Confessor: Chainfire Trilogy Part 3

It was also difficult for Richard to fight the men because he dared not use the kinds of blows he would have liked to do. If he killed any of the emperor's players it would, in all likelihood, be an excuse for Jagang to charge Richard with murder and have him put to death. Jagang hardly needed an excuse to execute a man, but Richard's team was becoming well known and if Richard was executed the soldiers in the camp would suspect that it was because Jagang knew his team couldn't beat Richard's team. Richard doubted that Jagang cared a great deal about what anyone said, but the excuse of murder would certainly give him justification.

If Commander Karg's point man was dead, Jagang wouldn't have to worry about losing Nicci to him. Jagang's team was formidable, and stood a good chance of winning, but without Richard as point man there was no doubt that the emperor's team would be victorious.

At the same time, Jagang might not need to bother having Richard executed. His men seemed intent on accomplishing the task themselves. They wouldn't be punished if they killed Richard in a fight. Who with any authority would ever even know, except Commander Karg, and Richard didn't think that even Karg would dare to make an issue of a captive man dying in a fight. Men in the camp died in fights all the time. Such fights were common enough and, as far as Richard knew, only rarely punished. This would just be passed off as an argument gone bad.

Worse, though, if Richard was killed then Kahlan would have no chance. She would be forever lost to the Chainfire spell, a living phantom of her former self.

That thought alone made Richard fight with a fury, even if he had to be careful to strike with the intent of stopping rather than killing. Pulling blows wasn't at all easy to do in the heat of a fight for his own life and Richard was taking nearly as much punishment as he was dealing out.

When one of the men again threw a punch, Richard seized the man's arm. Grunting with the effort, he ducked under the extended arm, twisting it around, and flipped the man to the ground.

As Richard himself was knocked to the ground, he scooped up a length of chain and spun, whipping it across the face of one of the men. The sound of steel against flesh and bone was sickening. Another man kicked Richard hard enough to drive the wind from his lungs.

The blows Richard was taking were wearing him down. Even though the fight had only started moments before it seemed like hours. The furious effort to defend himself was exhausting him.

Just as another man lunged at him, the man was suddenly jerked back.

Johnrock had thrown a loop of his own chain around the man's neck. As the man clawed at the chain, struggling to breathe, Johnrock pulled him back away from Richard. In a fury of fists, feet, and flailing chain, Johnrock helped Richard drive the men back.

Someone else, yelling angry threats, appeared in the darkness, running in through the ring of guards. Richard was so busy fighting off the men, trying to deflect a flurry of fists, he couldn't tell who it was.

All of a sudden the new man seized one of the attackers by the hair and threw him back. In the light from nearby torches Richard saw the tattoos of scales. Commander Karg yelled that the five men were cowards and threatened to have them beheaded. He kicked at them as he ordered them to get out of his team's quarters.

All five scrambled to their feet and abruptly vanished back into the night. It was suddenly over. Richard lay in the dirt, not even trying to get up.

Commander Karg angrily pointed a finger at the guards. "If you men let anyone else get through, I'll have you all skinned alive! Do you understand?"

The guards back by the ring of wagons, looking sheepish and worried, all answered that they understood. They swore that no one else would get through.

As he lay panting in pain, trying to catch his breath, Richard hardly heard the commander's yelling. The fight had been brief, but the blows the powerful men from Jagang's team had landed had done damage.

Johnrock knelt down, easing Richard over onto his back. "Ruben, are you all right?"

Richard carefully moved his arms, lifted his knees, and gingerly rolled his foot, testing his throbbing ankle, taking appraisal of his limbs, checking to see if they all worked, checking to see if he could move everything. He hurt all over. He was pretty sure that he wasn't crippled, but he didn't try to get up just yet. He didn't think that right then he could have.

"I think so," he said.

"What was that all about?" Johnrock demanded of Snake-face.

Commander Karg shrugged. "Ja'La dh Jin."

Johnrock paused in surprise at the answer. "Ja'La dh Jin?"

"It's the Game of Life. What do you expect?"

By his deepening frown, Johnrock apparently didn't understand. Richard did.