The World of Shannara

by Terry Brooks

  The shuriken, or throwing star, originated on the continent of Asia, but proved a valuable and stealthy weapon in the hands of an experienced warrior. Most effective when tipped with poison, throwing stars came in a variety of shapes and sizes. All shuriken had razor-sharp cutting edges, and all were easily concealed.

  Just as with demons, the once-men changed emotionally and psychologically first, then mentally and physically. Layer by layer they shed their human skin, taking on the look and feel of monsters until their humanity was gone. On the outside most still appeared human, though with blank eyes and empty expressions. The change also gave them the ability to survive where humans could not. They no longer needed clean air to breathe or clean water to drink. They did not need good food and were immune to plagues or poisons. Indeed, as once-men they were now part of the poison. And for the most corrupt, the change continued until they became full-fledged demons.

  Angel Perez, Knight of the Word.

  Eventually, the once-men outnumbered the humans. The once-men and the demons systematically began rounding up those who had survived the ecological and military attacks, placing them in slave camps, and exterminating those who did not join.

  Initially, the demons and their once-men faced opposition from individual militias and military groups. But over time, they gradually destroyed and defeated most of them. The compounds increased their militias and fortified their arenas, but in the end none could stand against a sustained attack. This left only the few Knights of the Word, who were finally relegated to saving survivors rather than trying to stop what had become an unwinnable war.

  Two of the Knights caught in the final struggle to save humanity were Logan Tom and Angel Perez. Logan Tom, a child of the compounds, had been raised as a member of a militia that fought to free captives from the demon slave camps. When the militia was destroyed during an ill-planned attack on the Midline Slave Camp, he eventually became a Knight of the Word. During his service to the Lady, he was given his most important task: to find and protect the boy who had become the Gypsy Morph.

  Angel Perez was a daughter of the Los Angeles barrio. As a Knight of the Word, she became legendary for her battles with demons and once-men. A fierce and savvy fighter, she also had the ability to make others see the horrors of the war by looking into her eyes.

  When the demon army came to Los Angeles, she realized that the war was lost and the compounds would fall. She set herself the task of saving as many children as possible. She created a special guerrilla force from outcasts, survivalists, and drifters skilled in staying alive to help her protect the children and take them to safety. She rescued well over a thousand children from the Los Angeles area before their compounds fell, placing them in the hands of her people and sending them to safety.

  Pancea Rolt Gotrin Cruer

  Pancea Rolt Gotrin, Cruer by marriage, was a powerful Elven Queen from a powerful family. Known as a Witch Queen, she commanded powerful magic at a time when the Elves still had the use of their magic. She outlived her husband, succeeding him on the throne and reigning for many years. Even before she took the throne, Pancea witnessed the increasing encroachment of humans on the world as they moved into the wild places and took them for their own. She saw their blindness to the magic and their fear. She decided that Elven magic was too dangerous in a world where superstitious, brutal humans outnumbered Elves. During her lifetime, she hid some of the most powerful Elven magic talismans in remote locations so that they would not be easily discovered. She created the dragon of the ice caves on the summit of Syrring Rise to protect the Loden Elfstone. She decided to protect her people further by ensuring that they would never be able to find these treasures by taking the three blue seeking stones with her to her grave. Her magic stayed within her, even after death.

  But the Lady had plans for her, and sent her to save the Elves as well.

  The Elves

  While the humans fell, the Elves remained hidden away in their enclaves, where they had retreated centuries earlier with the rise of humankind. Their main enclave, Arborlon, was hidden deep in the Willamette National Forest, a place the Elves called the Cintra. There, in homes cleverly built into the deep forest amid trails invisible to any but Elven eyes, the Elves fought to keep their lands free from the damage and pollution the humans had created, though many knew it to be a losing battle. They had given up their magic with the advent of Man and had only their skills with the land and healing abilities with which to hold back the coming danger. Yet most refused to believe the danger could reach them.

  The demons planned to let them remain hidden away until they had exterminated all humans. There was even a plan to help Elves hide further by using the Loden to lock themselves away from the world. Some among the Elves, led by Kirisin Belloruus—cousin to the reigning King—thought to save their people by searching for the lost blue Elfstones and the Loden Elfstone. They wanted to enable the Elves to seek safety by enclosing the Ellcrys in the Loden. Angel Perez, who didn’t even believe in Elves, found them in time to become Kirisin’s protector on his quest to save his people.

  Kirisin Belloruus.

  The Dragon of Syrring Rise

  At the summit of the mountain humans once called Mount Rainier, and the Elves have always known as Syrring Rise, ice caves hid a secret Elven talisman. Within the deepest of these caves, an ice-covered stone dragon sits in mute splendor. But while his stone cannot move, the magic that constructed him protects his treasure from any but the most worthy. Within the heart of the dragon, at the end of magically enhanced winding tunnels, the Loden Elfstone was protected in a setting of fire for centuries until Kirisin Belloruus braved the dangers to win it free of its hiding place.

  They were unaware that enclosing the Ellcrys and the Elves in the Loden had the potential to trap them, leaving the world to the ravages of the Void.

  Kirisin and his sister, Simralin, under the protection of Angel Perez, became both heroic adventurers and pawns in this game of survival. Their quest from the crypts of the Elven dead to the top of Syrring Rise and the ice caves had the potential to either save or damn the Elven people.

  ABOUT THE AUTHORS

  TERRY BROOKS is the New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty-five books, including the Genesis of Shannara novels Armageddon’s Children, The Elves of Cintra, and The Gypsy Morph; The Sword of Shannara; the Voyage of the Jerle Shannara trilogy: Ilse Witch, Antrax, and Morgawr; the High Druid of Shannara trilogy: Jarka Ruus, Tanequil, and Straken; the nonfiction book Sometimes the Magic Works: Lessons from a Writing Life; and the novel based upon the screenplay and story by George Lucas, Star Wars® Episode I The Phantom Menace.™ His novels Running with the Demon and A Knight of the Word were selected by the Rocky Mountain News as two of the best science fiction/fantasy novels of the twentieth century. He lives with his wife, Judine, in the Pacific Northwest.

  TERESA PATTERSON is the author (with Robert Jordan) of The World of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time, as well as various fantasy stories and nonfiction articles. Before becoming a writer she produced science fiction conventions and received her Master Class rating as a fantasy costumer. She lives in Texas.

  ABOUT THE ARTISTS

  An artist specializing in science fiction/fantasy illustration for more than twenty years, DAVID CHERRY has received many awards and honors and is a past president of the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists. Cherry is currently a computer graphics artist for Microsoft and lives in Dallas, Texas.

  ROB ALEXANDER has spent the past sixteen years working primarily in the publishing and gaming industries. He has published two books: Welcome to My Worlds, a collection of his work, and Drawing and Painting Fantasy Landscapes and Cityscapes. His work has appeared on numerous book and magazine covers, and he has been an artist for the popular trading-card game Magic: the Gathering since its inception. He lives in Oregon.

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