Temple of the Winds

The dark walls of the immense Temple of the Winds rose up before him, the twin towers soaring up into trailers of mist. The entire side of Mount Kymermosst was here-the whole part that was missing in the world of life.

Richard knew where he was going. He knew more than he had ever known before. Knowledge was flooding into his mind. He was a war wizard. The Temple of the Winds had opened a floodgate into his mind. It was feeding him all he needed to know, and more.

He felt as if he were sentient for the first time. Recompense, for the price demanded. "Lord Rahl!"

A breathless Cara ran up beside him. Agiel in hand, she took up a defensive position. Her Agiel would be useless here. For that matter, it would be useless back in the world of life now.

Richard turned to the winds and started out again. It wasn't far. Not far at all. He knew the way in. "Cara, go home. You don't belong here." "Lord Rahl, what happened? I-" "Go home."

She scowled at him as she pushed past to clear his way of any danger. She had no concept of the dangers here.

"I am Mord-Sith. I am here to protect the Lord Rahl." "I am no longer the Lord Rahl," Richard whispered.

She gazed up at the huge black stone pillars beside the entrance ahead. Beside them on walls of inky stone banded with copper-colored caps. frozen in raven-black granite, stood the skrin, guardians of the boundary between worlds. Frozen only to Cara's eyes, not to his.

Cara lifted a hand, bidding him to stay back as she peered down the passageway to the distant entry, checking for danger. There were bones at their feet. "Lord Rahl, what is this place?" "You can't go in here, Cara." "Why not?"

Richard turned and looked back toward the way he had come-at everything he was leaving behind. At nothing. "Because this is the Hall of the Betrayed."

Richard glanced up at the twin skrin, guardians that had left the bones of two wizards here on this walkway, at their feet.

Richard remembered well the message the sliph had passed on from Wizard Ricker: Ward left in. Richard now knew what that meant.

He lifted his left arm, fist out, toward the skrin perched on the stone wall at the right. Ward left told him which arm to use and which skrin to ward. The wrong arm would have denied him entry into this place in the world of the dead. One of Ricker's traps for the enemy.

His wristband heated. The leather pad protected his flesh from the power he focused in that band. A green glow enveloped his fist. The skrin to the right, to which he directed his birthright of authority, glowed in sympathy with his fist, immobilized for now, to allow Richard to enter.

Richard glanced up at the guardian of raven-black granite to his left. Richard called out its name, a guttural sound to which it answered. Black stone cracked and crumbled as the skrin turned to its master, awaiting instruction. Richard made the sound of its name again. He lifted his hand to Cara. "This one does not belong here. Ward her back to the world of life. Do not harm her. After, return to your post." The skrin sprang from the stone wall, enveloping Cara. "Lord Rahl! When will you be home?" Richard gazed into her blue eyes. "I am home."

Light flared and silent thunder shook the soundless world as the skrin vanished on its journey with Cara, back to the world of life.

Richard turned to the winds. The four winds and the seer watched from their place up on the wall. Richard sca

In a world without wind, Richard's cloak billowed out behind, a telltale in a place with eddies of power and currents of force, as he strode onward, into the Hall of the Betrayed. Kahlan threw up an arm before her face as lightning suddenly cracked before her. The road into the Temple of the Winds lit for an instant. In the distance, Kahlan could see Richard's back as he strode resolutely into a passageway. Cara tumbled lo the ground on the road at the edge of the cliff, at Kahlan's feet. With the boom of thunder, the temple, and Richard, were gone. Cara rolled to her feet. With wild fury, she seized Kahlan by the shoulders. "What have you done!"

Kahlan hurt too much to speak. She stared at the ground, "Mother Confessor, what have you done! I fixed it for you. What did you do to him?"

Kahlan's head came up. "You what?"

"I swore an oath. We are sisters of the Agiel. I swore an oath to you that if anything ever happened, if anything went wrong. I would see to it that it was you, and not Nadine, who was with Richard." Kahlan's mouth fell open. "Cara, what did you do?"

"What you wanted! I spoke the words of the winds as they came to me. but when I took you and Nadine to the buildings, I switched you both. I took Nadine to Drefan, and I took you to Lord Rahl.

"I wanted you to be with the man you truly loved. I took you to Richard! Didn't you trust in me? Didn't you have faith in me?"

Kahlan fell into Cara's arms. "Oh. Cara, I'm sorry". I should have believed in you. Dear spirits. I should have trusted you."

"Lord Rahl said he was going into the Hall of the Betrayed. I asked when he would be coming home. He said he was home. He isn't coming back! What have you done!"

"The Hall of the Betrayed. ." Kahlan crumpled to the ground. "I have fulfilled the prophecy. I have helped Richard get into the Temple of the Winds. I have helped him stop the plague. "In so doing, I have destroyed him. "In so doing, I have destroyed myself." "You have done more than that," Cara whispered. "What do you mean?"

Cara lifted her Agiel in her fist. "My Agiel. It has lost its power. The power of a Mord-Sith works only in the presence of the bond to our Lord Rahl. It exists to protect the Lord Rahl. Without a Lord Rahl, there is no bond. I have lost my power." "I am Lord Rahl now," Drefan said as he strode up behind Kahlan. Cara sneered at him. "You are no Lord Rahl. You do not have the gift." Drefan met her glare. "I'm all the Lord Rahl you have. now. Someone has to hold the D'Haran empire together."

Kahlan clutched Richard's black shirt to her stomach. "I am the Mother Confessor. I will hold the alliance together."

"You, my dear, have lost your power, too. You are no longer a Confessor, much less the Mother Confessor." He reached down and gripped Kahlan under her arm. His powerful fingers tightened painfully as he lifted her. "You are my wife, now, and you will do as I tell you to do. You have sworn an oath to obey me."

Cara reached out to force him to let go of Kahlan. Drefan backhanded her across the mouth, knocking her to the ground.

"And you, Cara, are a toothless snake now. If you wish to stick around, then you will have to obey me. If not, I have no use for you. For now, only we know that your Agiel doesn't work. Keep it that way. You will protect me as any Lord Rahl."

Cara gave him a venomous look as she wiped the blood from her mouth. "You are not the Lord Rahl."

"No?" He lifted the Sword of Truth, Richards sword, and let it drop back into its scabbard. "Well. I am the Seeker, now." "You are not the Seeker, either." Kahlan growled. "Richard is the Seeker."

"Richard? There is no Richard anymore. I am now Lord Rahl, and the Seeker." Drefan pulled Kahlan against him, his Darken Rahl eyes burning into her. "And you are my wife. At least you will be, once we consummate the marriage. But this is neither the time nor place. We have to get back. There is work to be done." "Never. If you ever touch me, I'll cut your throat."

"You have sworn an oath before the spirits. You will do as you have sworn." Drefan smiled. "You're a whore. You'll enjoy it. I want you to enjoy it, to be pleased, I really do."

"How dare you call me that! I am no whore, especially yours!" His smile widened. "Really? Then how did you betray Richard? Why would he walk away without even looking back? My guess would be that you enjoyed it, when you thought it was me. I'd say Richard saw you for the whore you are. When it really is me, you will find pleasure in it, then, too. I'll like that."