Soul of the Fire

Now he had to get back to Kahlan, if she was still alive. He made himself banish that thought. She had to be alive.

With a gasp, Zedd opened his eyes. It was dark. He groped and found walls of rock. He stumbled forward, toward light. Toward sound.

He-realized he was back in his body. He was no longer in the raven. He didn't understand how that could be. It was real, though. He looked at his hands. Not feathers, hands.

He had his soul back.

He fell to his knees, weeping with relief. To lose his soul was beyond what he expected. And he had expected the worst.

Without his soul, he had been able to inhabit the raven. He brightened a bit. That was an experience he had never had. No wizard had ever succeeded in projecting himself into an animal. And to think, it had only required surrendering his soul.

He decided that once was enough.

He walked on toward the light, toward the roar of water. He remembered where he was. Reaching the edge, he dove into the lake and swam to the far shore.

Zedd dragged himself out on the far bank. Without thinking, he swept a hand down his robes to dry himself.

And then he realized his power was back. His strength, his gift was back.

At a sound he looked up. Spider nuzzled him.

Grinning, Zedd rubbed the friendly, soft nose. "Spider, girl. Good to see you, my friend. Good to see you."

Spider snorted her pleasure, too.

Zedd found the saddle and the rest of the tack where he had left it. Just for the delight of it, he floated the blanket and saddle onto Spider's back. Spider thought it interesting. Spider was a good sport, and a good horse.

Zedd turned at a sound from above. Something was coming down the mountain. Water. The lake, for some reason, had given way. It was all coming down.

Zedd sprang up onto Spider. "Time to get out of here, girl."

Spider obliged him.

Dalton had just come back into his office when he heard someone come in behind him. It was Stein. When the man turned to close the door, Dalton glanced to the bottom of Stein's cape, and saw the scalp he had added.

Dalton went to the side table and poured himself a glass of water. He was feeling warm and a little dizzy.

Well, that was to be expected.

"What do you want, Stein?"

"Just a social visit."

"Ah," Dalton said. He took a drink.

"Nice new office you got yourself."

It was nice. Everything was the best. The only thing from his old office was the silver-scroll stand beside the desk. He liked the sword stand, and brought it along. As if reminded, he fingered the hilt of his sword in the stand.

"Well," Stein added, "you've earned it. No doubt about that. You've done good for yourself, though. Good for yourself and your wife."

Dalton gestured. "New sword, Stein? A little too fancy for your taste, I would think."

The man seemed pleased that Dalton had noticed the weapon.

"This here," he said, lifting it with a thumb by the down swept cross guard a few inches out of its scabbard, "is the Sword of Truth. The real sword carried by the Seeker."

Dalton found it unsettling that a man like Stein would have it. "And what are you doing with it?"

"One of my men brought it to me. Quite a lot of trouble, too."

"Really?" Dalton asked, feigning interest.

"They captured a Mord-Sith in the process of bringing it to me. The real Sword of Truth, and a real Mord-Sith. Imagine that."

"Quite the achievement. The emperor will be pleased."

"He will be when I present him with the sword. He is pleased with the news you sent, too. To have defeated Lord Rahl so resoundingly is an achievement. It won't be long until our forces are here, and we catch him. And the Mother Confessor, have you found her, yet?"

"No." Dalton took another drink of water. "But with the spell Sister Penthea contributed, I don't see how she has a chance. From the look of the knuckles of my men, they did their job." He paused, looked down. "Up until they got caught and killed, anyway.

"No, this is one encounter the Mother Confessor is not going to live through. If she is still alive, I will hear about it soon enough. If she is dead,"-he shrugged-"then we may never find her body."

Dalton leaned against his desk. "When will Jagang be here?"

"Not long. Week, maybe. The advance guard maybe sooner. He is looking forward to setting up residence in your fine city."

Dalton scratched his forehead. He had things to do. Not that any of it really mattered.

"Well, I'll be around, if you need me," Stein said.

He turned back from the door. "Oh, and Dalton, Bertrand told me that you were more than understanding about your wife and him,"

Dalton shrugged. "Why not? She is just a woman. I can snap my fingers and have a dozen. Hardly anything to get possessive about."

Stein seemed genuinely pleased. "I'm glad to see you've come around. The Order will suit you. We don't hold to notions of possessive attitudes toward women."

Dalton was trying to think of places the Mother Confessor could have gone to ground.

"Well, I'll love the Order, then. I don't hold with those notions myself."