Soul of the Fire

"Well, hello girl," Richard called. Wary, the horse tossed its head and backed a few steps I to add to its distance. When Richard tried to get closer, it backed away more yet, so he halted. A creamy chestnut, color, the horse had an odd leggy splotch of black on its rump. When Richard called to it again, trying to coax it closer, it turned and ran.

"I wonder what that's about," he said to Kahlan. Kahlan held out her hand in invitation. Richard took it. "I don't know. Maybe someone's horse has gotten away. It seems to be uninterested in having anything to do with us, though."

"I suppose," Richard said as he let her lead him by the hand.

"This is the only way in," she told him as they walked along the lake shore, around a small clump of spruce.

The clouds had been building all day, threatening thunderstorms. Now, as they walked out onto a nub of rock sticking up at the end of the flat spit of land, the sun emerged between the towering, billowing clouds.

It was a beautiful sight, a shaft of warm sunlight breaking through amber clouds, slanting down between the mountains to touch the still lake. Across the way, water tumbled over a prominence of rock, sending up into the warm air a drifting mist that sparkled in the sunlight above the golden water. Richard took a deep breath, savoring the sweet aroma of woods and lake. It was almost like home.

"This is the place." She gestured. "Up there, higher up, is the desolate place where the paka plant grows, and the gambit moth lives. These pure waters come from that poisoned area."

The air shimmered in the afternoon light. "It's beautiful. I could stay here forever. I almost feel like I should be scouting new trails."

They stood for a while, hand in hand, savoring the view.

"Richard, I just wanted to tell you that the last couple of weeks as we've talked to people… I've really been proud of you. Proud of the way you've shown people hope for the future.

"Whatever happens, I just want you to know that. That I'm-proud of the way you've handled it."

He frowned. "You sound like you don't think we'll win."

She shrugged. "It doesn't matter. What will be will be. People don't always do what's right. Sometimes they don't recognize evil. 'Sometimes people choose evil because it suits them or because they're afraid, or because they think they will get something for themselves out of it.

"The most important thing is that we've done our best, and you've shown people the truth. You put their well-being, their safety, before all else, so if we do triumph, it will be for the right reasons. You've given them the chance to prove their heart."

"We'll win." Richard gazed out over the still water. "People will see the truth in it."

"I hope so."

He put his arm around her neck and kissed the top of her head. He sighed with the pleasure of the mountain lake, the quiet.

"There are places deep in the mountains to the west of where I grew up that I don't think anyone but me has ever visited. Places where the water falls from the rocks high overhead, higher than here, and makes rainbows in the afternoon air. And after you swim in the clear pools, you can curl up on the rocks behind the waterfall and watch the world through the falling water.

"I've often dreamed of taking you there."

Kahlan slipped her arm around his waist. "Someday, Richard, we'll visit your special places."

As they stood close, watching the waterfall, Richard was reluctant to break the spell of the dream, especially to talk about their purpose, but at last he did.

"So, why is it called the Ovens?"

Kahlan lifted her chin to point. "Behind the waterfall is a cave that's warm. Sometimes hot, I'm told."

"I wonder why Joseph Ander mentioned the place?"

Kahlan rested a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe even Joseph Ander appreciated a beautiful place."

"Maybe," he mumbled as he searched the scene for a sign of why the wizard would have been interested in this spot. Richard didn't think much of Joseph Ander's sensibilities or that he had a keen appreciation of such natural beauty. While the man spoke at length about the beauty of nature, it was always in regard to the orderly makeup of a society.

Richard noted that all the rock of the mountains around them was a peculiar greenish gray, except the rock of the cliff across the lake, where the waterfall was. That rock was darker. Not a lot, but it was definitely different. It had more gray than green in it, probably because the grain of the granite had black flecks, although from the distance, it was hard to tell.

Richard raised his arm, pointing across the lake to the wall from which the water cascaded in a majestic downward arc.

"Look at that rock, and tell me what you think of it."

Kahlan, her white Mother Confessor's dress glowing in the sunlight, almost looked like Richard's dream-image of a good spirit. She blinked at him.

"What do you mean? It's a rock."

"I know, but look at it. Tell me what strikes you about it."

She looked at the cliff and back at him. "It's a big rock."

"No, come on, be serious."