Blood of the Fold

Dead silence stretched in the stone room for a long moment. "Richard, when I first read your letter, I was crushed. A sacred trust was placed in my hands, and I didn't want to be known as the Mother Confessor who lost the Midlands. On the way here, with that collar around my neck, I've had a lot of time to think.

"The Sisters did something noble tonight. They've sacrificed a three-thousand-year legacy for a higher purpose: to help people. I may not be happy about what you did, and you still have some explaining to do, but I'll listen with love in my heart, not just for you, but for the people of the Midlands who need us.

"'Over the weeks as we traveled here, I thought about how we must live in the future and not the past. I want the future to be a place where we can live in peace and safety. That's more important than anything else. I know you, and I know that you wouldn't do as you did for selfish reasons."

Richard brushed the backs of his fingers down her cheek. "I'm proud of you, Mother Confessor."

She kissed his fingers. "Later, when people aren't trying to kill us and we have the time, I'll fold my arms and frown and tap my foot like the Mother Confessor is supposed to, while you stutter and stammer and try to explain the sense of what you did, but for now, could we just get out of this place?"

His worry eased, Richard smiled and started off again, crawling past the rows of bookcases. The thin layer of glowing haze over their heads seemed to stretch across the entire room. Richard wished he knew what it was.

Kahlan hurried closer to his side. Richard checked for trouble down each row they passed, guiding them around the inexplicable feel of danger whenever he encountered it. He didn't know if the sense of danger was a true perception or not, but he dared not ignore the feelings. He was learning to trust in his instincts and be less concerned with proof.

When they entered the small alcove in the back, he scanned the books on the shelf, and saw the one he wanted. The problem was that it was above the level of the haze. He knew better than to try to reach through it; he didn't know exactly what the glow of light was, but he knew it was magic of some sort, and he had seen what it had done to the soldiers.

With Kahlan's help, they rocked the bookcase until it fell over. When it toppled against the table, the books pitched out, but the one he wanted landed on the table. The layer of glowing haze hovered mere inches above the book. Richard carefully cased his hand along the tabletop, feeling the tingling sensation of the magic floating just above his arm. At last, he caught the book with his fingers and drew it off the edge.

"Richard, something's wrong."

He picked up the book and thumbed through it quickly to confirm that it was the right one. Though he could read the High D'Haran words, now, and he recognized some of them, he didn't have time to address what the book said.

"What? What's wrong?"

"Look at the fog over us. When we came in, it was chest high. It must have been what cut those men down. Look at it now."

Without his noticing, it had descended to just above the table. He tucked the book under his belt. "Follow me, and hurry."

Richard scrambled out of the room with Kahlan right at his heels. He didn't know what would happen if the glowing magic reached them, but he didn't have much trouble imagining.

Kahlan cried out. Richard turned and saw her sprawled flat on the floor.

"What is it?"

She tried to drag herself ahead by her elbows, but went nowhere. “Something has me by my ankle."

Richard clambered back to her and grabbed her wrist.

"It let go. As soon as you touched me, it let go."

"Grab hold of my ankle and let's get out of here."

She gasped. "Richard! Look."

The glow over their heads had lowered when he touched her, as if the magic had felt the touch, felt its prey, and was lowering in pursuit. It barely gave them room to crawl. Richard, with Kahlan holding his ankle, raced for the door.

Before they reached the door, the line of light overhead lowered until Richard could feel its heat against his back.

"Get down!"

She flattened to her stomach when he ordered it, and they squirmed forward on their bellies. When they at last reached the door, Richard flopped over on his back. The haze hovered inches above them.

Kahlan grabbed ahold of his shirt and pulled herself close. "Richard, what are we going to do?

Richard stared up at the metal plate. It was above the glowing layer that extended from wall to wall. He could no longer get to the plate without reaching through the menacing light over them.

"We have to get out of here, or that thing is going to kill us, just like it killed those men. I have to stand."

"Are you crazy? You can't do that!"

"I have the mriswith cape. Maybe if I use that, the light won't find me."

Kahlan threw and arm over his chest. "No!"

"I'm dead anyway if I don't try."

"Richard, no!"

"Do you have a better idea? We're running out of time."