10 - Unbound

She was staring at a floor of dressed grey stone, her eyes seeming to take forever to focus as her lids drifted open. Torchlight flickered from various points around her, casting a dim orange glow over the place. She felt sickly cold, but the magic in her was searing, coursing through insubstantial veins like boiling quicksilver. As far as she could tell, she was still in Additive, but she hadn't the strength of being to control any aspect of it anymore. The Confessor's power was there, unrestrained. If she tried to throw up a wall against it, she almost faded out again.

Abruptly, she remembered what had happened in the caves. She tried to move, but her arms were manacled to a wall behind her, stretched out above her head. Her ankles were shackled to the floor. She looked around. Directly in front of her, the horizontal slit of a barred window gave a dark, narrow view of a dirt road beyond a spiked log fence. To her left stood a woman in blood red leather, which was different from what she had seen in the cavern. Mord-Sith only wore purely red leather when they were training someone. There were three other Mord-Sith surrounding her from left to right. Beyond them, also to her right, was a table bearing some unrecognizable alchemy implements. Among them, Eylara recognized the Dagger of Dawn and her travel coat. The woman closest to the table turned her head and spoke. "Wizard, she's awake."

Tolian appeared from around a corner, adjusting the sleeves of his white and tan robes as he walked up to her. "Hello, Eylara," he said with a self-satisfied smirk. "I'm glad you could finally join us. Lord Rahl will be most pleased to finally meet the source of his suspicions."

Eylara glared. "For your sake, I hope he's already on his way here. I'll be dead within the next day."

"That depends on you," said the wizard. "If you don't use any of that extraordinary power you're keeping bottled up inside you, you can actually live for two more days, which will be more than enough time for Lord Rahl to get here. And he knows how to save you. Oh yes, he can help you . . . provided you agree to use your talents in service to his dream of peace."

"'Dream of peace?' I've seen enough of what his minions do in my short time here to know he's got anything but peace in store apart from total domination of every single heart and mind in the Three Lands. I won't be a puppet to that sadistic demon's spawn!"

The Mord-Sith closest at hand on her left struck out with her Agiel, catching Eylara in the side with the tip of it. The girl seized and strained against her chains as the pain immobilized her, clenching her jaw shut. Tolian called the woman off after no more than a few seconds, and Eylara sagged toward the ground, her every subsequent breath coming as a harsh, tormented gasp. "Now, now," said Tolian in a saccharine tone, kneeling and looking up into her face, "you shouldn't say such things about the man who's going to keep you alive."

"I'll die before I help him," she growled through clenched teeth, struggling to regain her footing.

"That's up to you, of course," he said with a shrug. "But I don't think you'll let it come to that, Eylara Bardehaven. I think your desire to live far outweighs your commitment to sacrifice yourself. You think yourself of such value to the Seeker and his cause that you'll do anything to keep yourself alive. You still believe there's a chance you could be saved by him and his companions. Such selfishness is common to all people, I suppose. It's a shame you would waste your power and desires on something so hopeless."

Eylara surged toward him against her manacles with a savage growl that she hadn't known herself to be capable of. With the magic so out of control in her, all she had to do was let it loose, and she could prove that she would sacrifice herself gladly to help Richard save the world from Rahl. She thought of sending fire from her eyes, much like Zedd's Wizard's Fire . . . but something was acting like a wall between her and her intent. Tolian smiled, sensing what she had tried to do, and tsked condescendingly at her. "You mustn't exert yourself like that, child," he said, putting a finger to her neck. He tapped against a wide metal collar that had been clasped around her throat. She hadn't noticed it before. "The Rada'Han keeps you from exercising those incredible powers of yours. It simply won't work."

Eylara seethed, concentrating on the Rada'Han. It's just a metal ring, she told herself. In spite of the barrier it threw up between her magic and her will, she could sense that it had limits. If only . . .

She wasn't allowed to finish her thought. The agony of a switch lanced through her head, and she let out a wailing scream. It was more unbearable than any before, but for some reason, she couldn't become unconscious. She could only suffer through it. Tolian and the Mord-Sith simply watched as she writhed in her chains, uncertain of what was happening. Five minutes later, bodily exhausted, Eylara was still, her eyes half shut as she hung in her manacles and stared numbly at the floor. "Are you through with your dramatics now?" she heard Tolian say. "Much more of that and your wrists will break in those irons. Stand up, won't you?"

Eylara didn't move. She was assessing her Subtractive abilities, which felt like they might actually work through the Rada'Han. It had been designed with the more prevalent Additive capabilities of most individuals in mind. She wondered . . . "Child, I'd rather not have one of these women use their weapons on you, so please, do as I say. Stand up." Although she opened her eyes wider and glared up at him, she remained as she was.

The Mord-Sith in front of her thrust her Agiel into Eylara's stomach. She cried out at the initial onslaught of pain, but dug into the Subtractive magic she was newly filled with and held fast. Pushing rather easily through the blocks of the Rada'Han, she found the fingers of agony that held her through the Agiel and broke them, turning them back on themselves. The pain recoiled and doubled back to its source. Mord-Sith also felt pain when they handled the Agiel, but they were trained to be accustomed to it. However, what Eylara was doing increased the intensity of the pain as it was re-directed. Amplified, it shot back through the leather-bound weapon, through the hand of the Mord-Sith that wielded it. The woman's haughty, stoic features suddenly contorted horribly, and she screamed, staggering back against the wall as she dropped her Agiel and clutched at her arm.

Slowly, Eylara rose. Her knees wobbled and her heart pounded from the expenditure of magic, but she didn't care. She would rather fight to the death that night against Rahl's forces than live a few more days to be used by him. She met Tolian's startled eyes. "Your Rada'Han doesn't handle the power of Subtractive Magic very well, Wizard Tolian," she said evenly. She looked around at the unnerved faces of the Mord-Sith. "I can do as you do now. I suggest you keep a healthy distance from me."

Tolian paced around her calculatingly. "When I first read you at Dorivan, none of this was present. I've clearly misjudged you. You're far more powerful than I suspected."

"I'm unbound to either side of magic. Maybe you could've seen that if you were a better wizard."

Tolian struck her hard across the jaw with his fist. She kept her outcry in her mouth, but tasted blood. "You aren't fast enough to counter a punch, girl. Curb your tongue, and perhaps we can go back to being reasonable."

She wanted to see just how far she could provoke the wizard. The Subtractive Magic was feeding off the anger and pain she was feeling. The power to destroy her bonds was rising in her, but it wasn't strong enough. Every time her anger spiked, she felt it grow a little bit stronger, much like the pulsing she could use in the Additive. If she could get him to enrage her further, perhaps it would trigger a new ability for her to use. "You think I'm not fast enough? Let me off these chains and I'll show you fast."

"I would call your bluff, my dear," Tolian sneered, "but you and I both know you're not physically capable of handling such antics. Do be quiet and think over your situation."

He was right about that much. Even the act of turning the magic of the Agiel back on itself had been an immense drain of strength. She looked up at her bound hands. The blue veining traced dark iridescence over her pallid skin, disappearing beneath the fabric of her clothing. She must look absolutely ill. She certainly felt it. Even breathing was starting to be a true effort, no matter how calm she was able to make it sound at present.

There was the sound of footsteps on unseen stairs, and a soldier appeared. "Wizard Tolian," he said, "there are reports of a contingent of rebels approaching the fort from the south. We've been ordered to transfer this prisoner to the holding cell in the barracks until they're dealt with. She's far too valuable to Lord Rahl to risk a breach of the prison, however unlikely that may be."

"She's also too dangerous to move," said the wizard, stopping in front of her and looking dead into her eyes. "And since she's so powerful, I'm sure she can save herself. Even with the Rada'Han around her neck." Eylara wasn't so sure about that, but she made no indication that she was doubtful. Tolian looked at the guard. "Tell your Captain that we won't be going anywhere, soldier. In fact, we'll be staying right here with her. We have such a lovely view of the road. It'll be the perfect spot to watch the Seeker and his rebel allies be blasted to ashes, don't you agree?"

Eylara felt her blood go cold as the soldier turned and left. What did the wizard mean? What terrible weapon did they have that was capable of doing such a thing?

Did they know?

* * * * *

Richard, Zedd, Kahlan and Aiden reined in their horses at the edge of the dark rock formations marking the cavern entrance and dismounted. The Seeker looked out across the dark landscape and watched the procession of rebel fighters advancing along the road to Fort Henatir. There were two rows of them. One consisted of the real men - twelve of them, led by Lanick. The other row was made up of the illusions Zedd had created. They were all visual clones of the men, mixed so that they wouldn't be obvious. Zedd had also created ghosts of Richard and Kahlan, which rode at the head of the files. Finally, he had doubled himself. His ghost rode behind those of his companions. "That's just creepy," Richard muttered, squinting to see his false self on a false horse beside the white-clad form of Kahlan's double. It was hard to believe they were just air and magic.

"But a better trigger for those traps than your own foolhardy hide, don't you think?" said Zedd, touch-lighting a torch. "Let's stop admiring ourselves and get on with it." Aiden, his face wrought in hard lines of determination, beckoned them forward and led them into the dark caves.

A quad of guards had been posted at the intersection of the three paths. They were easily dealt with, and when they came to the end of the middle route and crossed through the hole in the wall, they found themselves among stacks of timber and barrels of dragon's breath. Aiden said that there was much more in the cave than there had been earlier. "Is the quillion here?" Richard asked.

Zedd took a quick look around in spellsight and shook his head. "I'd say it's long gone. Some tomb robber that managed not to get lost or warded off probably found it. That, or Tolian may have gotten his hands on it and taken it to the fort." The wizard heaved a sigh. "If that's the case, he'll use it to tempt Eylara into giving herself over to Rahl. At least, he'll try. If he truly doesn't comprehend the magnitude of her magic, the quillion will end up destroyed, overloaded by her power and shattered."

They counted ten soldiers at work in the cave, with a few coming and going from another tunnel across the way. "I'll Confess one of them," whispered Kahlan. "He might be able to tell us where Eylara is and how many soldiers are at the fort tonight." She pulled her daggers and looked pointedly at Richard. "Just remember to leave one, alright?" He gave her a look that told her he'd try and drew the Sword of Truth.

Zedd couldn't use Wizard's Fire with so much dragon's breath around, but he was able to repulse when he had to. He was also a fair fighter with his staff, but he and Aiden stayed back most of the time, allowing Richard and Kahlan to fight closer in, which they did best. Aiden took shots when he could and felled two soldiers. Most of the men were quite young and probably very new to their posts, but they fought no less fiercely than the more experienced soldiers. All except one. Panicked, one soldier ran to the back of the room and wrenched a torch from the wall. At the same instant that Richard took care of the last man, the soldier ran up to a stack of dragon's breath barrels and held the torch over it. "Stop!" he yelled. "Put down your weapons, or I'll drop the torch!"

"Do you really think that's wise, boy?" Zedd asked him, coming up behind Kahlan and Richard. "You'll bring the whole cave down if you do that, on top of us and yourself. That'll make the job your fellow soldiers are trying to do worth absolutely nothing, won't it?"

The young guard shifted nervously on his feet, breathing hard as he tried to think of something to say in return. "It'll be worth it if I take all of you with me. But it'll be even better for me if you surrender and I drag you all back to the fort. I'm sure you'd rather stay alive than be buried here, and you're all worth more that way anyway."

As the guard spoke his last few words, Zedd gave an inconspicuous waggle of his fingers, and the torch extinguished. Before he could take more than a few seconds to stare in bewilderment at his extinguished light source, Kahlan was in close with her hand on his throat. The air shook with ominous silence as the man's will dissolved and fell to her. Richard stepped in with a steadying hand as she wavered, but she recovered quickly. The guard stared fixedly at her, anticipation of a word from his mistress written across every inch of his face. "What is your name?" she asked him.

"Guardsman Marc Brommen, Confessor."

"Marc, there's a very powerful woman being held at the fort," Kahlan said to him. "Do you know where she is?"

He nodded eagerly. "The wizard and the Mord-Sith took her to the lower cell in the prison near the south gate."

"Why were the Mord-Sith sent for her? Why not the regular soldiers?"

"Lord Rahl is coming for her personally. He sent the Mord-Sith ahead to make sure she was handled . . . properly."

"How many men are stationed at the fort, Marc?" asked Richard.

"Normally sixty," replied the guard. "Twenty more were sent to help transport these supplies. Of course, there are only seventy-one left now."

"Are any out on patrol?"

Again, Marc nodded. "Captain Vosin's battalion is patrolling the East Grasslands. They're twenty strong. They should be back in the morning."

Kahlan raised her eyebrows. "Fifty left? That's a bit better than we'd hoped for."

"But don't forget eight Mord-Sith and a wizard," Aiden added. "They may be guarding Eylara, but not all of them need to be in the prison to do that."

Kahlan nodded and looked back at the guard. "Where does this tunnel come from?"

"The entry is next to the supply dock on the west side of the barracks," Marc replied. "It's normally covered with a log grate, but it should be open right now, since . . ." There was a click from somewhere inside the tunnel. Every head turned to find a crossbow aimed at the Mother Confessor. The trigger was pulled. "NO!" The Confessed guard shoved Kahlan out of the way, catching the bolt squarely through the neck. It killed him almost instantly.

An arrow from Aiden's crossbow answered the one from the D'Haran soldier in the tunnel, bringing the archer down. Three others emerged from the darkness with swords drawn, and a short fight ensued. Fort Henatir was soon minus four more guards. "We'd better hurry before they decide to close the entry," said Richard. "Aiden, do you know what's between the barracks and the prison?"

"The armory, the target range, the main yard, probably the assembly point," he answered. "A lot of open space. It'll be safer to stay in the shadows around the edges as much as we can."

"We should find a good waiting point as soon as we get up there," said Zedd. "There'll be no use going after Eylara until the men outside the gates make their move and the traps are blown."

They agreed and slipped into the tunnel, hoping not to run into any more soldiers coming down with supplies. It never became an issue, and when they made it to the ground level entry point and peered over the edge to survey the area, they could see why. The rebels had arrived. A dozen archers lined the battlements of the log-walled fort. A phalanx of foot soldiers sixteen strong was forming up before the gates. The remaining guards were stationed at various points along the walls. Two were near the supply dock. Three archers were in a position to cover the tunnel entry. Fortunately, the four infiltrators were in a deep shadow cast by the barracks. Richard whispered for them to fall back a few paces, listen and wait. In the silence, they could hear the unintelligible dialogue taking place between Lanick and the commander of the fort across the wall.

Five minutes later, a blinding and deafening explosion rocked the fort to its foundations, sending soil and stone and fire high into the air from the road beyond the gate. As the debris rained back down, they emerged from the tunnel. Hooves thundered around the outer walls. The distraction had begun.

* * * * *

Eylara tried not to betray her anxiety for Richard and the others as she strained for a better view out the slit window. Tolian watched her with amusement while she pretended she wasn't noticing. The lines of mounted rebels were just becoming visible. "This can all be avoided, you know." She snapped her eyes to the wizard's. She knew better than to think he was being truthful, but her concern for their safety was beginning to outweigh her reason and resolve to fight. "All you have to do is agree to wait peacefully for Lord Rahl. In return, I'll release you from the chains and the Rada'Han, and you'll use your mental abilities to persuade them to turn back. Fort Henatir will deal with them soon enough. They'd rather be concerning themselves with preparations for our Lord's arrival."

"I would never use that sort of power against them," she said with even resolve. "You'll get no cooperation from me."

Tolian shrugged and turned away from her, wandering nonchalantly to the table bearing his tools. "I have the quillion artifact you're looking for right here," he said, laying his hand on a dark wooden box. "In fact, I can use it to take a little bit of your excess magic right now, just to give you a taste of the relief you'll feel when the power is finally under control." He opened the box, revealing a purplish glowing crystal lying in the folds of thick black velveteen lining. "Perhaps you might reconsider upon experiencing such a thing."

She considered what he was saying. If it were the truth, why wouldn't Zedd have told her that one crystal could have given her some respite from what she was enduring? She could see the riders forming themselves into two rows across the road. Richard, Kahlan and Zedd were in the middle of the front row. Lanick, who sat in the center of the rear rank, began shouting something to the soldiers on the rampart. She couldn't make out what was being said, and couldn't do anything to warn them about whatever weapon was waiting to be unleashed upon them. She swallowed against the outraged lump that was rising in her throat. "Do what you will, Wizard," she spat. "I will die before Rahl arrives. I'll will myself to do it. You can't stop me."

Tolian took the quillion and strode up to her with it, shoving it hard against the side of her head. Magic began to bleed from her, falling from her like a lead weight. "This will prevent you for a time," he hissed beside her ear. "There will be a little less for you to use in your martyrdom. It should sustain you just enough for Lord Rahl to arrive in time to keep you."

Suddenly, she felt the magic the crystal had absorbed turn into heat against her skin, and it began to pulse a high-pitched hum. "I wouldn't be so sure of that," she countered, feeling the flow of power cease. The crystal had only been at work for a minute or so, but it was full, even overfilled. Tolian jerked the bright stone away from her as it vibrated and cracked, becoming so full of heat that he had to drop it. It continued to glow brighter as it came to rest in the middle of the floor. With a flash, it exploded into a thousand different pieces. Eylara shut her eyes against it and turned her face away as hot crystal shards showered her. The magic blew back into her like a gust of wind. She laughed ironically. "Zedd knew! If you had any idea of what power is in me, you would have guessed I'd overload one crystal."

Tolian growled and moved as though he might strike her again, but he caught himself, turning his head to the cell entry as he appeared to hear or sense something. He brought his hand down and chuckled. "So die you shall," he scathed. Then he reached up and grabbed a fistful of her hair. She yelped as he gave her head a sharp jerk backward. "But first, watch with me, and know that those who saved you and have worked so hard to help you live will now precede you to the Underworld, all for your selfish pursuits." He forced her head back down to the level of the slit window.

She felt what was coming before it actually happened. The moment the buried charges ignited, she wrenched her face away from the window and squeezed her eyes shut. The explosion roared through the night. Heat washed through the window, and the air and earth around her quaked violently. Tolian lost his grip on her hair as the blast knocked him off his feet, and she was blown back against the wall as the chains binding her ankles strained.

When it was over, she looked back to the road. She thought her heart would freeze solid. Sickness gripped her stomach when she saw men on the ground along with their mounts. Richard, Kahlan and Zedd were nowhere to be seen. There was a gaping crater in the road precisely where they would have been standing. They, along with the riders to either side of them and directly behind, could never have survived. "No . . ." Her mouth had become as dry as a desert in summer. They were gone.

What had she done? She should have left the caverns with Aiden once they had seen the D'Harans. Her curiosity had gotten the best of her, and now the only hope for freedom from Darken Rahl's tyranny, the Seeker, had been lost. She wished they'd never found her. She wished she'd read more, choosing to come along after Rahl's defeat. What if she'd never decided to come to this world? At least it would have had a chance. Richard had been right. Her being there had altered the outcome of things. She had to act. She had to do something to atone for his loss . . . and Kahlan's and Zedd's.

Tolian suddenly appeared in front her, holding the Dagger of Dawn with a darkly triumphant smile on his face. "And to think you possessed what could have saved you all this time," he said. "Now, I'll use it to end your suffering."

One of the Mord-Sith grabbed his arm. "Lord Rahl wants her alive," she said, her voice a clear warning. They respected wizards under Rahl's service for their power, but when it came to something that they knew was a direct violation of their Master's wishes, they would heed no one.

As Tolian began a calm but forceful argument with the Mord-Sith, Eylara's rage at him, and what had happened, built to a boiling point. Her mind raced with what she might try to do before Tolian turned back to her. He had every intention of killing her if he could get past the Mord-Sith. However, she stopped when she felt something in the Subtractive Magic change. It was building inside of her, spurning the restraint of the Rada'Han completely. She tried to hold on to it, calm it . . . but it wouldn't be quelled. It found her anger and hatred and desire for vengeance and latched on, growing with the purchase it had discovered. Her eyes screwed shut as an incomprehensible sea engulfed her. She had no control over it. Those darker emotions were at the very front of her mind and intent now, and it promised to help her act on those things. The magic poured through her, heart, body and mind, igniting enmity within her blood.

She had invoked the Con Dar. It had been completely out of her hands . . . but not beyond her desires. She might not have stopped it if she could have.

Her body convulsed with the power, shaking as her strength and focus shifted to something entirely different. She knew that going through this would kill her; it was too much for her entire being to cope with in such a weakened state, but it didn't matter now. She would avenge Richard, Kahlan and Zedd for as long as she could. Then she would pass from the world she had altered so negatively.

Tolian and the Mord-Sith were struck dumb by what was happening. Light seemed to gravitate toward her, wrapping itself in a vortex around her while darkness became tangibly thick in every corner of the cell. The power took the pain that was wracking her body because of her weakness and threw it outward until they could feel it and know what she was enduring. Blue lightning sparked around her chains, her hands and closed eyes - a testament to the magnitude of the magic at work. The steel restraints around her wrists blew apart. Four soldiers ran into the cell to see what was going on. They also froze in disbelief at the sight, drawing their swords. The power reached its peak, and it was agony to her, agony she screamed against with every ounce of air in her lungs and every fiber of her being as she threw her hands skyward, casting away the light. It snapped back into place in the cell, killing the darkness. It was done. She was fully in the thrall of the Blood Rage.

Her eyes snapped open. The world was sharp and clear, writ in blood, drawn in rage. Vengeance was her only goal. She looked at the wizard and the group behind him, and before any of them could move, she thrust out her hand. Silent thunder passed between her and all of them, and the darkening of eyes that marked Confession covered them. Five minds became hers. Since the touch of a Confessor was death for a Mord-Sith, the four women instantly crumpled to the floor. She stared unblinking at Tolian and beckoned him closer. "What do you desire, mistress?" he asked in little more than a whisper once he had come within arm's length.

Her voice came as cold as winter wind and sharp as obsidian. "Release me from the rest of these chains." Tolian went to where the items on the table had been knocked to the floor and searched among the implements and stone dust until he found a key. He unlocked the shackles that held her ankles and stood up. "Remove the Rada'Han from me," she told him. From a chain around his neck, Tolian pulled a small key and used it to take the metal ring from her throat. "Destroy the key." Tolian placed the key in his palm and summoned a plume of Wizard's Fire. The thing was incinerated in a matter of seconds. "Now put the Rada'Han around your own neck. You will never use magic again." Keeping his gaze on her all the while, Tolian did as he was told. He was powerless.

After this, Eylara turned her attention to the soldiers. "Go outside and get the nearest guards. Tell them there is a problem here. Bring them to me." They turned and left the prison. Within three minutes, they returned, followed by six more guards with swords in hand. Eylara did the same to them as she had with the others. "Now," she commanded, "go up to the ramparts. Kill the archers that are there. When you have finished with them, kill any other soldiers you can. Do not stop for any reason until there are no more soldiers left to fight. If you do not, I will be greatly displeased. Go."

She waited until the soldiers left before making another move. She saw the Dagger of Dawn on the ground near the upended table and moved to pick it up. However, when she touched it, it sent such a terrible shock through her that she jerked away from it. It hurt somewhere in her heart, it had been so strong. Through the rage, it puzzled her, but she quickly forgot it. "Is there anything more I might do to please you, mistress?" Tolian questioned from behind.

"Yes." She turned to face him. "Open the gates to the fort. Leave here and hide in the shadows, and don't try to open it until you're sure the time is right."

"I will do my best, mistress." The wizard hurried out into the battle-torn night.

Eylara waited a full two minutes before leaving the prison herself, sword in hand.

* * * * *

The four watched as the archers above them loaded bolts into their crossbows and aimed over the walls, trying to hit any of the riders that circled the fort. Aiden wanted badly to put a bolt of his own in one of the turned backs, but Richard told him to wait. They had to move while they had the opportunity. Quickly, they left the tunnel and made for the deep shadows between the fort wall and the barracks. From that position, Aiden could get off at least two shots before they were noticed. Richard peered cautiously around the corner and marked the soldiers that were nearest to them. The back of the fort was not as heavily manned, and the squad of sixteen was getting ready to head out the gates. Richard signaled Aiden, who took down an archer each near the northeast and northwest corners before others began to notice. The rebel stopped shooting, watching tensely as they looked for their attacker. They weren't succeeding.

All of a sudden, more soldiers appeared with the archers on the ramparts. They watched, astounded, as the newcomers attacked their own peers. Once the archers further back realized what was going on, they began shooting. It was too late. The soldiers ran their comrades down, losing three of their number in the process before descending to the yard below and confronting the ground troops.

"What's all this?" Aiden asked, bewildered. "They can't be spies, at least not from Cantorwick!"

"Sympathizers, maybe?" Richard wondered.

"Ten of them in one fort?" said Kahlan. "That isn't very likely."

A guard was thrown back against the wall right beside the corner Richard had looked around. He saw them and immediately gave a shout. "It's the Seeker! Inside the walls! He's here!" One of the apparent turncoat guards slammed into him and grappled him out of sight. Another swordsman appeared in his place, this time unhindered. Richard drew the Sword and deflected the lunge that had been aimed at him before bursting from their hiding spot and fighting in earnest. Kahlan, Zedd and Aiden followed.

The men that had been formed up to exit the gates were in disarray as they dealt with their new assailants. As the others fought, Zedd searched about with spellsight, trying to find where Tolian might be. Oddly, he couldn't find him, although there was figure of a regular person in the prison. Eylara was easily visible, a veritable pillar of changing energies in the middle of the lowest level. He was interrupted by an attacking guard, which he blasted away from him with a repulsing thrust of his hand.

Many of the apparent allies among the guards had been cut down, but not before taking several of their comrades with them. The fighting remained heavy, so much so that Kahlan wasn't being handed a chance to exercise her powers to any advantage. Some of the soldiers that hadn't been in formation had reached the ramparts and were loading crossbows. Aiden turned his attention to them.

Suddenly, Eylara appeared in the doorway of the prison. She carried a D'Haran short sword, which she was forced to put to use immediately upon stepping over the threshold. Zedd watched her. There was something about the way she was moving and behaving that was very odd to him. Her stance remained mostly straight, somewhere between offensive and defensive. She blocked the attacks of the two guards that had been stationed outside the prison easily and efficiently, and the single blows she dealt each of them were final. Her face a mask of dark determination, she descended the steps to the yard.

Comprehension of what had happened to her caused ice to race up his spine. Aiden had just finished taking care of the replacement archers and was about to rush back in when Zedd grabbed him. "Don't fight," the wizard told him. "Go in there, get Richard and Kahlan and pull them back out here, now!" Not daring to question, Aiden barreled into the fight, defending himself as needed. He reached Kahlan first, and they both got to Richard. Six soldiers tailed them as they parted from the main melee. Zedd kept an eye on Eylara, watching as four soldiers turned their attention to her. She threw her hand out toward them. They stopped in their tracks, turned, and attacked those who had once been their fellows.

"Zedd, what are we doing?" shouted Richard as he fought off one of the men that had followed them out.

The wizard threw fire at two soldiers that approached him. "You'll see soon enough," he replied. "Just don't go back out there."

When the six guards had been finished off, they turned to watch the remnants of the battle. They saw Eylara, the deadly precision of her combat, the newly turned men fighting. "She's in the Con Dar," Kahlan breathed. Richard paled a bit, realizing why Zedd had called them away from the battle.

At that moment, the gates burst open, and eight rebel horsemen thundered into the yard. All they saw were a dozen D'Harans fighting each other, with Eylara in the midst. Aiden sprinted forward, waving his arms. "Lanick!" he yelled. "Stay back! Over here! Come over here!" Lanick heard him and got his men to comply, but not before they had taken down four soldiers. The horsemen came to a halt beside the four, breathing hard and covered in sweat and dirt. Together, they watched as the remaining D'Harans killed each other off. In the end, two remained standing. They didn't attack Eylara. Instead, they put away their weapons and stood near her, waiting. Tolian appeared from a hiding spot near the gate and hurried over to her as well.

She stood motionless in the midst of the fallen, her features set in stone. Zedd took a slow, deep breath and turned to the now dismounted rebels. "Stay here," he instructed them. Then he looked to Richard and Kahlan. "Come with me. We can't get very close, but maybe close enough for her to see us through what has her." Aiden started to go with them, and when Zedd tried to prevent him, he insisted.

"I'm partly responsible for her being captured," he said. "Let me come. Please." Zedd sighed and relented.

"She won't live long once she's out of it," said the wizard as they walked across the yard. "She's most likely just as out of control as she was when we found her. You'll need to keep in contact with me so that you won't be affected by her magic." Richard and Kahlan each took one of his arms, while Aiden held on to his shoulder.

They stopped several paces away. Eylara seemed to stare through them. She was frightening to look at. Her eyes were jet black diamonds set in claret glass, rimmed thickly in red, wide and sunken. Her skin was almost paper-white, latticed with the ice blue fractures that marked the overwhelming influence of magic unraveling her body. The rise and fall of her shoulders as she breathed was barely noticeable. Richard ventured words first. "Eylara? It's us." Her vision seemed to flicker for an instant. He tried again. "Eylara, we're here, see? It's me, Richard. Zedd's here, too, and so is Kahlan, and Aiden. It's all right now." Finally, her eyes found him. The rest of her didn't move.

Kahlan moved her hand to Zedd's fingers so that she could step toward the girl. "Eylara . . ." Her head snapped over to look at the Confessor. "Eylara, it's over now. We're here. Come back to us. Please . . ."

Eylara pulled in a labored breath, and she blinked, her knees trembling. Zedd and Aiden both called to her, and finally the rage released her. She went limp, hitting the ground before Zedd could get them all near to her. As they moved her so that she was stretched out on her back, Zedd placed a hand on her forehead and was surprised at what he found. Rather than raging out of control, the magic in her had blown itself into such ambiguity that it was no longer defined. What was left of her being was sustaining her body, not the power she was holding. "It's alright, you can let go," he told them. "The magic is foundationless now; it can't hurt you."

Her body was barely holding itself together. Blood was slowly seeping from her ears, her nose, a corner of her mouth, the edges of her fingernails. Her eyes still looked as they did while she was in the Con Dar, except the irises had turned dark purple - the blue of them masked with blood. She looked at Zedd and managed a weak smile. "You're alive," she whispered. "All of you. I thought . . . I thought the explosion had killed you." There were tears at the edges of the wizard's eyes. Looking at the others, she saw the same thing in Kahlan and Richard. Aiden's jaw was clenched, the muscles in it working as he tried to bury whatever he was feeling.

Tolian and the two soldiers were kneeling beside her as well, and the Confessed wizard had tears streaming down his face. "Mistress, isn't there anything I can do to help you?" he croaked.

"Where's the quillion you took from the caves, Tolian?" Zedd demanded. The other wizard explained what had happened. Zedd shut his eyes at the painful revelation. "Aiden," he said quietly, "ride out and bring back my horse. As fast as you can. Go!"

"I thought two crystals couldn't do anything for her," said Kahlan as Aiden dashed away.

"They can't," said Zedd. "I'm just hoping there's some chance the spirits may take pity and prove me wrong."

Eylara moaned weakly as an indefinable inner pain wracked her for a moment. She coughed against it, and the blood coming from her mouth bubbled. Reddish tears squeezed from the corners of her eyes. "Thank you for trying, Zedd," she whispered hoarsely, "but I think it might be too little too late. I can't have much more than a quarter of an hour left, if that."

"Child, nothing is impossible . . ."

Eylara gripped his arm. "Listen to me, Zedd." She had started crying, but was working hard to breath normally enough to speak. "I need you to know . . . Apart from my parents, while they were in my life, I have never known anyone so willing to take me under their wing and teach me how to deal with things . . . In the past few days, you've been so much like them . . . a mentor, a teacher . . . a friend . . ." She had a feeling that Zedd hardly ever came close to tears over anything. To see him that way now, as he clasped her hand in his, was heart wrenching.

She looked at the Seeker and held out her hand to him. He took it, covering it with his own. "Richard, you remind me of my brother so much it's not even funny." She chuckled, as did Richard, but it hurt her to do it. She steadied her breathing again and went on. "No one has to tell you again that Zedd and Kahlan were right to name you Seeker. You're a rare person. And you were right: me being here has changed the outcome of things. But you'll still defeat Darken Rahl. I diverted you; you chose to split off and help me without even knowing who I was . . . I don't know if I'd ever fully understand it."

"It was right," he managed, swallowing past the lump in his throat. She smiled and squeezed his hand, fighting past a new surge of tears as she looked to Kahlan.

"If the dead can miss the living in the Underworld," she said, "I think it's very possible I might miss you most of all, Kahlan." Now the Mother Confessor had her hand, tightly. "If you hadn't helped me when I discovered Confession . . . I don't even want to think of what would have happened. I've learned a lot from you, about this world, about why things are they way they are . . . You even made me look at myself differently, through the lens of things I would have taken for granted. Thank you . . ."

The world around her was fading, seeming less and less substantial, turning to fog at the edges. She needed to close her eyes, to sleep . . . "Mistress?" Tolian grasped her shoulder. "Mistress, what about the Dagger of Dawn? Can't it help you?"

Eylara shook her head, her eyes slitting open again. "I don't see how, Tolian." She took a few breaths. "But . . . before I Confessed you, you said I had what could have saved me all this time. Did you mean the Dagger?" He nodded.

Suddenly, Zedd reached out and grabbed the other wizard by his sleeve. "You know what it's made of, don't you?" Hesitantly, Tolian nodded again. "Well, out with it!"

"The blade is made of silenced quillion. All it needs is the Word of Warrendt spoken over it, and it should work."

"Silenced quillion?" Zedd slapped a hand to his forehead. "Zeddicus, you old fool! Of course!"

"What's 'silenced quillion'?" asked Richard.

"A form of quillion the Wizards of the Order of Warrendt created centuries ago," the wizard replied. "The second head of the Order made it so that it could only be used fully when an incantation invented by the original head, Warrendt, was spoken. It was a way for them to prevent their own crystals from being used against them after the Rahl bloodline came to power. Some of the crystals were rumored to have been forged into weapons."

"Tolian." Still weeping, the wizard turned to look at Kahlan. "If you want to help your mistress, you need to go get the Dagger of Dawn as fast as you can and bring it back here." His eyes widening, he sprang up and ran for the prison.

With surprising strength, Eylara gripped Zedd's arm. "Do you know the words, Zedd?"

He shook his head. "I'm not of the Order of Warrendt," he told her. "But Tolian is, or else he wouldn't have recognized the Dagger. You can tell him to speak the Word of Warrendt."

"Will the Dagger work by itself?"

"No. It's just like normal quillion once it's activated. Which is why Aiden had better get back here in short order."

"Or you'll give him a tail?"

Zedd smiled at her. "It's good to see you're keeping a sense of humor."

She coughed again. "I've got strength enough to fight a little longer if there's a chance it could work."

Tolian returned, carrying the crystal blade. He dropped shakily to his knees beside her, panting for breath. "Here it is, Mistress Eylara! I have it. What should I do with it?"

"I'll tell you . . . when Aiden comes back," she whispered. "Just wait . . ." Galloping hooves could be heard approaching along the western wall. Zedd carefully let her head down to the ground and got up. Her eyes were drifting closed. "I need to sleep . . . just for a little bit . . ."

Kahlan clutched her hand hard enough to hurt, lightly striking the side of her face a few times when she shut her eyes. "Not yet, Eylara; stay with us. Just a few more minutes . . ." It was hard for her to listen. She wasn't sure if the sounds she heard were real anymore. A few seconds of clarity forced her eyes back open and a couple of focused, deep breaths into her lungs. She had to stay . . . had to . . .

Aiden flew through the gate, Zedd's horse in tow. The wizard hurried to rummage through one of his saddlebags, coming away with the two flat obelisk boxes that held the quillion. The rebel came to her side as Zedd arranged the artifacts around her. Her eyes found his, and she tried to smile. "Hello, my friend," she rasped.

Aiden's vision blurred, and he fought to blink the moisture back. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked, trying to laugh. "I was just getting to know you, and Mother will be really unhappy if she finds out you left without saying goodbye."

"Eylara . . ." She couldn't turn her head anymore, but she blinked and strained her gaze over to look at Zedd, who moved a bit so that she could see him easier. "We have the quillion. Just tell Tolian what to do with the Dagger, and we can get to work."

The other wizard leaned over her to look at her face, and her sight flicked over to him. "Tolian, speak . . . speak the Word of Warrendt over the Dagger . . . awaken it . . ." Her eyes fell shut, and her breathing shortened. Tolian began to panic.

Zedd grabbed his shoulder. "Quickly, Tolian. She's depending on you."

The wizard gripped the Dagger of Dawn firmly, held it before him, and swallowed hard as he recited the incantation in a shaking voice. "Cal ri'ath verregen Warrendt, timmacht hathon quil'an rai selon zennat akt."

Nothing happened.

Zedd balked, but realized the problem quickly. "The Rada'Han. Tolian, speak the words again." The wizard did as he was told, and Zedd listened carefully. "Good. Now let me have the Dagger." Hesitantly, Tolian handed it to him. Zedd wrapped his fingers securely around the pommel and repeated the Word of Warrendt.

The crystal blade flared to life, a heatless white flame that all of them had to turn away from. The awakening power then dimmed, and the blade came to rest full of deep, brilliant blue luminescence. Immediately, it began drawing magic from the woman on the ground. Zedd set it down and reached across to open one box and then the other. Three working as one, the quillion artifacts brightened, glowing steadily as they took hold of Eylara's magic. Zedd watched them carefully, making sure that none were about to overload. The streams of the draining pull between the girl and the crystals were effortless, working perfectly.

All at once, a blue-white flash of light passed over her, dissipating rapidly after reflecting in the eyes of the two soldiers and Tolian. As though coming out of a trance, they shook their heads clear of a fog. Tolian jumped up, and the soldiers moved to draw their swords. Before they had a chance, Aiden had his crossbow trained on one, while Richard had the Sword of Truth out and pointed at the other. Zedd reached out toward the other wizard and held him fast with a grip of restraint. "Thank you for your help, Wizard of Warrendt," he said, smiling at his rival's helplessness and glancing at his neck. "A Rada'Han. A permanent decoration, I presume?" Tolian, released from Eylara's Confession, scowled and said nothing. Richard had the soldiers disarm themselves and was working with Aiden to bind them. Zedd released Tolian and had him join his fellow captives.

In the meantime, Kahlan was closely watching Eylara, trying to figure out what had happened. She knew the only way for someone who had been Confessed to be released was for the Confessor who had done it to die. Eylara wasn't dead, but it was almost as if she wasn't truly alive, either. She was motionless, her breathing barely betraying what little life might have remained in her. Anyone looking at her would have presumed her dead. Zedd returned, watching what Kahlan was doing. When she stopped, she looked at the wizard questioningly. "Are we too late?"

"I don't know," he answered quietly. "She's . . . suspended, somewhere in between here and the Underworld. As a world-walker, perhaps she's come to a crossroads and must decide where her path now lies. Or . . . maybe something, someone higher is deliberating over her. We just need to give her time."

They observed her in silence for an eternal hour. Midnight came and went, and all around was still, as if the world itself was waiting to see what would happen to her. "We can't stay here," said Aiden after a time. "That other patrol is on it's way back; there's no telling when it'll get here."

They fashioned a stretcher that could be carried between two horses and got her onto it, but not without much difficulty. They had to keep the quillion near her without breaking the flow of magic between them, and once she was on the stretcher, they had to find a way to keep the crystals secured to her so that they wouldn't fall or become separated as they moved. Finally, Richard, Kahlan, Zedd, Aiden, Lanick and the eight surviving rebel horsemen were on the road back to Cantorwick with three prisoners and Eylara in tow. It would be a three-hour endeavor at their slow pace, but there was no hurry.

After the group left the fort, Zedd started a fire along the western wall. It was a slow burn, not an immolating blast, and would keep the returning patrol occupied for some time. Fort Henatir smoldered in their wake, a message to the oppressed that the few could overcome the many and, to the oppressors, that the few would.