Stone of Tears

It felt as if every nerve in his body were exposed and being held to a flame. He thought his eyes might burst. He thought his heart” might burst. He flinched with each agonizing tug of pain. It was torture beyond endurance.

And then it seemed as if what he had felt had not yet been the beginning of it. He was unable to scream, to breathe, to move. It seemed his very soul was being ripped from him.

As Liliana had warned him, it seemed as if his very life was being pulled from him. He felt a wash of panic that this was killing him. He felt dark death soaking into the void left by what was being ripped from him. He dimly worried that this wasn’t right. Terror burgeoned deep within him, and then that too was pulled into the swirling torrent erupting outward.

He wanted nothing more than to scream, as if it would somehow ameliorate the agony. But he could not. His muscles seemed to be losing their life along with the rest of him. He could not breathe, or even hold his head up.

Please, Liliana, please hurry. Please.

He struggled not to resist what she was doing. He prayed that he would not fight her. He had to get to Kahlan. She needed him.

His eyes were open, he realized, when he recognized the statue in his lap. His head was hanging. The crystal was beginning to glow a dull orange. A dim part of him thought that that must mean it was working, doing its job. His head felt as if it were coming apart. He expected to see blood dripping down, but he saw only the orange glow increasing.

Please, Liliana, hurry.

Blackness was enveloping him. Even the insufferable pain was beginning to seem distant. He felt life slipping from his grasp. He felt an emptiness coming upon him that was more ghastly that anything he thought possible.

In the fading recesses of his mind, he felt a presence.

Mriswith.

He felt them near. His level of alarm rose. They were around him, closing in.

And then he heard, as if from a great distance, Liliana’s voice. “Wait, my pets. You may have what is left, when I am finished with him. Wait.”

He could dimly see the mriswith in his mind, as he always had when they came to him. When Liliana spoke, they moved back.

Why would she say that? Why would the mriswith move back at her command? What did she mean? Maybe the pain had driven him insane, and it was only a mad illusion.

He felt a presence at his back. Not a mriswith. Worse. More gruesome by ten. He felt its fetid breath on his neck.

Liliana’s voice came in a dangerous hiss. “I said wait.” The presence receded a bit, but not as far as the mriswith.

What did she mean, they could have what was left? He was dying, that was what she meant. He could feel it. He was dying.

No. Liliana said he would think that. It was simply happening as she had said, that was all. He had to be strong for Kahlan. But he had so little left to give. He was dying. He knew he was. The statue in his lap was glowing brighter.

The hot breath returned to his neck. He heard a low growl from the loathsome thing. He vehemently wanted it away from him.

Liliana’s menacing voice came again. “Wait. I will be finished in a moment, and then you may have his body. Wait.”

In that instant, something deep within him told him that if he was ever going to save himself, this was the last chance. It had to be now. The decision to act was sudden desperation.

From deep within, from the core of his mind, from the core of his being, from the core of his soul, he wrenched his will to action, and by force of will, with frantic, colossal effort, he yanked his power, his life—himself—back.

A thundering boom sounded, and an impact sundered the air, throwing the two of them apart. Richard landed on his back at one edge of the clearing, Liliana at the other. The Sword of Truth was in the center. The mriswith and the other creature melted back into the darkness among the trees.

Richard gasped for air. He sat up and shook his head. The statue lay on the ground in the center, near his sword. The orange glow was gone.

Liliana floated upward without effort. It looked as if an invisible hand had lifted her gently to her feet. The sight raised hackles on the back of his neck.

She smiled wickedly. Richard hadn’t thought Liliana to be capable of such a vile grin. It made his toes curl in his boots.

“Oh, Richard, I was so close. I’ve never experienced anything like it. You have no idea of the glory of what you have. But I will have it yet.”

Richard glanced to the sides, trying to decide which way to run. He felt like a fool, and at the same time was overcome by a sense of profound loss. “Liliana, I trusted you. I thought you cared for me.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “did you?” The slow smile returned. “Maybe I did. Maybe that’s why I was doing it the easy way. Now we do it the hard way.”

Richard blinked. “What do you mean, the hard way?”