ARG! for cliffhangers, huh?!?! I would apologize, but I'm afraid it wouldn't be very sincere. I love creating suspense!! ;)
Sorry, computer difficulties this morning delayed posting this chapter till now!
Reunion (Chapter 7)
The eerie darkness that surrounded them seemed as if it was reaching out to them, wrapping its arms around them and dragging them into its secret depths. The glow of their torches only allowed them to see a few yards around them. Kahlan swept her torch, splashing light against the cavern walls, revealing inscriptions in an ancient text that Kahlan had never seen before.
Stopping to inspect the script, Phillip stepped closer to the wall, his left foot suddenly sinking. A paver gave way under his boot causing spears to begin shooting up through the floor at rapid intervals. Running and dodging the sudden onslaught of spikes, Phillip pushed Kahlan towards a tunnel that appeared on the right.
A spear shot up as Kahlan ran by, scraping her leg and ripping a piece of her leather skirt as she narrowly evaded the assault. Entering the tunnel, Kahlan and Phillip paused to catch their breaths.
"Are you sure this is worth it?" Kahlan fumed, angry at what her father had dragged her into.
"Come on, Kahlan. I'm sure that you've encountered more dangers than this on your mission with Richard," Phillip retorted as he held his hand out, revealing a beautiful bright pink stone. "Take this; you're the one with the pure heart, not me."
"What am I suppose to do with it?" Kahlan grumbled, taking the stone and holding it up to get a better look at it in the light from her torch.
"I have no idea, but I'm sure you'll know what to do when the time comes. The map is directing us down this tunnel. Let's get moving."
"The sooner I get this over with the sooner I can be rid of you and back with Richard," Kahlan muttered under her breath.
Her shoulder was throbbing even more. Reaching back, she placed a hand to her shoulder, putting pressure on the wound to try to ease the pain. Pulling her hand back, she found it wet with blood. Running and twisting to avoid the protruding spears had reopened her wound, causing blood to flow again. There was nothing she could do about it now except to keep moving.
Catching up to her father, Kahlan cast a wary eye about her, knowing that there was more danger lurking up ahead. Those spears were only the beginning. She just prayed she'd live through this, that she'd live to see her Richard again.
XXX
Lighting their torches, they started through the cave entrance, weapons drawn and prepared for whatever lay ahead of them. They wanted Phillip and the Mother Confessor to get a head start, triggering all the traps for them, leading them to the treasure.
There were numerous turns, tunnels, and caves that wound for miles. Anyone entering in search of the treasure could be lost in the Tabethia Caverns forever, never to be found even if they did survive all the traps and magical spells. There was only one way out and they would be there to greet them if they made it out alive.
XXX
Galloping at high speeds, Richard was relentless in his pursuit. Since finding Kahlan's bloody danger, the Seeker was more obsessed than ever to find her. Consumed with dread, he was like a man possessed. Although they too were deeply worried about the Mother Confessor, Zedd and Cara were troubled about the Seeker as well. Nothing they said could comfort or calm him.
They had left before dawn, following Phillip and Kahlan's trail, stopping only long enough to water their horses to keep them alive. The sun was setting in the sky as the trio left the shelter of the forest and began racing over the rocky landscape that lay open before them.
Following a turn in the road, Richard abruptly brought his horse to a stop. Cara and Zedd rode up next to him to see what had caused him to stop. Looking down at the valley below, Richard's heart began to race at the scene that spread out before him.
"The Tabethia Cavern," Zedd announced with a haunting, grim tone, conveying what possible dangers lay ahead of them.
Surrounding the cavern was about a dozen armed men with torches, guarding the entrance as well as the horses that waited for their riders to return. Richard's heart sank at the site. There was no telling how many more men were inside with Kahlan. He had to get to her before he lost her forever.
"Well, are we just going to sit here or are we going down there, fight our way into the cavern, and find the Mother Confessor?" Cara finally said in exasperation.
Travelling for four days, watching the Lord Rahl sulk in misery was beginning to wear on her nerves. She was about a breath away from smacking some sense into him. He barely talked, hardly slept, and rarely ate. If this was what love was like, she decided she didn't want any part of it. Cara was also bound and determined that when they found Kahlan she was going to take whatever measures were necessary to make sure they were never separated again. She didn't think she could handle going through this twice. Once had proven to be more than enough for her.
"Well, we'll need a plan if we're going to get past those guards," Zedd informed them.
"I've already got one - kill them and find Kahlan," Richard heatedly replied, spurring his horse into a gallop. Zedd and Cara quickly followed the Seeker as he raced towards the unsuspecting men below.
As he raced towards them under the cover of the growing darkness, Richard pulled the Sword of Truth free, prepared to send them all to the Keeper in order to get to his lover. Rage began to bubble to the surface, angry at Phillip for taking her from him, for the danger that Phillip had put Kahlan in.
What kind of father would do such things to his own daughter? He had never known a parent to treat a child with such malice and cruelty. When Kahlan had told him that he was her family, Richard's heart had melted with love for her. Richard swore on his life that he would do everything in his power to make her happy and feel his love for her for the rest of her life.
Finally seeing the approaching riders on horseback, the guards quickly left their post at the cavern entrance to stop the threat that galloped towards them. They had been instructed to keep anyone from entering the cave or letting Phillip and the Mother Confessor out. If they failed in their duty, they would be executed. The payment they would receive as their reward for fulfilling their duties, though, made the risk worth it, if they survived.
Leaping from his horse, Richard jumped on the first man that he met, knocking him to the ground and killing him with a slice of his sword. Standing to his feet, Richard's breath was ragged with the fury that was being kindled by his sword. Richard was promptly joined by Zedd and Cara who fought their way to the entrance of the cavern, finally finishing off the remaining men.
"Zedd, stay here and guard the entrance. Cara and I will go after Kahlan," Richard instructed, heaving from the exertion of the fight, anxious to get to Kahlan.
"Richard, be careful. The cavern is spelled with magic; there are traps everywhere," Zedd warned him, concerned for what his grandson was about to face. "Good luck, my boy."
"Thanks, Zedd," Richard softly replied, seeing the worry weighing heavily in his grandfather's eyes.
Zedd released a silent prayer to the spirits for their safety as he watched Richard and Cara race into the cave and the unknown dangers that lay hidden inside. He just hoped they would get to Kahlan in time.
XXX
The air was beginning to get cooler the deeper they went into the caverns. Kahlan's head was swimming from the loss of blood; exhaustion was beginning to slow her down. She had a tight grasp on her torch while her other hand tightly clutched the stone. She had no idea what she was going to have to do with it nor did she especially care to find out, but there was no going back now.
Passing through a narrow pass in the tunnel, Kahlan fell against the cave wall. The coldness of the rock felt wonderful against her face. She was beginning to feel so hot even though the air was cooler down here.
Pressing her fist against the rock to regain her balance, Kahlan felt something shift in the wall. A low growl began to thunder from the ground beneath their feet as the cavern literally began to shake. Dirt and small rocks began to shift loose from the walls in a small landslide.
Kahlan pressed her back against the wall in an attempt to keep her balance, Phillip bracing himself against the stone wall opposite from her.
"Run, Kahlan!" Phillip shouted at her as streams of smoke began spewing from cracks and crevices that began to break open in the walls surrounding them.
Coughing from the smoke that was filling the tunnel, Kahlan raced even deeper into the cavern, Phillip close on her heels. Fire began erupting in spurts, shooting around them in bursts of flames. Kahlan ducked, avoiding a fire blast that flew over her head, causing her to stumble and fall forward, losing her torch.
Phillip stopped, grabbing Kahlan's arm and dragging her to her feet. They stopped long enough to grab her fallen torch before taking off in a dead run down the tunnel, turning down a side passage just in time as a blast of fire scorched everything in the tunnel they had just escaped from. The smell of soot and cinder flooded the cavern making it even more difficult to breath. Smoke stung their eyes and burned their lungs.
Trying to catch their breath once again, Kahlan suddenly felt something land on her shoulder. Looking over, she was greeted by a large snake that was slithering towards her face on its way to wrapping around her neck. Screaming hysterically, Kahlan flung the reptile off her body, heaving in terror as it slithered away from her.
"Not a fan of snakes?" Phillip asked, and then paused deep in thought. "I had forgotten how much you despised snakes."
For a brief moment, Phillip was taken back to a spring day many years ago, a happier time in his life; a time when he was still under confession. He and his wife had taken their two little girls on a picnic down by the lake. It had been a beautiful day of playing and just enjoying being a family. Kahlan had been playing by the lake when she began screaming hysterically. Phillip had immediately run to his daughter's rescue to find a snake had slithered its way up and around Kahlan. He had quickly pulled the snake off of her, holding his daughter to him as she cried, attempting to soothe his child.
The memory pricked his cold heart as he looked at his daughter now. He had forgotten about that day, locking away all those loving memories when his wife had died and the confession spell had been broken. It wasn't until this moment that he allowed himself to remember that day.
Kahlan finally calmed her breathing as she noticed her father staring at her. The look on his face was a look she thought she had never seen in his eye before. It was a look of sadness. Then she remembered that she had seen that look before. It was the day her mother died. Kahlan never saw that look since that horrible day until this moment.
"Father?" she warily asked, unsure of what to make of his sudden change in disposition.
Shaking himself from his reverie, Phillip softly responded as he cleared his throat and averted his eyes, "Let's go; the map says we need to return to the tunnel we just left. I think it's safe now."
Kahlan had been deathly afraid of snakes ever since that day when her family went on a picnic and a snake had crawled up and wrapped itself around her. She had forgotten about that day. A smile touched her lips as the happiness of that day filled her mind, pushing aside the nightmare that was happening to her now. That had been one of the happiest days of her childhood. It was very soon after that day that her mother had died and her father had changed.
Had he remembered that day too? Is that what had caused his sudden change in demeanor? She doubted he remembered any of the good things that happened before her mother died. Her death had been a blow that she still struggled with. Her father's sudden change after her mother's death would haunt her for the rest of her life.
Following her father back to the tunnel they had originally been heading down, Kahlan couldn't shake the feeling that began to settle over her. It was feeling like they were being watched, but everywhere she looked she saw nothing but rock, bugs, and unfortunately snakes. The thought of that snake made her shudder again with fright.
As Phillip and Kahlan slowly made their way through the narrow tunnel, a large pair of glowing yellow eyes suddenly appeared behind them where they had just been standing moments ago…