The Shannara Chronicles: The Unknown Elessedil

Chapter 3

    Allanyra jolted awake due to an all too familiar screeching sound that had haunted her for the past twenty years. For a moment she thought herself to still be inside her vision, but when she found that she had control over her body and realized it to be real, fear began to burn through her veins like wildfire.

    Her hand shot out and grabbed her bow and quiver which were propped up against her bed. She ran towards the direction of the screeching as quickly as she possibly could while slinging her quiver over her shoulder. She ran down along the beach and forced her body to move more quickly than she would have thought to be possible as she saw the image that she feared more than anything else in the world. She ripped an arrow from her quiver and knocked it onto the her bowstring, pulled the string back and let it fly towards the demon's grotesque skull. A cry of pure agony, anger, despair, and grief ripped it's way from the bottom of her lungs and out her mouth calling out to her mother. Allanyra fell to her knees with tears streaming from her eyes as the arrow flew on a direct course to the creature's head as it continued to tear her mother to shreds.

    The creature, seeing the arrow coming, moved to block it with its wing, letting out a pained shriek when the arrow tore through the papery thin flesh. It spared Allanyra only a glance before it flew in the direction opposite of her, landing on a boulder not far in front of two figures. Just barely, through tear blurred eyes, Allanyra could make out the forms of the blonde elven man and Amberle. The blonde man was standing in front of Amberle protectively, both with bent knees as they stumbled backwards away from the demon a bit.

    The man drew out a small knife as the demon leapt from the boulder it had landed on and onto the sand in front of the pair. Despite the nearly crippling emotional pain that she felt for the horrific death of her mother, Allanyra snatched another arrow from her quiver and placed it on the bowstring, pulling the bowstring back to rest against the point where her nose met her cheek. Taking a deep, calming breath she released the arrow and watched as it plunged into the creature's skull at the soft point of its temple just as Allanon, coming from seemingly no where, fluidly slashed at the creature cutting off its winged arm and then spinning to decapitate it.

    Just as she had seen in her vision the creature lashed out at Allanon as a last effort to protect itself sending him to the ground on his back. The demon's head rolled a bit after hitting the ground until it came to a halt not far from the blonde elf and Amberle with the arrow sticking up into the air at a slight angle.

    Allanon rose to his feet and exclaimed, "We have to go!"

    Amberle looked from the skull to the druid saying, "My aunt!" She rose from the sand and went to run to Pyria's shredded remains but Allanon held out an arm to stop her.

    Several meters away, Allanyra sat on her knees as her body was wracked with silent sobs. She had failed her mother. Twenty years of having the same vision and in the end she could do no more to prevent it than she could prevent the sun from setting. She hung her head in shame, hearing the druid's footsteps coming her way though not seeing him until he stood right in front of her.

    "There will be more coming," Allanon said to her gently, hints of grief lacing his own voice.

    Allanyra raised her head to meet Allanon's eyes. The pain and grief she found there mirrored her own and matched the traces in his voice, though she could tell he was doing his best to hide it. Whoever he was, she could tell that he was close to her mother at least at one point in their lives.

    "Let them," was all she said, letting he head fall once again.

    Allanon's heart ached to hear the brokenness in the young woman's, no... in Pyria's daughter's, voice. He knelt down in front of her and took her lightly calloused hands into his own rough and time worn  hands enveloping her small ones quite easily. "Pyria wouldn't have wanted this for you. She would not want you to simply give up," he told her and then gently took her chin into his hand to raise her head so they would meet eyes and said, "Do not let her sacrifice mean nothing by staying here and letting yourself be killed."