Legend of the Seeker
The Male Confessed

I would like to thank you all for commenting and staying true to the story. I know it had been without Richard and Kahlan for the past 2 chapters, but I promise there is good reason for this. These need to happen to thicken and shape the storyline of this fanfiction. I may dismay more of you but this will be another chapter without the pair. However, I'm sure you'll find this chapter as intriguing as the last few.

Enjoy and please, as always, review.

Previously, on The Male Confessed: Zedd awoke to find himself in a comfortable bed inside a well presented bedroom. In a new robe and slippers situated for himself, he walked out to be confronted by a small girl of 16 who introduces herself as Jessica. The young child had cooked him some fish to which Zedd eagerly consumed. When getting to know her he realises she was the daughter of Nell, the sorceress who healed Kahlan in the caves. Not only did she watch her mother get mutilated by the gar, but she suffered the loss of her grandmother and the kidnapping of her father. Now alone, she asks Zedd to stay with her before her crying falls her asleep…

Chapter 5
The saviour in black.

"Wake up!" screamed a voice so ear-splitting and of great urgency he jolted awake. He hadn't heard such a scream in so long that he had a hard difficulty placing everything. Shocked by the violent screaming it came again but sounded more distant. Frowning from the bright light around him he couldn't see well. Disorientated by the shock and abrupt awakening he found himself with a mind numbing headache. Groaning, he heard a yell again followed by hard thumps on his back. "Zedd, wake up!" screamed the distressed and fragile voice. Zedd's world came crashing into him with a vicious and brutal crash. What had looked like white flickers of light turned out to be red and orange lashes of fire.

Gasping in breath he choked from the thick black smoke in the air. The smoke constricted his throat preventing him from breathing. Placing a hand to his chest, a warm glow begun to illuminate. The power, surging into his body and lungs, made him able to breath properly. With his breath in tact he looked to his side to find Jessica face down on the blackened floor.

"Jessica!" Zedd yelled with alarm. Standing up from his chair he immediately lifted Jessica into his arms and begun searching for an escape. The thick black condensed smoke seemed to grow with every passing second. The dolls he had once seen hung around the house were either in flames, melted plastic or ash. The bedroom was sealed off due to a large plank of wood in the way in a diagonal position. The end part was still intact with the ceiling but by a thread. How did this happen? Why hadn't he awoken? As he desperately swung around to find a place to go he noticed the door.

Popping of the fire, cracking of the wood, creaking of the old home told him it was all about to cave in. Frantic worry, dread and panic struck him hard. Setting Jessica down, a plan emerged in his head. Lifting his skeletal like arms in the air, his robes hanging lose against his arms, he flexed his fingers. With a breath, a geyser of water shot out with great intensity. The cold crystal clear water swirled. The torrent of water slammed into the door knocking it off its hinges. Water suddenly sprouted from the sides and licked away at the flames before covering them completely. It were like a hundred blue snakes, made of water, leap out and into the fire.

With a fierce impact of wood, the entire house shook by the force. The bedroom had caved in as fire burst out taking half of the connecting wall down with it. Zedd tried to concentrate at what he was doing. The smoke was filling the once peaceful home and he was running out of time. Think of the solution, he thought, not the problem. Unleashing every ounce of energy he could muster, the geyser grew and eventually extinguished the flames dousing the area with soaking wet water. Satisfied, but now tired, he scooped up Jessica and dashed outside.

With a tumble, he rolled across the muddy ground beneath just as the entire house collapsed into a flaming mass. Black smoke billowed out and towered into the night's sky. Zedd watched in disbelief at the place Jessica had once called home. She had lost her father, her grandmother, her mother and now her home. She almost lost her life and it would have been because of Zedd. The blazing fire continued, illuminating the darkness with an intense light. Suddenly he heard faint and laboured coughs.

Zedd swiftly turned downward as Jessica begun to come to. Squirming, Zedd lifted her head up. Her crystal innocent blue eyes looked up at him with hope and happiness. She smiled with relief. Her face was blackened by the smoke, but she was safe, that's what mattered. "You woke up". Zedd couldn't hold back a laugh.

"I awoke young one. Thanks to you". She turned around and looked at what once was her house. She sucked back a cry. "I'm sorry" Zedd whispered. Jessica looked back around, tears brimming her eyes, making them look like pools of water with those blue eyes. Despite the sorrow she was feeling, herself and Zedd in tow stood up. She brushed the dirt and mud off her dress and then looked up at Zedd.

"There were three men" she said, as if reading his thoughts. Zedd didn't need to question her. He decided to remain silent. He had wanted to ask questions but had decided to leave such questions alone and allow the girl to come to terms with it all. He expected her to be frightened, confused, and distraught. Instead she looked and acted calm. She kept strong. "Three men in white" Zedd's alarm grew. "I heard some noises outside the bedroom window. As I looked out, all three had arrows drew back each with fire at the ends. They fired it and the place caught fire. It was so quick. So sudden. They must have done something with the house. I ran in to get you but you were fast asleep" Zedd held the child's arms lightly which gently quietened her. She smiled.

"It's ok dear one. What you done was the best thing you could have done. You saved both our lives. Now what did they look like?" he asked with a more serious tone. It was late and cold and he was not in the mood to waste a chance at being taken off guard again. She looked into the sky as if trying to remember exactly what they looked like. Her face scrunched up, wrinkles formed on her forehead. Zedd, despite the urgency, waited and allowed her the time to think. He couldn't rush this and have her miss anything important. All information was crucial, especially the more accurate it was. After a moment more she looked back up at him.

"Well, it was dark and I couldn't see well" Zedd nodded his understanding and to let her know he doesn't blame her for that. When she knew he was fine, she continued. "With the fire I could see one man. He was the closest to me. He had blonde hair and a scar on his left cheek. He also had a, duck!" Zedd frowned.

"He had a duck?" her eyes were wide, her body stiff. She threw her arm out behind Zedd and pointed.

"No, duck!" she screamed. Zedd turned and ducked just as a sword swung overhead barely missing his neck. Pushing Jessica back he turned to face the very man Jessica described. He stood with authority. Blonde hair and the scar on his left cheek. Zedd couldn't tell what colour eyes he had but it didn't seem to matter. Two other men in white stepped out behind him from the shadows. Both also had blonde hair. The intensity of the fire lit up the area they all found themselves in. The heat grew outwards beginning to make Zedd sweat. Zedd then noticed that all three wore the same chain mail and symbols of the white knights from the cave.

"Why bother to set the house in flames?" asked Zedd casually and relaxed. Everyone, including Jessica, looked at him with confusion at the first choice of questioning.

"Excuse me?" asked the knight with the scar. He raised his ordinary sword in front of him. Zedd smiled and, with Jessica protectively behind him, linked his hands in front of him proving no threat.

"Well," he begun "You could have easily driven your sword into my back whilst I and my little friend slept" he said. Jessica gasped with widened eyes and looked up at him. "Why bother to set the house on fire?" when he got no answer his smile only widened. "Because you needed it to look like an accident. Didn't you?" he said matter of factly, answering for them.

"Silence old man!" yelled one of the knights at the back.

"Who sent you?" he asked composed. In the distance, there was a bright light. It was too far to understand what it was and right now, it was not of his concern. He remained transfixed on the three knights before him.

"Who sent us is not of your concern. Now prepare to die" said the knight at front swinging his sword and leaping forward.

"Close your eyes, Jessica" ordered Zedd in a low voice of warning. His tone didn't make Jessica ask why and quickly clenched her eyes shut. In her darkness she heard a violent impact of energy. The boom shook the ground beneath her as she heard a pained scream which lasted mere seconds. A thud followed and ended with cracking popping flames in front of her. She opened her eyes and the knight was gone except for a pile of ashes. Before she could ask what happened, she found a piece of the knights skin not far before it itself got consumed with flames. She understood.

"Thank you" she told him. Zedd squeezed her shoulder as the two knights, at first horrified, came forward at once. One pulled out a potion with green liquid and threw it at Zedd. With a blinding flash, his world went painfully white followed by an intense ringing in his ears. Yelling, he felt himself hitting into something hard. His head was next to collide and then his body hitting what he could assume was the floor. Within an instant, the blinding light vanished and noise resumed. But instead of the crackling fire, he heard a scream fill the air. Looking up, Jessica was on the floor holding her stomach in pain. Zedd's eyes widened with horror.

One of the knights rose their sword above Jessica just when another done the same over Zedd. He found himself on the ground in front of a tree. His head still throbbed from the impact with the tree but his main concern was for Jessica. If he could kill that knight before he died then he would have saved her. Moments before Zedd could do anything, he heard a moan escape the knight near Jessica. Zedd and the knight both turned as the other knight, a dagger planted firmly in his rib cage, collapsed in a heap. Dead.

"Jessica, I'm here!" yelled Zedd at the sprawled girl in agony. He could see blood on her stomach. That knight had cut her and she was mortally wounded. Zedd tried to move just as the sword plummeted towards him. Zedd went to raise his hands until the knights eyes bulged and a groan escaped his lungs. Confused, he watched the knight fall forward into the tree and eventually slide down. He too had a black dagger in his back. Zedd stood himself up and caught a glimpse of someone in black running away, towards the light over the hill. Unable to grasp what or who that was, he ran over to Jessica.

"It hurts!" she cried out in pain. "It hurts so much!". Tears ran down her cheeks. She cradled her stomach and remained curled up in a foetus position gently rocking herself. She now became paralyzed in her pain and couldn't speak. Zedd gently picked her up and turned to where he knew the village of Eden was. That was when he realised the flashing light was coming from that direction. Concerned, he ran off as gently not to rock Jessica, over the small hill.

"It's ok young one" said Zedd, "I'll help you!" he assured her. She didn't move at all now. Up top, Zedd overlooked the small village which was now in flames. His eyes widened but he continued down the hill. It took around 5 minutes before he reached the village. Only half of it was set alight, the other half had already been set alight and was blackened and smoky. Frames and wood work had burnt away leaving the skeletal frames. The once grassy ground was now burnt away leaving only the soil. The city was fit for the dead.

"Someone!" bawled Zedd with urgency and panic. "Is there anyone alive!" he called out once more in desperate need to find someone of magic who can help. There was no sound apart from the crackling of the fire and buildings collapsing around him. Jessica suddenly arched her back as a shriek escaped her. She started to convulse. Zedd, his eyes filling with tears, knew what was to come. In ragged breaths he choked back the tears and kneeled down, resting her in his arms. She wouldn't stop convulsing and her pale cold skin clenched onto Zedd for dear life.

"I'm so sorry young one" he cried. "I don't have the power to heal you. But I do have the power to ease the pain" he told her with a whisper. He could see in her fear and tormented stricken eyes that she understood. She looked up at him with lost hope. He cried the more. With his hands on her, they begun to glow a bright orange and seep into her body. His crying intensified. It was all happening too fast. This little girl, so full of life, was dying in his arms. The only thing he could do was ease the pain she was feeling. She managed a smile and he smiled at her. He knew she could see him, hear him and feel him. He looked at her that told her it was all going to be ok. She was safe.

"Stand back!" came a deep feminine voice in front of him. The woman, covered with a black cloak stepped forward. Zedd held her close to him. "Stand back!" she ordered, "Unless you want her to die. I can save her" she told him. Zedd looked at her and nodded. Moving away, Jessica's eyes seemed to intensity with horror that Zedd was leaving her. She gasped back one of the few breaths she had left.

"It's ok. I'm right here. I'm right here" he told her crying. The woman, knelt down beside Jessica, placed her hands over the young girls gushing wound. She let out a groan as a blast of energy shot out and wrapped around the girl before entering her wound. Jessica violently gasped and arched her back. Zedd was about to pounce until Jessica screamed. Such a sound brought happiness and joy to his heart. She was getting better. She could barely breathe but here she was, a scream. The light quickly faded and the sorceress fell backwards out of breath.

"It is done" she breathed hard, "It's not completely healed. She'll need to take it easy and rest" said the sorceress. Zedd sensed an age in her voice but ran forward to Jessica. The wound was gone and cleared. Jessica opened her eyes and looked at Zedd both bursting into tears. Jessica wrapped her arms around him and clung onto him tightly. Zedd picked her up and hugged her tightly. She cried the harder as he bent down and gently cupped his hands on her cheeks.

"I was so scared!" she cried and he held her close, squeezing her.

"It's alright now. You're safe" he told her. He then looked up, "I want to thank-," before he could finish the sentence the saviour in black had gone. He didn't bother to look around and rested his cheek a top the girls head. "You're safe" he repeated.

"Please don't ever leave me!" she begged. Zedd opened his eyes, "Protect me always. Look after me. Please don't leave me!" she told him. Zedd's face scrunched with emotional consideration. He then closed his eyes and rocked the frail girl.

To be continued…

What did you guys think? That's another chapter complete and with it saw Jessica's home be consumed with flames. She was able to wake Zedd in time as both escaped moments before the house caved in from the flames. What did you think of that and then the scene to follow with those 3 knights? Who gave them the orders? Who was the one in black who helped kill 2 of the knights and what did Zedd do to that other knight he made sure Jessica closed her eyes for?

What were your thoughts on Jessica cut by that knight and in pain, near death? What happened to the village of Eden? Why had it been on fire? Where was everyone? The saviour in black returned again and healed Jessica. Were to sure she was going to die? How did you feel?

What will happen next for Zedd and Jessica? Only one way to find out and that's to review. So, until next chapter. See you there!