Sarys stood her ground. “You don’t scare me, Khyber.”
“Good. Then neither of us holds an advantage over the other. Let’s go inside and sit down and talk. Please.”
There was a long moment of indecision before the other woman finally nodded, turned around reluctantly, and led the way up the porch steps into the house. She took Khyber into the kitchen and without a word set about making them both tea. When she had completed the task, she brought the cups to the table at which Khyber was sitting and joined her.
“This changes nothing,” she said pointedly.
Khyber nodded. It did, of course, but there was no reason to say so. “Are you well?” she asked instead.
Sarys smiled faintly. “Say what you’ve come to say. Don’t waste my time. I want you gone as quickly as possible.”
“Then listen well, Sarys.” Khyber put down her tea. “The existence of a very powerful magic, an ancient Elven magic, has been discovered quite by chance. As yet, only the Druids know about it. But that may change. It is important that we find and secure it before certain others do—others less dedicated to protecting the Four Lands.”
“By that, you mean the Federation, of course,” Sarys sneered.
“I mean men and women throughout the Four Lands for whom power is an elixir and an addiction. I mean anyone who thinks that wielding magic is a way to enhance their own status and will use it at the expense of others. They are out there, and we both know it. Who they are affiliated with matters not in the least. Their intentions are what trouble me.”
She sipped at her tea but didn’t look away from the other woman. “I was uncertain what to do when I learned about this magic, and so I went to ask the advice of the shades of the dead. Often they know things hidden from the living, and I was hopeful that they would help me in my search for this magic. One of those shades, a very powerful Druid now long dead, came to me and told me something of what I needed to know. Among the things it told me was that my fears were justified—the danger of a misuse of the magic, should it fall into the wrong hands, was real. It also told me one thing more. It told me that when I went in search of this lost magic I must take with me both Redden and Railing—that they were crucial to my success in finding where the magic was hidden.”
She was skirting the edges of the truth, trying to avoid anything that suggested the twins would be in any danger. Sarys was staring at her openmouthed. “Actually,” she continued, “the shade told me that the quest to find the magic would fail without your sons to help me. It gave me no explanation of why that was so. But in all of the great quests and struggles that have defined the history of the Four Lands since the recovery of the Sword of Shannara and the defeat of the Warlock Lord, there have been Ohmsfords involved. I think it is their destiny, Sarys. I think it is the family’s destiny. You and I, we might wish it otherwise, but we have nothing to say about it.”
The other woman nodded slowly. “You have nothing to say about it, perhaps. But I most certainly do.”
“But is the choice yours to make? Do you speak for your sons? Or will you let them speak for themselves?”
“In this instance, I will speak for them. They are not going. Find someone else to help you with this nonsense.”
“There is no one else.” Khyber sipped delicately at her tea, watching the other carefully. “You have raised your boys to look after themselves and not to depend on you. They are boys in name only. They are almost men. How ready are they to make wise choices? How well have you taught them? Have you faith in their ability to reason things out?”
Sarys laughed softly. “What I have faith in is none of your business. What I know is that your ability to manipulate, like that of all Druids, is boundless. What I know is that trickery and deceit are the tools of your trade. When it comes to magic there is nothing you would not do to achieve your ends. If that is what compels you, so be it. I wish you well. But you will not entangle my sons in your schemes. I will not allow it.”
“Even if the Four Lands are at risk? Even if we are all at risk? At what point does the danger become sufficient that you will set aside your prejudices and permit the needs of the many to override your fears and persuade you to do the right thing?”
“Not when you are the one who suggests I must!” Sarys snapped. “You have no right to tell me what I should do when it comes to my sons!”
Khyber took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “This quest must be undertaken. The danger must be overcome before the threat grows too large to control. We are at a crucial juncture in our history, Sarys. Science has begun to resurface as a force that will determine the direction of our evolution as a culture. It was lost and shunned with the destruction of the Old World in the cataclysm of the Great Wars. And rightfully so. But now we find remnants of it being rediscovered and put to use in such terrible struggles as the war on the Prekkendorran. It competes with magic for dominance. Each new discovery, each fresh revelation, shifts our perspective on whether it might be time to reintroduce science into the world. Now, all at once, a magic thought lost forever reemerges. If it is recovered, the struggle between magic and science will escalate. No matter where we stand on the issue, no matter how we feel about it, we cannot afford to pretend it doesn’t matter. We cannot ignore its potential impact. History tells us what will happen if we fail to act. I know it and you know it, too, even if you refuse to acknowledge it.”
She paused, shook her head. “I don’t like having to come here. I would not be here at all if I were not convinced that your sons’ help is necessary. I do not intend that they should be forced to do anything. But I do intend that they be given a chance to decide for themselves.”
Sarys seemed to be thinking it over, and then she said, “Well, any decision will have to wait. They’re not here. They’ve gone camping with a friend. I don’t know when they will return. Come back when they have and ask them then.”
It was such an obvious attempt at trying to avoid the inevitable that Khyber almost felt sorry for her. But feeling sorry for anyone in this business was something she could not afford.
“Where have they gone? They must have told you.”
“They tell me little these days. They left yesterday with a friend. On an airship. They could be anywhere by now. I can’t help you.”
Khyber was silent a moment. “You are aware of the Ohmsford family history—especially that which is most recent and which has impacted you and your family most directly. Where would we all be now if Bek Ohmsford had not gone with Walker Boh to Parkasia on the Jerle Shannara? Where would we all be if he had not found his lost sister and helped her become Ard Rhys before me? If he had not then fathered Penderrin and helped bring an end to the war on the Prekkendorran and closed the door into the Forbidding, would we be here at all? Not many know this part of our history; most never will. But you know it, Sarys. Your husband told you. Penderrin told you. In each case, a choice was made by a young man to do the right thing—not to refuse to participate because it was too dangerous but to accept what fate and circumstance had given them to do.”
“What Druids had given them to do! Isn’t that what you mean?” Sarys was stone-faced. “What you would now give my sons to do? Tell me what that is, why don’t you! Tell me what you would ask of them!”
“I would ask them to make the same choice as their ancestors. I don’t want to have to involve them. I don’t even want to be here. But I cannot ignore what is staring me in the face. Magic is a part of our lives. It has been so since the time of the Great Wars. We can’t pretend otherwise. Magic defines who we are, your family and mine. We ignore this at our peril. Magic is a gift and a curse. If we manage it in the right way, it can be of great benefit. If we don’t, we risk destroying ourselves.”