Richard rushed through the trees quickly, following the marks in the dirt and leaves. "Richard, slow down!" Zedd called from behind him. Richard came to a sudden stop. The trail ended. There was a fork in the road and the trail had ended. His heart cried out in anger. "You are of no use to her if you are too tired to fight." Richard turned back to his grandfather as he reached him. "I'll never be too tired to fight for her." He said angrily, turning to Cara and Leo "We should split up." He looked to Leo "You go with Zedd. Cara comes with me." Leo was about to argue when Cara shot him a glare that told him not to speak. "Okay." He said looking to Zedd as Richard and Cara rushed through the trees.

"Richard, you have to slow down." Cara said as she hurried closely behind him. He was starting to pant as he moved over the fallen limbs. Cara watched him, his eyes never settling over anything long enough to take it in, his body being pushed faster than it should be. "Richard." He stopped "I can't lose her." facing her, he tried to hold back the tears collecting in his eyes. Cara stared at him. "I just got back to her. I can't lose her." Nodding Cara looked around them "There's nothing to follow, Richard." He shook his head, "No, there has to be something." kneeling to the ground he scanned the area. "No." he whispered to himself as he jumped to his feet and walked a few paces to a large bush. "It's Kahlan's." he said handing a torn piece of clothing to Cara before darting off into a run.

Kahlan's scream was muffled by some ones mouth pressing roughly against hers. Her body ached from their "pleasure" One minute they were trying to hold her still, and the next they couldn't stop hitting her. Her blood was covering the ground below her as she hung from the ceiling. The rope binding her hands and suspending her above the ground had broken a few times, sending her body falling down to the concrete below. The bone was slightly visible on her wrists as she tried desperately to get free. The men never seemed to have enough of her. All of them beaming with pride as they finished. Laughing as she cried through it all.

"Here, drink this." The small man returned. Splashing some water on her face to help her waken her. "Drink." she starred at him, he reached up with the cup, placing it to her swollen and bloody lips. She took in a deep breath before she took a slip. The water fell from the sides of her mouth, falling onto the man below her. He smiled warmly at her, as he wiped the water from her face. "Your friends better be here soon." he looked around to be sure no one was listening. "I don't know how long you can go through this." She opened her mouth to speak, "Why?" he could barely hear her as she choked out the word. "They are going to kill you when the Sisters arrive." he looked back to her "They should be here in two days time. I'm afraid you may not make it..." He looked to the ground "They talk about what they wish to do to you. More than they already have. I assure you," he looked back at her, "Every one of them will have you again, only now it will be worse. They are going to lose their toy." Kahlan couldn't stop the tears from falling down her cheeks as she saw the truth in the man's eyes. "I'm sorry." lifting the cup back to her slowly, he pressed it to her lips "Drink."

"I've described her to you a dozen times!" Richard shouted as he reached over a table and took hold of the clothes of the older man sitting before him. Lifting him from his chair, Richard pulled the small bearded man to him with a force that nearly tore his shirt from his body. "Have you seen her?" The old man nodded quickly "Yes. I saw them. Three days ago." "Them?" Cara said taking a step towards him. "Yes. She was with several dozen men." "Was she alive?" Richard asked starring the man in the eyes "I am not sure, she was thrown over one of the men's shoulders. One of them dropped her, she didn't move." Richard released the man, dropping him to the floor. "Which way did they go?" The man stood up slowly and backed away from Richard. "North." he said softly "I heard one of them say they had to take her to see someone." Richard glared at him "Who?" The old man shook his head. "I don't know. They didn't say. They stayed only one night."

Cara closed the distance between her and the man. "They stayed here? With the Mother Confessor?" "Yes. They left early morn-" He stopped mid sentence taking in what he just heard "Mother Confessor?" Richard nodded "They did that to the Mother Confessor?" Richard tilted his head "Did what?" the man took another stepped back as Richard grew even more upset. "Her body... Beaten." Tears fell from Richard's face as he imagined the scene the man had just described. "There is an abandoned house the next town over. I'd bet my life, that's where they have taken her." The old man watched Richard for a moment as he thought. "Come on, we have to get moving." Turning Richard started towards the door, Cara in step behind him. "Thank you." he said as he pushed through the door. "Wait!" The older man called after them. They turned to him "Take the horses out there. You'll need them." The man smiled as they walked through the doors.

"Leave us." The large man asked as he entered the room. The group of men surrounding Kahlan grunted as a few pulled their pants back on. Waiting until they were gone, the man watched Kahlan. She didn't move. Her head hung backwards as she swung. He smiled at the sight. Walking closer to her, he let his eyes travel over her body. "Shame such a pretty woman you are." Running his fingers over her side, he turned her. Reaching up he pulled his hand back and smacked it against her, causing her body to jolt, waking her. "There you are." he smiled widely. "Hope you've been enjoying yourself." he looked down at the blood soaked floor, the splatter on the wall behind her and the blood that covered most of her body. "It would appear that my friends have enjoyed your company." His hand moved slowly over her thigh, making his way up to her waist and running it over her stomach.

"I've waited for my turn, you see." His hand moved upwards, sliding between her breasts. "I could have had you first, but..." he moved his tongue over her side. She tried to jerk away from him, but his arms encircled around her, holding her in place. He pushed her backwards until part of her body was pressed against the wall. He moved to stand before her, moving his hands to her hips, to hold her to the wall. Pulling a thick rope from the side he, tied it to her legs, and then her legs to the wall. He stepped back to look at her, her eyes were red and barely able to open. He smiled to himself as her teeth chattered together. "I'm going to warm you up." Pulling into her strength she spit a small amount of blood at him as he came closer. It was a mistake. His fists began pounding into her stomach and slowly moving their way to her face. Her head fell back as she her world darkened.

When she came to, she was surrounded once more by several men; she could feel someone touching her. She tried to move, but she couldn't. She tried to scream, but the blood drowned the sound. She was still tied to the wall, only her legs were no longer tied together. She moved her eyes, trying to look around, when he stood up. Their eyes meeting, fury was enflamed in hers, as his fumed with lust. "I told you I'd warm you up." he said, moving his hands from her bottom to her chest. "See. And you didn't even complain." The men laughed loudly as he stepped closer, pushing his body against hers. He was naked.

She squeezed her eyes shut as pushed against her, his knee pushing against her inner thigh, pushing her legs apart. He stopped, leaving his knee against her, grabbing her breasts in his hands he leaned to her neck, lightly pressing his lips to her flesh. She tried to picture herself to be somewhere else as she had done as often as she could, but she couldn't. She couldn't get her mind to think of anything except for the face of the man, pushing into her. A cry escaped her lips as he wrapped his arms around her. He motioned to one of the other men to pull on the ropes, lowering her to his liking. "Open your eyes." he told her as tightened his hold on her. She didn't. He waited a moment before opening his mouth to her shoulder and biting. Her scream seemed to please him, because he pulled up with a smile.

"Open your-" The door flew open as Richard and Cara came through. Richard stopped at the sight. Cara had to remind herself to breathe. Every man jumped from their places and stood, pulling their weapons. Richard stood there, mouth hanging open as he watched the man pressed against Kahlan. A soft cry of his name flew to his ears sending him into a run towards her, Cara following close behind.

Richard dove into them in a heavy rage. Using Kahlan's dagger, he tore into them one by one, being sure to cause pain before they fell dead at his feet. The large man laying over Kahlan suddenly realized that Richard and Cara were getting closer, so he pushed himself away from her a bit, reaching for a weapon next to them. "Get off of her!" Richard said as he ran towards him. The man looked around, everyone else was dead. "Get off of her!" Richard repeated as he got closer. He grabbed him and pulled him off of Kahlan, tossing him to the ground before Cara. "If he moves, kill him!" he told her as he turned to Kahlan. "Kahlan?" he said as he looked up her wrists. "Spirits." he said softly as he reached up and cut the robes that bound her. He caught her as she fell forward. Reaching down, he cut the rope on her feet and pulled her body to his. Suddenly her eyes flew open as she pounded against his chest trying to get free. "Kahlan, it's okay! It's just me." he said softly into her hair as he held her tighter. She pulled back to look at him, her eyes barely able to focus on anything found his deep brown eyes and she felt safe. She collapsed against him and he looked around for something to cover her with.

His eyes came to a rest on what looked to have been her clothes. They were ripped into several dozen pieces. He moved his eyes to the man at Cara's feet, then to Cara. She was starring at Kahlan and Richard could swear that she looked worried. Laying her down on the ground softly, her eyes flew open as she reached back for him. "It's okay; I'm not going to leave you." He said as he pulled his shirt over his head and wrapped it around her before pulling her back into his arms.

"Why did you take The Mother Confessor?" Cara said looking down at the man. "I was told to." he said quickly. "By who?" "The Sisters of the Dark. They should be here soon."Cara looked over to Richard, who turned to look at them. "What? Why do they want Kahlan?" The man laughed "Because of the prophecy." "What prophecy?" Cara said angrily. "As long as the Mother Confessor's pure heart beats, the Keeper is doomed to fail." he said flatly. "I don't believe in prophecy." Richard said standing up with Kahlan in his arms. "Kill him." he said as he walked past Cara. "Lord Rahl?" she said confused "He may still have information you will need." He turned back to her, eyes wet with tears. "I have what I need. They intended to kill Kahlan. That is all I needed to know." He said turning back and carrying her outside. A few screams were the last sounds that came from the door, until Cara walked out.

"We have to get her to Zedd." Richard said as he looked from Kahlan to the horse. "I'll find Zedd and Leo; you should take her back to the tavern." Cara said as took Kahlan from his arms, to allow him to climb onto the horse, and handed her back to him. Kahlan wrapped her arms around him, holding herself tightly against him. Feeling his heartbeat against her comforted her enough to close her eyes as they road back to the tavern.