04 The Talismans of Shannara by Terry Brooks

Author:Terry Brooks
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Fantasy
Published: 2010-04-10T10:40:06+00:00

The Talismans of Shannara 321

slipped down through the trees on the bluff's north slope, keeping his goal in sight as he went. He reached the hills be- low and raced through them, pointing north to the narrows through which the wagon and horsemen must pass to reach Southwatch, thinking to himself that he could still change his mind once he got there if it seemed wrong then, thinking as well that he needed a plan if he was to have any chance of sur- viving a fight against so many. The ground was hard and hol- low feeling beneath his feet, but the grasses were damp with morning dew and made a wet, slapping sound as he passed through them. He smelled the earth and the trees in the wind- less air, their scents thick and pungent. The haze deepened as he wound ahead, reaching out to enfold him one moment, slip- ping free again the next. He would have to be quick, he thought to himselfas swift as thought and as certain as fate. He would have to kill most of them before they knew he was there. He would have to be darker than they were. He would have to be more deadly.

He came out of a hollow into a stand of black walnut shot through with cherry, bent heavy with dewy leaves, and he stared out across the hills, listening. He could hear the wagon, its creak and groan soft in the mist. He was well ahead of it, close to where he would make his intercept, and the night's gloom lingered on against the coming dawn. He glanced east and found the sun still down within the trees, its light no more than a faint brightening against the sky. Time enough remained for him to act before the sunrise revealed him. He would have his chance.

He started out again, keeping to cover where he could, stay- ing silent in his passage. He had hunted the Highlands for years before coming north, rising before dawn to set out with his ash bow, alone in a world in which he was an intruder, learning to make himself one with the animals he hunted. Sometimes he shot them for food; more often, he simply stalked them, not needing to kill them to teach himself their ways, to discover their secrets. He became good at it; he was good now. But the Shadowen were hunters, too. They could sense what was out there better than he. He would have to re- member that. He would have to be careful.

Because if they found him first ...

322 The Talismans of Shannar'J

He breathed deeply through his mouth, steadying the pound- ing of his heart as he moved ahead. What was his plan? What was it that he intended to do? Stop them, kill them, have a. look at what was in the wagon? What if nothing was in the wagon? Did it matter? How much would he give away if this was all for nothing?

But it wasn't for nothing.

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