Faith of the Fallen

Zedd lifted a finger for emphasis. "The truth of a situation most often turns out to be that one with the simplest explanation."

The gloom on Warren's face finally melted away under the dawning radiance of a luminous smile. "I'd forgotten that ancient bit of wisdom.

Thank you, Zedd."

General Reibisch, combing his curly beard with his fingers, pulled the hand free and made a fist. "Besides, D'Harans will not be so easily bested.

We have more forces to call upon, and we have allies here in the Midlands who will come to aid in the fight. We have all heard the reports of the size of the Order, but they are just men, not evil spirits. They have gifted, but so do we. They have yet to come faceto-face with the might of D'Haran soldiers."

Warren picked up a small rock, not quite the size of his fist, and held it in his palm as he spoke. "I mean no disrespect, General, and I do not mean to dissuade you from our just cause, but the subject of the Order has been a pastime of mine. I've studied them for years. I'm also from the Old World."

"Fair enough. So what is it you have to tell us?"

"Well, say that the tabletop is the Old World-the area from which Jagang draws his troops. Now, there are places, to be sure, where there are few people spread over vast areas. But there are many places with great populations, too."

"It's much the same in the New World," the general said. "D'Hara has populous places, and desolate areas."

Warren shook his head. He passed his hand over the tabletop. "Say this is the Old World-the whole of this table." He held up the rock to show the general and then placed it on the edge of the tabletop. "This is the New World. This is its size-this rock-compared to the Old World."

"But, but, that doesn't include D'Hara," General Reibisch sputtered.

"Surely. . with D'Hara-"

"D'Hara is included in the rock."

"I'm afraid Warren is right," Verna said.

Sister Philippa, too, nodded grim acknowledgment. "Perhaps. ." she said, looking down at her hands folded in her lap, "perhaps Warren is right, and Richard has seen a vision of our defeat, and knows he must remain out of it, or be lost with all the rest of us."

"I don't think that's it at all," Zedd offered in a gentle voice. "I know Richard. If Richard thought we would lose, he would say so in order to give people a chance to weigh that in their decisions."

The general cleared his throat. "Well, actually, one of the letters is missing from that stack. It was the first-where Lord Rahl told me about his vision. In it, Lord Rahl did say that we had no chance to win."

Zedd felt the blood drain down into his legs. He tried to keep his manner unconcerned. "Oh? Where is the letter?"

The general gave Verna a sidelong glance.

"Well, actually," Verna said, "when I read it, I was angered and. ."

"And she balled it up and threw it in the fire," Warren finished for her.

Verna's face turned red, but she offered no defense. Zedd could understand the sentiment, but he would have liked to have read it with his own eyes. He forced a smile.

"Were those his actual words-that we had no chance to win?" Zedd asked, trying not to sound alarmed. He could feel sweat running down the back of his neck.

"No. ." General Reibisch said as he shifted his shoulders inside his uniform while giving the question careful thought. "No, Lord Rahl's words were that we must not commit our forces to an attack directly against the army of the Imperial Order, or our side will be destroyed and any chance for winning in the future will be forever lost."

The feeling began to return to Zedd's fingers. He wiped a bead of sweat from the side of his forehead. He was able to draw an easier breath. "Well, that only makes sense. If they are as large a force as Warren says, then any direct attack would be foolhardy."

It did make sense. Zedd wondered, though, why Richard would make such a point of it to a man of General Reibisch's experience. Perhaps Richard was only being cautious. There was nothing wrong with being cautious.

Adie slipped her hand under Zedd's and cuddled her loose fist under his palm. "If you believe you must let Richard be in this, then you will stay?

Help teach the gifted here what they must know?"

Every face was etched with concern as they watched him, hanging on what he might decide. The general idly stroked a finger down the white scar on the side of his face. Sister Philippa knitted her fingers together. Verna and Warren entwined theirs.

Zedd smiled and hugged Adie's shoulders. "Of course I'm not going to abandon you."

The three on the bench opposite him each let out a little sigh. Their posture relaxed as if ropes around their necks had been slackened.

Zedd passed a hard look among them all. "War is nasty business. It's about killing people before they can kill you. Magic in war is simply another weapon, if a frightening one. You must realize that it, too, in this, must be used for the end result of killing people."