The pillars of creation

"Then I choose for you! Your precious wife dies!"

Even as Jennsen dove at her to stop her, Sister Perdita seized Kahlan by the hair and lifted her head. The Mother Confessor's face was blank of all expression.

Jennsen caught Sister Perdita's arm, swinging the knife with the ornate letter «R» as fast as she could, with as much power as she could apply, hoping against hope that she was fast enough to save Kahlan's life, yet knowing even as she made the attempt that she was already too late.

There was a crystal-clear instant when the world seemed to stop, to freeze in place.

And then, there was a violent concussion to the air, thunder without sound.

The terrible shock drove a ring of dust and rock away from the Mother Confessor in an ever-expanding circle. The shock to the columns so close all around shook the towering pillars. Some, that were so precariously balanced, toppled. As they fell, they hit others, bringing them down as well. It seemed to take forever for the huge sections of rock to plunge through the sweltering air, trailing dust as they disintegrated, plummeting down like thunder made of stone. As the rock came crashing to ground it seemed the entire valley shook under the tremendous blows. Blinding dust swirled up into the air.

The world went black, as if all light had been taken away, and in that terrifying instant, in the total blackness, it seemed that there was no world, no anything.

The world came back, like a shadow lifting.

Jermsen found herself holding the arm of a dead woman. The Sister toppled to the ground like one of the stone pillars. Jennsen saw her knife jutting from the Sister's chest.

Richard was already there, holding Kahlan in his arms, slicing through the rope, easing her down. She looked drained, but other than her weakness, she looked fine.

"What happened?" Jennsen asked in wonder.

Richard smiled at her. "The Sister made a mistake. I warned her. The Mother Confessor unleashed her power into Sister Perdita."

"Did you have to warn her?" Kahlan asked, suddenly quite coherentsounding. "She might have listened to you."

"No, it only encouraged her to do it."

Jennsen realized that the voice was gone. "What happened? Did I kill her?"

"No. She was dead before your knife touched her," Kahlan said. "Richard was distracting her so I could use my power. You tried, but you were an instant too late. She was already mine."

Richard put a comforting hand on Jennsen's shoulder. "You didn't kill her, but you made a choice that saved your own life. That shadow that passed over us as the Sister died was the Keeper of the dead taking one who had sworn herself to him. Had you made the wrong choice, you would have been taken with her."

Jermsen's knees were trembling. "The voice is gone," she whispered aloud. "It's gone."

"The Keeper inadvertently revealed his intent," Richard said. "Since the hounds were loose, that meant the veil-the conduit between worldswas open."

"I don't understand."

Richard gestured with the book before he tucked it back into one of the pouches at his belt. "Well, I haven't had time to read it all, but I've read enough to learn a little. You are an ungifted offspring of a Lord Rahl. That makes you the balance to the gifted Rahl-to magic. You not only have none, but you're not touched by it. In a time of a great war, the House of Rahl was created to give birth to a line of powerful wizards, but in so doing, it also sowed the seeds of the end of magic for the world. It may be the Imperial Order that wants a world without magic, but it is the House of Rahl that may eventually deliver it.

"You, Jennsen Rahl, are potentially the most dangerous person alive, because you, like any truly ungifted Rahl, are the seed that could spawn a new world without magic."

Jennsen stared into his gray eyes. "Then why would you not want me dead, like every Lord Rahl before you?"

Richard smiled. "You have as much right to your life as anyone else-as any Lord Rahl has ever had to their life. There is no right way for the world to be. The only right is that people be allowed to live their own life."

Kahlan pulled the knife from Sister Perdita's chest and cleaned it on the black robes before handing it to Jermsen. "Sister Perdita was wrong. Salvation is not through sacrifice. Your responsibility is to yourself."

"Your life is your own," Richard said, "and not anyone else's. You made me proud, hearing everything you said to Sebastian."

Jermsen stared down at the knife in her hand, still dazed and confused by everything that was happening. She looked around in the gathering darkness, but didn't see Sebastian anywhere. Oba was gone, too.

As she looked around, Jennsen was startled to see a Mord-Sith standing not far away, "This is just great," the woman complained to the Mother Confessor, throwing her hands up. "The girl sounds like Lord Rahl. Now I'm going to have to listen to two of them."