"Brooks, Terry - First King of Shannara" - читать интересную книгу автора (Brooks Terry)

one another. The moon had moved across the sky to the southern
edge of the horizon and was sinking from view. The stars were
brightening with its passing, the sky clear of clouds, a brilliant
black velvet in the vast, unbroken silence.

Kinson cleared his throat. "As you said, you did what was
required of you. It was necessary that you get close enough to
determine if your suspicions were correct. Now we know." He
paused. "Tell me. Did you see the book as well? The Ildatch?"

"There, in his hands, out of my reach, or I would surely have
taken it and destroyed it, even at the cost of my own life."

The Warlock Lord and the Udatch, there in the Skull Kingdom,
as real as life, not rumor, not legend. Kinson Ravenlock rocked
back slightly and shook his head. Everything true, just as Bremen
had feared. As they had both feared. And now this army of Trolls
come down out of the Northland to subdue the Races. It was his-
tory repeating itself. It was the First War of the Races beginning
all over again. Only this time there might not be anyone to bring it
to an end.

"Well, well," he said sadly.

"There is more," the Druid observed, lifting his eyes to the Bor-
derman. "You must hear it all. There is an Elfstone they search for,
the winged ones. A Black Elfstone. The Warlock Lord learned of
it from the Ildatch. Somewhere within the pages of that wretched
book, there is mention of this stone. It is not an ordinary Elfstone
like the others we have heard about. It is not one of three, one each
for the heart, mind, and body of the user, their magic to be joined
when summoned. This stone's magic is capable of great evil.
There is some mystery about the reason for its creation, about the
use it was intended to serve. All that has been lost in the passing of
time. But the Ildatch makes deliberate and purposeful reference to
its capabilities, it seems. I was fortunate to learn of it. While I
clung to the shadows of the wall in the great chamber where
the winged ones gather and their Master directs, I heard mention
of it."

He leaned close to the Borderman. "It is hidden somewhere in
the Westland, Kinson—deep within an ancient stronghold, pro-
tected in ways that you or I could not begin to imagine. It has lain
concealed since the time of faerie, lost to history, as forgotten as
the magic and the people who once wielded it. Now it waits to be
discovered and brought back into use."

First King of Shannara 11

"And what is that use?" Kinson pressed.