Free The High Druid's Blade: The Defenders of Shannara by Terry Brooks Page B

said you believe he recognized the power of the sword when he saw it—that you could tell as much when he tried to prevent you from drawing it out of its sheath. What if I told you he knew about the power of the sword all along? That he lured you to Dark House by kidnapping your sister so you would bring him the sword?”
    Paxon frowned, considering. Arcannen had seemed suspiciously interested in the sword. “But if he wanted it so badly, why wouldn’t he just steal it from the cottage in the first place? It was hanging in plain sight over the fireplace. If he knew of it beforehand, wouldn’t it have been easier to get possession of it that way?”
    “What if he wasn’t interested only in the Sword of Leah, Paxon, but in you as well? What if the sword was of no use to him without someone who could wield it—someone who was a member of the Leah family, a descendant of all those Leahs who actually used the sword in times now past?”
    “How would he know that?”
    “Let’s assume for the moment that he did.”
    “All right. Then how could he make me use it the way he wanted?”
    “Perhaps in the same way he used his own magic to make your sister play a game of dice she could not possibly win.”
    So Chrys hadn’t really been careless; she had been tricked. Paxon thought back on what had happened at the airfield when he had braced Arcannen and again when the sorcerer had been waiting for him at Dark House. What the Ard Rhys was telling him seemed to fit.
    “So he knew of the sword and wanted it, but needed me to release its power, and that is why he kidnapped Chrysallin?”
    “Except his plan fell apart when you drew out the sword and decided to stand up to him. The magic responds to attacks faster than you can think to ask it to. That has always been the hallmark of Faerie magic. What Allanon did to the Sword of Leah all those years ago at the Hadeshorn was to infuse your blade with that same kind of magic. So it acted to protect you and defeat Arcannen. But that’s not going to be the end of this, is it?”
    “No, it doesn’t seem likely,” he agreed. He felt a sinking in his stomach. He was in a lot more danger than he had imagined. “If he went to all that trouble, he won’t give up until he has the sword in hand. He’ll keep coming after me until he gets what he wants. What should I do?”
    Her smile returned. “This is what I brought you here to talk about. I want to make you an offer. Come to Paranor and live with us. Learn to use the magic of the sword fully and responsibly. We can help you do that. When your training is complete, remain here with us for three years as our paladin. It would constitute repayment in full for our services and provide you with practical experience using your sword. You would be given tasks to complete, helping us to secure various items of magic and to deal with those who refuse to cooperate in our efforts to protect against misuse of that magic. At the end of three years, if you so choose, you would be free to go.”
    She paused. “And you would be allowed to take your sword with you when you leave.”
    Paxon stared at her in disbelief. “Are you asking me to join the Druid order? To become a Druid?”
    She shook her head. “I am asking you to serve with the order, not to join it. But there is work and responsibility enough just in that, Paxon. I wish you to be what was once called a Knight-errant. Our order comprises students and teachers, but few are trained as warrior Druids, as some once were. Few have fighting skills and weapons knowledge. And no one has a weapon like you do. You could accompany our Druids while they do their work searching out and recovering lost magic and confronting the threats such magic poses. You could help keep them safe. You could act as their protector. Will you consider doing so?”
    He knew right away it was what he wanted, what he had been searching for—a chance to do something besides haul freight and pass the time between runs.