The Black Irix is the last short story in the Paladins of Shannara trilogy. It takes place over one and a half years after the events in The Sword of Shannara, when Panamon Creel returns to Shady Vale and convinces Shea Ohmsford to help him retrieve Keltset's Black Irix from Kestra Chule and return it to Keltset's people.
Plot Summary[]
For over a year after returning from the Skull Kingdom, Shea Ohmsford had been haunted by nightmares, plaguing his sleep and draining his health to the point that he had begun to lose weight and energy, and barely had the will to do much of anything.
In desperation, Shea's brother Flick visited someone for help; someone he would have never have thought to visit before his adventures during the quest for the Sword of Shannara. That person was a woodswoman named Audrana Coos, who was said to specialize in potions and spells that could cure sicknesses.
Audrana confirmed that Shea was very ill, damaged by his experiences and infected by contact with Skull Bearers as well as by his interaction with the Warlock Lord. She handed Flick a potion and told him to make sure that Shea drank it all down. She refused to accept payment, citing Shea's status as the hero who saved the Four Lands, but warned Flick that Shea would soon be leaving the Vale again for another important quest, and that he should not stop Shea from doing so.
Flick administered the potion to Shea by putting it into Shea's tankard of ale and urging him to drink it all down. Sure enough, the next morning Shea was far more energetic and in a much better mood, and declared that he no longer felt sick. After a couple weeks, Flick confessed to Shea that he had fed him a potion from the woodswoman. Shea was approving and not angry over the deception, but when Flick mentioned the woodswoman's prediction, he laughed it off, declaring that he no longer had reason to leave the Vale.
Four months later, Panamon Creel appears at the Ohmsford family inn looking for Shea. Panamon tells Shea that he is trying to retrieve the Black Irix that belonged to their good friend Keltset, who had died while helping Panamon and Shea escape from Skull Mountain as it crumbled around them. Keltset had memorably revealed the Black Irix as proof of his honor when a group of Trolls had held him, Panamon, and Shea captive, and the display of the medallion ultimately led to their release and freedom.
The Black Irix was buried under Skull Mountain along with Keltset, but Panamon says that Kestra Chule, a buyer and seller of stolen goods whom Panamon has worked with in the past, has managed to acquire the treasure for his collection. Besides its sentimental value, the Irix is valuable to collectors like Chule because it is only one of a dozen such medallions that exists in the world, and because it is made with various precious metals, including auridium which is only mined from one source in the Eastland by Dwarves.
Panamon asks Shea to accompany him in tracking down the medallion and to use the Elfstones to pinpoint the Irix's exact location and make it easier for Panamon to recover. Shea is initially resistant, openly questioning Panamon's motivations and wondering if the thief wants the Irix for himself, but he eventually agrees to accompany him into the Northland, where Kestra Chule's stronghold was located.
Flick is furious at the idea of Shea leaving on another journey, particularly with a person like Panomon, but is unable to stop Shea from going. He declares he will stay behind, surprising Shea, who had expected his brother to come with him. However, three days into Panamon and Shea's journey northward, Flick catches up to them on horseback, having been unable to bear the thought of Shea traveling without him.
Despite Flick being polite to Panamon and being careful not to challenge his authority, Panamon is clearly irritated by the presence of Shea's brother. It is only after Shea confronts him and threatens to turn back to the Vale that Panamon's attitude improves.
By the time they reach the banks of the River Lethe in the Northland, the trio have encountered almost no people. Their only brief moment of fear is when a group of Harrgs—wild boars—comes upon the camp one night, but Panamon easily takes care of them by baiting them with pepper root, a painfully spicy root that causes the Harrgs to disperse in a frenzy after they have chewed it.
The next morning Shea uses the Elfstones to locate the Irix. The Elfstones reveal that Kestra Chule's stronghold is found in the Knife Edge Mountains and that the Irix lies in a vault located in the floor of Chule's bedroom. When Flick questions how they'll be able to infiltrate the fortress, Panamon reveals that he has actually told Chule that they are coming and that their arrival is expected.
After crossing a rickety bridge over the River Lethe, the trio arrive at Kestra Chule's fortress embedded in the base of the Knife Edge. They are warmly welcomed by Chule's men, who take them into the fortress and lead them to a sumptuous feast. Once the three are done eating, Kestra Chule appears and greets them all. He then immediately calls for his guard to restrain the Ohmsford brothers, and Panamon uses the opportunity to steal the Elfstones from Shea and hand them to Chule, who agrees to pay Panamon a large sum for his trouble.
Flick is furious with Panamon, and Shea tries to reason with Chule, pointing out that only someone with Elven blood could actually use the Stones. However, Panamon states that Chule is only interested in keeping the Elfstones as part of his collection, not in actually using them. Panamon asks Chule if he will keep his word to release Shea and Flick the next morning, but Chule refuses to make that promise, telling Panamon that he will have to wait and see. The guards take the Ohmsfords away to a prison cell as Panamon and Kestra Chule toast to their successful transaction.
In their cell, Shea and Flick talk about what to do next. Shea argues that Panamon wouldn't really betray them and that what transpired was probably all part of some larger plan, but Flick is skeptical of the notion.
Sure enough, however, Panamon comes to their cell a couple hours before dawn and frees them, having incapacitated the guards watching over the brothers. He hands Shea back his Elfstones, and the three make their way to the stables to retrieve their horses. At the fortress gate, Panamon convinces Chule's guards that their master had told them to leave in the morning and they wanted to get an early start. Reluctant to awaken their boss before dawn and swayed by Panamon's talk, they open the gate and allow the three to leave.
By sunrise, the trio have safely crossed back over the River Lethe and are heading back south out of the Northland. Panamon explains to the Ohmsfords that he had known Kestra Chule since Chule was just a buyer and seller of stolen goods in Varfleet, and not a collector. Chule had found the fortress in the Knife Edge Mountains abandoned by either Trolls or Skull Bearers and had moved in.
Some time after Keltset's death, Panamon was doing business with Kestra Chule when the collector mentioned that he had found a Black Irix buried under a mountain and was looking for someone to build him a vault that he could install in his fortress to keep the Irix and other treasures. Naturally, Panamon wanted to retrieve the Irix and return it to Keltset's people.
Panamon recommended to Chule a vault builder he knew, and after the vault had been sold to the collector the thief then bribed the vault builder with a considerable amount of money to give him the backup combination that could be used to open the vault. According to Panamon, vault builders always included such backups in their systems in case of user error.
Panamon had sought out Shea not only to use the Elfstones and confirm the location of the vault and the Black Irix, but to gain access to Chule's fortress by offering to bring him the Elfstones in exchange for a large sum. While they were celebrating their transaction the night before, Panamon had slipped a sleeping potion into Chule's drink and used the opportunity to retrieve the Elfstones and the Black Irix and free the Ohmsfords. His initial plan had been to wait until morning to ride out with the Elfstones and the Irix as if nothing had happened, but Kestra Chule's refusal to guarantee Shea and Flick's safety spurred him into making sure they fled early.
After hearing Panamon's explanation, Shea admonishes him, telling him that he should have alerted the brothers to his plan, but Panamon points out that either Shea or Flick might have given the game away under pressure or even refused to have come on the journey altogether. When Shea asks if Panamon will be pursued by Chule, he states that he had told the Trolls about how Chule had stolen the Black Irix and that the Trolls were not happy to hear of the theft, implying that there would likely be a confrontation between the collector and the Trolls that would keep him occupied when he next emerged from his fortress.
Panamon then announces that he needs to part ways with Shea and Flick to deliver the Black Irix back to where it belongs. He tells them to keep traveling southward to get back home, and asks for their eventual forgiveness before riding off.
As they head home, Shea is relieved that his faith in Panamon was not misplaced, while Flick thinks back to the words of Audrana Coos and realizes that the woodswoman was right: Shea had indeed needed to go on this quest, and he had needed to know that the Black Irix would be returned to Keltset's people. Realizing that he had mistakenly doubted both the woodswoman and Panamon, Flick vows to have more faith in people in the future. However, it is implied that this vow is put to the test when Panamon returns to the Vale a few years later.
Characters[]
- Shea Ohmsford
- Flick Ohmsford
- Panamon Creel
- Kestra Chule
- Audrana Coos