title: The Sword of Shannara: In the Shadow of the Warlock Lord
author:  Terry Brooks 
description: The fate of a world rests on an unlikely hero. . . .<br /><br />Tucked away in peaceful Shady Vale, the young half-elf Shea Ohmsford gives little thought to the outside world. Yet far to the north, the evil Warlock Lord has dispatched shadowy Skull Bearers, creatures twisted by dark sorcery, to hunt him down. At the same time, a black-cloaked giant of a man appears in Shady Vale. He claims to be the mysterious Druid known as Allanon, a wizardly wanderer of vast knowledge and powerand he has come to see Shea. For Shea, he says, is the last descendant of an ancient Elven king. Only he, in all the world, can wield the fabled Sword of Shannara. And only the Sword can stop the Warlock Lord from destroying all that lives.<br /><br />The Sword lies far from Shady Vale, in the Druid castle of Paranor. And Paranor has fallen under the shadow of the Warlock Lord. Yet all is not lost. Shea will rise to the challenge. Together with Allanon and a handful of brave companions, he begins a desperate quest into the very heart of evil. . . . <br /><br /><b><i>The Sword of Shannara</i> Part 1: <i>In the Shadow of the Warlock Lord</i> is the newest addition to the Del Rey Imagine program, which offers the best in classic fantasy and science fiction for readers 12 and up.<br /></b>
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  ![](images/Broo_9780345444646_epub_cvi_r1.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  # ATOP THE DRUID’S KEEP
  
  
  Slowly the survivors of the quest filed into the stone chamber, smiles on
  their faces, their wounds forgotten.
  
  
  In the exact center of the rounded chamber, set in the polished surface of the
  giant Tre-Stone, they beheld the legendary Sword of Shannara, blade downward
  like a gleaming cross of silver and gold.
  
  
  At last, after all their effort, the endless marches, the miserable days and
  nights, there before them stood the ancient talisman they had risked
  everything to find. Allanon was missing, and Shea was lost as well. But the
  Sword of Shannara was theirs. They had outwitted the Warlock Lord.
  
  
  “Where is Flick?” the Elf asked suddenly. For the first time they realized
  that he was missing. They glanced about the chamber, looking blankly at one
  another for explanation. Then Menion Leah, who had turned back to the gleaming
  Sword, watched the impossible happen.
  
  
  The great block of Tre-Stone and its precious