Chapter 5
Kahlan and the Captain each had a hold of an arm on Chase; with great effort they half dragged him to the temple. Having killed all of his men in the pass, there was no one to intercept them. No one but Reetha. They moved as quietly as possible through the halls.
The Captain led Kahlan to a room with several large upholstered chairs where they laid Chase as comfortably as possible. Kahlan's head was spinning, she wasn't sure how much longer she'd be able to stand. She was finding it hard to focus her thoughts. She needed to find Richard…that much she knew.
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Richard pulled himself out of Reetha's clutches, his anger so intense his vision blurred to a flash of white light. Reetha, still in the guise of Kahlan reached for him, increasing the flow of her beguiling magic. "Please Richard, hold me." He pulled from her grasp and staggered to his feet, his vision slowly returning. She kneeled beside him and grabbed his hand in both of hers "Richard, please. Don't you love me?" It was Kahlan's form, Kahlan's voice. How could he fight her? He told himself it wasn't her, but it was no use. He couldn't raise a hand to her. He called on every ounce of strength that he had, his voice rough with pain, "You're not Kahlan."
She came to her feet and wrapped her arms around his neck, breathing her warm breath on his face. "Hold me Richard. I need you." Confusion swirled through his mind as he tried to fight the magic seeping deeper into him.
He gripped her jaw in his hand, firmly holding her away from him. He gritted his teeth, "You are not Kahlan. You are Reetha." Though he knew it wasn't Kahlan it pained him to push her image away from him. He dropped his hand from her face, his anguish taking the last of his strength. "I'll not fight you."
"I don't want to fight you Richard" she soothed. "I want to love you. I want you to love me." Her mouth brushed close to his before hungrily tasting his jaw. Leaning in close she once more blew the warm breath of magic across his face. He was powerless to resist. Unable to fight the image of his beloved and no longer able to withstand Reetha's magic, Richard knew he was lost.
Reetha let out a gasp and her hands dropped from his face. She stood before him, her face frozen in shock. Confused, Richard stood waiting for her final assault. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. Only then did he see the blade protruding through her middle. Whoever wielded it had purposely skirted him when they thrust it into her. The attacker twisted the blade before pulling the sword from Reetha's body, letting her fall freely to the cold stone floor.
Richard looked past the sorceress, who now looked as her own true image, and saw Kahlan standing there before him.
His Kahlan. The bloody Sword of Truth in her hand. Her eyes were fierce and flashing. Her arms shook as she held the sword out in front of her as if frozen in time.
Richard went to her, tenderly taking the sword from her hands and laid it on the ground. Holding her wrists, he spoke to her softly. "Kahlan." He waited for her look at him. When she did he wasn't sure if she was seeing him. "What are you doing here?"
Her eyes held a distant look but she answered him. "The connection…it went away…I had to find you." Richard could see her entire body trembling.
He pulled her into his loving arms and held her close not wanting to ever let her go, wishing he could erase all that she had been through. After a long moment he took her head in his hands and tenderly searched her face. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
She stared through him, the smallest trace of a smile on her lips "I'm fine…now that I'm…with you Richard."
He caught her just before she hit the floor.
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Richard carried Kahlan through the halls of the temple. The Captain, standing guard at one of the doors, headed toward them. Richard quickly thought how he would fight with Kahlan in his arms. To his surprise, the Captain dropped to his knees "My Lady!" Richard felt relief at knowing he wouldn't have to fight this moment.
"Where can I lay her down?"
The Captain led him into the room he had been guarding, the room where Chase was. Chase had just come to and was still gathering his senses when Richard entered with Kahlan in his arms.
Richard gave a surprised look at seeing his friend as he gently laid Kahlan in one of the large stuffed chairs.
"What happened?"
Richard knelt beside her. "She killed Reetha with my sword and then she collapsed."
"She's had a hard journey Richard. She pushed harder than any man I've ever known, aside from you. And in her condition…"
Richard was angry and his words showed it, "Why is she even here Chase? This is a journey she should never have made."
Chase understood his friend's anger and replied firmly but with compassion, "This was a journey no man could have stopped her from making."
Richard understood. She loved him as fiercely as he loved her. "I'm sorry Chase. I know she can be determined. How about you, are you okay? You're wounded..."
"I'll survive."
He turned his attention to the Captain. "Where's the Wizard? Is he alive?"
"Yes, the Wizard is here. He's down the hall." Richard was relieved with the news.
"Bring him to me."
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"Richard, Chase!" The old wizard was glad to see his friends. His eyes fell on Kahlan. "What's happened, is she alright?"
Richard knelt by her side his hands resting on her arm. "She's had a long and difficult journey. I hope she only needs rest and food."
Chase added "She battled with the last of the D'Harans just before she killed Reetha. The Captain here says she helped carry me in from the field."
Zedd couldn't hide his surprise "She killed Reetha?"
Richard smiled, he wasn't the least bit surprised. "That she did." Richard told his grandfather all that had happened, how Reetha used her magic against him and how Kahlan slayed her with the Sword of Truth.
"Why do you think she was able to do that Zedd? I mean, why was she able to get close to Reetha? Wouldn't the descendants spell tell her that Kahlan was near?"
Zedd thought about the ways of magic. "It might have to do with the Sword. It has magical properties; it may have somehow blocked Reetha from being able to sense her nearness. Or it may have been that it took so much of Reetha's magic to maintain her image as Kahlan that she didn't have enough left to both seduce you and draw from the descendants spell. It's hard to say, Richard. Magic is…complicated."
Richard turned his gaze back to Kahlan. Kneeling beside her, he reached out with both hands to gently caress where their child grew inside her. It made his heart ache with pain at knowing how close he'd come to losing them. He wasn't completely sure he wouldn't lose them yet.
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