Chapter Thirty-Five

"Richard." The anger in Darken Rahl's voice upset his normally calm demeanor. "Is she still alive?"

Richard didn't know how to respond to that, so he moved his hand to his sword. "There is no way to know if she's alive or dead." Zedd told Darken, who continued to stare at Richard.

"Let them go." Richard ordered, but Darken just smirked.

"These are my Mord-Sith, brother. They won't respond to your commands, only mine." Darken raised his hand, and the Mord-Sith pressed their Agiel's to Dahlia and Berdine's throats. Dahlia's screams echoed through the room, and Richard found himself restraining Cara.

The screams ended. "What do you want?" Kahlan asked from the corner of the room, her confessor face dominating her emotions.

"I want Cara back." Darken Rahl sounded like a child.

"That's impossible. If she is not dead, which there is no reason to assume she is, the sudden pull back through the Underworld, so close to the last one, will kill her, and most likely our Cara as well." Zedd tried to reason with Darken, but he didn't seem to be listening.

"Not only that, but she is our only hope at saving the two worlds." Richard added. He found it odd that everyone stared at him when he said it.

A thought other than getting Cara back seemed to be forming in Darken's head. "If Cara was dead, I would have my Cara back." He said. He pulled out a sword.

The Sword of Truth's metallic ring was heard throughout the room, as Richard matched Darken's movements. "I won't let you kill her."

"Then I suppose I'll just have to kill you as well. If this new world is coming, it might as well be absent you." Darken lunged, and the two Mord-Sith who were holding Dahlia and Berdine looked at each other, confused on what to do.

Richard met Darken's blade in mid-air. "Stop this. I thought you wanted to work together."

"I will not let you take Cara from me again!" Darken yelled. His blade whipped through the air, not towards Richard, but Cara.

Richard blocked him at the last second, and Cara began looking for her Agiel. The space was too tight for Zedd to use wizards fire, and Kahlan was backed into a corner, no way to get to the action.

Richard pushed Darken Rahl back, forcing him towards the door. The two Mord-Sith were still standing there, but now they seemed to have decided a course of action. They backed out of the room, taking Dahlia and Berdine with them, as Richard and Darken parried and struck, increasingly moving towards the door.

Richard parried a lung from Darken to his chest, and moved on an opening, Darken Rahl had dropped his guard for a split second. The blade moved towards Darken's heart, but suddenly he turned, and it slid across his arm, slicing through flesh. Darken cried out in pain, but when he looked up towards Richard, he was smiling. "Good luck brother." He fled from the room.

There was a second or two of silence, and Cara jumped up from the bed, seeming to have found her Agiel. "Did I miss the action?" She asked.

"You seem-" Richard was cut off as the first Mord-Sith made their way through the door, Agiel whining. Richard brought the Sword of Truth up just in time to run the woman through, but she was quickly replaced. The Mord-Sith swarmed into the tiny room, like fire ants when their hill has been squashed. For a time, it was easy for Richard and Cara to kill them as they ran through the door, but there were too many, and two would get through the door before one was felled.

They were being over whelmed, but suddenly Kahlan was there; she had somehow made it past the obstacles in the room. They pushed the Mord-Sith back, over the fallen bodies of their sisters.

Then there was a high-pitched whistle, and the Mord-Sith gave ground. They were in retreat. It took only a few moments, and then the room was silent. Blood and gore dripped around the four comrades, and there were at least fifteen bodies spread throughout the room. Cara angrily turned to Richard.

"Will you please explain to me what is going on?"