He spoke before he thought. "The year they chose you, Mistress Constance, must have been a year
of desperate need; otherwise, one of such limited intelligence would never have been selected to be
Mord-Sith. Only the most ignorant would put their own petty ambitions above the value of a friend.
Especially a friend who has sacrificed much for you. You are not worthy to kiss Mistress Derma's
Agiel." Richard smiled smoothly, confidently, as she stood startled. "You had better hope Master
Rahl kills me, Mistress Constance, because if he doesn't, then the next time I see you, I'm going to
kill you for what you've done to Mistress Denna."
Denna stared down at her a moment before starting off without a word. Richard followed, attached
by the chain. He sped up to walk beside her.
Richard smiled. "Mistress Denna, if there is a Mord-Sith who could raise a scream from a dead
man, it would be you."
"Mistress Denna, there are not enough hours in a lifetime. to dim my pleasure at what I have done."
Richard was warmed by her gentle tone. "I would try my best to live a long life for you, Mistress
Denna."
Denna turned to him. "Are you prepared to die this day, my love?"
She slipped her arms around his neck, kissing him tenderly. She pulled her face away a few inches,
stroked the back of his head. "I'm sorry, Richard, that I do these things to you, but I have been
trained to do them, and can do nothing less; I live only to hurt you. Know that it is not by choice,
but by training. I can be no more than what I am: Mord-Sith. If you are to die this day, my love,
then make me proud, and die well."
She pushed the doors open and entered a grand garden. Richard would have been impressed, had
his mind not been on other things. They went down a path between flowers and shrubs, past short,
vine covered stone walls, and small trees, to an expanse of lawn. A glass roof let in the light,
keeping the plants healthy and in flower.
Near the center of the lawn, near a circle of white sand, in a warm shaft of late-afternoon sunlight,
stood a man with his back to them. The sunlight made his white robes and shoulder-length blond
hair glow. Sparks of the sunlight glinted off the gold belt and curved dagger at his waist.
Together, they chanted. "Master Rahl guide us. Master Rahl teach us. Master Rahl protect us. In
your light we thrive. In your mercy we are sheltered. In your wisdom we are humbled. We live only
to serve. Our lives are yours."
"Rise, my children."
"You look surprisingly well this morning, my pet."
The blue eyes returned to his. The calmness, the peace, in Rahl's face made Richard quiver. "My
pet has told me you are nothing but trouble. I am pleased to see she has not lied to me. But not
pleased to find it true." He clasped his hands in a relaxed manner. "Well, no matter. How good to
meet you at last, Richard Cypher."
A small smile came to Rahl's lips. "Yes, I am sure you are." He studied Richard's face for an
uncomfortable moment. "I have some questions. You are going to give me the answers."
"Kneel," he said softly.
Darken Rahl looked down without emotion. "You have seen the Book of Counted Shadows
before?"
There was a stunning explosion of pain in his head. Denna's grip on his hair was all that kept him
upright. It was as if she had compressed the pain of an entire training session into that one touch.
He couldn't move, breathe, or even cry out. He was beyond being in pain; the shock took
everything from him, and in its place left an all-consuming agony of fire and ice. She took away the
Agiel. He didn't know where he was, who he was, or who was holding him, only that this was more
pain than he had ever known before, and that there was a man in front of him, dressed in a white
robe.
"Yes," he heard himself say.
Richard hesitated. He didn't know how to answer; he didn't know what the voice wanted. The pain
exploded in his head again. When it stopped, he felt tears running down his cheeks.
"Please, don't hurt me anymore," he cried. "I don't understand the question."
"The book, or the knowledge of the book?" Richard asked fearfully.
"I burned it in a fire. Years ago."
Richard hesitated too long. When he was aware again, Denna yanked his head up to look into the
blue eyes again. Richard had never felt so alone, so helpless, so afraid.
"In my head. Before I burned the book, I learned the words, the knowledge."
"Recite the words of the book."
Kahlan.
Darken Rahl turned to the other men. The one with the black stripe came forward.
A little of the color left the man's face. "I understand. It will be done as you wish, Lord Rahl." He
bowed deep.
Darken Rahl returned his blue eyes to Richard. "Continue."
It was time to die.
Before the Agiel could come, Rahl's eyes snapped up to Denna. Richard felt her fist loosen on his
hair. One of the guards marched forward, grabbed her by the throat with his big hand, squeezing,
until Richard could hear her struggling to breathe.
"He was, Master Rahl." She struggled to speak as she was being choked. "I swear."
As the man lifted her feet off the ground, Richard could hear her sounds of pain.. Again, the power
turned white-hot in him. Denna was being hurt. Before anyone knew what was happening, he was
on his feet, the power of the magic raging through him.
Richard spun. The other guard was almost on him, his hand reaching out. Richard seized the man's
wrist and used his advancing weight to pull his adversary into the knife. He drove it in up to his fist
and gave a mighty pull, cutting all the way up to the man's heart as his blue eyes went wide in
surprise. His insides spilled across the ground when he hit.
Darken Rahl stood calmly, licking the tips of his fingers as he watched Richard.
"Master Rahl," Derma gasped, "let me take him back for the night. I swear that in the morning, he
will answer anything you ask him. If he's still alive. Allow me to redeem myself."
Richard recovered and returned to his feet. The fog had cleared from his head. He felt as if he were
waking from a dream only to find himself in a nightmare. The rest of him was out of the little
locked room in his mind, and he wasn't putting it away again. He would die with all of his mind, his
dignity, intact. He kept the anger choked off, but there was fire in his eyes. Fire in his heart.
`"Teach me what?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
None but the most talented could have taken him this far. You have done well, but this makes
matters altogether different."
Denna bowed deeply. "I live to serve, Master Rahl." .
The Seeker smiled. "Never, Mistress Derma."
"You know I want to know what the rest of the book says."
Rahl smiled. "So eager to die, are we?"
Darken Rahl frowned, the smile still on his lips. "Your father? I have not killed your father,
Richard."
Rahl spread his hands in mock innocence. "Oh, I don't deny killing George Cypher. But I have not
killed your father."
Darken Rahl strolled around him, watching his eyes as Richard tried to follow him by turning his
head. "It's quite good. It really is. The best I have ever seen. Done by the great one himself."
Darken Rahl licked his fingers and stopped in front of him. "The wizard's web around you. I've
never seen one like it. It's wound around you tight as a cocoon. Been there a good long time. It's
quite intricate; I don't think even I could untangle it."
"My dear boy," Rahl laughed, "I couldn't care less who you believe your father to be. Nonetheless,
there is a wizard's web hiding the truth from you."
"I wouldn't know," Rahl shrugged. "The web hides it. But from what I've seen, I have my
suspicions." The smile left. "What does the Book of Counted Shadows say?"
"How so?"
Darken Rahl glared as he slowly licked his fingertips. "What is the old wizard's name?"
Richard kept the smirk on his face; he knew he was defenseless and was hoping Rahl would be
driven to kill him. If he was dead, the book died kith him. No box, no book. Rahl was going to die;
Kahlan would be safe then: That was all that mattered.
"In one week, you will be dead. You have only two boxes.",
Richard tried not to believe him. He let his face show nothing. "A brave boast. But a lie,
nonetheless. In one week, you are going to die."
"I don't believe you," Richard said flatly.
Richard followed him to a wedge of white stone upon which sat a flat slab of granite held up by
two short fluted pedestals. In the center of the slab sat two of the boxes of Orden. One was ornately
jeweled like the one Richard had seen before. The other was as black as the night stone, its surface
a void in the light of the room: the box itself, its protective covering removed.
Richard shook with anger. "Who betrayed me and the box? Tell me the name."
Richard didn't know what to believe. Rahl was right about one thing. He wouldn't need the book if
he didn't have all three boxes. Someone really had betrayed him. It was impossible, but it must be
true.
"First you must convince me you are telling the truth. You could be, deceiving me that you really
know the whole book. You may have read just the first page, and burned the rest, or simply be
inventing what you have told me of it."
Rahl shrugged. "I thought you cared about this Confessor. Kahlan. I had thought you cared what
happened to her. You see, if you can't convince me that .you are telling the truth, then I will have to
cut her open, and have a look at her entrails, see if they have anything to say about this."
Rahl shrugged. "So you say. How would I know you really do know what the book says? It could
even be that this is the manner in which she will confirm the truth."
"How did you get the covering off that box, without the book?"
It was discouraging that Rahl had managed to get the covering off. To open a box, the covering had
to be removed. Richard had hoped that without the book, Rahl wouldn't be able to figure out how to
remove the covers, and not be able to open a box. That hope was now lost.
As Rahl watched, Richard cleared his mind, pictured white with black in the center, and pulled. The
cover made a clicking sound, and came apart. He held the box just over the granite and pulled the
cover away as if he were putting an egg in a frying pan. Two equally black boxes sat side by side,
seeming as if they would suck the light from the room.
"Every word." Richard glared. "What I have told you will be of no aid in removing the third cover,
however. They each come off differently."
Richard frowned. "What do you mean, I am free to go? Aren't you going to try to get the book out
of me? Kill me?"
Richard was worried. There was something more to this. "Just like that? I may go? You must know
I will try to stop you."
Richard narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean, if I care what happens to everyone?"
"You would let that happen?"
"I don't believe you. You don't know which box will destroy you."
Richard went cold with pain worse than any Denna had given him. "You are trying to make me an
offer of some sort?"
"What about Kahlan?"
Richard could hardly breathe. "I don't think you know which box will destroy you."
"I still don't think you know which box will kill you," Richard Whispered.
Richard felt empty, devastated. "Am I free to go now?"
Richard felt himself abruptly paralyzed, as if invisible hands were gripping him. He couldn't move
a muscle. Darken Rahl reached into Richard's pocket and took out the leather pouch with the night
stone. Richard fought against the force that held him, but could not move. Rahl dumped the night
stone in-his hand. He held it up in his palm, smiling.
"Time to go home, my friends."
"The Old One has been checking on you, using the night stone to find where you are. The next time
he searches, he is going to have a very unpleasant experience. He is going to find himself in the
underworld."
Richard relaxed his mind, shed the effort of trying to move, and replaced it with calm. He let his
mind be empty, let himself be soft, limp. The force melted away. He took a step forward, free of the
grip that had held him.
"But you are more than a Seeker. You have the gift. I look forward to the day we will be on the
same side. I will enjoy having you around. The ones I have to deal with are very limited. After the
world is joined, I will teach you more, if you wish."
"That is your choice, Richard. I bear no ill will toward you. I hope we will become friends." Rahl
studied Richard's face. "There is one more thing. You may stay in the People's Palace, or you may
leave if you wish. My guards will accommodate you. You will, however, have a wizard's web
around you. Unlike the one you just broke, it will not affect you; but those who see you, and
therefore you will not be able to break it. It's called an enemy web. All will see you as their enemy.
That means that when your allies see you, they will see an enemy. Those who honor me will see
you as yourself, since you are my enemy, for the time being, and therefore already their enemy. At
least for now. But those who are your friends will see you as the person they fear most, their worst
enemy. I would like you to see the way people think of me, see the world through my eyes, see how
unjustly I am regarded."
"Of course, my boy."
"Once you leave this room, you will be back under her power. She still controls the magic of your
sword. Once a Mord-Sith has your magic, it is hers to keep. I cannot take it from her to give it back
to you. You must get it back yourself."
"Isn't it obvious? If you want to leave, you must kill her."
Darken Rahl smiled a little smile. "You have always been able to kill her."
"There is nothing that exists that has only one side. Even a piece of paper, thin as it is, has two
sides. Magic is not one dimensional either. You have been looking at only one side of it; most
people do. Look at the whole." He pointed at the bodies of his two guards. The guards Richard had
killed. "She controls your magic, yet you did this."
Rahl nodded. "Yes, it will. But you must be its master; half measures will get you in a lot of
trouble. She controls you with one dimension of your magic, the side you offered her. You must
use the other side. It is something all Seekers have been capable of, but none. has ever succeeded in
mastering. Perhaps you will be the first."
"Then, my young friend, you are going to be in for a very rough week. Denna is not pleased at how
you embarrassed her. At the end of the week, she will bring you to me, and you will tell me your
decision; to help, or to let all your friends suffer and die."
"Of course. Right after you tell me the knowledge in the Book of Counted Shadows." Rahl smiled.
"I didn't think so. Good night, Richard. Don't forget, one week."
He had to think of a way to get away from Denna. He could be of no help, and none of the rest of it
mattered if he couldn't get away from Denna. It would do him no good to think of the other
problems if he couldn't get away, and if he didn't figure it , out soon, then Denna was going to hurt
him, and he wouldn't be able to think anymore. The things she did to him made it too hard to think,
made him forget things. He had to concentrate on that problem first, and worry about the others
later.
He walked on through the halls, toward Denna's quarters. It was still a long way. Maybe he could
simply go another way, leave the People's Palace. Darken Rahl had told him none of the guards
would stop him. When the next intersection of halls came, he started to turn down one. The pain
dropped him to his knees. With great effort, he managed to get back to the hall he was supposed to
be in. He had to stop and rest, the pain having taken his breath away.
The halls he passed through, the rooms and stairways, were breathtakingly beautiful, and Richard
again marveled at them as he passed. He wondered at how someone as vile as Darken Rahl would
care to surround himself with such loveliness.
Richard thought about the times the strange power had come awake in him. When he had felt sorry
for Princess Violet, when the Queen's guard had tried to harm Denna, when he had felt the pain of
what had been done to Denna, when he thought of Rahl hurting Kahlan, when Rahl's guards had
tried to hurt Denna. He remembered that each time it had made part of his vision turn white.
The hate.
Two sides. He understood.
He brought it forth, let it cast everything in a white sheen.
"You have come to kill me, my love?" she whispered.
She smiled a little. "That is the first time you have ever called me simply `Mistress.' You have
always called me Mistress Denna, in the past. It means something?"
"Why are you naked?"
"I understand," he whispered. "How did you know I was coming to kill you?"
Everything was white around the childlike beauty of her face. "I'm so sorry, Denna," he whispered.
"I will have nightmares the rest of my life."
He frowned a little. "How do you know that?"
"I cannot," he said past the lump in his throat. "She is a Confessor. Her power would destroy me."
He nodded slowly. "More than anything you have done to me."
A tear ran down his face. What had they done to this poor child?
A tear of pride rolled down her cheek. "Thank you, my love," she breathed. She took the Agiel
from her neck and held it up hopefully. "Would you wear this, to remember me by? It will not hurt
you around your neck, or if you hold the chain, only if you hold the Agiel itself in your hand."
"How will you do it?" she asked.
Slowly, he drew the Sword of Truth. It didn't ring, the way it always had in the past.
Richard didn't look, but he knew, knew the blade had turned white. He held her wet eyes. The
power flooded through him. He was at peace. All anger, all hate, all malice, was gone. Where he
had felt these things from the sword before, he now felt only love for this child, this vessel into
whom others had poured pain, this receptacle of cruelty, this innocent, tortured soul, who had been
trained to do the things she hated above all else: hurting others. His empathy with her made him
ache with sorrow for her; with love for her.
She held her chin up. "If you try to leave, I will stop you with the pain of the magic, and make you
sorry you have been trouble to me. I am Mord-Sith. I am your mistress. I can be no more than who
I am. You can be no less, my mate."
Denna gently took the tip of the sword and moved it up a few inches. "My heart is here, my love."
"Richard," she whispered, "I have never had a mate like you before. I'm glad I will have no other.
You are a very rare person. You are the only person since I was chosen who has cared that I was in
pain, or done anything to stop it. Thank you for last night, for teaching me what it could be like."
She smiled. "Everything. Thank you for calling me `my love.' It is good to hear it once in truth
before I die. Twist the sword, to be sure it is finished. And Richard, please, take my last breath? As
I have taught you? I wish you to have my last breath of life."
He laid her gently back on the bed, lay down next to her, and cried uncontrollably as he stroked her
ashen face.
"Going somewhere?" came a ruthless whisper.
His shaking hand struggled to reach his sword. She laughed as she watched him. A vision of giving
her control of the magic, of the whole nightmare starting over again, flashed through his mind. His
hand backed away from the sword and kept the anger of the magic in check. She came around to
stand before him, her arm around him, holding the Agiel against his back, keeping his legs
paralyzed. She was wearing her red leather.
Richard thought about all the ways Denna had given him pain, and how she had taught him to
tolerate it, so she could give him more. He brought to bear everything he had learned. He controlled
the pain, blocking it enough to draw a deep breath.
When he had her lifted high enough, her contorted face in front of his, he pressed Derma's Agiel to
her chest. Her eyes widened. Her expression slackened. Richard remembered Denna holding her
Agiel against Queen Milena in this manner. It had the same effect on Constance. She shook, easing
the pressure against his back. Still, it was hurting him, as was the Agiel in his hand.
Constance gasped with the agony. "Please . . ."
"No . . . please . . . don't."
"Promise kept."
He looked down at the dead Mord-Sith as he caught his breath. Thank you, Denna, he thought, for
teaching me to endure the pain. You have saved my life.
He stopped, gazing out at the starlit country before him. He had never been so happy to see stars.
He turned about, looking at everything. The People's Palace, surrounded by imposing sheer walls,
sat atop an immense plateau that dropped off before him to a plain. The plateau stood hundreds of
feet above the barren land, but there was a road cut into the cliffs, switching back and forth,
descending to the flat land.
Richard spun around. One of the guards had spoken to him. "What?"
"What's a long walk?"
It unnerved him that Darken Rahl had so little concern for what he might do that he would let him
have a horse. "Yes, I would like a horse."
The guard resumed his post. "Won't be long, sir."
The man frowned a little. "Where in the Rang'Shada? They run a long way."
The other shrugged. "If he rides hard, day and night, and changes horses often, maybe five, but I
doubt it could be done in four."
But Kahlan had to be closer. Rahl had sent that man with the black stripe in his hair, and two quads,
to get her. What was she doing this close? He hack told them not to come after him. His anger
flashed at Chase for not following his instructions, for not keeping them all away. Then his anger
wilted. If it were him, he wouldn't have been able to sit back and not know what had happened to a
friend. Maybe they weren't in the mountains, but all on their way. But what good was an army
going to do? Ten good men in a place like this could hold off an army for a month.
"Would you like an escort, sir?" the guard asked. "They're good men."
The guard waved the soldiers off.
"Go on," Richard said cautiously.
Richard's eyes narrowed. "Why?"
Richard mounted the horse and stared down at the guard. "Thanks for the advice. I'll remember."
As he rode, Richard unbuckled the hated collar and flung it into the night. He vowed that he would
never again wear a collar. Not for anyone. Not for any reason.
Killing with the sword in anger, out of rage and hate, was horrible. Killing with the sword's white
magic, out of love, was beyond horror. The blade had returned to its polished silver gloss, but he
knew how to make it white again. He hoped he would die before that was ever required. He didn't
know if he could ever bring himself to do it again.
The whole thing didn't make any sense. Why would Rahl use the night stone to trap Zedd, if Zedd
was the traitor? And why would he send men after Kahlan, if she was the one? Yet Shota had said
each would try to kill him. It had to be one of them. What was he to do? Turn the sword white, and
kill both? He knew that was foolish. He would rather die himself first than harm either. But what if
Zedd was betraying them, and the only way to save Kahlan would be to kill his old friend? Or what
if it was the other way around? Would he still rather die first, then?
But how? There was no time. How was he going to find Zedd and Kahlan? He was one man on a
horse, and there was a whole country to search. They wouldn't be traveling by road, not if Chase
was with them. Chase would keep them off the roads, well hidden. Richard didn't know the roads,
much less the trails.
Darken Rahl had planted too many doubts in him. Swirling thoughts twisted on themselves, became
more and more confusing, hopeless. He felt that his own mind was his worst enemy right now.
Richard cleared his mind and chanted the devotion to keep himself from thinking. He smiled at the
stupidity of chanting a devotion to a man he wanted to kill, but he chanted anyway as he rode on
into the night. Master Rahl guide us: Master Rahl teach us. Master Rahl protect us. In your light we
thrive. In your mercy we are sheltered. In your wisdom we are humbled We live only to serve. Our
lives are yours.
Dawn brought him his own shadow to chase. Boulders appeared, looking out of place on the flat
ground, casting long shadows of their own. They gathered in numbers as he rode. The terrain began
undulating, opening up in gullies, rising in ridges. He rode through narrow passes and rifts, down a
canyon with walls of crumbling rock. The road took- a bend to the left, with a narrower road to the
right. Richard took the horse to the left, remembering what the guard had told him.
Darken Rahl had told him he was free to go where he pleased
Letting the horse pick its own way, he watched carefully all about, resting his hand on the hilt of
the sword. Surely a red dragon wouldn't be hard to spot. There was no sound but the horse's hooves
on the hard ground. Richard didn't know how far it was, and rode for a long time among the rubble
of boulders on the canyon floor. He began to worry that the dragon was gone, that maybe Rahl
himself was riding it somewhere. Maybe to get the box. He didn't know if his present course was a
good idea, but it was the only idea he could think of.
As he listened to the periodic roar of fire, the breaking of bones, the ripping of flesh, Richard
decided that this had been a very stupid idea. He could hardly believe the dragon was so well
hidden that he hadn't even seen it. He wondered if it had seen him dive behind the boulder. At least
for the moment, it didn't seem so. He searched about for a way to escape, but the terrain was too
open to run without being seen. The sound of the horse being eaten made his stomach turn. At last
it ended. He wondered if dragons took naps after they ate. 'There were a few snorts. The snorts
came closer. Richard tried to make himself smaller.
"What have we here?" came a decidedly female voice. "A tasty treat?"
"I need your help."
'I'm warning you, stay back! This sword has magic."
Richard kept the sword out, but felt suddenly foolish. "You intend to eat me, than?"
"I had heard red dragons were an independent sort, but that you are little more than a lapdog to
Darken Rahl." A ball of flame boiled from the mouth, rising into the air. "I thought you might like
to be free of your bonds, and be independent once more."
"And how would a little man like you be able to do that?"
The dragon threw its head up, smoke puffing from its nostrils as it rumbled in laughter. The ground
shook. It looked down at him, blinked, then threw its head back again, rumbling in laughter once
more.
"All right. I'm prepared to die." Richard had to think of a stall, to give himself time to think. Why
would a red dragon be at the service of Darken Rahl? "But before you eat me, may I tell you
something first?"
"I'm from Westland. I've never seen a dragon before. I always thought they would be fearsome
creatures, and I must admit, you certainly are fearsome, but there is one thing I wasn't prepared
for."
"You are, without a doubt, the most stunningly beautiful creature I have ever seen."
"It's true," Richard said. "I'm to be eaten. I have no reason to lie. You are beautiful. I never thought
I would see anything as magnificent as you. Do you have a name?"
"Scarlet. What a lovely name. Are all red dragons as stunning as you, or are you special?"
An idea began forming in Richard's mind. He put the sword back in its scabbard. "Scarlet, I know a
creature as proud as you would not be at the beck of anyone, much less one as demanding as
Darken Rahl, unless there was terrible need. You are too beautiful and noble a creature for that."
"Because I believe in the truth. I think you do too."
"Richard Cypher. I am the Seeker." Scarlet put a black-tipped talon to her teeth. "Seeker." She
frowned. "I don't believe I've ever eaten a Seeker before." A strange, dragon's smile crossed her
lips. "It will be a treat. Our talk is over, Richard Cypher. Thank you for the compliment." The head
floated closer, the lips pulling back in a snarl.
Scarlet pulled back. She blinked at him, then threw her head back, jaws wide. An earsplitting roar
made the scales on her throat vibrate. Fire shot skyward in a booming blast. The sound echoed off
the cliff walls, causing little rock slides.
"I know that a proud creature such as you would not subject herself to such demeaning duties,
except for one reason. To protect something important. Like her. young."
"I also know where Darken Rahl is keeping your egg."
"I thought you wanted to eat me now."
"Sorry, Scarlet. It's a bad habit that has brought me to grief in the past. Look, if I help you get your
egg back, then Rahl would have no hold on you. If I could do that, would it be worth helping me?"
"Well, you fly Rahl around. That's what I need. I need you to fly me around for a few days, help me
look for some friends of mine, so I can protect them from Rahl. I need to be able to cover a lot of
ground, search a lot of area. I think if I could do it from the sky, like a bird, I could find them, and
have enough time to stop Rahl."
"Six days from now, it will all be over, one way or another. It you help me, that's all I would need.
After that; it won't matter, one way or the other. How long will you have to serve Rahl if you don't
help me?" "All right. Tell me where my egg is, and I will let you go. Let you live."
"Like dragons, real Seekers have honor. That much I know. So, if you really know, tell me and I
will free you."
"No!" Scarlet roared. "What do you mean `No'?"
Scarlet's piercing yellow eye came close to his face; her ears swiveled forward. "And how do you
know that once I have my egg, I will keep my end of the bargain?"'
Scarlet gave a snort, backing away a little, peering at him. She folded her huge wings against
herself. Her tail swished about, knocking stones and a few small boulders skidding across the
ground. Richard waited. One arm cane forward; a single black tipped talon, thick as his leg, sharp
as his sword point, hooked through the sword's baldric, and gave a snug pull. Her head came close.
"If you help me save my friends, and stop Rahl, I don't care what you do to me after that." Scarlet
snorted. "Are short-tailed gars a threat to dragons?"
"It's a problem now. When I saw your egg, there were dozens of gars around it."
Richard smiled. "That's why you need me. I will think of a plan."
She grasped him by the shoulders. "Zedd! What is it?"
"Zedd! Stop it! Come back!"
Kahlan was horrified. "Zedd, I can't do that to you."
She looked up at the boundary warden, her eyes wide in fear. "He said to touch him with my
power."
"Zedd, what's happening?"
"You better do as he says," Chase warned.
"It's the only way to break the hold. Hurry."
She felt trapped by panic; she had no choice. Dreading what she was going to do, her mind fell
silent, calm. In the calm, she relaxed her restraint. She felt her power build, taking her breath away.
Released, the power slammed into the wizard. There was a hard impact to the air all about. Thunder
with no sound. Pine needles rained down all about. Leaning over them, Chase gave a little grunt of
pain; he was closer than he should have been. Silence fell over the woods. Still the wizard did not
breathe.
"Thank you, dear one," he managed through the deep breaths.
"Zedd, are you all right?"
"Why didn't it change you?"
"What were you doing in the underworld?" Chase asked before she had a chance.
Kahlan's worry surged. "Zedd, answer the question. This never happened before. Why were you
pulled into the underworld?"
Kahlan tried not to think of what he was saying. "But the night stone is still in D'Hara. Richard is
still in D'Hara." She grabbed fists full of his robes. "Zedd . . ."
With a strained expression, Chase turned to setting up the camp before darkness fell. Kahlan still
held Zedd's robes, frozen in terror.
He shook his head slowly. "The night: stone is in the underworld: But dear one, that doesn't mean
Richard is. Don't let your fear run away with you."
"We don't even know that Rahl has him."
"Zedd, when you sought the night stone before, you said you could feel him, that he was alive." She
almost couldn't bring herself to ask, could hardly get the words out, afraid of what he might say.
"Did you sense him in the underworld?"
"We're still going after him," she cried. "I'm not turning back."
Kahlan felt a warm tongue on the back of her hand. She stroked the wolf's fur as she smiled over at
him.
"The box is safe," the wizard said, "that's what matters. Five days from tomorrow is the first day of
winter, and then Darken Rahl will be dead. We will have Richard back after that, if not before."
Scarlet gave a grunt to indicate that she did. In the fading light, the gars looked like black dots
moving about on the rocky ground below. Steam trailed up from Fire Spring, and even this high up
Richard could smell the acrid fumes. Scarlet rose steeply into the air, making his legs press against
her as she lifted them higher; then she rolled into a sharp bank to the right.
Her head tilted behind, one yellow eye peering at him. Richard pointed.
Scarlet climbed with strong strokes. When they were higher than they had been so far, she glided
away from Fire Spring. She swooped down, between the rocky slopes, threading her way back
toward where Richard had told her to land. With a silent flutter of wings, she gently settled on the
ground near the mouth of a cave, and lowered her neck so he could climb down. Richard knew she
didn't want him on her back any longer than necessary.
Richard glanced over at the mouth of the cave. The Shadrin's cave, Kahlan had told him. "We need
a diversion, something to distract them while we get the egg."
He looked over at the cave again. "One of my friends told me the cave goes all the way through, to
where the egg is. Maybe I could go through, snatch the egg, and bring it back."
"Shouldn't we discuss if it's a good idea? Maybe we could think of something better. I've also heard
there might be something in the cave."
The cave was miles long. Richard knew the fire wouldn't have harmed anything farther back. He
also knew he had given his word. Collecting cane reeds growing nearby, he bound them together
with a sinewy vine into several bundles. He held one bundle up to Scarlet as she watched him
The dragon pursed her lips and blew a thin stream of flame across the end of the cane reeds.
Richard didn't know if a dragon could look worried, but he thought she did.
Richard gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Scarlet. We're going to get it back."
"Richard Cypher," she called after him, her voice echoing, "if you try to run away, I'll find you, and
if you come back without the egg, you will wish the gars had killed you, because I will cook you
slow, starting at your feet."
Scarlet grunted. "Try not to let that happen. I still want to eat you when this is done."
The darkness was oppressive; it surrounded him, followed him, sucked him deeper, calling him
onward with unseen sights. Delicate, colorful formations of rock grew like vegetation, flowering
and blossoming from solid rock. Sparkling crystals flashed at him as he passed with the torch, its
flame the only sound, echoing back to him from the blackness.
Some passages were clefts in the rock he had to squeeze through, others holes he had to traverse on
hands and knees. The air had an odd-lack of smell. This was a place of perpetual night; no light,
nothing alive, ever touched it. As he walked on and on, warm from the effort, the chill of the air
made steam rise from his skin. When he held the torch near his other hand, he could see vapor rise
from each finger, like life's energy draining away. Although it wasn't frigid, the way winter was
frigid, it was the kind of cold that would bleed a person of all their heat if they stayed here long
enough. A slow sucking death. Without the light he would be lost in a matter of minutes. This was
a place that could kill the unwary, or the unlucky. Richard checked the torch and extra cane reeds
often.
The rock closed around him. The flat shelf of the roof lowered until he was walking hunched over
again, and lowered more until he was on his hands and knees, the ground cold and wet with slimy
mud that smelled of rot. It was the first thing he had smelled in a long time. His hands were cold
with the wet, stinking mud.
Richard backed away., There might be other routes from farther back, in one of the other rooms,
but how much time could he waste searching, only to fail? He came back to the hole, staring at it
with rising dread.
He squeezed deeper, tighter. He rocked his shoulders forward and back, pulling one leg a few
inches, then the other, feeling like a snake trying to shed its skin. The torch showed only blackness
ahead. Anxiety gripped him. Just get through, he told himself, just push ahead and get through.
Tears filled his eyes, and fear gripped his throat. His toes scraped at the rock, trying to move him
one way or the other. He didn't budge. The way his arms were pinned ahead of him reminded him
of the way Denna had kept him in the shackles. Helpless. Not being able to move his arms made it
worse. Cold sweat covered his face. He started gasping in panic, feeling as if the rock were moving,
pressing harder. Hopeless, he wanted someone to help him. There was no one who could.
Master Rahl guide us. Master Rahl teach us. Master Rahl protect us. In your light we thrive. In your
mercy we are sheltered. In your wisdom we are humbled. We live only to serve. Our lives are
yours.
Something touched his leg. His eyes went wide.
It came back. Richard froze. This time, it went up inside his pant leg. Cold, wet, slimy. Slithering,
the hard-tipped thing worked up his leg, caressing his skin, to the inside of his thigh. Richard
kicked and jerked his leg again. This time, it didn't leave. The tip moved in probing touches.
Something along the length of it pinched his skin. Panic threatened to take him again, but he fought
it back.
It was tighter yet. He couldn't inhale. It hurt. He fought to keep the panic down. His fingers felt
something. An edge of the opening, maybe. Maybe the opening to the hole he was in. He squeezed
even more air out of his lungs. The thing gripped his leg painfully, urgently. He heard an angry,
clicking growl. He pulled with his fingers, seizing the edge, and pushed with his toes. He moved
ahead. His elbows were up to the edge. Something sharp along the length of the thing on his leg,
sharp like little cat's claws; sank into his flesh. Richard couldn't cry out. He squeezed ahead. Fire
burned into the flesh of his leg.
The torch burned on the curving bottom of the egg-shaped chamber. His sword was just beyond it.
As he slid headfirst, his hands out in front, he stretched for his sword. The hooked claws in the
flesh of his leg brought him up short, holding him upside down. Richard screamed out in pain, the
sound echoing around the chamber. He couldn't reach the sword.
Richard pulled his knife and twisted himself in half to reach the thing that held him. Over and over
he drove the blade into it. From deep in the hole came a high-pitched squeal. The claws retracted.
Richard fell, sliding along the rock, coming to a stop next to the torch. Grasping the scabbard in
one hand, he drew the sword as snakelike appendages came out of the hole, wriggling about in the
air, searching. They probed their way down the rock toward him. Richard swung the sword,
lopping off several of the arms. With a howl, they all whipped back into the hole. There was a low
growl from the depths of the blackness.
An arm whipped around his waist, lifting him. He let it. An eye peered down; glistening in the
torchlight. He saw wet teeth. As the arm pulled him toward the teeth, he drove the sword through
the eye. There was a howl, and the arm released him. He slid to the bottom once more. The whole
creature pulled back into the hole, and the arms whipped about, yanking in after it. The howls faded
back into the distant darkness, and were gone.
Faint light of dawn and the chirping of birds greeted him. Below, he could see dozens of gars
prowling about. Richard settled behind a rock to rest. He could see the egg below, with steam rising
around it. He could also see that the egg was far too big to carry back through the cave. Besides, he
didn't ever want to go into a cave again. What was he going to do if he couldn't carry it back
through the cave? It would be light soon. He had to think of an answer.
He groaned to himself. Now the gars would find him. They were being drawn by the blood. He had
to think of something.
Richard put the Bird Man's whistle between his lips and blew hard as he could. He blew over and
over. Picking up a strip of cloth tied to a rock; he swung it in a circle over his head, letting go,
letting it sail out and down. Among the gars. He threw the blood-soaked strips farther and farther to
his right, into the trees. He couldn't hear them, but he knew the blood flies were roused. That much
fresh blood would have them in a feeding frenzy.
Richard ran down the hill in a crouch, from rock to rock. There was no worry of being heard; the
birds were making far too much noise for that. The gars were frantic, swinging at the birds, chasing
them, howling and screaming. The air was thick with feathers. If only the Bird Man could see this,
he thought, smiling.
He killed two by the egg. With his forearms, he lifted the egg from its resting place. It was hot, but
not hot enough to burn. The egg was heavier than he expected, and it took both arms to carry it.
Wasting no time, he ran to the left, toward the gully between the hills. Birds flew in every direction,
some crashing into him. It was chaos. Two gars came for him. He set down the egg, killed the first,
and took the legs off the second. He ran with the egg as fast as he could without risking a fall.
Another gar came. He missed with the first swing, but ran it through when it leapt for him.
Trees and rocks all about lit with bright light as flame incinerated several of the beasts. Richard
looked up and saw Scarlet hovering over his head, beating her giant wings and raking everything
around him with flame. She reached down with one claw, snatched up the egg, reached down with
the other, gripped his middle, and lifted him away. They took to the air as two gars came for him.
One he caught with the sword, the other burst into flame and fell away.
Scarlet carried him high into the air, up and away from Fire Spring. Hanging in her claw, he felt
like a meal being taken back to the young. Her grip was hurting his ribs a little, but he didn't
complain. He didn't want her to loosen her hold on him; it was a long way down.
Beyond and above the columns of rock stood massive, craggy stone cliffs, riddled with splits and
cracks, shelves and projections. A few clouds drifted past the face of the cliffs. Scarlet banked
toward a wall of rock. It seemed to Richard that they would run smack into it, but before they did,
she brought them up short with a fluttering of her huge wings, setting him on a ledge before landing
herself.
"Is it all right?" Richard asked quietly.
Richard nodded. "I'm glad, Scarlet. I really am."
He halted. "I just want my pack. It's hanging on a spike, on your shoulder." "Sorry. Go ahead."
He found something else, too: the, jar from Denna's room. Inside was some of the aum. cream he
had made when Rahl had hurt her. She must have taken what was left over and put it in his pack.
Looking down at the Agiel, he smiled sadly at the memory of her. How could he care about
someone who had done those things to him? He had forgiven her, that was how, forgiven her with
the white magic.
"You look funny without your pants."
"Those are not reassuring words for a man to hear from a female, even if the female is a dragon."
Turning his back to her, he pulled on his fresh pants.
Richard shook his head. "In the cave." His voice was quiet with the haunting fear of the memory.
He sat down, leaning against the wall, watching his boots. "I had to go through a small hole in the
rock. It was the only way. I became stuck." He looked up at the big yellow eyes. "Since I left my
home to stop Darken Rahl, I've been frightened often. But when I was stuck in that hole, in the
dark, the rock pressing against me so tight I couldn't breathe . . . well, that was one of the worst
times. While I was stuck there, something grabbed my leg, dug into the flesh with sharp little
claws. It did this to me as I tried to get away."
Scarlet shook her head. "Honest, too. I think maybe you would have done it anyway. I am sorry
you were injured, and that you had to be frightened so, to help me. Men try to kill dragons. Youmay be the first who has ever helped one. For any reason. I had my doubts."
"I'm embarrassed to admit, I thought you were trying to escape. I was coming for a closer look,
when I heard the uproar. I will make it up to you. I will help you find your friends, as I promised."
"Not from here, he won't. I searched a long time for this place after he stole my egg, so if I ever got
it back, I would have a safe place for it. He will not be able to reach it here. As for leaving it, that is
not a problem. When dragons hunt for food, they simply heat the rock with their flame, to keep the
egg warm in their absence."
"Right now."
The dragon went low, skimming the tops of pine trees at the edge of a field. She let out a piercing
scream that made Richard jump and banked into a steep turn that made him dizzy. A buck broke
into a run across the field, flushed from cover by the dragon's roar. Building speed in a quick dive,
she swooped into the field. Without effort, Scarlet snatched the deer from the tall brown grass,
snapping its neck in the process. Richard felt intimidated by how easy it was for her to take the
prey.
In near darkness, Scarlet landed on the ledge of rock, waiting for him to climb down over her red
scales before she hurried to her egg. Richard went to one side and curled up in his cloak, shivering
with the cold.
"Will you cook it for me? I don't eat raw meat."
"If we don't find your friends, what will you do?"
"The first day of winter is four days from tomorrow."
"For a dragon, it is better to die than be ruled."
Scarlet grunted without answering and turned once more to her egg, stroking her talons over it.
It was a desperately depressing thought-that he could help Darken Rahl gain unchallenged power
over everyone. But what choice did he have? Maybe what Shota said was right. Maybe Zedd and
Kahlan would try to kill him. Maybe he should be killed for even thinking of helping Darken Rahl.
If he had to choose, though, he would not let Kahlan be hurt by a Mord-Sith. He would have to help
Rahl.
The next day, Scarlet took him into D'Hara, over where she said the boundary used to be, searching
the roads and trails. Thin, high clouds filtered the sunlight. Richard hoped his friends wouldn't be
this close to Darken Rahl, but if Zedd had sought the night stone before Rahl had destroyed it, and
knew he had been at the People's Palace, they would be heading there. The dragon swept low over
people they saw, giving them a fright, but they weren't the ones he sought.
Scarlet spread her crimson wings, stopping their descent, and set them in a clearing next to the trail.
Richard jumped off, running as he hit the ground. The three stood holding the reins to their horses.
Chase held a mace in his other hand. Seeing Kahlan overwhelmed Richard with elation. Every
memory of her was suddenly true to life in front of him They stood still as he ran toward them,
down a short, steep decline in the trail. Richard watched the ground so he wouldn't trip over roots.