Since the death of Allanon, life in the Four Lands has drastially changed. Yet Par Ohmsford still has some power of the Wishsong. And when a message from the ancient Druid, Allanon, reaches them, Par is ordered to recover the long-lost Sword of Shannara, and the glory that once was the Four Lands....

In the three hundred years since the death of the Druid Allanon, the mysterious, evil Shadowen have seized control and are ruining the Four Lands. Using Cogline as messenger, the shade of Allanon summons the four scions of Shannara: Par, Coll, Wren, and Walker Boh. To Walker Boh he gives the duty of restoring the lost Druid's Keep, Paranor. For that, Walker needs the black Elfstone, but his search leads him only to a trap. Meanwhile, the King of the Silver River, a fabulous being as old as mankind, creates a daughter named Quickening and sends her to help. She is joined by Morgan Leah and Pe Ell, an assassin who plans eventually to kill her. They find Walker Boh dying after an attack by the Shadowen, Rimmer Dall. Quickening heals him and tells him that the Elfstone is in the hands of another ancient being, the Stone King, who seeks to turn all the world to stone. The journey will lead them to the far north, through the Charnal Mountains and beyond, into a perilous and unknown land. And no one knows what horrible monsters the Stone King has set to guard his citadel.

"Find the Elves and return them to the world of Men!" the shade of the Druid Allanon had ordered Wren. It was clearly an impossible task. The Elves had been gone from the Westland for more than a hundred years. There was not even a trace of their former city of Arborlon left to mark their passing. No one in the Esterland knew of them—except, finally, the Addershag. The blind old woman had given instructions to find a place on the coast of the Blue Divide, build a fire, and keep it burning for three days. "One will come for you." Tiger Ty, the Wing Rider, had come on his giant Roc to carry Wren and her friend Garth to the only clear landing site on the island of Morrowindl, where, he said, the Elves might still exist, somewhere in the demon-haunted jungle. Now she stood within that jungle, remembering the warning of the Addershag: "Beward, Elf-girl. I see danger ahead for you . . . and evil beyond imagining." It had proved all too true. Wren stood with her single weapon of magic, listening as demons evil beyond all imagining gathered for attack. How long could she resist? And if, by some miracle, she reached the Elves and could convince them to return, how could they possibly retrace her perilous path to reach the one safe place on the coast?

Although some of the goals to keep Shannara safe had been met, the work of Walker Boh, Wren, and Par was not yet done. For The Shadowen still swarmed over the Four Lands, poisoning all with their dark magic. Each Shannaran had a special death waiting for him- at the hands of The Shadowen-unless Par could find a way to free them all with the Sword of Shannara.

Trois cents ans après l\`épopée de Brin et Jair Ohmsford, le jeune par Ohmsford concentre toutes les attentions : celle des questeurs, ces redoutables inquisiteurs chargés d'éradiquer les dernières traces de magie, comme celle de la résistance qui voit en lui un allié de poids. Le dernier héritier de l'enchantement de Shannara ne doit cependant pas se détourner de sa mission : lutter contre les ténèbres qui menacent d'engloutir les quatre terres. Traduit de: The scions of Shannara ; The druid of Shannara ; The elf druid of Shannara ; The talismans of Shannara.