in a long, slow, inaudible sigh.
“I need you with me, Coll,” he managed finally. “I really do.”
Coll nodded. Neither of them said anything after that.
XXVIII
The Scions of Shannara
Terry Brooks's books
- Alanna The First Adventure
- Alone The Girl in the Box
- Asgoleth the Warrior
- Awakening the Fire
- Between the Lives
- Black Feathers
- Bless The Beauty
- By the Sword
- In the Arms of Stone Angels
- Knights The Eye of Divinity
- Knights The Hand of Tharnin
- Knights The Heart of Shadows
- Mind the Gap
- Omega The Girl in the Box
- On the Edge of Humanity
- The Alchemist in the Shadows
- Possessing the Grimstone
- The Steel Remains
- The 13th Horseman
- The Age Atomic
- The Alchemaster's Apprentice
- The Alchemy of Stone
- The Ambassador's Mission
- The Anvil of the World
- The Apothecary
- The Art of Seducing a Naked Werewolf
- The Bible Repairman and Other Stories
- The Black Lung Captain
- The Black Prism
- The Blue Door
- The Bone House
- The Book of Doom
- The Breaking
- The Cadet of Tildor
- The Cavalier
- The Circle (Hammer)
- The Claws of Evil
- The Concrete Grove
- The Conduit The Gryphon Series
- The Cry of the Icemark
- The Dark
- The Dark Rider
- The Dark Thorn
- The Dead of Winter
- The Devil's Kiss
- The Devil's Looking-Glass
- The Devil's Pay (Dogs of War)
- The Door to Lost Pages
- The Dress
- The Emperor of All Things
- The Emperors Knife
- The End of the World
- The Eternal War
- The Executioness
- The Exiled Blade (The Assassini)
- The Fate of the Dwarves
- The Fate of the Muse
- The Frozen Moon
- The Garden of Stones
- The Gate Thief
- The Gates
- The Ghoul Next Door
- The Gilded Age
- The Godling Chronicles The Shadow of God
- The Guest & The Change
- The Guidance
- The High-Wizard's Hunt
- The Holders
- The Honey Witch
- The House of Yeel
- The Lies of Locke Lamora
- The Living Curse
- The Living End
- The Magic Shop
- The Magicians of Night
- The Magnolia League
- The Marenon Chronicles Collection
- The Marquis (The 13th Floor)
- The Mermaid's Mirror
- The Merman and the Moon Forgotten
- The Original Sin
- The Pearl of the Soul of the World
- The People's Will
- The Prophecy (The Guardians)
- The Reaping
- The Rebel Prince
- The Reunited
- The Rithmatist
- The_River_Kings_Road
- The Rush (The Siren Series)
- The Savage Blue
- The Scar-Crow Men
- The Science of Discworld IV Judgement Da
- The Scourge (A.G. Henley)
- The Sentinel Mage
- The Serpent in the Stone
- The Serpent Sea
- The Shadow Cats
- The Slither Sisters
- The Song of Andiene