Warheart

CHAPTER 6

They traveled deep into the night without further incident. It was nerve-racking to continually fear that every sound might mean an imminent attack. Kahlan had drawn her sword half a dozen times, erring on the side of safety. None of them took lightly the possibility of a surprise attack. They were all tense and wary as they followed Hunter onto ever-higher ground.

Hunter almost never made any sound as he walked, and seemed magically able to avoid stepping on anything that would make noise. He moved like a shadow. They tried to be silent as well, but with less success.

After they had put a good deal of distance between themselves and the dead man, they all began to feel more confident that the man had been a loner.

Not all the half people traveled in groups. Some hunted for souls by themselves, feeling they had a better chance to steal a soul if they were alone. Being greedy about getting a soul, they weren’t inclined to share, or wait their turn. When they found prey, even if they hunted in large groups, it was every man or woman for themselves.

As skinny as the man had been, he was probably weak from hunger. On top of that, it was night. It was easy enough to fall in the darkness and be seriously injured.

As exhausted as they all were, Kahlan knew that it was a mistake to keep going all night. Every time she thought of stopping, though, she remembered Richard lying in the bedroom back at the citadel. He had no chance if they didn’t find a way to help him.

“How much farther is it to the witch woman’s lair?” Cassia asked as she stretched to get a foothold high up on a jut of ledge.

Kahlan realized that she wasn’t sure. She was having trouble thinking. With the weight of grief, she’d slept only in brief fits the night before they were to have the ceremony at the funeral pyre. It had been a long and sleepless night. With the long trek through the woods on top of that, she was near to dropping from exhaustion.

She tried to think of how much farther it might be. After leaving Red’s valley home the last time, Kahlan had been distraught and distracted. Red had told her that she was going to be murdered within days. With the stress and tension of everything that was happening, to say nothing of the poison she and Richard were carrying within them, Kahlan hadn’t been paying a great deal of attention to where they were. Her thoughts had been elsewhere. She had simply followed along with Richard and the rest of them, unable to get Red’s words out of her mind, her warning that Nicci would kill Richard if Kahlan didn’t kill Nicci first.

“I’m not sure, exactly,” Kahlan finally admitted. “The pass is in the mountains, so I don’t think we are likely to reach her for at least another day, maybe more. Sorry, but I guess I’m too tired to think clearly.”

“From what I remember, I think you’re right,” Nicci said.

“That’s a long way,” Cassia said as she had to bend down to give Kahlan a hand in climbing up.

“We’re going to need to get some sleep, then,” Nicci said. “I would not like to be this tired when we finally reach her.”

“I think you’re right,” Kahlan said as she reached the top of the rock.

She took some dried meat when Cassia handed it to her. Once Nicci was up top, she took a piece as well.

“It’s easy to make mistakes when you’re tired, especially this tired,” Kahlan said. “If that man back there hadn’t been alone we could have had a time of it. With the half people one mistake would be the last and then we won’t ever have the chance to talk to Red.”

Nicci seemed to be appraising Kahlan’s state of exhaustion. “We also really need to have clear heads when we talk with the witch woman. There is nothing more important than finding out if there is a way to help Richard. We can’t afford to make a mistake.”

“There is that,” Kahlan agreed.

Kahlan tore off a piece of the dried meat with her teeth. It felt good to chew on something. Besides getting no sleep, she hadn’t eaten anything for quite a while.

She realized that she was hungry. She supposed this would have to do unless Hunter was true to his name and caught them some rabbit or something. But she hated the thought of taking time for sleep, much less to cook a meal.

She wished that she had thought to bring along more traveling supplies before she’d started out. Time was of the essence and she had been in such a hurry to go after Red to find out what she could do to help Richard that she hadn’t even thought to bring supplies. Fortunately, the three Mord-Sith had the presence of mind to snatch up some things as they had hurried to catch up with Kahlan and Nicci.

Nicci was watching her again. “Kahlan, I really think we would be better off in the long run if we stopped and got some sleep.”

“But I don’t–”

“Your speech is starting to slur,” Nicci advised her. “Do you really want that to happen when you talk to Red? I haven’t slept much, either, and I know how weak I’m feeling. You have to be worse.”

She sighed. She looked around and saw a recessed area in a short rock wall and stopped. “Maybe we should think about getting at least a couple hours of sleep.”

“I hate to stop, too.” Nicci heaved a sigh of resignation. “But if we don’t get at least a little rest it will diminish our chances of making it to Red and finding out if she can give us any answers.”

Kahlan knew that talking to witch women was always a draining experience. She would not want to be half asleep and miss something, some vital clue or nuance.

“All right,” she finally said. “Let’s lie down here and try to get an hour or two of sleep.”

Cassia gestured between herself, Laurin, and Vale. “You two sleep. The three of us will share a watch so that we can get a little ourselves.”

Kahlan was too tired to argue. When she nodded, the three Mord-Sith quickly cut bundles of small balsam boughs for a sleeping mat. They covered it with armfuls of dried grasses. It wasn’t the most ideal way to sleep, but up against the rock it was partially protected and good enough for a short nap.

Cassia climbed up on top of the rock above them to take the first watch. She sat with her arms around her bent knees as she looked out over the woods. The moon behind the clouds lit the expanse of sky just enough to be able to make out the woods. It wasn’t enough light to see detail to travel by, but it would be better than nothing for standing watch. On watch, hearing was often more valuable than sight, because at night sound carried a great distance.

From the perch of a nearby rock, Hunter watched them making preparations. He seemed to possess the curiosity of a cat, and watched everything they did to get ready for a brief sleep. His ears swiveled back and forth as they followed everyone’s movements. He yawned, looking like he wouldn’t mind a nap himself.

Kahlan flopped down on the rough mat beside Nicci once she and the other two Mord-Sith had settled in. Even though it was far from the most comfortable bed she’d ever used, she was so tired that it seemed to be more than comfortable enough.

Nicci let the small, floating flame extinguish, casting them into darkness. Once the flame had sparked out and her eyes adjusted, Kahlan saw that with the moon lighting the clouds she could see more than she would have thought. She was relieved that the Mord-Sith would be able to see as they took turns standing watch.

Kahlan wished she had a blanket to keep warm in the night chill. She didn’t want a fire, though. The light would attract the attention of anyone close and the smoke would reveal their presence for a great distance. If they were going to sleep for longer, she would have asked Nicci to use her gift to heat some rocks. But it wasn’t that cold and she was already falling into the numbing embrace of sleep.

She lay on her side, curled up to stay as warm as she could while thinking about all the times she had slept in the woods with Richard. She thought about some of the wonderful times she had cuddled up to him.

As she began to cry softly, Hunter crept in close, purring, and curled up against her stomach.

Kahlan laid an appreciative hand over the warm little creature and fell asleep thinking of Richard.