PRIDE AND DESTINY

Im Juni 2014

PROLOG

It was late afternoon and soft sun-rays put a golden shimmering light onto the clearance. First shadows already lurked between the rocks promising nightfall was near. It was that time of the day when birds fell silent, searching their hideouts for the night; when their melodic chirping gave way to that expectant quietness before the creatures of the night would wake from their sleep to put their noses into the winds and go for the hunt...

Kahlan couldn´t help that slight shiver that run down her back.

Right now, in this very moment this place seemed to hold an elusive air of peace. But it stood in stark contrast to what she felt...

Chewing on her lip unconsciously, her eyes swept along the rocky walls behind her companions, nervously searching for something she wasn´t even able to name.

It had been this exact constellation that had caused the men to chose this place to realize their plans: a small open space, more than half a league distance from the next road; tightly embraced by gruff rocks, leaving but a small opening at one side where the ground tumbled into an abyss that was gaping like an open mouth.

Richard and Zedd had thoroughly checked every corner of the clearance. Zedd had mumbled all the time and had waved his hands now and then to send faint slivers of magic into the air to prove some particular spots; and finally they had agreed that this place indeed offered the needed safety they had been looking for.

Here, where no unwanted surprises were to be expected... in this peaceful spot... they could bring it to an end...

This was the place where the Power of Orden would be released.

Kahlan watched the men thoughtfully. Richard and Zedd seemed to feel completely at ease. There lay not the slightest hint of doubts in Richard´s moves while he prepared for the moment of power, all along Zedd was staying close to him, repeatedly nodding to his grandson´s words with his face stern and focused.

As her gaze settled on the Seeker Kahlan suddenly felt awfully alone with her own nagging feelings: troubled, concerned, yes, scared even... These two men who she loved so dearly didn´t seem to even understand her worries.

But the very thought of what lay ahead had put a lump in her throat; though her mind told her again and again that the men were right.

Her eyes searched the old wizard. He felt like a grandfather to her. During this year that had passed since she had found a crazy old man standing naked in the moonlight with nothing but a chicken to cover himself, she had come to trust his notions, to appreciate his experience of life...

So she had listened to Zedd´s long and winding reasoning; he had done his best to soothe her, had talked to her in a calming voice and his words had been brimming with wisdom and confidence. He had admonished her to put all her faith into Richard; who was the Seeker of Truth; who surely knew what had to be done...

She huffed a little. And Richard himself?

Oh dear spirits!

Kahlan smiled faintly as her eyes locked with his brown and tender warm gaze as he watched her.

If need be..., most probably she would follow him blindly into the underworld; He was the one person in this world whom she trusted with her life... !

And yet...

There was this anxiety that tried to crawl up in her belly; this perfidious pull somewhere deep in her insides... It felt slightly familiar but she hated to name it... Her smile froze without her knowledge.

Angst!

It wasn´t much more than a queasy feeling; like the idea of a storm growling from afar, somewhere behind the horizon of her mind. Yet, she felt it was close, threatening to erupt into full force at any moment, to lunge at her and engulf her mind if only she allowed herself a weakness...

Kahlan swallowed. Her eyes were glued to the man who already knelt in front of the rock that should serve them as a table. And whose warm, brown eyes searched hers just now with a gentle smile. Emanating so much confidence that it almost caught her breath.

How could he be so composed?

How could he trust in her abilities, when all she felt was the urgent need to run?

How could he so self-evidently lay his sword aside and smile at her as if nothing would ever be able to harm them?

She felt her own trembling uncertainty tie her throat up as she watched Richard putting two of the boxes together, regarding them with curious fascination; like a child regarding its treasures. There was a small void that waited for the third, the last of the boxes. To Kahlan it almost seemed as if she could feel the breath of magic lying in the air, hovering over the boxes like any living essence.

Richard´s eyes found hers again and locked with her gaze. He smiled and nodded encouragingly. And she knew he was ready. There was nothing she could do now to convince him otherwise. Despite all her doubts and her fears, it was long since decided. He would do what he thought must be done. And even Kahlan wouldn´t be able to hold him back now.

Kahlan threw a last glance to Zedd; half hoping he would suddenly stand up and forbid his grandson´s plans. But she found him leaning calmly against a rock behind Richard and wink at her with his thin smile. And finally she surrendered with a deep sigh and went down on her knees in front of the Seeker. Fleetingly her gaze swept along the rocks in Richard´s back, and just as fleetingly she sensed the shiver that seemed to crawl up from the abyss in her own back, breathing an eerie touch along her spine, settling on her shoulders, dark and heavily...

Alone, there was no time to reconsider her decision. With a quick move Richard had pulled the third box and now placed it confidently into the gap between the others. And immediately the Power of Orden roared to life.

Kahlan had no choice. Her hand found its way to the Seeker´s throat and with a low moan she lowered the walls and unleashed the power of her love.

Her gaze got caught with Richard´s and all at once she could feel the world retreat. She could feel the overwhelming power of the ancient magic as it run rampant from the circle of the boxes and took hold of his mind. His eyes seemed illuminated. She stared into them while her own power roared against the magic and she gasped as she felt it fusing with the Power of Orden. She sensed Richard´s mind rear up, filled with the sudden impact of the Orden´s might and all the same she could feel how the ancient magic grudgingly slowed to finally bow to her own Power; to be tamed by the overwhelming sway of her love.

Between two heartbeats her surroundings faded into nothing more than shadows, dunked into hushed mists. Richard´s face, glowing from inside out, was the only perceivable sign of life that lasted in her mind. Nothing else existed any more...

Nothing...

Until, out of the nowhere, a sudden pain exploded in her neck and filled every fiber of her being; a pain that was not comparable to anything she had ever experienced before. Kahlan squirmed in a silent howl. Her lungs seemed to collapse; they refused their work; she panted for air. In her back, right between her shoulders, there was a fire burning...

She tried desperately to fight the panic, tried to keep her focus on Richard´s face. She felt strangled but refused to give in, tried hard to stay strong, to ignore the pain that now blazed through every bone in her back and reached for her mind.

SPIRITS!

She needed to hold on! Not for her own life she would give up on Richard now. Everything depended on her not to lose him...

Her grip around his throat grew desperate... Faintly she heard someone yell a "Noooooo...!"

And than, with a sudden whirl, the world went black and she drowned in the heaving waves of pain that filled her mind...