Confessor: Chainfire Trilogy Part 3

In every direction, the forest of big royal guards lay felled across the dark ground, like toppled trees. In the distance the roar of battle raged on. but closer in it was eerily quiet. Most of the men looked to be unconscious. A few moaned as they tried to move, but their arms dropped after briefly lifting, as if even that much was an effort too great.

A spike of pain suddenly slammed into the base of Richard's skull. It felt like he'd been hit from behind with an iron bar. The stunning pain dropped him to his knees. He recognized the sensation. He hadn't been hit with iron; it was magic. Beside him, Bruce lay facedown on the ground.

Still on his knees, Richard saw, off in the distant darkness, a gaunt woman stalking toward him through the downed soldiers. She moved like a vulture watching wounded prey. Her shabby appearance made Richard suspect that she was one of Jagang's Sisters.

Unable to endure the ringing pain in his head, Richard toppled over face-first. Hot agony flashed through every nerve in his body. Little clouds of dust were forced up into the night air with each of his panting breaths. He couldn't move his legs. He strained with all his might to get up, but he simply couldn't make his body respond. With the greatest of effort he was finally able to move his head just a little.

As he lay on his belly, he tried desperately to push himself to his knees at least, but simply couldn't. He looked across the battlefield scattered with fallen men at Kahlan. Even in obvious pain, she was looking back at him, worried for what was happening to him.

The Sister was still some distance off, but Richard knew that he was running out of time to do something.

"Samuel!" Richard yelled.

Samuel, trying to drag Kahlan by her arm, stopped in his tracks and looked back at Richard, his golden eyes blinking. Richard couldn't help Kahlan. At least, not in the way he wanted to help her.

"Samuel, you idiot! Use the sword to cut the collar off her neck."

Samuel, one hand holding Kahlan's arm, with his other hand lifted the sword he coveted so much, frowning at it.

Richard watched as the Sister off through the darkness stalked ever closer. He remembered once, when being taken to the Palace of the Prophets, using the Sword of Truth to cut through an iron collar around Du Chaillu's neck. He also remembered being in Tamarang with Kahlan and using the sword to slash through the prison bars. He knew the Sword of Truth could cut steel.

He also knew from when the Sisters had put the collar around his neck that the sword couldn't cut through a Rada'Han. The collar had been locked on and held tight with the power of his own gift. It wasn't so much the steel that the sword couldn't cut, Richard suspected, but the binding power of the magic itself. The Rada'Han when used as intended became, in a sense, a part of the person it was locked on to. For that reason he knew that the sword wouldn't be able to cut through Nicci's collar.

But the collar around Kahlan's neck was different. Her own gift wasn't what bound it to her. It had simply been locked around her neck and used to control her. Richard also suspected that Six might have provided Samuel with a bit of extra help. It certainly wasn't his wits that had gotten him this far. Any additional ability she'd given him might aid in this as well. Richard wasn't sure that it would work, but he was sure that it was Kahlan's only chance. He had to get Samuel to at least try.

"Hurry!" Richard screamed. "Slide the blade under the collar and pull! Hurry!"

Samuel frowned suspiciously at Richard for a moment. He looked down at Kahlan's agony, then dropped to a knee and hurriedly slipped the sword under the collar.

Some of the soldiers on the ground looked like they might be starting to come around. They groaned as they held their heads in their hands.

Samuel gave the Sword of Truth a mighty pull. The night rang with the sound of steel shattering. Kahlan, free of the collar, collapsed in relief.

As she lay on the ground panting, recovering from the ordeal, Samuel ran a short distance to the big warhorse that Commander Karg had ridden in on. He reached under the horse's neck and caught the reins. After he had led the horse close, he hooked a hand under Kahlan's arm.

Kahlan lay limp on the ground, still stunned from the pain of the collar, but she was beginning to move her legs, trying to get up. With Samuel pulling on her arm, she was finally hauled to her feet.

Richard, still unable to get up himself, looked to the side and saw the Sister, holding the tattered shawl closed, stepping over downed men as she came ever closer.

Kahlan staggered unsteadily, but then recovered enough to bend and snatch up a sword. She intended to come to Richard's aid.

Richard couldn't allow that.

"Run!" he yelled at her. "Run! There's nothing you can do here! Get away while you still can!"

Samuel stuffed a boot in a stirrup and sprang up into the saddle.

Kahlan stood staring at Richard, tears in her beautiful green eyes.