Promethean Heat, Chapter 6
Disclaimer: Still not mine—except for Raythe. (Didja notice how the show's writers like to name characters so they sound like one thing, but are spelled completely different? Isn't that annoying?)
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It's only a matter of time, Kahlan thought clearly in spite of the agony that threatened to overwhelm her. She's going to take me, and then knew that for Richard's sake, she could not let that happen. She felt a surge of anger and twisted her arm, catching the agiel against the hilt of her dagger, forcing it up and away from her leg. Don't stop, she thought, driving the dagger and the agiel both in an arc up and across as the Mord Sith reared back, and the dagger point drove into the arm holding her wrist.
Raythe cried out in anger and pain, and Kahlan's arm was free. She slashed desperately at the Mord Sith, who tried to duck away, but couldn't completely avoid the attack. A bright ribbon of white skin contrasting with red blood appeared through a rent in the leather covering Raythe's stomach.
Kahlan lunged forward, off-balance because of the pain in her leg, forcing herself to continue. I can't let up or she'll just wear me down. I have to finish this now. And now Kahlan had a tiny opportunity, with both hands free to strike. She rained down blow after blow on the Mord Sith, who was able to block them at first, but then Kahlan was able to get past her guard, slashing deep across her thigh this time.
She fell to one knee, but drove her agiel at Kahlan's leg. It was only a glancing blow, but it was enough to send Kahlan to her knees as well, gasping in pain. Raythe readied the agiel for another strike, this time swinging it for Kahlan's throat.
Before it could hit, Kahlan swung her dagger hilt up and into the Mord Sith's face. Her head rocked back, and before she could recover, Kahlan's second dagger sliced through the thick leather at her throat. Raythe fell backwards, the agiel falling to the ground, blood gushing from the wound, barely visible against the maroon leather.
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"Richard!" one of the Resistance fighters yelled. "We have to get out of here! There are too many!"
Richard ignored him, striking blow after blow. He'd only felt such power once before, when he was fighting Ranssyn Fane, but then he'd been inexperienced. Now, he knew how to use it, and the D'Harans were finding out just how formidable the Seeker could be.
He focused his fury on the D'Harans, taking down one soldier after another. He didn't know how many he'd killed, but they were starting to pull away from him, focusing their attacks elsewhere.
"Richard, stop!" There was a hand on his shoulder, and he turned, ready to take off the head of whoever had grabbed him. He stopped himself at the last instant, recognizing one of Devlin's men. "We have to go," the man said, holding up his hands defensively. "We can't take them all down."
Richard looked around, and realized that his band of men was on the verge of being surrounded. He clenched his jaw, then ran for the woods. "Fall back!" he yelled, slashing at the nearest D'Haran. "Fall back!"
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I did it, Kahlan thought, breathing heavily as she knelt next to the fallen Mord Sith, watching to make certain she wasn't going to get up. I actually defeated a Mord Sith. But she was too tired to feel much pride in the accomplishment. She turned to see where Devlin and the other men were. The space between the tents was full of dead D'Harans, but no sign of her men. She tried to get up, but her leg wouldn't hold her weight, and she fell to one side, catching herself hard on one arm.
Devlin and the other men came out of the tent, and the two behind Devlin were holding Zedd up between them. Thank the spirits, Kahlan thought, we weren't too late. Devlin looked over at her. "Kahlan!" he shouted, and looked like he was about to come after her with Zedd in tow.
Get up, Kahlan thought, and managed to make it to her feet, despite the throbbing pain in her leg. "I'm right behind you, Devlin. Get him out of here!" She waved him toward the edge of camp, and he nodded reluctantly, turning to drag the semi-conscious wizard away.
Kahlan followed, limping heavily. As they approached the last tents, another group of D'Haran soldiers sprang out between Kahlan and the others. Two turned to face Devlin, and the remaining three turned toward Kahlan.
Kahlan pushed herself forward, trying to take the initiative and finish them quickly so she could help Devlin. But even though her leg was holding up now as the pain from the agiel was fading, she still couldn't move as quickly as she wanted. The nearest soldier swung at her, and instead of dodging the swing as she would have normally, she had to block it with her dagger, and the shock of the blow numbed her arm to the elbow. She was able to stab the soldier in the throat, though, and one of the others tripped over his body as he fell. The remaining soldier didn't even bother to swing--he tackled her, and landed hard on top of her as she hit the ground.
Kahlan felt the air leave her lungs with a whoosh, and felt her daggers fall from her grip. She gasped, trying to recover. The soldier was trying to draw his own dagger, and she reached for his arm, trying to push it away. The second soldier came up next to them, his sword raised to strike, and she grabbed his leg and let her power flow. The soldier froze, and Kahlan felt even more overwhelmingly tired than she had before, something she hadn't thought possible. The soldier on top of her wrenched his dagger out of its sheath, and rose to his knees, straddling her, poised to strike.
The newly-Confessed soldier drove a sword through him, and he fell off her to the side. Kahlan lay there, gasping for air, as her soldier knelt next to her. "My lady," he said. "Are you all right?"
Kahlan didn't answer at first, trying to get air enough to talk. "Help…my friends," she was able to choke out, nodding toward Devlin, who was trying to hold off the two D'Harans while the other Resistance fighters staggered toward the trees half-carrying Zedd.
He immediately turned and ran to attack the other D'Harans. Kahlan struggled to her feet—again, she thought—grabbed the daggers she'd dropped, and followed him. Try to stay on your feet for a while, she told herself. Her soldier had taken one of the D'Harans from behind, running him through, and turned to help Devlin finish off the other one.
Zedd and his rescuers were into the trees, and Kahlan couldn't see them anymore in the pale pre-dawn light. "Come on," Kahlan said to Devlin. "We need to get out of here, fast." Devlin nodded, grabbing her arm, and she was grateful for the support. They stumbled awkwardly toward the trees, moving faster when the Confessed soldier grabbed her other arm. Kahlan almost lost her footing when the soldier jolted forward, falling with an arrow in his back. Then they were in the trees, and the horses were only a few yards away.
It took Kahlan two tries to mount her horse, she was still so shaky, but she made it, and set off at a gallop, just behind Devlin and the others. Richard, Kahlan thought, trying to send him a message somehow, we're safe. Get out of there.
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Richard hadn't needed to say it twice. The men broke and ran, barely maintaining any order in their retreat. Richard cut at another soldier who was about to hit one of the retreating Resistance fighters. Kahlan was right, he thought briefly, it is too far to the trees. The thought of her reminded him of the danger she was in, and he felt a flutter of fear. But it was drowned out almost immediately by another surge of anger he couldn't understand that spurred him to hammer another soldier with the hilt of his sword before cutting his throat on his backswing.
He held back long enough to see the last of his men into the line of trees, keeping the D'Harans at bay for a crucial few moments. Then he turned and fled into the treeline himself, and realized as he did that there were archers in the trees firing at the D'Harans chasing him. A few started to follow, but quickly gave up the chase, their taste for fighting the Seeker fading fast in the face of the hail of arrows.
Richard hesitated, struggling to suppress the urge to turn and continue the fight, still feeling the unaccountable rage. But he finally started for the rendezvous point, careful to be sure they weren't followed and weren't leaving a trail. And hoping in spite of himself that one of the D'Harans tried to follow him.