Chainfire: Chainfire Trilogy Part 1

"Sister," he said with an accusatorial, squint-eyed glare that only an army officer could conjure up. "We had a Sister visit us before. Couple years back. Remember, lads?" He glanced around at the grim faces before turning back to Verna. "Wavy, shoulder-length brown hair, about your size, Prelate. She was missing the little finger on her right hand. Maybe you remember her? One of your Sisters, I believe."

"Odette," Verna confirmed with a nod. "Lord Rahl told me about the trouble you had with her. She was a fallen Sister, you might say."

"I don't really care what side of the Creator's grace she was on the day she visited us. I only know that she killed almost three hundred men getting into the Garden of Life. Three hundred! She killed nearly a hundred more getting back out. We were helpless against her." As his face reddened, his scars stood out all the more. "Do you know what it's like to see men dying and not be able to do a bloody thing about it? Do you know what it's like not only to be responsible for their lives but to know that your duty is to keep her out of there — and not be able to do anything to stop the threat'?"

Verna's gaze fell away from the man's intent blue eyes. "I'm sorry, General. But she was fighting against Lord Rahl. I am not. I'm on your side. I'm fighting to stop those like her."

"That may be true enough, but my orders from both Zedd and Lord Rahl himself-after he killed that vile woman-are that no one else is to be allowed in there. No one. If you were my own mother I'd not be able to let you go in there."

Something didn't make sense to her.

Verna cocked her head. "If Sister Odette was able to get in there, and you and your men couldn't stop her"-she lifted an eyebrow.»then what makes you think you can stop me?"

"I'd not like it to come to that, but, if need be, this time we have the means at hand to carry out our orders. We are no longer helpless."

Verna frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Commander General Trimack plucked a black glove from his belt and pulled it on, flexing his fingers to draw the snug glove all the way onto his hand. With a thumb and first finger of his gloved hand, he carefully lifted a red-fletched arrow from the rack of six in a quiver at the belt of a soldier beside him. The soldier already had one of the bolts nocked in his crossbow, leaving four in the special quiver rack.

Holding the bolt by the nock end, General Trimack lifted the razor-sharp steel point before Verna's face so that she could see it up close. "This is tipped with more than steel. It's tipped with the power to take down those with magic."

"I still don't know what are you talking about."

"It's tipped with magic that is said to be able to penetrate any shield the gifted can erect."

Verna reached out and with a finger carefully touched the rear of the shaft. Pain shot up her hand and wrist before she was able to jerk her arm hack. Despite her gift being diminished in the palace, she had no trouble being able to detect the powerful aura given off by the web of magic that had been spun around the deadly point. This was indeed a potent weapon. Even with their full powers, the gifted would indeed be in trouble if they encountered one of these arrows coming toward them.

"If you have these arrows, then why weren't you able to stop Sister Odette?"

"We didn't have them back then."

Verna's frown darkened. "Then where did you get them?"

The general smiled with the satisfaction of a man who knew he would not again be defenseless against a gifted enemy. "When Wizard Rahl was here he asked me about our defenses. I told him about the attack by the sorceress and how we were helpless against her power. He searched the palace and found these weapons. Apparently they were in some safe place where only a wizard could retrieve them. He is the one who supplied my men with the arrows and the crossbows to fire them."

"How good of Wizard Rahl."

"Yes, it was."

The general carefully replaced the bolt in the special quiver rack that kept the arrows separated. She understood, now, why that was necessary. There was no telling how ancient these weapons really were, but Verna suspected that they were relics from the great war.

"Wizard Rahl instructed us on how to handle such dangerous weapons." He held up his hand and wiggled his gloved fingers. "Told us that we must always wear these special gloves to handle the arrows."

He removed the glove and tucked it behind his belt with its mate. Verna clasped her hands before herself, taking a deep breath and with it care in how she framed her words.

"General, I have known Nathan Rahl since long before your grandmother was born. He is not always candid about the dangers involved in the things he does. Were I you, I would handle those weapons with the utmost care, and treat anything he told you about them, even casually, as a matter of life and death."

"Are you suggesting he's reckless?"