Severed Souls (41 page)

Kahlan still knelt, bent over Zedd's chest, her face buried in her hands as she wept. Zedd had been the wizard she had come through the boundary to find. He had been “the one.” Everyone had needed him. She had come to pull him away from his peaceful life in Westland and back into a world ablaze with war. They had all needed the First Wizard so he could name a Seeker. They needed the First Wizard to set things right.

Richard knew what else was going through her mind at that moment—the same memory that was going through his thoughts—Zedd marrying the two of them.

Nicci, standing close to his left shoulder, looked up at him. “What do you want us to do, Richard?” she asked in a broken voice.

He knew that hesitation, failure to make a decision, was deadly. They were already in enough trouble, and there was obviously yet more they hadn't been aware of lurking in the night. It was most likely something to do with occult sorcery, otherwise Zedd and Nicci would have detected it.

He needed to make a decision, he needed to make it quickly, and he needed it to be the right decision.

He tried to think of what Zedd would want him to do, what he would advise. Richard looked around. No one knew Zedd's wishes better than Richard. He knew that Zedd would tell him that he must push on, that he had to get to the citadel or everything, all their efforts and hopes, would be in vain.

His grandfather would tell him that the living couldn't sacrifice their chance at life to mourn the dead.

“Zedd told me that he thought this was a beautiful place. His soul is in the hands of the good spirits, now. He is safe, there, with them, and finally at peace. He no longer has need of this vessel in which he has for so long sailed the world of life. He would want us to purify his remains in a funeral pyre. We need to build up a platform of wood and place him on it.

“We need to be quick about it. We don't know what danger is here among us. We can't stay here. We need to take care of Zedd, and then we must be gone.”

“I will see to it at once, Lord Rahl,” the commander said.

Richard turned to Nicci. “If we get to a containment field can you cure Kahlan and me by yourself—without Zedd?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

Nicci did not hesitate. “Absolutely.”

“Could you tell how he was beheaded? By what method?”

Nicci swallowed. “No. It looks like a blade, but it could have been something else.”

“You mean like the gift?”

“Yes. I've seen it done often enough. It looks much the same. But I can detect no gifted people anywhere near—other than myself, Irena, and Samantha right here with us.”

“They could have been lying in wait, and then when they saw an opportunity killed the first person of rank that they could, and then run off,” Commander Fister said.

Richard nodded. “Possibly. Send your best trackers out and have them search while we take care of Zedd. But if they do find any evidence of an intruder, they could be gifted so I don't want them following or trying to take them on. Just come get me instead.”

He turned back to Nicci. “Could it have been someone using occult sorcery?”

Nicci's eyes brimmed with tears. “Yes, I suppose, but I have no way of knowing, and if it was, I can't sense such people. They could be standing right next to me and I wouldn't be able to detect such powers. Occult powers are like the dark side of the moon. They remain out of sight and a mystery.”

Richard turned to a stricken-looking Irena. “Can you?”

She wiped her nose on her sleeve as she shook her head.

Richard gritted his teeth for a moment, fighting to keep control of the rage thundering through him. He was on the razor edge of losing control, but there was no target for his fury. He told himself yet again to think of what his grandfather would advise him to do.

“All right then, we need to see to taking care of Zedd's remains as swiftly as possible. He is with the good spirits now. We can weep for his soul but we have to move while we weep. Though his body is only an empty vessel, now, I don't want animals getting at it. With our gifted, we can have a fire hot enough to purify his remains in short order.

“It's going to be light soon. We can't afford to delay one moment longer than absolutely necessary. We need to see to this and then be on our way to Saavedra. If the trackers haven't found anything by first light, then we must put our efforts toward what matters most right now—getting to the citadel.”

All around the small clearing, Richard saw fists go to hearts. Even Samantha, Irena, and Nicci silently bowed their heads as they touched fists to hearts.

“And then,” Richard said, “I am going to find out who did this and I am going to kill them with my bare hands.”

 

CHAPTER

57

By first light, when the sky was just beginning to take on a faint blush, the trackers had not found anything meaningful. There were some suspicious indications that Richard would have investigated himself, but it could easily take most of the day to see if those indications led to anything significant. While it was critically important to know who had killed Zedd—after all, that killer could strike again—they couldn't afford the time. Richard and Kahlan's only chance to live was to get to the citadel before the poison overwhelmed them.

In the back of his mind, as he stood staring at the smoking ashes that were his grandfather's worldly remains, Richard was having trouble putting the pieces together. He couldn't make sense of things or understand how it had happened.

He felt numb.

He knelt beside the remains of the funeral pyre and pushed his hand into the still-warm ashes, wishing he could touch his grandfather one last time.

“I'm sorry, Zedd, but I can't quit just yet.”

“What do you mean?” Kahlan asked from above, over his shoulder.

Richard stood. He held his hand up before his face and stared at the glove of gray ashes.

“Nothing.” He looked over at Kahlan. “Are you ready?”

She nodded, her chin trembling as she fought back the tears. She fell into his arms, then, as she started crying all over again.

“I'm usually stronger than this,” she said between sobs.

Richard held her tightly for a moment, burying his face in her hair at the side of her neck.

“I know,” he whispered. “I love you.”

After a moment, he straightened and held her by her shoulders as he looked into her green eyes. “I can't lose you, too, Kahlan. We need to get going. Zedd would want us to hurry. He would understand the need. He would not want us standing around staring at his ashes.”

Kahlan nodded as she sniffled back her tears. “I know. I understand. He may be gone, but he will live in our hearts as long as they beat.”

Richard nodded, unable to smile. He saw Nicci and the others waiting quietly in the background, back among the trees at the edge of the little clearing.

He looked around one last time. “It's a beautiful spot. He told me to take the time to appreciate the beauty of things.”

The shadowy shapes of pine and spruce stood around the edge of the clearing like mourners in black silently watching.

Richard took Kahlan's hand, then, and walked quickly to where the others stood waiting. “There is enough light. We need to get moving.”

Heads all around nodded.

“There are those dark, flying predators that took two men yesterday, and someone obviously murdered Zedd. The ones yesterday were flying beasts. This here was a two-legged beast. I don't think I need to tell any of you to stay alert.” When they all shook their heads, he said, “Let's get moving, then.”

“The scouts are back, Lord Rahl,” the resolute Commander Fister said. “They have a route for us—but they've only had time to pick a route for the first hour or so.”

“That will get us started. Let's go.”

Without further word, and with Kahlan at his side, Richard marched away from the ashes. He didn't look back.

Nicci fell in close behind him. Behind her, Irena and Samantha rushed to stay close on her heels as they all wove their way through the thick growth of young hardwoods. As Richard and the women moved through the waiting men, some went on out ahead while others fell in behind.

With sunrise still a ways off, the forest was not only dark and foreboding, it was hiding a killer. In the dim, early blush of light before the approaching dawn, it was hard to make out much of anything in detail other than those in close enough.

As they went over the edge of the rise, Richard could see the black shapes of men out ahead along with the soaring trunks of pines silhouetted against the sky. He took the opportunity of a bit of open sky to check for anything flying that could snatch them up. He didn't see anything close other than a flock of small birds. Higher up in the sky he saw ravens circling, looking for a meal, looking for anything to scavenge.

He turned his eyes back to the ground to watch his footing, glad that he had made the decision to dispose of Zedd's remains in the way he had.

He was still having trouble believing it was real. He had been with Zedd his entire life. He couldn't imagine his grandfather being gone. He didn't want to leave even his ashes. He felt like he was abandoning Zedd. Despite all the people around him he felt lonely and lost.

It felt like he was watching himself walk along through the thick forest, after having gone through the motions of saying words over his grandfather before Nicci had ignited it all. The flames had been hot, burning with a kind of rage at the terrible task they had been called upon to perform. Nicci had seen to it that those flames made quick work of it.

He kept thinking of things he wanted to ask Zedd, things he wanted to say, things he wanted to remember to talk to him about. None of it seemed real. He wanted to recall it all, to pull the river of time back and somehow change its course.

He knew how Zedd thought and what he believed. He knew Zedd's reasoning on just about every subject. He thought about the advice Zedd would give him at that moment. When he realized what Zedd would say, he turned and took Nicci's arm. With Kahlan on his right, he pulled Nicci close on his left as they walked among the forest monarchs. The ground was flat enough that the three of them could walk side by side.

“Only you and Zedd could heal us, as long as you had the containment field,” he said, “right?”

“And possibly Irena,” Nicci said. “I don't know her ability. It's an incredibly complex task, but it's possible she may be able to do it.”

“I don't think it's wise to count on her,” Kahlan said, glancing back to make sure the woman was out of earshot before looking past him to Nicci. “We don't know enough about her ability. She could make a mistake at a critical juncture in the conjuring. I wouldn't want to put Richard's life in the hands of someone untested in such things.”

“Nor would I,” Nicci said. “At least, not as long as we don't have to.”

Still holding her by her upper arm, Richard helped Nicci step over a split in the rock and then checked the woods around them before he went on.

“Then for the sake of argument, let's say that you and Zedd are the only two that we were positive could heal us. Let's say we assume that Irena wouldn't know enough, or wouldn't have the experience or ability that would be necessary. Let's just say we have to count her out. While Samantha is obviously quite gifted, I'm sure she doesn't have the knowledge or training to do such a thing, so we have to count her out as well.”

“That leaves me,” Nicci said. “I told you I could do it.”

“Right. The three of us—you, Kahlan, and me—have to get there, though, in order to do it. There were two of you, and now Zedd is dead. I find that more than suspicious. But in any event, that means that we now have only you to count on.”

“I'm not letting you out of my sight, if that's what you're worried about.”

“It is. But it also means that we have to assume that, because you are one of the two who can heal us, you are a target in much the way Zedd was. I want you in our shadow every step the rest of the way there. Not just so that you can watch over us, but so that I can watch over you.”

“Richard, I can take pretty good care of myself.”

“So could Zedd.”

She met his gaze and then conceded with a nod. “You've got it. You and Kahlan are going to get very tired of turning around, though, and bumping into me.”

Richard couldn't make himself smile. “Thanks, Nicci. Kahlan and I are counting on you.”

“I wish that my power worked,” Kahlan said. “Then I'd be able to protect her as well. But you can believe I know how to use my knife and I intend to have it at the ready every moment. I hope you don't get tired of turning around and bumping into me.”

“Never,” Nicci said with a smile meant to reassure them.

 

CHAPTER

58

By midmorning they reached the edge of a prominence where Richard was able to get a partial view out over the landscape of smaller mountains ahead and the lower reaches of the forest spread out far below. Saavedra was nowhere in sight, yet, but he only had a partial view and there were a lot of rugged walls of rock that he couldn't see beyond, so it was possible that when they were able to get farther down and beyond some of the difficult terrain they might be able to spot it.

From where they stood, they could easily see that there was higher ground ahead in places. Once they got down into the lower forest, though, they would be blind to what lay ahead. They needed to be aware of the nuances of the lay of the land in order to know how to avoid going off in certain directions or they would end up having to backtrack. They couldn't afford that.

He could see that they were still going to have a lot of ground to cover before they had any hope of reaching Saavedra. He could also see that they had some tricky country to get through as they made their way lower down through the mountains. It all looked pretty easy when viewed from up high, but experience had taught him what to look for when picking a route.