The Scions of Shannara

There he backed them into the shadows. “What is it you’ve found?” he demanded.

Morgan glanced at Steff, then shook his head. He was sweating now beneath his clothes, and his face was flushed. “Padishar,” he said. “Teel’s missing. Steff doesn’t know what’s happened to her. I think she might have gone down into the tunnel.”

He waited, his gaze locked on the big man’s, silently pleading with him not to demand more, not to make him explain. He still wasn’t certain, not absolutely, and Staff would never believe him in any case.

Padishar understood. “Let’s have a look. You and I, Highlander.”

Steff seized him by the arm. “I’m coming too.” His face was bathed in sweat, and his eyes were glazed, but there was no mistaking his determination in the matter.

“You haven’t the strength for it, lad.”

“That’s my concern!”

Padishar’s face turned sharply into the light. It was crisscrossed with welts and cuts from last night’s battle, tiny lines that seemed to reflect the deeper scars the Dwarf bore. “And none of mine,” he said quietly. “So long as you understand.”

They went into the sick bay, where Padishar took one of the other outlaws aside and spoke softly to him. Morgan could just make out what was being said.

“Rouse Chandos,” Padishar ordered. “Tell him I want the camp mobilized. Check the watch, be certain it’s awake and alive. Make ready to move everyone out. Then he’s to come after me into the hidden tunnel, the bolt hole. With help. Tell him I said that we’re all done with secrecy, so it doesn’t matter now who knows what he’s about. Now get to it!”

The man scurried off, and Padishar beckoned wordlessly to Morgan and Steff. He led them through the main cavern into the deep recesses where the stores were kept. He lit three torches, kept one for himself and gave one each to the Highlander and the Dwarf. Then he took them into the very back of the farthest chamber where the cases were stacked against the rock wall, handed his torch to Morgan, grabbed the cases in both hands and pulled. The false front opened into the tunnel beyond. They slipped through the opening, and Padishar pulled the packing crates back into place.

“Stay close,” he warned.

They hurried into the dark, the torches smoking above them, casting their weak yellow light against the shadows. The tunnel was wide, but it twisted and turned. Rock outcroppings made the passage hazardous; there were stalactites and stalagmites both, wicked stone icicles. Water dripped from the ceiling and pooled in the rock, the only sound in the silence other than their footsteps. It was cold in the caves, and the chill quickly worked its way through Morgan’s clothes. He shivered as he trailed after Padishar. Steff trailed them both, walking haltingly on his own, his breathing ragged and quick.

Morgan wondered suddenly what they were going to do when they found Teel.

He made a mental check of his weapons. He had the newly acquired broadsword strapped across his back, a dagger in his belt, and another in his boot. At his waist, he wore the shortened scabbard and the remains of the Sword of Leah.

Not much help against a Shadowen, he thought worriedly. And how much use would Staff be, even after he discovered the truth? What would he do?

If only I still had the magic . . .

He forced that thought away from him, knowing what it would lead to, determined that he would not allow his indecision to bind him again.

The seconds ticked by, and the echo of their passing reverberated in the sound of the men’s hurried footsteps. The walls of the tunnel narrowed clown sharply, then broadened out again, a constant change of size and shape. They passed through a series of underground caverns where the torchlight could not even begin to penetrate the shadows that cloaked the hollow, vaulted roofs. A little farther on, a series of crevices opened before them, several almost twenty feet across. Bridges had been built to span them, wooden slats connected by heavy ropes, the ropes anchored in the rock by iron pins. The bridges swayed and shook ‘as they crossed, but held firm.

All the while they walked, they kept watch for Teel. But there was no sign of her.