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CHAPTER 59
Je
"Hurry!" Sister Perdita called back up to them.
With Sebastian's hand at the small of her back, urging her on, Je
Whenever Je
Je
The look in his eyes expressed the relief that he was too winded to voice.
Finding herself closer to the bottom, after a seen-tingly unending, arduous descent, Je
She forged onward, rushing to keep up with Sister Perdita. There was no time to worry about clouds. As exhausted as Je
Rather than filling her with dread, knowing that the end of her life was so close left Je
At the same time, when, for only an instant here or a moment there, she actually comprehended the staggering reality that she was about to die, her mind blanked out with overwhelming terror. It was her life, her only precious life, that was inexorably dwindling away, that would soon end with the cold embrace of death itself.
Flickering lightning skipped across a darkening sky, traveling under the clouds. Distant, intense flashes came again, lacing though the heavy clouds, lighting them from within with spectacular green light. Distant thunder boomed, rumbling out across the vast deserted valley. The hesitant rolling sound of the thunder seemed to match the way the landscape wavered in the heat.
As they descended, the towering rock columns became larger, at first growing up from splits along the ridges, until down at the bottom they seemed rooted in the floor of the valley itself. Now, as the three of them moved at last ever farther away from the cliffs and out into the valley, those columns rose up like an ancient stone forest. Je
As their footsteps echoed among the rock walls, chambers, and tiers, she couldn't help marveling at the smooth, rippled sides of the pillars, that looked as if the rock had been worn smooth, like stones in a river. Different layers within the vertical rock appeared to be of varying density, making them wear at different rates, leaving the stone towers rippled up along their entire length. In places, huge sections of the columns perched atop narrow necks.
All the while, the heat felt like a great weight pressing down on her as her feet dragged through the jagged gravel at the bottom. The light among the columns cast eerie shadows, leaving dark places lurking farther back in among the towers. In other places, light seemed to come from behind the stone. As she looked up, it was like looking up from the depths of the world, seeing the rock itself, lit green at times by the flickering lightning within the clouds, reach up as if beseeching salvation.
Sister Perdita glided among the maze of rock, like a spirit of the dead, her black robes billowing out behind. Even Sebastian's presence behind was not a comfort for Je
Lightning arced across above their heads, above the tops of towering rock, as if searching the forest of stone. Thunder shook the valley with violent shudders that brought crumbling rock down on them so that they had to run or dodge to the side to avoid being stoned. Je
Just when Je
Down at the bottom, the valley, that had looked so flat from above, was a jumble of rolling low rock and scree, cut through with jagged rock formations and lifted slabs of smooth stone that ran for miles. Out from the fingers of tapering ridges coming in from the sides stood lofty pillars both separated, and in small clusters.
The thunder was becoming u
Coming past a broad stone spire, Je
Je
Her gaze took in his black shirt, his black, open-sided tunic decorated with ancient symbols snaking along a wide gold band ru
He had no weapon but a belt knife, but he needed none to be the embodiment of threat itself.
Looking into his gray eyes, Je
It felt as if a fist of fear seized her heart, and squeezed. Je
Sebastian spun around and saw him, then moved around behind her.
Her emotions in a jumble, Je
"Je
Richard Rahl scrutinized her, not seeming to notice Sebastian, or even Sister Perdita, farther back. Je
"Where is Kahlan?" Richard said.
His voice was not what she expected. It was commanding, to be sure, but it was so much more, so full of emotion, everything from cold fury, to unwavering resolve, to desperation. His gray eyes, too, reflected the same sincere and terrible determination.
Je
"The Mother Confessor. My wife."
Je
Except, unlike those thousand men, Je
"Where is Kahlan?" Richard repeated, his patience at an end.
"You killed my mother," Je
His brow twitched. He seemed truly puzzled. "I only just learned that I have a sister. Friedrich Gilder just told me, and that your name is Je
Je
"Kill him, Je
Je
"The Lord Rahl has been trying to murder me my whole life. When you killed your father, you took his place. You sent men after me. You've hounded me just like your father. You sent the quads after us. You bastard, you sent those men who murdered my mother!"