"Brooks - Heritage 2 -The Druid of Shannara" - читать интересную книгу автора (Brooks Terry)

spiritual. The boundaries of the Gardens were fixed and unal-
terable, for the Gardens existed in a plane of being unaffected
by changes in the world of mortal men. The Gardens were a
presence rather than a place. Yet that presence was diminished
by the sickening of the world to which it was tied, for the work
of the Gardens and their tender was to keep that world strong.
As the Four Lands grew poisoned, the work became harder, the
effects of that work grew shorter, and the boundaries of human
belief and trust in its existenceЧalways somewhat marginalЧ

began to fail altogether.

The King of the Silver River grieved that this should be. He
did not grieve for himself; he was beyond that. He grieved for
the people of the Four Lands, the mortal men and women for
whom the magic of faerie was in danger of being lost forever.
The Gardens had been their haven in the land of the Silver River
for centuries, and he had been the spirit friend who protected
its people. He had watched over them, had given them a sense
of peace and well-being that transcended physical boundaries,
and gave promise that benevolence and goodwill were still ac-
cessible in some comers of the world to all. Now that was ended.
Now he could protect no one. The evil of the Shadowen, the
poison they had inflicted upon the Four Lands, had eroded his
own strength until he was virtually sealed within his Gardens,
powerless to go to the aid of those he had worked so long to

protect.

He stared out into the ruin of the world for a time as his

despair worked its relentless will on him. Memories played hide-
and-seek in his mind. The Druids had protected the Four Lands
once. But the Druids were gone. A handful of descendents of
the Elven house of Shannara had been champions of the Races
for generations, wielding the remnants of the magic of faerie.

But they were all dead.

He forced his despair away, replacing it with hope. The Dru-
ids could come again. And there were new generations of the
old house of Shannara. The King of the Silver River knew most

The Druid of Shannara 3

of what was happening in the Four Lands even if he could not
go out into them. Allanon's shade had summoned a scattering
of Shannara children to recover the lost magic, and perhaps they
yet would if they could survive long enough to find a means to