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Her training under her father had been a good foundation for the
esoteric tactical precepts that Richard had taught her when she was
recovering from her wounds back in Hartland. Richard's way had seemed so
strange, then; now, it seemed so natural. In much the same way a lighter
horse could outmaneuver a big warhorse, her lighter weight became her edge.
She didn't need the weight because she simply didn't clash with the enemy in
the traditional manner, as they expected. She was a hummingbird, floating
out of their reach, swooping in between their ponderous moves to efficiently
deliver death.
Such moves were not at odds with the manner of fighting that her father
had taught, but complemented it in a way that fit her. Richard had trained
her not with a sword, but with a willow switch, a mischievous smile, and a
dangerous glint in his eyes. Now, Richard's sword, strapped over the back of
her shoulder, was an everpresent reminder of those playful lessons that had
been not only unrelenting, but deadly serious.
She finally found Verna, bent over Cara, but didn't see the general
anywhere. Kahlan snatched Verna's sleeve.
"How is she?"
"She threw up, but that seemed to have helped, once it passed. She will
probably be woozy for a while, but I think she's otherwise all right."
I "She has a thick skull," Adie said. "It not be cracked, but she
should lie still for
a time-at least until she recovers her balance."
Cara's hands groped as if having trouble finding the ground beneath
her. Despite
her obvious dizziness, she was cursing the Prelate and trying to sit
up. Kahlan, squatting beside Cara, pressed her shoulder to the ground.
"Cara, I'm right here. I'm fine. Lie still for a few minutes."
"I want at them!"
"Later," Kahlan said. "Don't worry, you'll get your chance." She saw
that the blood was cleaned from Adie's head. "Adie, how are you? How is your
head?"
The old sorceress gestured dismissively. "Bah. I be fine. My head be
thicker than Cara's."
Soldiers had gathered, forming a protective wall of steel. Verna, Adie,
and Kahlan crouched over Cara, keeping an eye on the surrounding area, but
the fighting immediately around them seemed to have ended. Even if pockets
of battle remained, with the large number of D'Haran soldiers who had
protectively closed ranks, the four women were safe for the time being.
General Meiffert finally returned, charging through the line of D'Haran
defenders as they parted for him. He leaped from his enemy warhorse. The
horse tossed his head at the indignity of being ridden by the enemy, and ran
off. The young D'Haran general crouched down on the opposite side of Cara.
Winded, he started talking anyway.
"I've been down checking with the front lines. This is a raid, much
like what we've been doing to them. It looked bigger than it really was.
When they spotted the Mother Confessor, they called their men into this
area, so the damage was mostly focused in this section."
"Why didn't we know?" Kahlan asked. "What went wrong with the alarm?"
"Not sure." He was shaking his head, still getting his breath. "Zedd
thinks that they learned our codes, and that when we blew the alarm, they
must have used Subtractive Magic to alter the magic woven into the sound
that tells our gifted that it's a real attack."
Kahlan let out an angry breath. It was all starting to make sense to
her. "That's why there have been so many false alarms. They were numbing us
to them so that when they attacked, we would be unconcerned, falsely
believing our own alarms were just another enemy false alarm."
"I'm guessing you're right." He flexed his fist in frustration. He
looked down then and noticed Cara scowling up at him. "Cara. Are you all
right? I was so-I mean, we thought you might be badly hurt."
"No," she said, casting a cool glare at Verna and Kahlan, each of whom
used a hand to hold her shoulders down. She casually crossed her ankles. "I
just thought you could handle it, so I decided to take a nap."
General Meiffert gave her a quick smile and then turned a serious face
to Kahlan.
"It gets worse. This cavalry attack was a diversion. They hoped it
might get you, I'm sure, but it was meant to make us believe it was just a
raid."
Kahlan felt her flesh go cold with dread. "They're coming, aren't
they?"
He nodded. "The entire force. They're still a distance out, but you're
right, they're coming. This was just to throw us into confusion and keep us
distracted."
Kahlan stared, dumbfounded. The Order had never attacked at sunset
before. The prospect of the onslaught of hundreds of thousands upon hundreds
of thousands of Imperial Order troops storming in from the darkness was
bloodcurdling.
"They've changed their tactics," Kahlan whispered to herself. "He's a
quick study. I thought I'd tricked him, but I was the one who was taken in."
"What are you mumbling about?" Cara asked, her fingers locked together
over her stomach.
"Jagang. He counted on me not being fooled by those troops going around
in a circle. He wanted me to think I had outsmarted him. He played me for a
fool."
Cara made a face. "What?"
Kahlan felt sick at the implications. She pressed a hand to her
forehead as the awful truth inundated her.
"Jagang wanted me to think I had his scheme figured out, so we would
pretend to play along and send out our troops. He probably figured they
wouldn't be sent after his decoy, but would be used instead against his real
plan of attack. He didn't care about that, though. All along, he was
planning on changing his tactics. He was waiting only until those troops
left so that he could attack before they were in place and while our numbers
were reduced."
"You mean," Cara asked, "that whole time you were talking to him,
pretending to believe he was moving troops north, he knew you were
pretending?"
"I'm afraid so. He outsmarted me."
"Maybe, maybe not," General Meiffert said. "He hasn't succeeded, yet.
We don't have to let him have it his way. We can move our forces before he
can pounce."
"Can't we call back the men we sent out?" Verna asked. "Their numbers
would help."
"They're hours away," General Meiffert said, "traveling through back
country on the way to their assigned locations. They would never get back
here in time to help us tonight."
Rather than dwell on how gullible she had been, Kahlan put her mind to
the immediate problem. "We need to move fast."
The general nodded his agreement. "We could fall back on our other
plansabout breaking up and scattering into the mountains."
He ran his fingers back through his blond hair. The gesture of
frustration unexpectedly reminded Kahlan of Richard. "But if we do that, we
would have to abandon most of our supplies. In winter, without supplies, a
number of our men wouldn't last long. Either way, killed in battle or dying
of hunger and cold-you're just as dead."
"Broken up like that, we would be easy pickings," Kahlan agreed.
"That's a last resort. It may work later, but not now. For now, we need to
keep the army together if we're to survive the winter-and if we're to keep
the Order distracted from its designs at conquest."
"We dare not allow them to go uncontested into a city. It would not
only be a bloodbath, but if they picked the right city, we would face a near
impossible task of dislodging them." The general shook his head. "It could
end up being the end of our hopes of driving them back to the Old World."
Kahlan gestured over her shoulder. "What about that valley we talked
about, back there? The high pass is narrow-it can be defended on this side
by two men and a dog, if need be."
"That's what I was thinking," he said. "It keeps the army together-and
keeps the Order having to contend with us, rather than being able to turn
their attention on any cities. If they try to move around us up into the
Midlands, there are easy northern routes out of the valley from which we can
strike. We have more men on
the way, and we can send for others; we need to stay together and
maintain our engagement with the Order's army until those forces arrive."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Verna asked. "Let's get moving."
He gave her a worried look. "The problem right now is that if we're to
make it into that valley before the Order can pounce on us, we're going to
need more time to do it. The pass is too narrow for wagons. The horses can
make it, but not the wagons-they'll have to be dismantled. Most of our
equipment is designed to be knocked down so the parts can be portaged, if
need be. We'll have to leave a few that aren't. It won't take long to get
started, but we're going to need time to funnel all the men and supplies
over that narrow pass-especially in the dark."
"Torches will work well enough with a steady line of men," Adie said.
"They must only follow the one in front, and even if the fight be bad, they
can do it."
Kahlan remembered the handprint made of glowing dust. "The gifted could
lay down a glowing track to guide the men."
"That would help," the general said. "We're still left with our basic
problem, though. While our men are trying to break down and move all our
equipment and supplies, and waiting their turn to go over the pass, the
Order will arrive. We'll find ourselves in a pitched battle trying to defend
ourselves while withdrawing at the same time. A withdrawal requires the
ability to move faster than the enemy, or at least keep him at bay while
pulling back; the pass doesn't provide that."
"We've kept ahead of them before," Verna said. "This isn't the first
attack."
"You're right." He pointed to his left. "We could try to withdraw up
this valley, instead, but in the dark and with the Order attacking, I think
that would be a mistake. Darkness is the problem, this time. They're going
to keep coming. In daylight, we could establish defenses and hold them
off-not at night."
"We already have defenses set up, here," Cara said. "We could stand
where we are and fight them head-on."
General Meiffert chewed his lower lip. "That was my first thought,
Cara, and still an option, but I don't like our chances in a head-on, direct
confrontation like this, not at night when they can sneak great numbers of
men in close. We couldn't use our archers to advantage in the dark. We can't
see their numbers or movements accurately, so we wouldn't be able to
position our men properly. It's a problem of numbers: theirs are almost
unlimited, ours aren't.
"We don't have enough gifted to cover every possibility-and in war it's
always what you don't cover that gets hit. The enemy could pour through a
gap, get in behind us in the dark, without us even realizing it, and then
we're finished."
Everyone was silent as the implications truly sank in.
"I agree," Kahlan said. "The pass is the only chance we have to keep
from losing a major battle tonight-along with a huge number of our men. The
risk without real benefit of standing and fighting is a poor choice."
The general appraised her eyes. "That still leaves us with the problem
of how we're going to get over that pass before they annihilate us."
Kahlan turned to Verna. "We need you to slow the enemy down to give us
the time we need to get our army over that pass."
"What do you wish me to do?"
"Use your special glass."
The general screwed up his face. "Her what?"
"A weapon of magic," Cara said. "To blind the enemy troops."
Verna looked thunderstruck. "But I'm not ready. We only made up a small
batch. I'm not ready."
Kahlan turned back to the general. "What did the scouts say about how
much time we have until the Order is upon us?"
"The Order could be here within an hour, at the soonest, two at the
latest. If we don't slow them down, we'll never make it out of this valley
with our men and supplies. If we can't find a way to delay them, we can only
run for the hills, or stand and fight. Neither is a choice I would make
except in desperation."
"If we just run for the hills," Adie said, "we be as good as dead.
Together, we be alive and at least be a threat to the enemy. If we scatter,
the Order will take the opportunity to attack and capture cities. If our
only choice is to scatter, or stand our ground and fight, then we can only
choose to stand and fight. Better to try, than to die one at a time out in
the mountains."
Kahlan rubbed her fingers across her brow as she tried to think. Jagang
had changed his tactics and decided to engage them in a night battle. He had
never done that before because it would be so costly for him, but with his
numbers, he apparently wasn't concerned about that. Jagang held life in
little regard.
"If we have to fight him, in a full battle, here, now," Kahlan said in
resignation, "we will probably lose the war by dawn."
"I agree," the general finally said. "As far as I see it, we have no
choice. We have to act quickly and get as many of our men over the pass as
we can. We'll lose all those who don't get over before the Order arrives,
but we'll manage to preserve some."
The four of them were silent a moment, each considering the horror of
that reality, of who would remain behind to die. Furious activity continued
around them. Men were rushing around, putting out fires, collecting panicked
horses, tending to wounded, and battling the few remaining invaders they had
trapped. The Order soldiers were greatly outnumbered. Not for long, though.
Kahlan's mind raced. She couldn't help being furious with herself at
being gulled. Richard's words echoed through her mind: think of the
solution, not the problem. The solution was the only thing that mattered
now.
Kahlan looked again to Verna. "We have an hour before they're upon us.
You have to try, Verna. Do you think you have any chance at making your
special glass and then deploying it before the enemy is upon us?"
"I will do my best-you have my word on that. I wish I could promise
more." Verna scrambled to her feet. "I'll need the Sisters who are tending
the wounded, of course. What about the ones working at the front lines? The
ones countering enemy magic? Can I have any of them?"
"Take them all," Kahlan said. "If this doesn't work, nothing else is
going to matter."
"I'll take them all, then. Every one," Verna said. "It's the only
chance we have."
"You get started," Adie told Verna. "Go down near the front lines, on
this side of the valley where you will be upwind from the attack. I will
begin collecting the Sisters and get them down there to help you."
"We need glass," Verna said to the general. "Any kind. At least a few
barrels full."
"I'll have men down there with the first barrel right away. Can we at
least help to break it up for you?"
"No. It won't matter if what you throw in the barrels breaks, but
beyond that, it must be done by the gifted. Just bring whatever glass you
can collect, that will be all you can do."
The general promised her he would see to it. Holding her hem up out of
her way, Verna ran off to the task. Adie was close on her heels.
"I'll get the men moving now," the general told Kahlan as he scrambled
to his feet. "The scouts can mark the trail; then we can start moving the
heavier supplies first."
If it worked, they would slip out of Jagang's grasp.
Kahlan knew that if Verna failed, they could all very well lose their
lives, and the war, by morning. General Meiffert paused with one last
hesitant look, one last chance for her to change her mind.
"Do it," she said to the general. "Cara-we have work."
Kahlan pulled her horse up short. She felt the heat of blood rushing to
her face. "What are you doing?" Cara asked as Kahlan threw her leg over the
horse's neck and leaped to the ground.
The moon lit a layer of lacy clouds scudding past, giving a faint,
serene illumination to the surrounding countryside. The thin layer of snow
gathered the muted light of the moon to make it more luminous than it
otherwise would be.
Kahlan pointed in the direction of the small figure she could just make
out in the dim light. The skinny girl, surely not much past ten years, was
standing at a barrel, ramming a metal rod down inside to smash the glass in
the bottom. Kahlan handed the reins to Cara as soon as she had dismounted.
Kahlan stalked over to the Sisters working on the snowy ground. Running
off in a haphazard line, to keep the wind at their backs, were over a
hundred of the women, all focused intently on the work before them. Many had
their cloaks tented around themselves and their work.
Not far down that line, Kahlan bent, put a hand under the Prelate's
arm, and lifted her to her feet. Mindful of the serious nature of the work
going on, Kahlan at least kept her voice quiet, since she wasn't able to
make it congenial.
"Verna, what is Holly doing down here?"
Verna glanced over the heads of a dozen intervening Sisters kneeling
before a long board, breeze at their backs, carefully griding glass chips
with pestles in mortars. There being not nearly enough pestles and mortars,
many of the women to the other side were using dished rocks and round stones
to carefully crunch the glass chips. The concentration showed on each
woman's face. The accident that had blinded a Sister had happened when the
wind had changed, and a gust had blown her work back up in her face. The
same thing could happen again at any time, although, as darkness had settled
in, the wind had at least died down to a steady breeze.
Holly was bundled in an oversized cloak. She had a determined grimace
as she lifted the rod and then let it drop down in the barrel set away from
the Sisters' dangerous work. Kahlan saw that the rod had a faint greenish
glow to it.
"She's helping, Mother Confessor."
"She's a child!"
Verna pointed off into the darkness, to what Kahlan hadn't seen. "So
are Helen and Valery."
Kahlan pinched the bridge of her nose between her first finger and
thumb and took a purging breath. "What madness would possess you to have
children down here near the front helping to-to blind people?"
Verna glanced at the women working nearby. She took Kahlan's arm by the
elbow and led her out of earshot of the others. Alone, where they were less
likely
to be heard, she folded her hands before herself as she assumed the
stern visage that came so naturally to her.
"Kahlan, Holly may be a child, but she is a gifted child, and she is
far from stupid besides. That goes for Helen and Valery as well. Holly has
seen more in her young life than any child should see. She knows what's
going on tonight, with that attack, and with the attack that's coming. She
was terrified-all the children were."
"So you bring her to the front-to the greatest danger?"
"What would you have me do? Send her back somewhere to be watched over
by soldiers? Do you wish me to force her to be alone at a time like this so
she could only tremble in terror?"
"But this is-"
"She's gifted. Despite how horrific it seems, this is better for her,
as it is for the others. She's with the Sisters, who understand her and her
ability as other people can't. Don't you recall the comfort you derived from
being with older Confessors who knew the way you felt about things?"
Kahlan did, but said nothing.
"The Sisters are the only family she and the other novices have, now.
Holly is not alone and afraid. She may still be afraid, but she's doing
something to help us, so that her fear is channeled into something that will
assist in overcoming the cause of her fear."
Kahlan's brow was still set in a glare. "Verna, she's a child."
"And you had to kill a child today. I understand. But don't let that
terrible event make it harder on Holly. Yes, this is an awful thing she is
helping to do, but this is the reality of the way things are. She could die
tonight, along with the rest of us. Can you even imagine what those brutes
would do to her, first? At least that much is beyond the imagination of her
young mind. What she can comprehend, though, is fear enough.
"If she wanted to hide somewhere, I would have let her, but she has a
right-if she so chooses-to contribute to saving herself. She is gifted and
can use her power to do the simple part of what needs doing. She begged me
to give her the chance to help."
In anguish, Kahlan gathered her fur mantle at her throat as she glanced
back over her shoulder at the little girl using both her spindly arms to
lift the heavy steel rod and drop it again to break the glass in the bottom
of the barrel. Holly's features were drawn tight as she concentrated on
using her gift while at the same time lifting the weight of the rod.
"Dear spirits," Kahlan whispered to herself, "this is madness."
Cara impatiently shifted her weight to her other foot. It wasn't
indifference to the situation, but a matter of priorities. Madness or not,
there was little tine left, and, as Verna said, they could all die before
the night was finished. As cruel as it sounded, there were more important
matters than the life of one child, or, for that matter, three.
"How is the work going? Are you going to be ready?"
Verna's bold expression finally faltered. "I don't know." She lifted a
hand hesitantly, motioning out over the dark valley before them. "The wind
is right, but the valley approach to our forces is quite broad. It's not
that we won't have some, it's that we need to have enough so that when the
enemy gets close, we can release the glass dust to float across the span of
the entire field of battle."
"But you have some. Surely, what you have will do damage to the enemy."
"If there isn't enough, then they may skirt it, or it may not be
concentrated enough to do the damage necessary to bring their forces to a
halt. Their attack will not be turned back by a small number of casualties."
Verna squeezed one fist in her other hand. "If the Creator will just slow
the Imperial Order enough to grant us another hour, at the least, then I
believe we may have enough."
Kahlan wiped a hand across her face. That was asking a lot, but with
the darkness, she thought that it just might be possible that the Order
would have to go slow enough to give Verna and her Sisters the time they
needed.
"And you're sure we can't help? There is nothing any but the gifted can
do to assist you?"
Verna's mask of authority again emerged in the moonlight.
"Well, yes, there is one thing."
"What is it, then?"
"You could leave me alone so I can work."
Kahlan sighed. "Just promise me one thing." Verna raised an eyebrow as
if willing to listen prudently. "When the attack comes, and you have to use
this special glass, get the children out of here first? Get them to the
rear, where they can be taken over the pass to safety."
Verna smiled with relief. "We are of like minds in that, Mother
Confessor."
As Verna hurried back to her work, Kahlan and Cara returned along the
line of Sisters, past the end to where Holly was preparing glass to supply
those gifted women. Kahlan couldn't help but to stop for a word.
"Holly, how are you getting along?"
When the girl rested the rod against the side of the barrel, Cara,
absent any fondness for magic, aimed a suspicious frown at the faintly
glowing metal. As Holly took her small hands from the metal, the greenish
glow faded, as if a magical wick had been turned down.
"I'm fine, Mother Confessor. Except I'm cold. I'm getting terribly
tired of being cold."
Kahlan smiled warmly as she ran a gentle hand down the back of Holly's
fine hair. "As are we all." Kahlan crouched down beside the girl. "When we
get over into another valley, you can get warm by a nice fire."
"That would be splendid." She cast a furtive glance at her steel rod.
"I have to get back to work, Mother Confessor."
Kahlan couldn't resist pulling the girl close and kissing her frigid
cheek. Hesitant at first, the thin little arms surrendered to desperately
encircle Kahlan's neck.
"I'm so scared," Holly whispered.
"Me too," Kahlan whispered back as she squeezed the girl tight. "Me
too."
Holly straightened. "Really? You get scared, too, that those awful men
will murder us?"
Kahlan nodded. "I get frightened, but I know we have a lot of good
people who will keep us safe. Like you, they work as hard as they can so
that we can all someday be safe, and not have to be scared anymore."
The girl stuck her hands under her cloak to warm them. Her gaze sank to
the ground at her feet. "I miss Ann, too." She looked up again. "Is Ann
safe?"
Kahlan groped for words of comfort. "I saw Ann not long ago, and she
was fine. I don't think you need worry for her."
"She saved me. I love her and miss her so. Will she be with us, soon?"
Kahlan cupped the girl's cheek. "I don't know, Holly. She had important
business she was taking care of. I'm sure, though, that we'll see her
again."
Pleased with that news and seemingly relieved to know that she was not
alone in her fears, Holly turned back to her work with renewed
determination.
As Kahlan and Cara collected their horses, they heard a horse
approaching at a gallop. Before she recognized the rider, Kahlan saw and
recognized the black splotch on its rump. When he saw her waving, Zedd
trotted Spider around to her. He slid down off the animal's bare back.
"They're coming," the wizard announced without preamble.
--]----
Verna rushed up, having seen Zedd ride in. "It's too soon! They weren't
supposed to be here this soon!"
He gaped at her in astonishment. "Bags, woman, shall I tell them that
it would be rather inconvenient for them to attack right now and to please
come back to kill us later?"
"You know what I mean," she snapped. "We don't have enough, yet."
"How long till they get here?" Kahlan asked.
"Ten minutes."
That thin sliver of time was the only bulwark between them and
catastrophe. Kahlan felt as if her heart rose into her throat, recalling
suddenly the forsaken feeling of being mobbed and beaten to death. Verna
sputtered in wordless frustration, anger, and dread.
"Do you have any ready?" Zedd asked as calmly as if he were inquiring
about dinner.
"Yes, of course," she said. "But if they will be here that soon, we've
not enough. Dear Creator, we don't have nearly what we'll need in order to
drift it out all across the front. Too little is as good as none."
"We've no choice, now." Zedd gazed off into the darkness, perhaps
seeing what only a wizard could see. His jaw was set in bitter
disappointment. He spoke in a disembodied voice, a man going through the
motions when he knew he had come to the end of his options, perhaps even his
faith. "Start releasing what you have. We'll just have to hope for the best.
I have messengers with me; I'll send word of the situation back to General
Meiffert. He will need to know."-
To see Zedd seemly relinquish hope cast their fate in the most
frightening light possible. Zedd was always the one who kept them focused
and gave them courage, conviction, and confidence. He gathered up Spider's
reins in one hand and gripped her mane with the other.
"Wait," Kahlan said.
He paused and looked back at her. His eyes were a window into an inner
weariness. She couldn't imagine all the struggles he had faced in his life,
or even in the last few weeks. Kahlan ran through seemingly a thousand
thoughts as she searched frantically for some way of turning away their grim
fate.
Kahlan couldn't let Zedd down. He had so often carried them; now he
needed another shoulder to help endure the weight. She presented him a look
of fierce determination before she turned to the Prelate.
"Verna, what if we didn't release it in the way we planned? What if we
didn't simply let it drift out, hoping for the breeze to. carry it where we
need it?"
Verna opened her hands in a bewildered gesture. "What do you mean?"
"Won't it take more of the glass-the amount you say you need-simply so
that there is enough to let it drift all the way across the valley, and yet
have enough to hang in the air, too?"
"Well . . . yes, of course, but-"
"What if," Kahlan asked, "we released it in a line along the face of
the front? Right where it was needed. Then it would take less, wouldn't it?"
"Well I suppose." Verna threw up her hands. "But I told you, we can't
use magic to help us or they will detect our conjuring and then they will
shield for the glass as fast as we release it. It will be useless. Better to
release what we have and hope for the best."
Kahlan glanced out over the empty plain faintly lit by the placid
clouds veiling the moon. There was nothing to be seen out in the valley.
Soon, there would be. Soon, the virgin snow would be trampled by the boots
of over a million men.
Only the sound of glass being crushed on stone and the thump of the
steel rods in the barrels disturbed the quiet darkness. Soon, bloodcurdling
battle cries would inundate the hush of the night.
Kahlan felt the suffocating dread she had felt when she first realized
that all those men had caught her alone. She felt the anger, too.
"Collect what you've made so far," she said. "Let me have it."
They all stared at her.
Zedd's brow drew together in a wrinkled knot. "Just what are you
thinking?"
Kahlan pulled her hair back from her face as she rapidly pieced
together her plan, so that it was whole in her own mind, first.
"The enemy is attacking into the wind-not directly, but close enough
for our purpose. I'm thinking that if I ride along the front of our line,
right in front of the advancing enemy troops, and I release the glass dust,
letting it dribble out as I go, then it will flow out in the wind behind me,
right into the faces of the enemy. Delivering it right where it's needed, it
won't take as much as it would were we to let it drift out from here hoping
to spread it all across the valley." She looked from one startled face to
another. "Do you see what I'm saying? Closer to the enemy, wouldn't it take
much less to do the job?"
"Dear Creator," Verna protested, "do you have any idea how dangerous
that would be?"
"Yes," Kahlan answered in grim resolve. "A lot less dangerous than
facing a direct attack by their entire force. Now, would that work? Wouldn't
it take considerably less if I were to ride along the front, trickling it
out as I went, than letting it drift out to them from here? Well? We're
running out of time."
"You're right-it wouldn't take nearly as much." Verna touched her lip
as she stared off into the darkness while considering. "It's better than the
way we were going to do it, that much is sure."
Kahlan started pushing her. "Get it together. Now. Hurry."
Verna abandoned her protests and ran off to collect what they had. Cara
was about to unleash a tirade of objections when Zedd lifted a hand as if to
ask she let him do the objecting, instead.
"Kahlan, it sounds like you might have something here, but someone else
can do this. It's foolish to risk-"
"I'll be needing a diversion," she said, cutting him off. "Something to
distract their attention. I'll be riding by in the dark, so they probably
won't notice me, but it would be best if there were something to occupy
their attention, just in case, something to make them look elsewhere-for the
last time."
"As I was saying, someone else can-"
"No," she said in quiet finality. "I'll not ask someone else to do
this. It was my idea. I'm doing it. I won't allow someone to take my place."
Kahlan deemed herself responsible for the peril they were in. It was
she who had blundered and fallen for Jagang's trick. It was she who had come
up with the plan and ordered the troops out. It was she who made Jagang's
night attack possible.
Kahlan knew all too well the terror everyone felt, waiting for the
attack. She felt it herself. She thought of Holly, fearful of being murdered
by the marauding beasts coming out of the night for her. The fear was all
too real.
It would be Kahlan who had lost the war for them, this very night, if
they didn't get their army back across that pass to safety.
"I'm doing this myself," she repeated. "That's the way it's going to
be. Standing here arguing about it can only cost us our chance. Now, I need
a diversion, and I need one quickly."
Zedd let out an angry breath. The fire was back in his eyes. He flicked
out his hand, pointing. "Warren is back there waiting for me. The two of us
will move to separate locations and give you your diversion."
"What will you do?"
At last, Zedd surrendered to a grim, cunning grin. "Nothing fancy, this
time. No clever devious tricks, like they no doubt expect. This time, we'll
give them a good old-fashioned firefight."
Kahlan gave a sharp tug to the strap at her ribs holding her leather
armor on her shoulders, chest, and back, cinching it down tight. She nodded
once to seal the pact.
"Wizard's fire it is, then."
"Keep an eye to your right, to our side, as you ride. I don't want you
to get in the way of what I mean for the enemy. You must also watch for what
their gifted send back at me."
As she secured her cloak, she nodded assent to Zedd's brief
instructions. She checked the straps on her leg armor, making sure they were
tight, remembering how the enemy's strong fingers had clawed at her legs,
trying to unhorse her.
Verna came-rushing back, a big bucket at the end of each arm pulled
down straight by the weight. Some of the Sisters were scurrying along beside
her.
"All right," the winded Prelate said. "Let's go."
Kahlan reached for the buckets. "I'll take-"
Verna yanked them back. "How do you propose to ride and sprinkle this
out? It's too much. Besides, you don't know its properties."
:'Verna, I'm not letting you-"
"Stop acting like an obstinate child. Let's go."
Cara snatched one of the buckets. "Verna is right, Mother Confessor.
You can't hold on to your horse, release the glass dust, and carry both
buckets all at the same time. You two take that one, I'll take this one."
The willowy Sister Philippa rushed to Cara's side and lifted the
bucket. "Mistress Cara is right, Prelate. You and the Mother Confessor can't
do both buckets. You two take one; Mistress Cara and I will take the other."
There was no time to argue with the three determined women. Kahlan knew
that
no one would be able to talk her out of what she had to do, and they
probably felt the same. Besides, they had a valid point.
"All right," Kahlan said as she pulled on her gloves.
She lashed tight the fur mantle she wore over the top of the wool
cloak. She didn't want anything flapping in the wind. The hilt of her sword
was covered, but she figured she wouldn't be needing it. The hilt of
Richard's sword stuck up behind her shoulder, her ever-present reminder of
him-as if she needed one. She quickly tied her hair back with a leather
thong.
Verna tossed a handful of the fluffy snow, checking the wind. It had
held its direction and was light, but steady. At least that much was in
their favor.
"You two go first," Kahlan said to Cara. "Verna and I will wait maybe
five minutes to let what you release drift in toward the enemy, so that we
won't ride through it. Then, we'll follow you across the valley. That way
we'll be sure to overlap what you release with ours so as not to have any
gaps. We need to make sure there's no safe place for the Order to get
through. We need the ruin and panic to be as uniform and widespread as
possible."
Sister Philippa, noting what Kahlan had done, fastened her cloak
securely at her neck and waist. "That makes sense."
"It would be more effective doubled like that," Verna agreed.
"I guess there's no time to argue this foolishness," Zedd grumbled as
he seized Spider's mane and pulled himself up, laying across the horse's
back on his belly. He swung a leg over Spider's rump and sat up. "Let me
have a minute or two to get ahead of you and let Warren know, then we'll
start showing the Imperial Order some real wizard work."
He pulled his horse around and smiled. It was heartening to see it
again.
"After all this work, someone had better have some dinner waiting for
me on the other side of that pass back there."
"If I have to cook it for you myself," Kahlan promised.
The wizard gave them a jaunty wave and galloped off into the darkness.
Kahlan stuffed a boot in the stirrup, grabbed the saddle horn, and
sprang up into her seat. The cold leather creaked as she leaned over and
held a hand down in order to help Verna up. Once the Prelate squirmed in
close behind Kahlan, two Sisters carefully handed the heavy wooden bucket up
to her. Cara and Sister Philippa were on their horse and ready, the Sister
balancing her bucket on her thigh.
"Get the children back across the pass," Verna ordered.
Sister Dulcinia bobbed her head of gray hair. "I will see to it,
Prelate."
"Whatever more of the glass you can have ready by the time the Mother
Confessor and I ride out, you should release into the wind for good measure,
then get yourselves spread out behind our lines to help if the Order breaks
through. If we fail, the Sisters must do their best to hold the enemy off
while as many as possible make it across the pass to safety."
Sister Dulcinia again promised to carry out the Prelate's orders.
They all waited a few minutes in silence while giving Zedd the head
start he needed to reach Warren with instructions. There seemed nothing else
to say. Kahlan concentrated on what she had to do, rather than worrying
whether or not it would work. In the back of her mind, though, she was aware
of how notoriously imperfect were such last-minute battle plans.
Judging that they had waited as long as they dared, Kahlan motioned
with her arm, signaling Cara to start out. The two of them shared a last
look. Cara offered a brief smile, good luck-then raced away, Sister Philippa
holding tight to the MordSith's waist with one arm and balancing the bucket
on her thigh with the help of her other hand.
As the sound of hoofbeats from Cara's horse faded into the night,
Kahlan for the first time realized that, in the distance, she could hear the
collective yells of hundreds of thousands of Imperial Order troops. The
countless voices fused into one continuous roar as their attack drew ever
closer. It almost sounded like the moan of an ill wind through a canyon's
rocky fangs. Her horse snorted and pawed the frozen ground. The awful drone
made Kahlan's pulse race even faster. She wanted to race away, before the
men got too close, but she had to wait, to give the glass dust Cara and
Sister Philippa released time to drift out of the way.
"I wish we could use magic to protect ourselves," Verna said in a quiet
voice, almost as if in answer to what Kahlan was thinking. "We can't, of
course, or they would detect it."
Kahlan nodded, hardly hearing the woman. Verna was just saying anything
that came to mind so as not to have to sit and listen to the enemy coming
for them.
The bitter cold long forgotten, her heartbeat throbbing in her ears,
Kahlan sat still as death, staring out into the empty night, trying to
envision every aspect of the
task at hand, trying to go through it all in her mind first, so she
wouldn't be surprised by anything that might happen and then have to decide
what to do. Better to anticipate, if you could, than to react.
As she quietly sat her horse, she let her anger build, too. Anger made
a better warrior than fear.
Kahlan fed that anger with images of all the terrible things she had
seen the Imperial Order do to the people of the Midlands. She let the
memories of all the bodies she had seen pass through her mind, as if they
came before the Mother Confessor to plead with stilled tongues for
vengeance. She remembered the women she had seen wailing over murdered
children, husbands, sisters, brothers, mothers and fathers. She remembered
strong men in helpless anguish over the senseless slaughter of their friends
and loved ones. In her mind's eye, she saw those men, women, and children
suffering at the hands of a people to whom they had done no harm.
The Imperial Order was but a gang of killers without empathy. They
merited no pity; they would get none.
She thought about Richard in the hands of that enemy. She savored her
promise to kill every one of them if she had to until she got Richard back.
"It's time," Kahlan said through gritted teeth. Without looking back
over her shoulder, she asked, "Are you ready?"
"Ready. Don't slow for anything, or we will end up its victims, too.
Our only chance is to keep fresh air streaming over us to carry the glass
dust all away from our bodies. When we get to the opposite side, after I've
dumped it all, then we'll be safe. By that time, the Order should be in a
state of mass confusion, if not complete panic."
Kahlan nodded. "Hold tight. Here we go."
The horse, already in an excited state, probably from the approaching
cries, sprang away too fast, nearly dumping Verna off the back. Her arm
jerked tight around Kahlan's middle. At the same time, Kahlan reached back
and caught Verna's sleeve, holding her on. As they raced away and Verna
fought to regain her balance, the bucket lurched, but Verna was able to
steady it. Fortunately, it didn't spill.
Even as the muscular gelding was obeying her command and racing away,
his ears were turned to the approaching clamor. He was skittish carrying the
unfamiliar burden of two riders. He was well trained and had seen battle
often enough, so he probably was also edgy because he knew what the war
cries signified. Kahlan knew he was strong and quick. For what she had to
do, speed was life.
Kahlan's heart galloped as fast as the horse as they thundered through
the blackness of the valley. The enemy was much closer, now, than they had
been when Cara passed through not long before. The horse's hoofbeats partly
drowned out the battle cries of countless enemy soldiers to their left.
Terrifying bits of memories of fists and boots flashed unbidden into
her mind as she heard men coming toward her in the dark, screaming for
blood. She felt her vulnerability as never before. Kahlan turned those
memories from fear to anger at the outrage of these brutes coming into her
Midlands and murdering her people. She wanted every one of them to suffer,
and every one of them dead.
There was no telling precisely how far the enemy had already advanced,
or, with the moonlight behind her, even her own exact direction. Kahlan
worried that she might have sliced it too close to the bone, and that they
could unexpectedly encounter a wall of bloodthirsty men. She wanted to be
close, though, to deliver the blinding
dust right in their faces, to be sure it had the best chance to work,
to turn back the attack. She resisted the urge to guide her horse to the
right, away from the enemy.
The night suddenly ignited with harsh yellow light. The clouds went
from gray to bright yelloworange. White snow blazed with garish color. An
awful droning sound vibrated deep under her ribs.
A hundred feet in front of her and maybe ten feet above the ground,
tumbling liquid yellow and blue light roared headlong across her route,
dripping honeyed fire, trailing billowing black smoke. The seething sphere
of wizard's fire vividly illuminated the ground beneath it as it shot past.
Even though not directed at her, the sound alone was enough to make Kahlan
ache to cringe away in dread.
She knew enough about wizard's fire, how it clung tenaciously to the
skin, to be more than wary of it. Once that living fire touched you, it
couldn't be dislodged. Even a single droplet of wizard's fire would often
eat through flesh down to bone. There was no one either brave or foolish
enough not to fear it. Few people touched by such conjured flame lived to
recount the horror of the experience. For those who did, revenge became a
lifelong obsession.
Then, in the light of that bright flame streaking across the valley
floor, Kahlan caught sight of the horde, all with swords, maces, flails,
axes, pikes, and lances raised in the air as they yelled their battle cries.
esoteric tactical precepts that Richard had taught her when she was
recovering from her wounds back in Hartland. Richard's way had seemed so
strange, then; now, it seemed so natural. In much the same way a lighter
horse could outmaneuver a big warhorse, her lighter weight became her edge.
She didn't need the weight because she simply didn't clash with the enemy in
the traditional manner, as they expected. She was a hummingbird, floating
out of their reach, swooping in between their ponderous moves to efficiently
deliver death.
Such moves were not at odds with the manner of fighting that her father
had taught, but complemented it in a way that fit her. Richard had trained
her not with a sword, but with a willow switch, a mischievous smile, and a
dangerous glint in his eyes. Now, Richard's sword, strapped over the back of
her shoulder, was an everpresent reminder of those playful lessons that had
been not only unrelenting, but deadly serious.
She finally found Verna, bent over Cara, but didn't see the general
anywhere. Kahlan snatched Verna's sleeve.
"How is she?"
"She threw up, but that seemed to have helped, once it passed. She will
probably be woozy for a while, but I think she's otherwise all right."
I "She has a thick skull," Adie said. "It not be cracked, but she
should lie still for
a time-at least until she recovers her balance."
Cara's hands groped as if having trouble finding the ground beneath
her. Despite
her obvious dizziness, she was cursing the Prelate and trying to sit
up. Kahlan, squatting beside Cara, pressed her shoulder to the ground.
"Cara, I'm right here. I'm fine. Lie still for a few minutes."
"I want at them!"
"Later," Kahlan said. "Don't worry, you'll get your chance." She saw
that the blood was cleaned from Adie's head. "Adie, how are you? How is your
head?"
The old sorceress gestured dismissively. "Bah. I be fine. My head be
thicker than Cara's."
Soldiers had gathered, forming a protective wall of steel. Verna, Adie,
and Kahlan crouched over Cara, keeping an eye on the surrounding area, but
the fighting immediately around them seemed to have ended. Even if pockets
of battle remained, with the large number of D'Haran soldiers who had
protectively closed ranks, the four women were safe for the time being.
General Meiffert finally returned, charging through the line of D'Haran
defenders as they parted for him. He leaped from his enemy warhorse. The
horse tossed his head at the indignity of being ridden by the enemy, and ran
off. The young D'Haran general crouched down on the opposite side of Cara.
Winded, he started talking anyway.
"I've been down checking with the front lines. This is a raid, much
like what we've been doing to them. It looked bigger than it really was.
When they spotted the Mother Confessor, they called their men into this
area, so the damage was mostly focused in this section."
"Why didn't we know?" Kahlan asked. "What went wrong with the alarm?"
"Not sure." He was shaking his head, still getting his breath. "Zedd
thinks that they learned our codes, and that when we blew the alarm, they
must have used Subtractive Magic to alter the magic woven into the sound
that tells our gifted that it's a real attack."
Kahlan let out an angry breath. It was all starting to make sense to
her. "That's why there have been so many false alarms. They were numbing us
to them so that when they attacked, we would be unconcerned, falsely
believing our own alarms were just another enemy false alarm."
"I'm guessing you're right." He flexed his fist in frustration. He
looked down then and noticed Cara scowling up at him. "Cara. Are you all
right? I was so-I mean, we thought you might be badly hurt."
"No," she said, casting a cool glare at Verna and Kahlan, each of whom
used a hand to hold her shoulders down. She casually crossed her ankles. "I
just thought you could handle it, so I decided to take a nap."
General Meiffert gave her a quick smile and then turned a serious face
to Kahlan.
"It gets worse. This cavalry attack was a diversion. They hoped it
might get you, I'm sure, but it was meant to make us believe it was just a
raid."
Kahlan felt her flesh go cold with dread. "They're coming, aren't
they?"
He nodded. "The entire force. They're still a distance out, but you're
right, they're coming. This was just to throw us into confusion and keep us
distracted."
Kahlan stared, dumbfounded. The Order had never attacked at sunset
before. The prospect of the onslaught of hundreds of thousands upon hundreds
of thousands of Imperial Order troops storming in from the darkness was
bloodcurdling.
"They've changed their tactics," Kahlan whispered to herself. "He's a
quick study. I thought I'd tricked him, but I was the one who was taken in."
"What are you mumbling about?" Cara asked, her fingers locked together
over her stomach.
"Jagang. He counted on me not being fooled by those troops going around
in a circle. He wanted me to think I had outsmarted him. He played me for a
fool."
Cara made a face. "What?"
Kahlan felt sick at the implications. She pressed a hand to her
forehead as the awful truth inundated her.
"Jagang wanted me to think I had his scheme figured out, so we would
pretend to play along and send out our troops. He probably figured they
wouldn't be sent after his decoy, but would be used instead against his real
plan of attack. He didn't care about that, though. All along, he was
planning on changing his tactics. He was waiting only until those troops
left so that he could attack before they were in place and while our numbers
were reduced."
"You mean," Cara asked, "that whole time you were talking to him,
pretending to believe he was moving troops north, he knew you were
pretending?"
"I'm afraid so. He outsmarted me."
"Maybe, maybe not," General Meiffert said. "He hasn't succeeded, yet.
We don't have to let him have it his way. We can move our forces before he
can pounce."
"Can't we call back the men we sent out?" Verna asked. "Their numbers
would help."
"They're hours away," General Meiffert said, "traveling through back
country on the way to their assigned locations. They would never get back
here in time to help us tonight."
Rather than dwell on how gullible she had been, Kahlan put her mind to
the immediate problem. "We need to move fast."
The general nodded his agreement. "We could fall back on our other
plansabout breaking up and scattering into the mountains."
He ran his fingers back through his blond hair. The gesture of
frustration unexpectedly reminded Kahlan of Richard. "But if we do that, we
would have to abandon most of our supplies. In winter, without supplies, a
number of our men wouldn't last long. Either way, killed in battle or dying
of hunger and cold-you're just as dead."
"Broken up like that, we would be easy pickings," Kahlan agreed.
"That's a last resort. It may work later, but not now. For now, we need to
keep the army together if we're to survive the winter-and if we're to keep
the Order distracted from its designs at conquest."
"We dare not allow them to go uncontested into a city. It would not
only be a bloodbath, but if they picked the right city, we would face a near
impossible task of dislodging them." The general shook his head. "It could
end up being the end of our hopes of driving them back to the Old World."
Kahlan gestured over her shoulder. "What about that valley we talked
about, back there? The high pass is narrow-it can be defended on this side
by two men and a dog, if need be."
"That's what I was thinking," he said. "It keeps the army together-and
keeps the Order having to contend with us, rather than being able to turn
their attention on any cities. If they try to move around us up into the
Midlands, there are easy northern routes out of the valley from which we can
strike. We have more men on
the way, and we can send for others; we need to stay together and
maintain our engagement with the Order's army until those forces arrive."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Verna asked. "Let's get moving."
He gave her a worried look. "The problem right now is that if we're to
make it into that valley before the Order can pounce on us, we're going to
need more time to do it. The pass is too narrow for wagons. The horses can
make it, but not the wagons-they'll have to be dismantled. Most of our
equipment is designed to be knocked down so the parts can be portaged, if
need be. We'll have to leave a few that aren't. It won't take long to get
started, but we're going to need time to funnel all the men and supplies
over that narrow pass-especially in the dark."
"Torches will work well enough with a steady line of men," Adie said.
"They must only follow the one in front, and even if the fight be bad, they
can do it."
Kahlan remembered the handprint made of glowing dust. "The gifted could
lay down a glowing track to guide the men."
"That would help," the general said. "We're still left with our basic
problem, though. While our men are trying to break down and move all our
equipment and supplies, and waiting their turn to go over the pass, the
Order will arrive. We'll find ourselves in a pitched battle trying to defend
ourselves while withdrawing at the same time. A withdrawal requires the
ability to move faster than the enemy, or at least keep him at bay while
pulling back; the pass doesn't provide that."
"We've kept ahead of them before," Verna said. "This isn't the first
attack."
"You're right." He pointed to his left. "We could try to withdraw up
this valley, instead, but in the dark and with the Order attacking, I think
that would be a mistake. Darkness is the problem, this time. They're going
to keep coming. In daylight, we could establish defenses and hold them
off-not at night."
"We already have defenses set up, here," Cara said. "We could stand
where we are and fight them head-on."
General Meiffert chewed his lower lip. "That was my first thought,
Cara, and still an option, but I don't like our chances in a head-on, direct
confrontation like this, not at night when they can sneak great numbers of
men in close. We couldn't use our archers to advantage in the dark. We can't
see their numbers or movements accurately, so we wouldn't be able to
position our men properly. It's a problem of numbers: theirs are almost
unlimited, ours aren't.
"We don't have enough gifted to cover every possibility-and in war it's
always what you don't cover that gets hit. The enemy could pour through a
gap, get in behind us in the dark, without us even realizing it, and then
we're finished."
Everyone was silent as the implications truly sank in.
"I agree," Kahlan said. "The pass is the only chance we have to keep
from losing a major battle tonight-along with a huge number of our men. The
risk without real benefit of standing and fighting is a poor choice."
The general appraised her eyes. "That still leaves us with the problem
of how we're going to get over that pass before they annihilate us."
Kahlan turned to Verna. "We need you to slow the enemy down to give us
the time we need to get our army over that pass."
"What do you wish me to do?"
"Use your special glass."
The general screwed up his face. "Her what?"
"A weapon of magic," Cara said. "To blind the enemy troops."
Verna looked thunderstruck. "But I'm not ready. We only made up a small
batch. I'm not ready."
Kahlan turned back to the general. "What did the scouts say about how
much time we have until the Order is upon us?"
"The Order could be here within an hour, at the soonest, two at the
latest. If we don't slow them down, we'll never make it out of this valley
with our men and supplies. If we can't find a way to delay them, we can only
run for the hills, or stand and fight. Neither is a choice I would make
except in desperation."
"If we just run for the hills," Adie said, "we be as good as dead.
Together, we be alive and at least be a threat to the enemy. If we scatter,
the Order will take the opportunity to attack and capture cities. If our
only choice is to scatter, or stand our ground and fight, then we can only
choose to stand and fight. Better to try, than to die one at a time out in
the mountains."
Kahlan rubbed her fingers across her brow as she tried to think. Jagang
had changed his tactics and decided to engage them in a night battle. He had
never done that before because it would be so costly for him, but with his
numbers, he apparently wasn't concerned about that. Jagang held life in
little regard.
"If we have to fight him, in a full battle, here, now," Kahlan said in
resignation, "we will probably lose the war by dawn."
"I agree," the general finally said. "As far as I see it, we have no
choice. We have to act quickly and get as many of our men over the pass as
we can. We'll lose all those who don't get over before the Order arrives,
but we'll manage to preserve some."
The four of them were silent a moment, each considering the horror of
that reality, of who would remain behind to die. Furious activity continued
around them. Men were rushing around, putting out fires, collecting panicked
horses, tending to wounded, and battling the few remaining invaders they had
trapped. The Order soldiers were greatly outnumbered. Not for long, though.
Kahlan's mind raced. She couldn't help being furious with herself at
being gulled. Richard's words echoed through her mind: think of the
solution, not the problem. The solution was the only thing that mattered
now.
Kahlan looked again to Verna. "We have an hour before they're upon us.
You have to try, Verna. Do you think you have any chance at making your
special glass and then deploying it before the enemy is upon us?"
"I will do my best-you have my word on that. I wish I could promise
more." Verna scrambled to her feet. "I'll need the Sisters who are tending
the wounded, of course. What about the ones working at the front lines? The
ones countering enemy magic? Can I have any of them?"
"Take them all," Kahlan said. "If this doesn't work, nothing else is
going to matter."
"I'll take them all, then. Every one," Verna said. "It's the only
chance we have."
"You get started," Adie told Verna. "Go down near the front lines, on
this side of the valley where you will be upwind from the attack. I will
begin collecting the Sisters and get them down there to help you."
"We need glass," Verna said to the general. "Any kind. At least a few
barrels full."
"I'll have men down there with the first barrel right away. Can we at
least help to break it up for you?"
"No. It won't matter if what you throw in the barrels breaks, but
beyond that, it must be done by the gifted. Just bring whatever glass you
can collect, that will be all you can do."
The general promised her he would see to it. Holding her hem up out of
her way, Verna ran off to the task. Adie was close on her heels.
"I'll get the men moving now," the general told Kahlan as he scrambled
to his feet. "The scouts can mark the trail; then we can start moving the
heavier supplies first."
If it worked, they would slip out of Jagang's grasp.
Kahlan knew that if Verna failed, they could all very well lose their
lives, and the war, by morning. General Meiffert paused with one last
hesitant look, one last chance for her to change her mind.
"Do it," she said to the general. "Cara-we have work."
Kahlan pulled her horse up short. She felt the heat of blood rushing to
her face. "What are you doing?" Cara asked as Kahlan threw her leg over the
horse's neck and leaped to the ground.
The moon lit a layer of lacy clouds scudding past, giving a faint,
serene illumination to the surrounding countryside. The thin layer of snow
gathered the muted light of the moon to make it more luminous than it
otherwise would be.
Kahlan pointed in the direction of the small figure she could just make
out in the dim light. The skinny girl, surely not much past ten years, was
standing at a barrel, ramming a metal rod down inside to smash the glass in
the bottom. Kahlan handed the reins to Cara as soon as she had dismounted.
Kahlan stalked over to the Sisters working on the snowy ground. Running
off in a haphazard line, to keep the wind at their backs, were over a
hundred of the women, all focused intently on the work before them. Many had
their cloaks tented around themselves and their work.
Not far down that line, Kahlan bent, put a hand under the Prelate's
arm, and lifted her to her feet. Mindful of the serious nature of the work
going on, Kahlan at least kept her voice quiet, since she wasn't able to
make it congenial.
"Verna, what is Holly doing down here?"
Verna glanced over the heads of a dozen intervening Sisters kneeling
before a long board, breeze at their backs, carefully griding glass chips
with pestles in mortars. There being not nearly enough pestles and mortars,
many of the women to the other side were using dished rocks and round stones
to carefully crunch the glass chips. The concentration showed on each
woman's face. The accident that had blinded a Sister had happened when the
wind had changed, and a gust had blown her work back up in her face. The
same thing could happen again at any time, although, as darkness had settled
in, the wind had at least died down to a steady breeze.
Holly was bundled in an oversized cloak. She had a determined grimace
as she lifted the rod and then let it drop down in the barrel set away from
the Sisters' dangerous work. Kahlan saw that the rod had a faint greenish
glow to it.
"She's helping, Mother Confessor."
"She's a child!"
Verna pointed off into the darkness, to what Kahlan hadn't seen. "So
are Helen and Valery."
Kahlan pinched the bridge of her nose between her first finger and
thumb and took a purging breath. "What madness would possess you to have
children down here near the front helping to-to blind people?"
Verna glanced at the women working nearby. She took Kahlan's arm by the
elbow and led her out of earshot of the others. Alone, where they were less
likely
to be heard, she folded her hands before herself as she assumed the
stern visage that came so naturally to her.
"Kahlan, Holly may be a child, but she is a gifted child, and she is
far from stupid besides. That goes for Helen and Valery as well. Holly has
seen more in her young life than any child should see. She knows what's
going on tonight, with that attack, and with the attack that's coming. She
was terrified-all the children were."
"So you bring her to the front-to the greatest danger?"
"What would you have me do? Send her back somewhere to be watched over
by soldiers? Do you wish me to force her to be alone at a time like this so
she could only tremble in terror?"
"But this is-"
"She's gifted. Despite how horrific it seems, this is better for her,
as it is for the others. She's with the Sisters, who understand her and her
ability as other people can't. Don't you recall the comfort you derived from
being with older Confessors who knew the way you felt about things?"
Kahlan did, but said nothing.
"The Sisters are the only family she and the other novices have, now.
Holly is not alone and afraid. She may still be afraid, but she's doing
something to help us, so that her fear is channeled into something that will
assist in overcoming the cause of her fear."
Kahlan's brow was still set in a glare. "Verna, she's a child."
"And you had to kill a child today. I understand. But don't let that
terrible event make it harder on Holly. Yes, this is an awful thing she is
helping to do, but this is the reality of the way things are. She could die
tonight, along with the rest of us. Can you even imagine what those brutes
would do to her, first? At least that much is beyond the imagination of her
young mind. What she can comprehend, though, is fear enough.
"If she wanted to hide somewhere, I would have let her, but she has a
right-if she so chooses-to contribute to saving herself. She is gifted and
can use her power to do the simple part of what needs doing. She begged me
to give her the chance to help."
In anguish, Kahlan gathered her fur mantle at her throat as she glanced
back over her shoulder at the little girl using both her spindly arms to
lift the heavy steel rod and drop it again to break the glass in the bottom
of the barrel. Holly's features were drawn tight as she concentrated on
using her gift while at the same time lifting the weight of the rod.
"Dear spirits," Kahlan whispered to herself, "this is madness."
Cara impatiently shifted her weight to her other foot. It wasn't
indifference to the situation, but a matter of priorities. Madness or not,
there was little tine left, and, as Verna said, they could all die before
the night was finished. As cruel as it sounded, there were more important
matters than the life of one child, or, for that matter, three.
"How is the work going? Are you going to be ready?"
Verna's bold expression finally faltered. "I don't know." She lifted a
hand hesitantly, motioning out over the dark valley before them. "The wind
is right, but the valley approach to our forces is quite broad. It's not
that we won't have some, it's that we need to have enough so that when the
enemy gets close, we can release the glass dust to float across the span of
the entire field of battle."
"But you have some. Surely, what you have will do damage to the enemy."
"If there isn't enough, then they may skirt it, or it may not be
concentrated enough to do the damage necessary to bring their forces to a
halt. Their attack will not be turned back by a small number of casualties."
Verna squeezed one fist in her other hand. "If the Creator will just slow
the Imperial Order enough to grant us another hour, at the least, then I
believe we may have enough."
Kahlan wiped a hand across her face. That was asking a lot, but with
the darkness, she thought that it just might be possible that the Order
would have to go slow enough to give Verna and her Sisters the time they
needed.
"And you're sure we can't help? There is nothing any but the gifted can
do to assist you?"
Verna's mask of authority again emerged in the moonlight.
"Well, yes, there is one thing."
"What is it, then?"
"You could leave me alone so I can work."
Kahlan sighed. "Just promise me one thing." Verna raised an eyebrow as
if willing to listen prudently. "When the attack comes, and you have to use
this special glass, get the children out of here first? Get them to the
rear, where they can be taken over the pass to safety."
Verna smiled with relief. "We are of like minds in that, Mother
Confessor."
As Verna hurried back to her work, Kahlan and Cara returned along the
line of Sisters, past the end to where Holly was preparing glass to supply
those gifted women. Kahlan couldn't help but to stop for a word.
"Holly, how are you getting along?"
When the girl rested the rod against the side of the barrel, Cara,
absent any fondness for magic, aimed a suspicious frown at the faintly
glowing metal. As Holly took her small hands from the metal, the greenish
glow faded, as if a magical wick had been turned down.
"I'm fine, Mother Confessor. Except I'm cold. I'm getting terribly
tired of being cold."
Kahlan smiled warmly as she ran a gentle hand down the back of Holly's
fine hair. "As are we all." Kahlan crouched down beside the girl. "When we
get over into another valley, you can get warm by a nice fire."
"That would be splendid." She cast a furtive glance at her steel rod.
"I have to get back to work, Mother Confessor."
Kahlan couldn't resist pulling the girl close and kissing her frigid
cheek. Hesitant at first, the thin little arms surrendered to desperately
encircle Kahlan's neck.
"I'm so scared," Holly whispered.
"Me too," Kahlan whispered back as she squeezed the girl tight. "Me
too."
Holly straightened. "Really? You get scared, too, that those awful men
will murder us?"
Kahlan nodded. "I get frightened, but I know we have a lot of good
people who will keep us safe. Like you, they work as hard as they can so
that we can all someday be safe, and not have to be scared anymore."
The girl stuck her hands under her cloak to warm them. Her gaze sank to
the ground at her feet. "I miss Ann, too." She looked up again. "Is Ann
safe?"
Kahlan groped for words of comfort. "I saw Ann not long ago, and she
was fine. I don't think you need worry for her."
"She saved me. I love her and miss her so. Will she be with us, soon?"
Kahlan cupped the girl's cheek. "I don't know, Holly. She had important
business she was taking care of. I'm sure, though, that we'll see her
again."
Pleased with that news and seemingly relieved to know that she was not
alone in her fears, Holly turned back to her work with renewed
determination.
As Kahlan and Cara collected their horses, they heard a horse
approaching at a gallop. Before she recognized the rider, Kahlan saw and
recognized the black splotch on its rump. When he saw her waving, Zedd
trotted Spider around to her. He slid down off the animal's bare back.
"They're coming," the wizard announced without preamble.
--]----
Verna rushed up, having seen Zedd ride in. "It's too soon! They weren't
supposed to be here this soon!"
He gaped at her in astonishment. "Bags, woman, shall I tell them that
it would be rather inconvenient for them to attack right now and to please
come back to kill us later?"
"You know what I mean," she snapped. "We don't have enough, yet."
"How long till they get here?" Kahlan asked.
"Ten minutes."
That thin sliver of time was the only bulwark between them and
catastrophe. Kahlan felt as if her heart rose into her throat, recalling
suddenly the forsaken feeling of being mobbed and beaten to death. Verna
sputtered in wordless frustration, anger, and dread.
"Do you have any ready?" Zedd asked as calmly as if he were inquiring
about dinner.
"Yes, of course," she said. "But if they will be here that soon, we've
not enough. Dear Creator, we don't have nearly what we'll need in order to
drift it out all across the front. Too little is as good as none."
"We've no choice, now." Zedd gazed off into the darkness, perhaps
seeing what only a wizard could see. His jaw was set in bitter
disappointment. He spoke in a disembodied voice, a man going through the
motions when he knew he had come to the end of his options, perhaps even his
faith. "Start releasing what you have. We'll just have to hope for the best.
I have messengers with me; I'll send word of the situation back to General
Meiffert. He will need to know."-
To see Zedd seemly relinquish hope cast their fate in the most
frightening light possible. Zedd was always the one who kept them focused
and gave them courage, conviction, and confidence. He gathered up Spider's
reins in one hand and gripped her mane with the other.
"Wait," Kahlan said.
He paused and looked back at her. His eyes were a window into an inner
weariness. She couldn't imagine all the struggles he had faced in his life,
or even in the last few weeks. Kahlan ran through seemingly a thousand
thoughts as she searched frantically for some way of turning away their grim
fate.
Kahlan couldn't let Zedd down. He had so often carried them; now he
needed another shoulder to help endure the weight. She presented him a look
of fierce determination before she turned to the Prelate.
"Verna, what if we didn't release it in the way we planned? What if we
didn't simply let it drift out, hoping for the breeze to. carry it where we
need it?"
Verna opened her hands in a bewildered gesture. "What do you mean?"
"Won't it take more of the glass-the amount you say you need-simply so
that there is enough to let it drift all the way across the valley, and yet
have enough to hang in the air, too?"
"Well . . . yes, of course, but-"
"What if," Kahlan asked, "we released it in a line along the face of
the front? Right where it was needed. Then it would take less, wouldn't it?"
"Well I suppose." Verna threw up her hands. "But I told you, we can't
use magic to help us or they will detect our conjuring and then they will
shield for the glass as fast as we release it. It will be useless. Better to
release what we have and hope for the best."
Kahlan glanced out over the empty plain faintly lit by the placid
clouds veiling the moon. There was nothing to be seen out in the valley.
Soon, there would be. Soon, the virgin snow would be trampled by the boots
of over a million men.
Only the sound of glass being crushed on stone and the thump of the
steel rods in the barrels disturbed the quiet darkness. Soon, bloodcurdling
battle cries would inundate the hush of the night.
Kahlan felt the suffocating dread she had felt when she first realized
that all those men had caught her alone. She felt the anger, too.
"Collect what you've made so far," she said. "Let me have it."
They all stared at her.
Zedd's brow drew together in a wrinkled knot. "Just what are you
thinking?"
Kahlan pulled her hair back from her face as she rapidly pieced
together her plan, so that it was whole in her own mind, first.
"The enemy is attacking into the wind-not directly, but close enough
for our purpose. I'm thinking that if I ride along the front of our line,
right in front of the advancing enemy troops, and I release the glass dust,
letting it dribble out as I go, then it will flow out in the wind behind me,
right into the faces of the enemy. Delivering it right where it's needed, it
won't take as much as it would were we to let it drift out from here hoping
to spread it all across the valley." She looked from one startled face to
another. "Do you see what I'm saying? Closer to the enemy, wouldn't it take
much less to do the job?"
"Dear Creator," Verna protested, "do you have any idea how dangerous
that would be?"
"Yes," Kahlan answered in grim resolve. "A lot less dangerous than
facing a direct attack by their entire force. Now, would that work? Wouldn't
it take considerably less if I were to ride along the front, trickling it
out as I went, than letting it drift out to them from here? Well? We're
running out of time."
"You're right-it wouldn't take nearly as much." Verna touched her lip
as she stared off into the darkness while considering. "It's better than the
way we were going to do it, that much is sure."
Kahlan started pushing her. "Get it together. Now. Hurry."
Verna abandoned her protests and ran off to collect what they had. Cara
was about to unleash a tirade of objections when Zedd lifted a hand as if to
ask she let him do the objecting, instead.
"Kahlan, it sounds like you might have something here, but someone else
can do this. It's foolish to risk-"
"I'll be needing a diversion," she said, cutting him off. "Something to
distract their attention. I'll be riding by in the dark, so they probably
won't notice me, but it would be best if there were something to occupy
their attention, just in case, something to make them look elsewhere-for the
last time."
"As I was saying, someone else can-"
"No," she said in quiet finality. "I'll not ask someone else to do
this. It was my idea. I'm doing it. I won't allow someone to take my place."
Kahlan deemed herself responsible for the peril they were in. It was
she who had blundered and fallen for Jagang's trick. It was she who had come
up with the plan and ordered the troops out. It was she who made Jagang's
night attack possible.
Kahlan knew all too well the terror everyone felt, waiting for the
attack. She felt it herself. She thought of Holly, fearful of being murdered
by the marauding beasts coming out of the night for her. The fear was all
too real.
It would be Kahlan who had lost the war for them, this very night, if
they didn't get their army back across that pass to safety.
"I'm doing this myself," she repeated. "That's the way it's going to
be. Standing here arguing about it can only cost us our chance. Now, I need
a diversion, and I need one quickly."
Zedd let out an angry breath. The fire was back in his eyes. He flicked
out his hand, pointing. "Warren is back there waiting for me. The two of us
will move to separate locations and give you your diversion."
"What will you do?"
At last, Zedd surrendered to a grim, cunning grin. "Nothing fancy, this
time. No clever devious tricks, like they no doubt expect. This time, we'll
give them a good old-fashioned firefight."
Kahlan gave a sharp tug to the strap at her ribs holding her leather
armor on her shoulders, chest, and back, cinching it down tight. She nodded
once to seal the pact.
"Wizard's fire it is, then."
"Keep an eye to your right, to our side, as you ride. I don't want you
to get in the way of what I mean for the enemy. You must also watch for what
their gifted send back at me."
As she secured her cloak, she nodded assent to Zedd's brief
instructions. She checked the straps on her leg armor, making sure they were
tight, remembering how the enemy's strong fingers had clawed at her legs,
trying to unhorse her.
Verna came-rushing back, a big bucket at the end of each arm pulled
down straight by the weight. Some of the Sisters were scurrying along beside
her.
"All right," the winded Prelate said. "Let's go."
Kahlan reached for the buckets. "I'll take-"
Verna yanked them back. "How do you propose to ride and sprinkle this
out? It's too much. Besides, you don't know its properties."
:'Verna, I'm not letting you-"
"Stop acting like an obstinate child. Let's go."
Cara snatched one of the buckets. "Verna is right, Mother Confessor.
You can't hold on to your horse, release the glass dust, and carry both
buckets all at the same time. You two take that one, I'll take this one."
The willowy Sister Philippa rushed to Cara's side and lifted the
bucket. "Mistress Cara is right, Prelate. You and the Mother Confessor can't
do both buckets. You two take one; Mistress Cara and I will take the other."
There was no time to argue with the three determined women. Kahlan knew
that
no one would be able to talk her out of what she had to do, and they
probably felt the same. Besides, they had a valid point.
"All right," Kahlan said as she pulled on her gloves.
She lashed tight the fur mantle she wore over the top of the wool
cloak. She didn't want anything flapping in the wind. The hilt of her sword
was covered, but she figured she wouldn't be needing it. The hilt of
Richard's sword stuck up behind her shoulder, her ever-present reminder of
him-as if she needed one. She quickly tied her hair back with a leather
thong.
Verna tossed a handful of the fluffy snow, checking the wind. It had
held its direction and was light, but steady. At least that much was in
their favor.
"You two go first," Kahlan said to Cara. "Verna and I will wait maybe
five minutes to let what you release drift in toward the enemy, so that we
won't ride through it. Then, we'll follow you across the valley. That way
we'll be sure to overlap what you release with ours so as not to have any
gaps. We need to make sure there's no safe place for the Order to get
through. We need the ruin and panic to be as uniform and widespread as
possible."
Sister Philippa, noting what Kahlan had done, fastened her cloak
securely at her neck and waist. "That makes sense."
"It would be more effective doubled like that," Verna agreed.
"I guess there's no time to argue this foolishness," Zedd grumbled as
he seized Spider's mane and pulled himself up, laying across the horse's
back on his belly. He swung a leg over Spider's rump and sat up. "Let me
have a minute or two to get ahead of you and let Warren know, then we'll
start showing the Imperial Order some real wizard work."
He pulled his horse around and smiled. It was heartening to see it
again.
"After all this work, someone had better have some dinner waiting for
me on the other side of that pass back there."
"If I have to cook it for you myself," Kahlan promised.
The wizard gave them a jaunty wave and galloped off into the darkness.
Kahlan stuffed a boot in the stirrup, grabbed the saddle horn, and
sprang up into her seat. The cold leather creaked as she leaned over and
held a hand down in order to help Verna up. Once the Prelate squirmed in
close behind Kahlan, two Sisters carefully handed the heavy wooden bucket up
to her. Cara and Sister Philippa were on their horse and ready, the Sister
balancing her bucket on her thigh.
"Get the children back across the pass," Verna ordered.
Sister Dulcinia bobbed her head of gray hair. "I will see to it,
Prelate."
"Whatever more of the glass you can have ready by the time the Mother
Confessor and I ride out, you should release into the wind for good measure,
then get yourselves spread out behind our lines to help if the Order breaks
through. If we fail, the Sisters must do their best to hold the enemy off
while as many as possible make it across the pass to safety."
Sister Dulcinia again promised to carry out the Prelate's orders.
They all waited a few minutes in silence while giving Zedd the head
start he needed to reach Warren with instructions. There seemed nothing else
to say. Kahlan concentrated on what she had to do, rather than worrying
whether or not it would work. In the back of her mind, though, she was aware
of how notoriously imperfect were such last-minute battle plans.
Judging that they had waited as long as they dared, Kahlan motioned
with her arm, signaling Cara to start out. The two of them shared a last
look. Cara offered a brief smile, good luck-then raced away, Sister Philippa
holding tight to the MordSith's waist with one arm and balancing the bucket
on her thigh with the help of her other hand.
As the sound of hoofbeats from Cara's horse faded into the night,
Kahlan for the first time realized that, in the distance, she could hear the
collective yells of hundreds of thousands of Imperial Order troops. The
countless voices fused into one continuous roar as their attack drew ever
closer. It almost sounded like the moan of an ill wind through a canyon's
rocky fangs. Her horse snorted and pawed the frozen ground. The awful drone
made Kahlan's pulse race even faster. She wanted to race away, before the
men got too close, but she had to wait, to give the glass dust Cara and
Sister Philippa released time to drift out of the way.
"I wish we could use magic to protect ourselves," Verna said in a quiet
voice, almost as if in answer to what Kahlan was thinking. "We can't, of
course, or they would detect it."
Kahlan nodded, hardly hearing the woman. Verna was just saying anything
that came to mind so as not to have to sit and listen to the enemy coming
for them.
The bitter cold long forgotten, her heartbeat throbbing in her ears,
Kahlan sat still as death, staring out into the empty night, trying to
envision every aspect of the
task at hand, trying to go through it all in her mind first, so she
wouldn't be surprised by anything that might happen and then have to decide
what to do. Better to anticipate, if you could, than to react.
As she quietly sat her horse, she let her anger build, too. Anger made
a better warrior than fear.
Kahlan fed that anger with images of all the terrible things she had
seen the Imperial Order do to the people of the Midlands. She let the
memories of all the bodies she had seen pass through her mind, as if they
came before the Mother Confessor to plead with stilled tongues for
vengeance. She remembered the women she had seen wailing over murdered
children, husbands, sisters, brothers, mothers and fathers. She remembered
strong men in helpless anguish over the senseless slaughter of their friends
and loved ones. In her mind's eye, she saw those men, women, and children
suffering at the hands of a people to whom they had done no harm.
The Imperial Order was but a gang of killers without empathy. They
merited no pity; they would get none.
She thought about Richard in the hands of that enemy. She savored her
promise to kill every one of them if she had to until she got Richard back.
"It's time," Kahlan said through gritted teeth. Without looking back
over her shoulder, she asked, "Are you ready?"
"Ready. Don't slow for anything, or we will end up its victims, too.
Our only chance is to keep fresh air streaming over us to carry the glass
dust all away from our bodies. When we get to the opposite side, after I've
dumped it all, then we'll be safe. By that time, the Order should be in a
state of mass confusion, if not complete panic."
Kahlan nodded. "Hold tight. Here we go."
The horse, already in an excited state, probably from the approaching
cries, sprang away too fast, nearly dumping Verna off the back. Her arm
jerked tight around Kahlan's middle. At the same time, Kahlan reached back
and caught Verna's sleeve, holding her on. As they raced away and Verna
fought to regain her balance, the bucket lurched, but Verna was able to
steady it. Fortunately, it didn't spill.
Even as the muscular gelding was obeying her command and racing away,
his ears were turned to the approaching clamor. He was skittish carrying the
unfamiliar burden of two riders. He was well trained and had seen battle
often enough, so he probably was also edgy because he knew what the war
cries signified. Kahlan knew he was strong and quick. For what she had to
do, speed was life.
Kahlan's heart galloped as fast as the horse as they thundered through
the blackness of the valley. The enemy was much closer, now, than they had
been when Cara passed through not long before. The horse's hoofbeats partly
drowned out the battle cries of countless enemy soldiers to their left.
Terrifying bits of memories of fists and boots flashed unbidden into
her mind as she heard men coming toward her in the dark, screaming for
blood. She felt her vulnerability as never before. Kahlan turned those
memories from fear to anger at the outrage of these brutes coming into her
Midlands and murdering her people. She wanted every one of them to suffer,
and every one of them dead.
There was no telling precisely how far the enemy had already advanced,
or, with the moonlight behind her, even her own exact direction. Kahlan
worried that she might have sliced it too close to the bone, and that they
could unexpectedly encounter a wall of bloodthirsty men. She wanted to be
close, though, to deliver the blinding
dust right in their faces, to be sure it had the best chance to work,
to turn back the attack. She resisted the urge to guide her horse to the
right, away from the enemy.
The night suddenly ignited with harsh yellow light. The clouds went
from gray to bright yelloworange. White snow blazed with garish color. An
awful droning sound vibrated deep under her ribs.
A hundred feet in front of her and maybe ten feet above the ground,
tumbling liquid yellow and blue light roared headlong across her route,
dripping honeyed fire, trailing billowing black smoke. The seething sphere
of wizard's fire vividly illuminated the ground beneath it as it shot past.
Even though not directed at her, the sound alone was enough to make Kahlan
ache to cringe away in dread.
She knew enough about wizard's fire, how it clung tenaciously to the
skin, to be more than wary of it. Once that living fire touched you, it
couldn't be dislodged. Even a single droplet of wizard's fire would often
eat through flesh down to bone. There was no one either brave or foolish
enough not to fear it. Few people touched by such conjured flame lived to
recount the horror of the experience. For those who did, revenge became a
lifelong obsession.
Then, in the light of that bright flame streaking across the valley
floor, Kahlan caught sight of the horde, all with swords, maces, flails,
axes, pikes, and lances raised in the air as they yelled their battle cries.