Brooks, Terry - High Druid's Blade - The Defenders of Shannara (9780345540713)

“We don’t know exactly,” Grehling answered. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

“I’m fine. What do you mean, you don’t know?”

“Chrysallin did something to her. She screamed at her, and Mischa exploded against the building wall in the alleyway. There’s nothing left.”

Leofur gave him a doubtful look. “Help me stand up.”

The boy did as she asked, and when she was on her feet she started back toward the alley, staggering a bit as she went.

“Are you trying to make sure?” Grehling called after her, getting up to follow.

“I need to get my flash rip back,” she threw over her shoulder. “Want to help me find it?”

He went after her at once, and she stopped to let him catch up. When they were out of sight, Paxon bent close to his sister and began whispering.

“Listen to me, Chrys. I don’t know what’s going on here. You have to wake up and tell me. You don’t need to worry about Mischa. She’s dead. You’re with me now. You’re safe. No harm can come to you. I won’t let it. I’ll take you to Paranor and keep you there where no one can get to you. We have Healers who are very good at helping people who have been treated the way you have. They can make you better. Can you understand me?”

No response.

He hugged her tighter, stroking her hair. “I love you, Chrys. I’m so sorry this has happened. I would do anything to take it back. I hate myself for not doing a better job of looking after you. But don’t leave me. Come back from wherever you are. Everything will be all right if you do.”

Grehling and Leofur reemerged from the alley ruins and came toward him. Leofur was carrying a strange weapon, one he had never seen before. She had called it a flash rip, but as far as he knew no one had ever seen a flash rip this small. It made him wonder what other sorts of weapons you could find in the Federation that maybe even the Druids didn’t know about.

“How is she?” Leofur asked, kneeling next to him. She seemed better now, her voice strong, her gaze steady as she looked at him.

He shook his head. “I can’t get a response. She won’t speak to me.”

The young woman gave him a reassuring smile. “Give her time. She’s been through a lot, but she’s a very determined girl. She’s stronger than you think.”

“Can you do something for me?” he asked her abruptly. “Can you accompany Grehling to the airfield and find out if Arcannen has flown out of the city? Or at least if his private airship is still there? I need to know where he is. And ask if anyone has seen a Druid about. I came here with a Druid to find Chrys. His name is Starks, and he was chasing Arcannen when I saw him last. Would you see if anyone knows anything about what’s happened to him? If you find him, tell him where I am.”

“I can do it by myself,” Grehling announced at once. “Leofur is hurt. She can stay with you.”

“I don’t doubt for a minute you can do it on your own,” Paxon said quickly. “There doesn’t seem to be much you can’t do. But it wouldn’t hurt to have someone with a portable flash rip to watch your back.”

“He’s right,” Leofur agreed. “I’m coming with you.”

“If you catch sight of Arcannen, don’t go near him,” Paxon added. “Don’t try to stop him, don’t even let him see you. Just come right back here and tell me.”

They nodded in response and started off together, and quickly they were out of sight. Paxon picked up Chrysallin and carried her over to a doorway where they were partially hidden from anyone coming down the street. Not that it was likely anyone would; it was still an hour or two until sunrise. But it didn’t hurt to be careful. Not when he didn’t know where Arcannen had gone.

He found himself regretting that he had let Starks go off on his own. Paxon was supposed to be the Druid’s protector. That was what he had been trained to do, and in this case he had abandoned his duty to go after his sister. He didn’t like it that Starks had been gone so long. He should have returned by now, Arcannen in tow or not.

He knew it was silly to worry. Starks was more than able to take care of himself. He was better trained and more experienced than Paxon, and during the times they had spent together it had been more a case of the Druid protecting Paxon than the other way around.

Time passed slowly as he sat in the doorway shadows cradling Chrysallin in his arms. She never changed expression, but eventually she fell asleep, her head falling onto his chest, her body sagging down against his. He kept still afterward, hoping that sleep would do what his words and comforting had not. When she awoke, perhaps she would be herself again, the nightmare behind her and the absence of any recognition of what was going on around her a thing of the past.

Dawn arrived in a dull brightening of the eastern sky, chasing back the reluctant shadows inch by inch. A handful of people came out of doors and down the streets, some passing by without seeing them, others slowing for a quick look. No one spoke to them. No one asked if they needed help.

Then Grehling reappeared, coming out of nowhere to kneel down beside them, his young face intense.

“Anything?” Paxon whispered, not wanting to wake his sister, who was still asleep.

The boy nodded. “A little. Arcannen arrived at the airfield not long before we got there. My father saw him. He was alone. He crossed the field to his vessel, woke his crew, and they released the mooring lines and took off. He didn’t say anything to my father about where he was going.”

“Starks?”

“Leofur’s gone hunting for him. He didn’t show up at the airfield. I waited until just a little while ago to make sure. She’ll let us know when she finds him.”

“She doesn’t even know where to look,” Paxon muttered absently, more worried now than ever.

“She doesn’t have to know,” Grehling said quickly. “Other people will, and she knows everyone. She will ask around, and someone will tell her where he is.”

The boy settled back against the wall across from him, watching Chrysallin. Neither said anything for a long time. The morning began to brighten and the shadows to fade. More people filled the street beyond their alcove, moving in groups, beginning their day’s work. Tucked away in their shelter, they occupied an island of calm among the steady movement and sounds only yards away. But their uneasiness was palpable.

“She looks better now that she’s sleeping,” Grehling offered finally. “I think she will be all right when she wakes.”

Paxon wasn’t so sure, but he knew the boy was just trying to be helpful. So he nodded in agreement. “You were very brave to rescue her,” he said.

Grehling shrugged. “I didn’t know what I was getting into. I just thought something felt wrong. Then, when I saw her, I knew it was Arcannen’s work, trying to get at you again. He wants your sword, doesn’t he?”

Paxon nodded. “How did you know?”

“Everybody wants something like that. Especially someone like him. A sorcerer’s tool, he probably thinks. He spends all his time collecting such things. Mostly, he steals them. But whatever it takes to get hold of them, he will do. He told me that once. He said that’s how you got by in this world—that if you wanted something, you found a way to get it, no matter what.”

“But you don’t agree?”

Grehling managed to look insulted. “Of course not. Do you?”

“No.”

“I didn’t think so.”

They were quiet again after that, still waiting on Leofur. Chrysallin awoke and began staring into space once more. Both Paxon and Grehling tried talking to her, asking her questions, offering her further assurances that she was safe and that no one would hurt her again. But still she did not respond.