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.Claws and blades flashed brightly when they passed through light.Some of them werehuge.Some were rocking in an eager, anticipatory fashion.All had parts awkwardly grafted onto them,giving them a barbaric, half-finished look.The images disappeared.Ahren decided he d had enough. What do you want! he snapped at thesweeper, not giving a moment s consideration to whether it could understand him.Apparently it could.Another image appeared, the Elf and the seer following the little sweeper throughthe same series of tunnels, searching the gloom.A second image followed, Walker, looking over hisshoulder, stopping, lifting his arm as if in recognition, beckoning.Then all of them were joined in a thirdimage, relief painted on their faces, hands reaching out in greeting, Ryer Ord Star melting into Walker sstrong embrace.The seer was almost hysterical. It wants us to follow! she cried. It wants to take us to Walker.Ahren, Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlwe have to go! You saw him! He needs us! She was shaking him, any attempt at calm forgotten.Nowhere near as convinced as she was, Ahren freed himself roughly. Don t be so quick, Ryer. Heused her first name to make her listen, and it worked.She went still, eyes fastened on him. We don tknow if any of this is true.We don t know if these images are real.What if this is a trick? Where did thissweeper come from anyway? It isn t a trick, it s real; I can feel it.That really is Walker, and he s down in those tunnels, and he needsour help! Ahren was wondering what sort of help they would be able to provide to the Druid.He was wonderinghow following the sweeper down into the tunnels-supposing they could do that-would result in the happyending they had been shown.If Walker, with all his magic, couldn t get free of the creepers, whatdifference would their coming after him make?He looked at the little sweeper. How did you find us? A fresh image appeared.The sweeper was cleaning down at the edges of the maze, just below theirhiding place.It was viewing everything through some sort of lens.Something distracted it, and it movedout of the maze and into the ruins, climbing slowly through the rubble until it was just behind them.The image faded. It must have heard us, the seer whispered, giving Ahren a quick, hopeful look.He didn t see how.They had been careful not to make any noise at all.Maybe it had sensed theirpresence.But why hadn t the other sweepers sensed them, as well? I don t like it, he said. Ahren! she pleaded, her voice wrenching and sad.He gave an exasperated sigh, feeling trapped by her need and expectations.She was so desperate to getto Walker, to do something to help him, that she was abandoning any attempt to exercise caution orgood sense.On the other hand, he was so desperate to get away from this place, that he was refusing togive the sweeper s credibility any consideration at all. Why are you trying to help us? he asked the little machine. What difference does it make to you whatwe do? The sweeper must have expected the question; an image immediately appeared in the same place as theothers.It showed the sweeper performing its tasks in the maze and the tunnels below-ground.A secondset of images followed, these showing the sweeper being kicked and pummeled and knocked about inalmost every conceivable way by something big and dark and fearsome that was always cloaked inshadow or just out of sight.Time and again, the sweeper was picked up and flung against a wall.Overand over, it was knocked on its side and had to be righted by other sweepers coming to its aid.Thereseemed to be no reason for the attacks.They appeared random and purposeless, the result ofmisdirected or pointless anger and frustration.Dented and cracked, the little sweeper would have to berepaired by its fellows before returning to its duties.The images disappeared.The sweeper went still once more.Ahren tried to reconcile his doubts.Anabused sweeper? Kicked around so thoroughly and for so long that it would do anything to put a stop toit? That meant, of course, that the sweeper was capable of feeling emotion and reacting to treatment that Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmltroubled it.As a rule, machines didn t feel anything, not even creepers.They were machines, which bydefinition meant they weren t human.But these machines might well be as old as the city and whatever lived in it.It was not impossible toimagine that before the Great Wars destroyed the old civilization, humans had developed machines thatcould think and feel. It s asking for our help, Ryer Ord Star pointed out, breaking the silence.She brushed back her longsilver hair in frustration. In return, it will help us find Walker.Don t you understand? Not entirely, Ahren thought. What sort of help does it expect us to give it? An image flashed from the open hatchway in the sweeper s metal head.Walker, Ahren, and Ryer OrdStar were walking from the ruins with the sweeper in tow. You want us to take you along when we leave? he asked in disbelief.The image repeated itself twice more, insistent and unmistakable.Then a new image appeared, the JerleShannara rising skyward, light sheaths stretched taut, radian draws rippling with power.At the bow ofthe airship stood the little sweeper, looking back at the land it was leaving behind. This is ridiculous, Ahren muttered, almost to himself. It s a machine! A sentient machine, Ryer Ord Star corrected him. Sophisticated and capable of feeling.Ahren, itwants what we all want.It wants to be free. The Elven youth sat down slowly on the pile of rubble and put his chin in his hands. I still don t feelgood about this, he said, his eyes watching the sweeper. If we do what it wants and go underground,we ll be cut off from everything.If this is a trap, we won t have any chance of escaping.I don t know.Istill think we ought to find the others first. She knelt in front of him and put her hands over his, the tips of her fingers brushing his face. ElvenPrince, listen to me.Why would this be a trap? If whatever wards Castledown wanted us, couldn t ithave had us by this time? If this sweeper meant to betray us, wouldn t we already be surrounded bycreepers? What difference does it make to anything if it manages to get us belowground? Why would itgo to so much trouble to accomplish so little? He had to admit he didn t know.She was right, it didn t make much sense.But neither did a lot of otherthings that had happened on this voyage, and he wasn t about to discount the way his instincts kepttugging at him in warning.Something was bothering him.Maybe it was just his fear of ending up like JoadRish and the others.Maybe it was his indelible memory of the carnage and screams and dying.It was alltoo fresh to allow him to think objectively yet. There s no time to look for anyone else, she insisted. There may not be anyone out there to find! It was his greatest fear, of course.That there was no one else alive, that they were all that was left.She was pressing her hands over his, cupping them.He lifted his chin from their cradle, but she wouldnot release him. Ahren, she whispered
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