Confessor: Chainfire Trilogy Part 3

The Ja'La field was being inundated with combatants. Men fought for their lives while others fought to take life. Yet others, drunk after a day of celebrating at Ja'La matches, fought for the sake of fighting. Men grievously injured littered the ground. Everywhere men who had been hurt screamed in pain. No one helped them.

There were soon so many men with their faces covered in red that it was becoming difficult to keep track of Richard. What only a brief time ago made him stand out now served to hide him. Only moments ago he was conspicuous; now he was a phantom among the chaos.

None of the soldiers appeared to be slowing down or holding back. They were enraged and in the mood to kill anyone and everyone. Men swinging axes took off arms, split skulls, and chopped chests open. Men with swords ran others through.

Despite how increasingly difficult it was, Kahlan kept Richard in sight as soldiers attacked him. For many, he was the object of their wrath. He was responsible for the blasphemy against the Imperial Order. He was the one who had dared to think he could defeat the emperor's team.

He had accomplished the unthinkable. They hated him for it. They hated him for what they saw as his arrogance.

Kahlan supposed that they believed that he should have failed- deliberately if he had to-and then everything would have been fine. Failure was a talisman for such men, a grudge they kept close. It brought out their hatred whenever someone succeeded at something, at anything. Success had to be crushed. These were the brutes of the Order, steeped in the Order's teachings, being brutes. The beliefs of the Order, after all, needed brutes to enforce the faith.

As Richard steadily crossed the field, coming toward Kahlan, men continually attacked him. He cut them down with summary composure. He was methodical in the way he made his way across the field. Those who tried to stop him died.

"What should we do?" a frightened Jillian asked.

Kahlan glanced around. There was nowhere to escape. The Imperial Order Army was all around them. There was no route out. Kahlan, being invisible to most of them, could escape on her own, but she wasn't about to leave Jillian and Nicci to fend for themselves among such brutes. Even if she wanted to, though, there was the matter of the collar around her neck.

"We need to stay here," Nicci said.

Kahlan, knowing that there was no real way for them to get away, still puzzled at the woman. "Why?"

"Because Richard will have a difficult time finding us if we go far from this spot."

Kahlan didn't really think there was anything he could do. After all, she and Nicci both had collars around their necks. Jagang might have been hurt, but he was still conscious. If they tried to leave he would stop them with those collars-or worse. She was willing to test it, but not until she saw a worthwhile opportunity.

It was always possible that Richard would be able to finish off Jagang. Then they would have a chance-as long as Sister Ulicia or Armina didn't show up in the meantime. Jagang was a dream walker. For all Kahlan knew, he might have already used his control of their minds to bring them running to his aid.

Holding Jillian close, Kahlan glanced around. Nicci protected the girl from the other side. In every direction men were in a frenzy of killing.

Kahlan nodded. "For the moment we're safer here, protected by Jagang's guards. The way things are going, though, that may not last long."

All around men fought on. Jagang was on his knees, in the center of his guards, clutching his chest. Some of the guards had knelt down beside him to support him in case they had to get him on his feet and fight their way out. Other men shouted urgent orders to get a Sister. Other royal guards savagely slashed at the soldiers who came within range, trying to keep the mob back. The ground all around the emperor's observation area was becoming slick with blood and gore.

Kahlan stood transfixed, watching Richard.

Men from every side rushed in, trying to kill him. He moved among them as if he really were a phantom. In much the same way he had evaded blockers, he ducked aside when blades swung at him, sidestepped thrusts when he had to, slipping between men when they tried to wall him in. When he thrust his sword it was swift and sure and men died. He was a picture of economy of motion, never doing more than was necessary as he fought his way across the Ja'La field. All around tens of thousands of men fought in a noisy, tumultuous battle.

"I think we need to try to start moving."

"We can't," Nicci said. "If Richard can't find us, we're lost."

Kahlan gestured around at the chaos. "What do you think he's going to be able to do?"

"By now," Nicci said, "I would think that you would have learned not to underestimate him."

"Nicci's right," Jilian said. "I've even seen him come back from the world of the dead."

CHAPTER 36