This is starting to really get cookin'! Hope you all enjoy where this is going as much as I'm enjoying taking you there! ;)

Thanks to all who follow my stories and for the reviews, especially NinjaShiek and MontyPythonFan! You guys crack me up. I can't wait to see what you think when I post a chapter! :)

Chapter 3

"What?!?" Richard yelled, incredulous as to what he had just heard, anger simmering just below the surface. Richard had just entered the cave as the deluge of rain resumed. The hammering rains almost drowned out Zedd's words. Maybe he hadn't heard him right.

"You heard me, Richard," Zedd repeated evenly, feeling the same heavy heartache of his words reflecting in his grandson's eyes. "It's too dangerous to go out there right now and search for Kahlan."

"Zedd, she's probably hurt or worse yet, buried alive out there! I have to find her!" Richard could barely grasp what the Wizard was saying as his mind began spiraling with fear and despair that warred against reason and logic.

How could he possibly stay here when Kahlan was out there somewhere, possibly fighting for her life? How could his own grandfather ask him to do such a thing? He would lay down his own life for Kahlan without hesitation.

"Richard, you know I love Kahlan as if she were my own granddaughter. I can't bear the thought of her out there injured and all alone, but I have to be the voice of reason. There is a torrential rain out there. There is no way we can see where we're going and we can't carry torches. You yourself said that there are mudslides happening everywhere. How much help to Kahlan are we going to be if we go running out there and get ourselves injured or killed in the process?"

Zedd's voice was stern, but there was love and anguish in his eyes as he watched Richard slowly slump to the cave floor, defeated. Richard knew deep down in his heart that his grandfather was right, but believing it and accepting were two very different things.

Richard knew that Kahlan would be expecting him to come for her. It wounded his heart that there was nothing he could do to rescue her right now. He was racked with guilt, feeling like he was letting her down. He was supposed to love and protect her, not leave her out there to die.

"I'm so sorry, Kahlan. Please forgive me," Richard murmured between sobs as his grief overwhelmed his soul, his whole body trembling with the heavy weight of guilt and despair.

Zedd walked over to his heart-broken grandson and rested his arm around his shoulders as he cried, tears threatening his own eyes at the site of Richard so distraught. They had all been through so much, especially Kahlan after surviving her abduction. It pained him deeply to see his Seeker and Mother Confessor put through so much heartache.

Kahlan, having been born a Confessor, had no choice in the matter of her duties or her life's work. It was a curse she was born to carry, bound to her duties through magic. Nonetheless, it didn't make the sacrifices she had to make or the weight of the burden of her duties any less difficult to carry.

Richard had been thrust into the position of Seeker by his own grandfather. It had nearly broken the Wizard's heart having to name his own grandson as Seeker, knowing the weight of the burdens he would have to carry with the sword and the title.

Zedd has realized early on, though, that the burdens that these two people carried had been greatly lightened by the deep, abiding love and passion that they shared for each other. Their love was unwavering and regardless of cost or sacrifice.

With such great love, came great pain and anguish at times. This was one of those difficult times. Zedd prayed silently that the good spirits would watch over Kahlan as he attempted to comfort his inconsolable grandson.

"She's strong, Richard. She's the strongest Confessor I've ever met. If anyone can make it through this, it's Kahlan. Now come, my boy; we need to get some rest so we can go find Kahlan at first light," he said, leaving Richard's side to lie down on his bedroll.

Richard didn't know how he could possibly get any sleep knowing that Kahlan was out there all alone. She needed him. Everything inside of him screamed for her; ached to hold her in his arms again. Wrapping his arms around his legs, Richard wondered if he would ever get to…

The dark skies continued to release the heavy rains that appeared far from stopping. The wind began to whip and thunder began to rumble as lightening tore across the atmosphere, lighting the evening sky up in a spectacular display of nature's power. In the hills, the air had become significantly cooler as the temperature began to drop, only adding to the misery of nature's exhibit.

Laying there, her face and body being assaulted by the heavy rains, Kahlan tried to regain her senses. She slowly began to move and assess her surroundings. It was dark outside now except for the bolts of lightning that relentlessly lit up the sky. How long she had been there, she had no idea.

She vaguely remembered fighting the soldiers, confessing one, and then struggling with another as they crashed through the thick brush. The mud beneath their feet had suddenly given way in a slide that violently took everything under and around them crashing down to the valley floor below.

Trying to sit up, she quickly discovered her leg was trapped under a large fallen tree branch. Her entire body ached, her head pounded, her leg throbbed with pain. Mud mixed with rain dripped from her hair and cloak.

Leaning forward against the searing pain in her leg, Kahlan tried with all her might to remove the heavy limb that held her captive. Unable to move it, she fell backwards in defeated exhaustion. Taking several deep breaths, she tried to calm herself as the pain in her leg throbbed against the effort she had exerted. Refocusing her strength and energy, she set out to try again.

Grinding her teeth against the sharp pains that shot through her right leg, Kahlan grunted with effort as she was finally able to move the branch a couple of inches, just enough to pull her broken ankle free. Quickly scooting backwards with her good leg, she came to an abrupt stop.

Turning around to see what was blocking her path, Kahlan released a gasp of shock when she found herself staring into the cold dead eyes of the D'Haran soldier she had been struggling with just a few hours earlier.

Trying to regain her composure, Kahlan tried to focus on where the mudslide had taken her. Her head and leg throbbed to the beat of her heart making it difficult to focus her thoughts, her mind still hazy from the fall. Reaching up, she pulled her hair back and tried to wipe the muddy rain from her eyes. Pulling her hands from her face, she noticed bright red blood mixed in with the mud that was oozing from a gash on her forehead.

Exhaustion was threatening to overtake her. She couldn't give in to the tugging pull of exhaustion that was quickly trying to envelope her in its menacing grip.

"I have to stay awake," she ordered herself. She knew first of all she needed to find shelter. The wind was whipping and rain was collecting in the ravine she had landed in. Staying there much longer would end in definite disaster.

Trying to pull herself up, Kahlan quickly collapsed due to the searing pain that shot up her leg from her broken ankle. Gasping to catch her breath, trying to bring her senses back from the shock wave of pain, she refocused her efforts to stand again. This time she used a fallen tree nearby to help pull herself up.

Finding a branch she could use as a walking stick, Kahlan slowly began to make her way out of the ravine, dragging her right leg as she pushed through the driving rain. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she pushed on past the fallen debris and hobbled toward a dark projection of rock that lay ahead off in the distance. It would be an uphill climb to reach it, but it was a better alternative to staying where she was and possibly drowning to death.

She had to make it; she couldn't give up. Her heart pounded in her chest, threatening to explode from the anguish of what she had discovered. The soldier's taunting voice, his menacing laugh still echoed in her head. Thoughts and phrases shot through her mind like the lightening that continued to illuminate the night sky. She was having difficulty thinking clearly, her thoughts becoming muddled.

Was the soldier telling the truth or was he just trying to rattle her? Could such magic really exist? There was no way of getting the truth from the soldier now. She had to get to Richard and Zedd. Hopefully Zedd would know something that would help them, something that could prevent such devastation from ever happening.

She had to remember what the soldier told her. She had to keep it straight in her head. Even though it terrified her, she kept trying to repeat his words over and over in her mind so she wouldn't forget.

Fighting the dread that jeopardized her reason and sapped her strength, Kahlan pressed on toward the rocks, hoping to find shelter. Shock was now threatening to set in; shock from what she had learned and shock from her injuries.

As she finally made her way through the opening of the cave, the last bit of strength she had drained from her body as she collapsed into welcomed unconsciousness. Her last panicked thought still lingered in her mind as she finally accepted the blissfulness of darkness.

She had to get to Richard; she had to save him before it was too late…