Soul of the Fire (51 page)

“
You? Never.” Her gaze withdrew to the blanket. “You are just saying so that I might not be shamed. You have faced the thirty without fear and defeated them. Only the
Caharin
could do such a thing. The
Caharin
is fearless.”

Richard lifted her chin. “I faced the thirty, but not without fear. I was terrified, as I am right now of the chimes, and the war facing us. Admitting your fear is not a weakness, Du Chaillu.”

She smiled at his kindness. “Thank you,
Caharin
.”

“
The Imperial Order didn’t try to attack you, then?”

“
For now, we are safe. I came to warn you, because they come into the New World. They passed us by. They come for you, first.”

Richard nodded. They were headed north, into the Midlands.

General Reibisch’s army of nearly a hundred thousand men was marching east to guard the southern reaches of the Midlands. The general had asked Richard’s permission not to return to Aydindril, his plan being to watch the southern passes into the Midlands, and especially the back routes into D’Hara. It made sense to Richard.

Fortune now put the man and his D’Haran army in Jagang’s path.

Reibisch’s force might not be large enough to take on the Imperial Order, but D’Harans were fierce fighters and would be well placed to guard the passes north. Once they knew where Jagang’s forces were going, more men could be sent to join Reibisch’s army.

Jagang had gifted wizards and Sisters in his army. General Reibisch had a number of the Sisters of the Light with him, too. Sister Verna—Prelate Verna, now—had given Richard her word that the Sisters would fight against the Order and the magic they used. Magic was now failing, but so would the magic of those aiding Jagang, except, perhaps, the Sisters of the Dark and the wizards with them who knew how to conjure Subtractive Magic.

General Reibisch, as well as Richard and the other generals back in Aydindril and D’Hara, had been counting on the Sisters to use their abilities to keep track of Jagang’s army when it advanced into the New World, and with that knowledge, aid the D’Haran forces in selecting an advantageous place to take a stand. Now, magic was failing, leaving them blind.

Luckily, Du Chaillu and the Baka Tau Mana had kept the Order from surprising them.

“
This is a great help, Du Chaillu.” Richard smiled at her. “It is important news you bring. Now we know what Jagang is doing. They didn’t try to come through your land, then? They simply passed you by?”

“
They would have had to go out of their way to attack us now. Because of their numbers, the edges of their army came near but, like a porcupine in the belly of a dog, our blade masters made it painful for them to brush against us.

“
We captured some of the leaders of these dogs on two legs. They told us that for now their army was not interested in our small homeland and people, and they were content to pass us by. They hunt bigger game. But they will one day return, and wipe the Baka Tau Mana from the land.”

“
They told you their plans?”

“
Everyone will talk, if asked properly.” She smiled. “The chimes are not the only ones to use fire. We—”

Richard held up his hand. “I get the idea.”

“
They told us their army was going to a place that could provide them with supplies.”

Richard idly stroked his lower lip as he considered that important bit of news.

“
That makes sense. They’ve been gathering their forces in the Old World for some time. They can’t stay put forever, not an army like that. An army has to be fed. An army that size would need to move, and would need supplies. A lot of supplies. The New World would offer them a tempting meal along with their conquests.”

He looked up at Kahlan, standing behind his left shoulder. “Where would they likely go to find supplies?”

“
There are any number of places,” Kahlan said. “They could pillage from each place as they invade, getting what they need as they strike deeper into the Midlands. As long as they pick their route with that in mind, they could feed the army as they go, like a bat scooping up bugs.

“
Or, they might strike at a place with larger stocks. Lifany, for example, could net them a lot of grain, Sanderia has vast sheep herds and would get them meat. If they picked targets with enough food, they could supply their army for a long time to come, allowing them the freedom to pick their targets at will, for strategic reasons alone. We would have a difficult time of it.

“
If I were them, that would be my plan. Without their urgent need for food, we would be at their mercy as far as picking a place to stand against them.”

“
We could use General Reibisch,” Richard said, thinking aloud. “Maybe he could block the Order, or at least slow them, while we evacuate people and supplies before Jagang can get to them.”

“
That would be a huge task, moving so many supplies. If Reibisch surprises Jagang’s troops,” Kahlan said, also thinking aloud, “engages him to stall their advance, and we could move enough other forces in from the sides …”

Du Chaillu was shaking her head. “When we were banished from our homeland by the law-givers,” she said, “we were made to live in the wet place. When it rained to the north for many days, great floods came. The river overflowed its banks and spread wide.

“
In its rush, churning with mud and big uprooted trees, it swept everything before it. We could not stand against the weight and fury of so much water—no one could. You think you can, until you see it coming. You find higher ground, or die.

“
This army is like that. You cannot imagine how big it is.”

Seeing the burden of dread in her eyes and hearing the weight of her words made gooseflesh rise on Richard’s arms. Though she couldn’t express the number, it was unimportant. He understood the concept as if she were somehow pouring her image and impressions of the Imperial Order directly into his mind.

“
Du Chaillu, thank you for bringing us this information. You may have saved a great many lives with your words. At least, now, we won’t be caught unawares—as we might well have been. Thank you.”

“
General Reibisch is already headed east, so we have that much in our favor,” Kahlan said. “We must now get word to him.”

Richard nodded. “We can take a roundabout way to Aydindril so we can meet up with him and decide what to do next. Also, we can get horses from him. That would save us time in the long run. I only wish he wasn’t so far away. Time is vital.”

After the battle in which the D’Haran army had defeated Jagang’s huge expeditionary force, Reibisch had turned his army and was racing east. The D’Harans were returning to guard the routes north from the Old World, where Jagang had gathered his forces in preparation for marching into the Midlands or possibly D’Hara.

“
If we can get to the general and warn him Jagang’s army is coming,” Cara offered, “then we could get his messengers sent off to D’Hara to call reinforcements.”

“
And to Kelton, Jara, and Grennidon, among others,” Kahlan said. “We have a number of lands with standing armies already on our side.”

Richard nodded. “That makes sense. We’ll know where they’re needed, at least. I just wish we could get to Aydindril faster.”

“
Are we sure it really even makes any difference, now?” Kahlan asked. “Remember, it’s the chimes, not the Lurk.”

“
What Zedd asked us to do may not help,” Richard said, “but then again, we don’t know that for sure, do we? He might have been telling us the truth about the urgency of what we need to do, but simply cloaked it with the name Lurk instead of chimes.”

“
We could lose to Jagang before the chimes can get us. Dead is dead.” Kahlan let out a frustrated sigh. “I don’t know Zedd’s game, but the truth would have served us in better stead.”

“
We must get to Aydindril,” Richard said with finality. “That’s all there is to it.”

His sword was in Aydindril.

In much the same way Cara could sense him by her bond, and Du Chaillu could tell where he was, Richard had been named Seeker and was connected to the Sword of Truth. He was bonded to the blade. He felt as if something inside him was missing without it.

“
Du Chaillu,” Richard asked, “when this great army went past you on its way north—”

“
I never said they went north.”

Richard blinked. “But … that’s where they would have to be going. They’re coming up into the Midlands—or else D’Hara. They have to come north for either.”

Du Chaillu shook her head emphatically. “No. They are not going north. They went past our land on our south side, staying near the shore—turning with it, and now go west.”

Richard stared dumbfounded. “West?”

Kahlan sank to her knees beside him. “Du Chaillu, are you sure?”

“
Yes. We shadowed them. We had men scout in all directions, because my visions warned me these men were a great danger to the
Caharin
. Some of the men of rank we captured knew the name ‘Richard Rahl.’ That is why I had to come to warn you. This army knows you by name.

“
You have dealt them blows and frustrated their plans. They have great hate for you. Their men told us these things.”

“
Could your visions of me and fire really be the fire of hatred these men have in their hearts for me?”

Du Chaillu mulled over his question. “You understand visions, my husband. It could be as you say. A vision does not always mean what it shows. It sometimes means only this thing is possible and a danger that must be watched, and it sometimes is as you say, a vision of an impression of an idea, not an event.”

Kahlan reached out and snatched Du Chaillu’s sleeve. “But where are they going? Somewhere they will turn north into the Midlands. Lives are at stake. Did you find out where? We must know where they will turn to the north.”

“
No,” Du Chaillu said, looking befuddled by their surprise. “They plan on following the shoreline with the great water.”

“
The ocean?” Kahlan asked.

“
Yes, that was their name for it. They intend to follow the great water and go to the west. The men did not know what the place they go is called, only that they are to go far to the west, to a land that has, as you said, vast supplies of food.”

Kahlan let go of the woman’s sleeve. “Dear spirits,” she whispered, “we are in trouble.”

“
I’d say so,” Richard said as he clenched a fist. “General Reibisch is far off to the east, and running in the wrong direction.”

“
Worse,” Kahlan said as she turned to look southwest, as if she could see where the Order was headed.

“
Of course,” Richard breathed. “That’s the land Zedd was talking about, near that Nareef Valley place, the isolated land to the southwest of here that grows so much grain. Right?”

“
Yes,” Kahlan said, still staring off to the horizon. “Jagang is headed for the breadbasket of the Midlands.”

“
Toscla,” Richard said, remembering what Zedd had called it.

Kahlan turned back to him, nodding in resigned frustration.

“
It looks that way,” she said. “I never thought Jagang would go that far out of the way. I would have expected him to strike quickly into the New World, so as not to allow us time to gather our forces.”

“
That’s what I was expecting. General Reibisch thought so, too; he’s racing to guard a gate Jagang isn’t going to use.”

Richard tapped a finger against his knee as he considered their options. “At least it may buy us time—and now we know where the Imperial Order is going. Toscla.”

Kahlan shook her head, she, too, seeming to be considering the options. “Zedd knew the place by an old name. The name of that land has changed over time. It’s been known as Vengren, Vendice, and Turslan, among others. It hasn’t been known as Toscla for quite some time.”

“
Oh,” Richard said, not really listening as he started making a mental list of things they had to weigh. “So, what’s it called, now?”

“
Now, it’s Anderith,” she said.

Richard’s head came up. He felt a tingling icy wave ripple up through his thighs. “Anderith? Why? Why is it called Anderith?”

Kahlan’s brow twitched at the look on his face. “It was named after one of their ancient founders. His name was Ander.”

The tingling sensation raced the rest of the way up Richard’s arms and back.

“
Ander.” He blinked at her. “Joseph Ander?”

“
How do you know that?”

“
The wizard called ‘the Mountain’? The one Kolo said they sent to deal with the chimes?” Kahlan nodded. “That was his cognomen—what everyone called him. His real name was Joseph Ander.”