“Yes there is,” Kahlan insisted. “You don’t know all that happened to change that.”
Red frowned as she turned back. “What are you talking about?”
“Abbot Dreier was gifted and he also possessed powerful occult abilities. Those are the same powers that were used to create the half people. I was able to get Dreier to use those abilities to suspend the death process in Richard’s body.”
“Suspend the death process?” The witch woman looked incredulous. “What are you talking about?”
Kahlan stood. “The half people–like the ones who came into your home–live for an extremely long time because they carry a link to the underworld. Emperor Sulachan was once a powerful wizard. He stripped their souls from them and sent those lost souls to wander between worlds, forever lost. He then linked their soulless bodies to the underworld with the use of occult powers in order to suspend time from touching them in the same way it ordinarily touches anything living.
“Emperor Sulachan planned to transcend death. Since everyone he knew, everyone he ruled, would be long dead by the time he returned, he would not have a nation to command, no army to reestablish his rule. In order to accomplish that he wanted the half people waiting and ready to serve him once his spirit returned to this world.”
“That’s true.…” Red frowned as she recollected. “When they came through the pass where I live, I remember feeling within them that terrible connection to elements of the underworld.”
Kahlan stepped closer. “That timeless link keeps them from aging like normal people. It keeps time from working on their living body the way it ordinarily would.”
“It was the same with those of us who lived at the Palace of the Prophets,” Nicci said as she came to a halt beside Kahlan. “Nathan Rahl lived there for nearly a thousand years. The prelate was nearly as old. I lived there for several lifetimes of those outside the spell of power around the place. The link to the timeless element of the underworld works. I’m living proof of it. So is Nathan Rahl. So are the half people.”
“By using his occult powers in the same way,” Kahlan explained, “Abbot Dreier was able to link that timeless element of the underworld to Richard’s body to keep it the same as it was the moment he died. He isn’t living, but time isn’t ravaging his body, either, as it ordinarily would. Dreier said Richard will remain in that state for quite a long time. He isn’t alive, but his body is not exactly dead, either.
“You might say that his life is suspended.”
“I don’t know.…” Red was still skeptical, but she was frowning in thought.
“I do,” Kahlan said. “You have only to touch Richard’s flesh as I have done to know it’s true. He seems so alive, like he is only asleep, except he takes no breath and his heart is still. Yet he never went stiff the way the dead do in short order, nor did his blood pool on the underside of his body. His tongue isn’t swelling the way it does in the dead.
“He remains the same now as he was in life, the same as the moment he died, except that his life force, his soul, his connection to the Grace, is beyond the veil.”
Red gave Kahlan a disparaging look. “That’s a pretty vital element. It is an essential element.”
“I know, but he is preserved for now until we can figure out how to bring his life force, his spirit, back into his body. Until then, his body waits, ready to receive his spirit.”
“Do you grasp the full meaning of what the Mother Confessor is saying?” Nicci asked Red. “There is a link from this world–from Richard’s body–to the underworld where his spark of life is. The Grace still exists. The lines within the Grace are still intact through the boundary of the veil–at least until Sulachan destroys what the Grace represents.
“Until then, death is here, in this world, while life is there, in that one. It’s in balance for the moment.”
“But that balance can’t last–it won’t last,” Red told her.
“Of course not,” Nicci agreed. “That is why we must act, and act quickly, while we still can.”
“If it is actually possible. Understanding such complicated connections and balanced elements is one thing. Altering them is an altogether different matter. Hope will not accomplish such things.”
“It’s hope based in precedent.” Nicci gestured off to the southwest. “Sulachan came back from the world of the dead. His demon spirit did, anyway, but his body had not been preserved the way Richard’s is so he can never really join fully with it. His spirit returned to a desiccated corpse.”
“That’s true,” Red whispered as she brooded in thought.
Nicci leaned closer to the woman. “And how did Sulachan accomplish such a thing? How did he bring his spirit back? He used Richard’s lifeblood. Prophecy names Richard as the bringer of death. In this case, Sulachan used that to bring him, in death, back to the world of life. Richard’s body still contains that blood of the bringer of death.”
Red arched an eyebrow at the sorceress and then began to pace, hands clasped behind her back. Gravel crunched under her boots as she slowly walked to the stream and back.
“The pebble in the pond, the bringer of death, the Lord Rahl, Kahlan’s husband … the one named in prophecy so many times and in so many ways, the one meant to stop Sulachan, must be brought back from the world of the dead,” Nicci insisted. “If he is the one prophecy names, then there must be a way, otherwise there would be no purpose to all those thousands of years of prophecy.”
“Unless it is all false prophecy,” Red muttered. She finally paused in her pacing to stare at Nicci. “But this would explain a lot of things that I’ve seen in the flow of time that haven’t made any sense.”
“Then you do know of something,” Kahlan said as she moved closer to the witch woman.
“Perhaps I was thinking of it the wrong way,” she said under her breath to herself as she went back to pacing.
Kahlan listened to the crunch of gravel for a time before her patience ran out. “What do you mean?”
“I wish I could see him more clearly, see the flow of time around him. That husband of yours has been using and confusing prophecy for thousands of years. He likewise muddies the things I see in the flow of time.”
“Well, you must be able to see some of it. You have seen the events around him before. If you see a shadow, you know that something is casting that shadow. What part are you able to see?” Kahlan asked. “Maybe that’s a place for us to start.”
The witch woman cast a worried look at Kahlan. “I didn’t have the pieces I needed to understand.”
“Understand what?” Kahlan asked. “Have you thought of a way that you can help us?”
Red drew a long breath. “Maybe. I think I may be beginning to understand what you must do.” She walked off toward the stream, staring down into the swirling water for a time. “If I’m right, then you should fear the things I would tell you.”
“And what would those things be?” Kahlan asked.
The witch woman finally returned to them and studied both Kahlan and Nicci’s faces for a time before answering.
“You must make the dead talk to you.”
“And how would we do that?” Kahlan asked without pause, already knowing that she would be willing to do whatever it took to get Richard back.
Red put a hand on her shoulder as she turned her blue eyes away, looking off into things only a witch woman could see.
“I must leave you for a little while,” she said in a quiet voice. “Keep the fire going. It will be dark when I return. Eat, rest, and wait until I return.”
“Where are you going?” Kahlan called after her.
“I must look into the flow of time to seek the answers you need,” the witch woman said as she walked off toward the trees.
Hunter bounded down off his rock and followed her as she disappeared into the shadows.
CHAPTER
11
Kahlan stood in a rush when she saw Red emerge from the stand of oaks. Nicci stood beside her. The Mord-Sith were o
n watch nearby and started back when they saw the witch woman returning.
“So, what did you mean when you said that we have to make the dead talk to us?” Kahlan asked impatiently. “Did you discover what we need to do?”
Even though it was dark, the low fire gave enough light to reveal the troubled expression on Red’s face. She looked drawn and tired. She had been gone the entire afternoon and then for hours after the sun had set. Kahlan had worried that she might never return.
“Not you,” the witch woman said to Kahlan as she came to a stop before Nicci. “You.”
“Me?” Nicci asked. She quickly recovered from the surprise. “All right, if it will help us get Richard back. What is it I need to do?”
Red slowly paced off partway toward the stream, still deep in thought, as if trying to think of a way to explain it.
“This is not something that can be accomplished easily, if at all,” the witch woman said without turning back. “We are seeking to bring a soul back from the world of the dead. In order to do such a thing, we are going to need a great deal of help. It’s not something that can be accomplished without the help of others.”
“What others?” Nicci asked.
“Dead, others,” Red told them, still gazing off into the distance.
Nicci took a deep breath. “I don’t understand. How can the dead help us?”
“Do you mean we need the help of the good spirits?” Kahlan guessed.
Red turned back and looked at her for a moment before speaking. “Richard is lost in the world of the dead, the spirit world. In order to help him, before anyone can help him, he first must be found in that eternity of darkness. That’s a very specialized task. In order to find him, we first need a spiritist.”
“A spiritist?” Nicci asked in a suddenly displeased tone.
“Yes. The flow of time does not ordinarily reveal what is sought, but this time I was able to catch a glimpse of factors surrounding potential events. Sometimes the flow is strong and rich in detail, which tells me that it is fixed and a near certainty. The flow I saw of you ending Richard’s life after the Mother Confessor had been murdered was that way. It was obscured where Richard was concerned, but I knew what was going to happen with you two.
“The flow I saw this time was only a slender thread, and I was only able to get a fleeting glimpse of it. That indicates there is only a remote chance that events will take this course. Time moves like a river, taking the easiest course. Ordinarily such slender threads are backwaters in time and are to be ignored, since the chances of them cutting a new path for the river in time are so unlikely. The thread exists only to reveal the richness of possibilities, not the probability.
“It is the allowance made for free choice to balance prophecy.
“For it to come about requires a series of events to come about in precise fashion. To help such a thread to strengthen, Richard must first be found. The only one who can do that is a spiritist.”
Kahlan looked back and forth between the two women. “What’s a spiritist?”
Nicci glanced over at Kahlan. “A gifted woman who can travel the darkness of the spirit world and seek specific spirits. She is gifted with the talent to find and then talk to spirits.”
“You mean she communes with the dead,” Kahlan said.
“That’s the heart of the matter,” Nicci admitted.
Kahlan shrugged. “All right. Where do we find one of these spiritists?”
“I’m afraid you can’t,” Nicci said. “There are none living anymore.”
Kahlan looked back at Red, reflections of the firelight flickering in her knowing eyes. “How can we use a spiritist if they are all dead?”
“I told you. You must talk with the dead.”
“You’re talking in circles,” Kahlan said, her temper heating. “How do we talk to the dead if we need a spiritist to do that, and they are all dead?”
Red tipped her head toward Nicci. “She is the only one who can do such a thing.”
Kahlan’s gaze went to Nicci. The sorceress was frowning.
“What are you getting at?” Nicci asked. “I’m not a spiritist.”
“You were a Sister of the Dark.”
Nicci’s frown tightened. “So?”
Red admonished her with a look. “What is it Sisters of the Dark deal in? They deal in the world of the dead. They worked for the forces of the underworld. They sought to bring the Keeper himself into this world.”
Nicci backed up a step. “I’m not that person anymore. I’m no longer a Sister of the Dark.”
Red flicked a hand in irritation. “All but you are dead. That’s because all but you chose to stay to that dark path, and it cost them their lives. You chose otherwise because Richard showed you another path. Now, you must use what you know in order to help find his path back. You still have those same abilities. Doing such things is the use of your abilities for the right reasons.”
“What abilities?” Kahlan asked suspiciously.
“A sorceress can’t delve into things in the underworld the way a skilled wizard can.” Red tipped her head toward Nicci without looking at her. “That is why Nicci, like all Sisters of the Dark, killed a wizard and stole his gift to use in dark devotion to the Keeper. Sisters of the Dark possessing the ability of a wizard can make contact with those in the underworld. Like all such Sisters, the Keeper once visited her in her dreams and granted her access to the darkness.”
Red’s eyes finally turned to Nicci. “Isn’t that right?”
The fire crackled as the two women stared at each other for a long moment.
“What does this have to do with finding a spiritist?” Nicci finally asked in a dangerous tone.
“You wanted to know how to bring Richard back,” the witch woman said in a quiet voice that was no less dangerous. “I’m telling you what that thread in the flow of time reveals. I’m not saying it can be done. I’m only telling you that if it is to be done, if Richard is to be found, you must do what only you can do.
“We need the help of the good spirits to rescue him and help put him on the path of the Grace so he may return, but first, before anything else can be done, he must be located in that eternity of darkness. The demons of the dark have their wings wrapped around his soul, hiding him.” She looked right at Kahlan. “Isn’t that right, Mother Confessor?”
Kahlan swallowed at the memory. “I’m afraid it is.”
“If you want to find him to have a chance to bring him back,” Red told Nicci, “then you must first contact a spiritist in the underworld and seek her help.”
Nicci heaved a sigh. “All right. Let’s just say for a moment that I can find a way to do such a thing. What is her name?”
“The one you need is named Naja.”
“Naja!” Kahlan said in surprise. “Naja Moon?”
Red nodded.
Kahlan rested her left palm on the hilt of the sword–Richard’s sword. “That’s the woman Richard said left messages in the shielded caves in the village of Stroyza. That’s where he found this ring. Naja knew Magda Searus and the wizard Merritt.”
The witch woman nodded. “That is the one I saw in the flow of time.” She let out a deep breath. “The problem is, she was a powerful sorceress. She, in fact, once helped Emperor Sulachan with his evil schemes, but it was under threat of death and she eventually escaped. She came to the New World to help in the fight to defeat Emperor Sulachan. She understood the things he was doing, and was a great help to those in the New World.”
“So why is that a problem?” Kahlan asked. “Nicci has to somehow contact Naja Moon, in the underworld, right? Naja knows how to find Richard?”
“Yes, she could do such a thing,” Nicci said in Red’s place. “The problem is, spirits of such power are difficult to find.”
“It’s worse than that,” Red explained. “Sulachan traveled the underworld. Naja had turned against him and he would have wanted revenge for that betrayal. Men like Sulachan carry grudges beyond the grave. Naja would have wish
ed to have eternal peace and would have hidden her spirit.”
“I can understand that,” Nicci said. “I would not want to be found in the underworld by a wizard of Sulachan’s power.”
Kahlan wiped a weary hand across her eyes. “Can you find her or not?” she asked Nicci, her impatience lending an edge to her voice.
“Maybe, but only if I had the help of a lesser sorceress, a lesser spiritist,” Nicci finally admitted. “One less tangled in Sulachan’s affairs and the world of the dead. One who understood how to ride the rim between life and death.”
“Isidore,” the witch woman said with a nod. “Her name is Isidore. She is the one you want.”
Nicci’s frown deepened. “You saw that in the flow?”
“She, too, lived in the same time and also knew Magda. She was a talented spiritist. The flow of time tells me that Isidore was once involved in the same struggle and so, with such links, she would be the one who would be able to find Naja in the darkness.”
Nicci sighed. “The only problem is I’m not sure I can do such a thing–open myself to the underworld and contact spirits.”
Red was watching her. “You mean you are not sure that you want to do such a thing.”
Nicci didn’t answer.
Kahlan gripped Nicci’s arm. “This is for Richard. You told me you would do anything.”
Nicci swallowed. “I know. But this is…”
“What? This is what? Not something worth doing for Richard? Is that what you’re saying? That it isn’t something you want to do for him?”
Nicci shook her head. “No–that’s not what I’m saying. It’s just that … you don’t know what it means.”
Kahlan thought she might know what it meant. It meant that Nicci had to return to her own inner darkness, to that time when she was a Sister of the Dark, a place from which Richard had brought her back.