Blood of the Fold

"Can you run some more?" he asked as he panted.

"I didn't want to stop," she said.

Richard knew the city well between the palace and the countryside. He led Kahlan though the confused, frightened, ululating mass of people, up streets tighl with buildings and those wide with trees, until they reached the outskirts of Tanimura.

Halfway up the hill out of the valley where the city lay, he felt a hard thud ir. the ground that nearly took his feet out from under him. Without looking back, Richard swept an arm around Kahlan and dove with her into a low cut in the granite. Sweaty and exhausted, they clung together as the ground shook.

They stuck their heads up just in time to see the light ripping apart the massive towers and stone walls of the Palace of the Prophets as if they were paper before a hurricane. The whole of Halsband Island seemed to rend. Parts of trees and huge chunks of lawns lifted into the air along with stone of every size. A blinding flash drove a dome of dark debris before it. The river was stripped of water and bridges.

The curtain of light expanded outward with a clacking roar. The city beyond the island somehow stood up against the fury.

Overhead, the sky lit as if a celestial vault were flaring in sympathy with the bedazzling core below. The skins of the shimmering bell of light overhead cascaded to the ground miles away from the city. Richard remembered that boundary; it was the outer shield that kept him here when he wore a Rada'Han.

"Bringer of death, indeed," Kahlan whispered as she watched, awestruck. "I didn't know you could do such a thing."

"Neither did I," Richard said under his breath.

A blast of air tore at the grass as it roared headlong up the hill. They ducked down as a roiling wall of sand and dirt raced past.

They cautiously sat up when all went still. Night had returned, and in the sudden darkness, Richard couldn't see much below, but he knew — the Palace of the Prophets was gone.

"You did it, Richard," Kahlan said at last.

"We did it," he answered as he stared down at the dead, dark hole in the center of the city lights.

"I'm glad you brought that book. I want to know what else.it says about you." A smile began to spread on her lips. "I guess Jagang won't be living there."

"I guess not. Are you all right?"

"Fine," she said. "But I'm glad it's over."

"I'm afraid it's only just begun. Come on, the sliph will get us back to Aydindril."

"You still haven't told me what this sliph is."

"I don't think you would believe me. You'll just have to see it for yourself."

"Quite impressive, Wizard Zorander," A

Zedd gave a dismissive grunt. "Not my doing."

A

He laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, A

"Yes, well, what must be, must be."

Zedd squeezed her shoulder as if to say he understood. "I wonder who direw the torch?"

"The Sisters of the Dark can use Subtractive Magic. One of them must have accidentally ignited the light web."

Zedd peered over at her in the dark. "Accidentally?" He took his hand back as he voiced only a dubious snort.

"That had to have been it," she said as she sighed.

"A little bit more than an accident, I would say." She detected a hint of pride in his wistful whisper.

"Like what?"

He ignored her question. "We'd better find Nathan."

"Yes," A

A

"I thought you could find him by that infernal collar,"

A

Holly searched, too, but stayed close. Zedd wandered off toward an open, flat place. Guided by the way the branches and brush were bent and broken, he was looking near the center of the node, where the power would have been concentrated. As she stooped to look among the low places in the rocks, Zedd called out to her.

A

He pointed. Standing up, so they couldn't miss it, stuck in a crack in a round hump of granite, was something round. A

She stared incredulously. "It's Nathan's Rada'Han."

Holly gasped. "Oh, A

A

"What does it mean?" Zedd chuckled. "It means he got free. He stuck it in that rock so you would be sure to see it, as if to thumb his nose at you. Nathan wanted us to know he got the collar off on his own. He must have linked the power of the node to it, or something." Zedd sighed. "Well, he's gone. Now, get mine off."

A

"Take my collar off, as you promised, and then you can gad off after him. Without me, I might add."

A

"With you? Bags, I'm doing no such thing!"

"You're coming."

"You intend to break your word!"

“No, I intend to keep it, just as soon as we find that troublesome prophet. You have no idea of the complications thai man can cause."

"What do you need me for!"

She shook her finger at him. "You're coming with me whether you like it or not, and that's all there is to it. When we find him, then I take that collar off. Not before."

He shook his fists in a sputtering fit while A

"Holly, as your first assignment as a novice to be a Sister of the Light, I have a very important, urgent duty for you."

Holly nodded seriously. "What is it, A

"It's critical that Zedd and I go find Nathan. I hope it won't be long, but we must hurry before he gets away."

"Before he gets away!" Zedd howled behind her. "He's had hours. He's got a huge lead. There's no telling where that man went. He's already 'gotten away, »

A

"What should I tell her?"

"Whatever you know about what you've seen and heard while you've been with us. Tell her the truth, and don't make anything up. It's important that she know what's going on. Tell her that Zedd and I are going after Nathan, and that when we can we will join up with them, but our first priority is finding the Prophet. Tell her to head north, as they're doing, to escape the Order."

"I can do that."

"It's not far, and the road right over here will take you to the road they will be riding up, so you won't miss them. Your horse knows and likes you, so she'll take good care of you. You'll be there in just an hour or two, and. then you'll have all the Sisters to keep you safe, and love you. Sister Verna will know what to do."