Chainfire (Sword of Truth – 9)

«From the impression I got from the references in these books, I have reason to believe that there were at one time books that were considered so disturbing and in some cases containing spells so dangerous that it was decided that they had to be confined to a few hidden 'central sites' as a precaution, so that they didn't end up in circulation, where they would be copied, as is the practice with most prophecy. What better way to restrict access'.'' Since these references speak of 'the books kept with the bones,' I suspect that these other 'central sites' may be catacombs like the one said lo be beneath the Palace of the Prophets.»

Ann slowly shook her head as she tried to lake it all in, as she tried lo imagine if there was any possibility that it could be true. She looked again at the table with the stacks of books that were mostly about Richard, and which they had never seen before.

Ann gestured. «And these, here?»

«What is there I almost wish I'd not read.»

Ann clutched his sleeve. «Why? What did you read?»

His seemed to catch himself. He waved a dismissal, smiled briefly, and changed the subject.

«What I find the most troubling about the blank places in the books is their common thread. While not all of the missing text is in prophecy about Richard, I have determined that they all do have one thing in common.»

«And what would that be?»

Nathan held up a finger to emphasize his point. «Every one of the missing portions are in prophecies that pertain to a time after Richard was born. None of the prophecies that belong to a time before Richard's birth, or thereabouts, have copy missing.»

Ann carefully clasped her hands together as she considered the mystery and how to solve the puzzle.

«Well,» she said at last, «There is one thing we could check. I could have Verna send a messenger to the Wizard's Keep in Aydindril. Zedd is there protecting the place so that it can't fall into Jagang's hands. We could have Verna send a messenger and ask that Zedd check specific-places in his copies of books we have here and see if they are missing the same text.»

«That's a good idea,» Nathan said.

«With the extent of the libraries at the Keep, he's bound to have a number of the classic books on prophecy that we recognize and have here.»

Nathan's face brightened. «As a matter of fact, it would be even better if we could have Verna send someone to the People's Palace in D'Hara. While I was there I spent a lot of time in the palace libraries. I clearly remember seeing copies of a number of these books. If we had someone check them, that would tell us if the books here are spelled, as you suggested, and the problem is confined to these editions, or if it's some kind of wider phenomenon. We need to have Verna send someone to the People's Palace at once.»

«That should be easy enough. Verna is just about to depart for the south. On their way they will no doubt be traveling near the People's Palace.»

Nathan frowned down at her. «You heard from Verna? And she said she is heading south? Why?»

Ann's mood sank. «I received a message from her earlier tonight-just before I came here.»

«And what did our young prelate have to say? Why is she traveling south?»

In resignation, Ann let out a deep sigh. «I'm afraid the news is not the best. She said that Jagang has split his army. He is taking part of his horde down around the mountains in order to sweep up into D'Hara from the south. Verna is leaving with a large contingent of the D'Haran forces to eventually stand and face the Order's army.»

The blood drained from Nathan's face.

«What did you say?» he whispered.

Ann puzzled at his wide-eyed look. «You mean, that Jagang split his army?»

She didn't think it was possible, but the prophet's face went even more ashen.

«Dear spirits preserve us,» he whispered. «It's too soon. We're not ready.»

Ann felt a tingling dread start at her toes and begin working its way up her legs. Her thighs prickled with gooseflesh. «Nathan, what are you talking about? What's wrong?»

He turned and frantically searched the spines of the books stacked all over the tables. He finally found what he wanted in the middle of a pile and yanked it out, letting the rest of the stack topple over. He hurriedly leafed through the book, muttering to himself as he searched.

«Here it is,» he said as he pressed a finger to a page. «There are any number of prophecies down here that I've found in books I've never seen before. These prophecies surrounding the final battle are veiled to me-I cannot see them in visions-but the words are frightening enough. This one sums them up as clearly as any.»

He bent close and in the candlelight read to her from the book. « 'In the year of the cicadas, when the champion of sacrifice and suffering, under the banner of both mankind and the Light, finally splits his swarm, thus shall be the sign that prophecy has been awakened and the final and deciding battle is upon us. Be cautioned, for all true forks and their derivatives are tangled in this mantic root. Only one trunk branches from this conjoined primal origin. If fuer grissa ost drauka does not lead this final battle, then the world, already standing in the brink of darkness, will fall under that terrible shadow.' «

Fuer grissa ost drauka was one of the prophetic names for Richard, It was from a well-known prophecy in the ancient language of High D'Haran. Its translation was the bringer of death. To here call him by that name in this prophecy was a means of linking the two prophecies in a conjugate fork.

«If the cicadas should come this year,» Nathan said, «then that will verify that this prophecy is not just authentic but active.»

Ann's knees felt weak. «The cicadas began to emerge today.»

Nathan stared down at her like the Creator Himself pronouncing judgment. «Then the chronology is fixed. The prophecies have all tumbled into place. Events are marked. The end is upon us.»

«Dear Creator protect us,» Ann whispered.

Nathan slipped the book into his pocket. «We must get to Richard.»

She was already nodding. «Yes, you're right. There is no time to lose.»

Nathan glanced about. «We certainly can't take all these books with us and there is no time to read them. We must seal this place back up, like it was, and leave immediately.»

Before Ann could add her agreement, Nathan swept out an arm. The candles all extinguished. Only the lantern on the corner of one of the tables remained lit. On his way past, he swept it up in his big hand.

«Come on,» he said.

Ann scurried to catch up with him, trying to stay in the small circle of light now that the odd room had been plunged into darkness. «Are you sure that we shouldn't take any of these books?»

The prophet rushed into the narrow stairwell, the light funneling in with him. «We can't be slowed down to carry them. Besides, which would we take?» He paused momentarily to look back over his shoulder. His face was all angles and sharp lines in the harsh lanternlight. «We already know what prophecy says and now, for the first time, we know the chronology. We must get to Richard. He has to be there at the battle when the armies clash or all will be lost.»

«Yes, and we will have to make sure that he is there to complete the word of prophecy.»

«We are in agreement, then,» he said as he turned and rushed onward up the stairs. The tunneled stairwell was so narrow and low that he had trouble making his way up.

At the top, they burst out into the night, to the shrill, buzzing song of the cicadas. Nathan called out for Tom and Jennsen. The trees gently swayed in the humid breeze as they waited for an answer. It seemed an eternity, but it was really only a moment before both Tom and Jennsen came running out of the darkness.

«What is it?» Jennsen asked, breathlessly.

The dark shadow of Tom towered at her side. «Is there trouble?»

«Grave trouble,» Nathan confirmed.

Ann thought that he might be a little more discreet about it, but as serious as the situation was, discretion probably was pointless. He pulled the book he had taken from the library out of his pocket. He opened it to a blank page where prophecy was missing.

«Tell me what this says.» he commanded, holding it out to Jennsen.

She frowned at him. «What it says? Nathan, it's blank.»

He grumbled his discontent. «That means Subtractive was somehow involved. Subtractive is underworld magic, the power of death, so it affects her the same as us.»

Nathan turned back to Jennsen. «We have found prophecy that pertains to Richard. We must find him or Jagang will win the war.»

Jennsen gasped. Tom let out a low whistle.

«Do you know where he is?» Nathan asked.

Without hesitation, Tom turned a little and lifted an arm to point off into the night. His bond told him what their gift could not. «He is that way. Not a great distance, but not close, either.»

Ann peered into the darkness. «We'll have to get our things together and be on our way at first light.»

«He's on the move,» Tom said. «I doubt you will find him there in that spot by the time you get there.»

Nathan cursed under his breath. «There's no telling where that boy is heading.»

«I'd guess that he is headed back to Altur'Rang,» Ann said.

«Yes, but what if he doesn't stay there?» He laid a hand on Tom's shoulder. «We will need you to come with us. You are one of the covert protectors to the Lord Rahl. This is important.»

Ann saw Tom's hand gripped tightly around the knife at his belt. The silver hilt of that knife was emblazoned with the ornate letter «R,» standing for the House of Rahl. It was a rare knife carried by rare individuals who worked unseen to protect the life of the Lord Rahl.

«Of course,» Tom said.

«I'll come as well,» Jennsen added in a rush. «I only have to get.»

«No,» Nathan said, silencing her. «We need you to stay here.»

«Why?»

«Because,» Ann said in a more sympathetic tone than Nathan had used, «you are Richard's link with these people. They are in need of help in understanding the wider world only just opened to them. They are vulnerable to the Imperial Order and vulnerable to being used against us. They have only just made the choice to be part of our cause and part of the D'Haran Empire. Richard needs you to be here for now, and right now Tom's place is with us and his duty to Richard.»

With panic in her eyes, she looked to Tom. «But I.»

«Jennsen,» Nathan said, his arm encircling her shoulders, «look there.» He pointed down the stairwell. «You know what's down there. If anything happens to us, Richard may need to know as well. You must be here to guard this place for him. This is important-just as important as Tom coming with us. We're not trying to spare you danger; this may in fact be more dangerous than going with us.»

Jennsen looked from Nathan's eyes to Ann's and reluctantly recognized how serious the situation was. «If you think Richard might need me here, then I must stay.»

Ann touched her fingertips to the underside of the young woman's chin. «Thank you, child, for understanding the importance of this.»

«We must close this place up, like it was when I found it,» Nathan said, swirling his arms with his urgency. «I'll show you the mechanism and how to make it function. Then we must get back to town and gather our things. We will only be able to snatch a few hours' sleep before sunrise, but it can't be helped.»

«It's a long walk out of Bandakar,» Tom said. «After we're over the mountain pass we'll have to find some horses if we're to catch Lord Rahl.»

«It's decided then,» the prophet said. «Let's get this tomb closed back up and be on our way.»

Ann frowned. «Nathan, this cache of books has been hidden under this gravestone for thousands of years. In all that lime no one has ever discovered it was there.. Just how did you manage to find it?»

Nathan lifted an eyebrow. «Actually, I didn't think it was all that difficult.» He stepped around to the front of the huge stone monument and waited for Ann to come closer. Once she had, he held up his lantern.

There, carved into the face of the ancient stone were but two words:

NATHAN RAHL.

CHAPTER 13

It was late afternoon by the time Victor, Nicci, Cara, and Richard passed through the long shadows among the olive groves covering the southern hills outside of Altur'Rang. Richard had never eased the pace and they were all tired from the arduous, if relatively short, journey. The chill rain had moved on, pushed away by the oppressive weight of heat and humidity. With as much as they were all sweating, it might as well have still been raining.

Even though he was bone-weary, Richard felt better than he had only a couple of days before. Despite the exertion, his strength was gradually returning.

He was also relieved that they had seen no sign of the beast. Several times he had let the others go on while he checked their backtrail to see if they were being followed. He had never seen any sign of anyone or anything following behind them and so he was starting to breathe a little easier. He also had to consider the possibility that Nicci's information about Jagang creating such a monster was not the explanation for what had killed Victor's men. Even if, as Nicci said, Jagang had succeeded in creating such a beast, that didn't mean that it was the explanation for the violent and deadly attack or even that this beast had yet begun to hunt Richard. But if that wasn't it, then he couldn't even begin to imagine what it could have been.

Carts, wagons, and people moved at a brisk pace along the crowded roads around the city. Commerce seemed to be flourishing even more than the last time Richard had been in Altur'Rang. Some of the people recognized Victor, and some Nicci. Since the revolt, both of them had played important roles in Altur'Rang. A good number of the people recognized Richard, either because they had been there the night the revolution for their liberty had begun, or because they recognized his sword. It was a unique weapon and the polished silver and gold scabbard was hard to miss, especially in the Old World under the drab rule of the Order.

People smiled at the four of them as they passed, or lipped a hat, or gave them a friendly nod. Cara eyed every passing smile with suspicion.

Richard would have been pleased to see the emerging vitality in Altur'Rang had his mind not been on things far more important to him. And to deal with those important matters, he needed horses. Since it was so late in the day, it would be dark before he could hope to have horses and supplies collected and ready for a journey. He was reluctantly reconciled to spending the night in Altur'Rang.

Many of the people on the bustling country lanes and roads around the city seemed to be traveling to and from nearby towns, or possibly even places much farther. Whereas people once came to the city in the desperate hope of finding work at building the emperor's palace, they now arrived filled with optimism that they would be able to find a new life, a free life.

Every one of the people traveling away from the city, besides carrying foods for trade, also carried word of the profound changes since the revolt. They were an army carrying the bright shining weapon of an idea. In Altur'Rang they no longer had to mold their lives around their fear of the order; they could now shape their lives to their own needs and aspirations made possible by personal liberty and their own enterprise. They owed their lives to no one. Swords could enforce tyranny, but only if it relentlessly crushed such ideas.

Ultimately, only brutality could enforce the irrationality and dead end of self-sacrifice.

That was why the Order would have to send its most savage troops to crush the very idea of liberty. If they didn't, then liberty would spread and people would prosper. If that came to be, then liberty would triumph.

Richard noticed that new market stands seemed to have sprung up at junctions of what had once been little more than rutted paths and lanes but were now active byways. The stands sold goods of every sort, from a variety of vegetables to stacks of firewood to rows of jewelry. Merchants at the outskirts of the city eagerly offered travelers a variety of cheeses, sausages, and breads. Closer to the city, people milled about, scrutinizing bolts of cloth or inspecting the quality of an array of leather goods.

Richard remembered how when Nicci had first brought him to Altur'Rang they'd had to stand in lines all day for a loaf of bread and often the store would run out before they ever got anywhere near the front of the line. So that everyone could afford bread, bakeries had been strictly regulated and prices had been fixed by a whole variety of committees, boards, and layers of ordinances. No consideration was given to the cost of ingredients or labor, only to what was judged to be the price people could afford to pay. The price of bread had seemed cheap, but there was never enough bread, nor any other foodstuff. Richard considered it a perversion of logic to call something unavailable inexpensive. Laws that the hungry be fed had only resulted in widespread hunger haunting the streets and dark homes of the city. The true cost of the altruistic ideas that spawned such laws was starvation and death. Those who championed the lofty notions of the Order were indignantly blind to the endless misery and death they caused.

Now, at stands on almost every corner, bread was plentiful and starvation looked to have receded into nothing more than a horrific memory. It was amazing to see how freedom had made everything so plentiful. It was amazing to see so many people in Altur'Rang smiling.

The revolt had been opposed by a good number of people who supported the Imperial Order, who wanted things to continue the way they were. There were many who believed that people were wicked and deserved no more out of their lives than misery. Such people believed that happiness and accomplishment were sinful, that individuals, on their own, could not make their own lives better without causing harm to others. Such people scorned the very idea of individual liberty.

For the most part, those people had been defeated-either killed in the fighting or driven away. Those who had fought for and won their liberty had fierce reasons to value it. Richard hoped that they would have the will to hang on to what they had won.

As they passed into the older sections of the city, he noticed that many of the dingy brick buildings had been cleaned so that they almost looked new. Shutters were painted bright colors that actually looked cheerful in the hazy, late-afternoon sun. A number of the buildings that had been burned down in the revolt were already being rebuilt. Richard thought it a wonder, after the way it used to be, that Altur'Rang could look cheerful. It gave him a flutter of excitement to see a place so alive.

He knew, too, that it was the simple, sincere happiness of people pursuing their own interests and living their lives for the sake of themselves that would draw the hate and wrath of some. The followers of the Order believed that mankind was inherently evil. Such people would stop at nothing to suffocate the blasphemy of happiness.

As they turned onto a broader street that led deeper into the city, Victor came to a stop at a corner of major thoroughfares.

«I need to go see Ferran's family and the families of some of the other men. If it's all right with you, Richard, I think I should speak with them alone, for now at least. The grief of sudden loss and important visitors are a confusing mix.»

Richard felt awkward being viewed as an important visitor, especially by people who had just lost loved ones, but in the midst of such bad news it was not the time for him to try to soften that view.

«I understand, Victor.»

«But I was hoping that maybe later you could say some words to them. It would be a comfort if you told them how brave their men had been. Your words would honor their loved ones.»

«I'll do my best.»

«There are others who will need to know that I've returned. They will be eager to see you.»

Richard gestured to Cara and Nicci. «I want to show them something»-he pointed toward the center of the city."down this way.»

«You mean Liberty Square?»

Richard nodded.

«Then I will meet you there as soon as I can manage it.»

Richard briefly watched as Victor vanished down a narrow cobbled street to the right.

«What do you want to show us?» Cara asked.

«Something that I'm hoping may help jog your memory.»

The first sight of the majestic statue carved from the finest white Cavatura marble, glowing in the amber light of the late-day sun, nearly buckled Richard's knees.

He knew every intimate curve of the figure, every fold of the flowing robes. He knew because he had carved the original.

«Richard?» Nicci said as she clasped his arm. «Are you all right?»

He could manage hardly more than a whisper as he stared at the statue off across the green sweep of lawns. «I'm fine.»

The vast open expanse had been the site of thee construction of the former palace that was to be the seat of rule for the Imperial Order. It had been where Nicci has brought Richard to toil for the greater glory of the cause of the Order in the hope that he would learn the importance of sell sacrifice and the corrupt nature of mankind. Instead, in the process, she had learned the value of life.

But while he'd still been Nicci's captive, he had worked for months in the construction of the emperor's palace. That palace was gone, now, erased from the face of the ground. Only a semicircle of columns from the main entrance remained to stand watch around the proud statue in while marble that marked the place where the flame of freedom had first ignited in the heart of darkness.

After the revolt against the rule of the Order, the statue had been carved and dedicated to the free people of Altur'Rang and the memory of those who had given their lives for that freedom. This place, where people had first spilled blood to gain their liberty, was now hallowed ground. Victor had named the place Liberty Square.

Lit by the warm light of the low sun, the statue shone like a beacon.

«What do you two see?» Richard asked.

Cara, too, had a hand on his arm. «Lord Rahl, it's the same statue we saw the last time we were here.»

Nicci nodded her agreement. «The statue that the carvers created after the revolt.»

The sight of the statue made Richard ache. The feminity of its exquisite shape, the curves, the bone and muscle, were clearly evident beneath the flowing robes of stone. The woman in marble almost looked alive.

«And where did the carvers get the model for this statue?» Richard asked the two women.

Both gave him a blank look.

With a hooked finger, Nicci pulled back a strand of hair that the humid breeze had lifted across her face. «What do you mean?»

«To carve such a statue, expert carvers typically scale it up from a model. What do you recall about that model?»

«Yes,» Cara said as her face brightened in recollection, «it was something you carved.»

«That's right,» he said to Cara. «You and I searched together for the wood for the small statue. You were the one who found the walnut tree I used. It had been growing on a slope just above a broad valley. The tree had been knocked over by a windblown spruce. You were there when I cut the wood from that fallen, weathered walnut tree. You were there when I curved that small statue. We sat together on the banks of the stream and talked the hours away as I worked on it.»

«Yes, I remember you carving while we sat in the countryside.» A hint of a smile ghosted across Cara's face. «What of it?»

«We were at the home I built in the mountains. Why were we there?»

Cara looked up at him, puzzled by the question, as if it seemed too obvious to warrant the effort of retelling. «After the people of Anderith voted to side with the Imperial Order, rather than with you and D'Hara, we gave up on trying to lead people against the Order. You said that you couldn't force people to want to be free, but that they must choose it for themselves before you could lead them.»

It was difficult for Richard to calmly tell things to a woman who should know them as well as he did, but he knew that reproach wouldn't help to spark her memory. Besides, whatever was going on, he knew it wasn't a willfull deception on the part of Nicci and Cara.

«That was part of it,» he said. «But there was a much more important reason why we were there in those trackless mountains.»

«A more important reason?»

«Kahlan had been beaten nearly to death. I took her there so that she would be safe while she recovered. You and I spent months caring for her, trying to nurse her back to health.

«But she wasn't getting better. She sank into a deep despondency. She had despaired of ever recovering, of ever being whole again.»

He couldn't bring himself to say that part of the reason Kahlan had nearly given up was because when those men had beaten her nearly to death, it had caused her to lose her child.

«And so you carved this statue of her?» Cara asked.

«Not exactly.»

I le stared off at the proud figure in white stone rising up against the deep blue sky. He had not intended the little statue he'd carved to look like Kahlan. Through this figure, her robes flowing as she faced into a wind, as she stood with her head thrown back, her chest out, her hands fisted at her silk's, her back arched and strong as if in opposition to an invisible power trying to subdue her, Richard had conveyed not what Kahlan looked like, but rather a sense of her inner nature.

This was not a statue of Kahlan, but of her living force, her soul. The magnificent statue before them was her spirit encased in stone.

«It's Kahlan's courage, her heart, her valor, her determination. That's why I named this statue Spirit.

«When she saw it, she understood what she was seeing. It made her hunger to be well again, to be strong and independent again. It made her want to be fully alive again. That was when she started to get well.»

Both women looked more than simply dubious, but they didn't dispute his story.

«The thing is,» Richard said as he started out across the broad stretch of grass, «if you were to ask the men who carved this statue where that small statue is, that statue I carved and which they used as a model to scale up this one, they would not be able to find it or tell you what happened to it.»

Nicci hurried to keep up with him. «So where is it, then?»

«That little statue I carved for her out of walnut wood that summer in the mountains meant a great deal to Kahlan. She was eager to have it back after the men were finished using it. Kahlan has it.»

Nicci let out a sigh as she returned her gaze to where she was walking. «Of course she does.»

He frowned over at the sorceress. «And what does that mean?»

«Richard, when a person is suffering delirium, their mind works to come up with things to fill in the blank places, to knit together the tattered fabric of that delirium. It's a way for them to try to make sense out of their confusion.»

«Then where is the statue?» he asked both women.

Cara shrugged. «I don't know. I don't remember what happened to it. There is this big one now, in marble. That's the one that seems important.»

«I don't know, either, Richard,» Nicci said when he looked her way. «Maybe if the carvers look around they will be able to come up with it.»

It seemed like she was missing the purpose of his story and that they only thought that he was interested in finding his carving.

«No, they won't be able to come up with it. That's the whole point. That's what I'm trying to make you understand. Kahlan has it. I remember her pleasure the day she got it back. Don't you see? No one will be able to find it or remember what happened to it. Don't you see how things don't fit? Don't you see that something strange is going on? Don't you see that something is wrong?»

They paused at the base of the broad expanse of steps.

«The truth'? Not really.» Nicci gestured up at the statue standing before the semicircle of pillars. «After this statue was finally finished and the model was no longer needed it was probably lost or destroyed. As Cara said, we now have the statue here in stone.»

«But don't you see the importance of the small carving? Don't you see the importance of what I'm telling you? I remember what happened to it, and no one else will. I'm tying to prove a point-to show you something, to show you that I'm not dreaming up Kahlan, to show you that things just don't add up and you need to believe me.»

Nicci slipped a thumb under the strap of her pack in an effort to ease the ache caused by the burden of its weight.

«Richard, your subconscious mind in all likelihood recalls what happened to the carving-that it was lost or destroyed after this statue was finished-and so it uses that small detail to try to patch in one of the holes in the insubstantial story you dreamed up in your delirium. It's just your inner mind trying to make things seem like it all makes sense for you.»

So that was it. It wasn't that they didn't get his point, it was that they got it all too well and simply didn't believe it. Richard took a deep breath. He still hoped to be able to convince them that they were the ones who were mistaken, who weren't taking everything into account.