Witch's Oath

15

Richard cautiously followed a long, curved passageway, watching for anything out of the ordinary as things ahead gradually materialized out of the darkness. In some places the passageway ascended a half-dozen steps beyond stone columns holding up barreled ceilings that denoted more important sections of the spell-form. In some of those places ornate decorations meant to indicate dominant and subordinate flows of magic within the spell-form had been carved into the stone walls.

Along the way Richard checked each room they came to, leaning back and pushing closed doors open with a foot. While he did find long-dead, mummified corpses in a few, there was no sign of the witch man in any of them. He didn’t expect to find Michec in any of those rooms, but he still had to check them just in case.

“Do you know where we’re going?” Cassia asked in a whisper that seemed appropriate in such sinister, ornate passageways.

Richard simply nodded as he kept going.

At regular intervals massive stone archways separated sections of what was an important element of the spell-form from less significant supporting elements. In places those elements and thus the archways and sections of passageways could be quite complex, reflecting the intricacy of the complication itself.

It still felt disorienting to him to be back in the world of life. Solid ground was hard to get accustomed to again. He had begun to fear that he would be forever imprisoned in the underworld. He cherished the memory, though, of seeing the light of Kahlan’s soul when he had been in that dark world. It was a wondrous thing that was like seeing the light of her love for him visualized.

But now that he was back, even that memory seemed very dreamlike and distant. It was just as well those memories faded away since such a place was best forgotten.

As they passed under another soaring archway with columns of gray stone carved into ornamental spiral forms, it opened into a broad room with eight sides. A column in each corner supported a rib holding up the complex vaulted ceiling. On each of the other seven walls before them there was a stone archway just like the one they had entered under.

“Lord Rahl,” Vika said in a quiet voice that betrayed her concern, “Moravaska Michec captured all of us. You know what happened then. If we’re going after him, well, I mean, what good will it do? Aren’t you worried that he will simply capture us again? He likes to play with his captives, but this time I don’t think he will make that same mistake again before he kills you and the Mother Confessor.”

“I hate to admit it,” Kahlan said as she leaned in closer, “but Vika is right. He already had us all once and it seemed effortless. If we catch up with him, he might just as easily have us all in his clutches again.”

Richard looked to all the worried faces. “Do any of you know the mistake we made?”

The Mord-Sith all shook their heads. Kahlan bit her lower lip. She didn’t have an answer either.

“Sure,” Shale said. “The mistake we made was coming down here after him in the first place when we should have been on our way to the Keep.”

Richard smiled. “No. The Mord-Sith know what we did wrong, don’t you?” he asked them.

They all looked puzzled.

“What happens,” he asked them, “when someone tries to use magic against you?”

They all huffed as if it were a silly question.

“If they were foolish enough to do that, then we would capture them by the very magic they tried to use against us,” Nyda said.

“Michec is no Mord-Sith,” Cassia objected.

“No, he’s not,” Richard said. He looked from one to the next. “What is he, then?”

Rikka shrugged. “A witch man.”

Richard shook his head. He gestured to Nyda. “What is he?”

Nyda shrugged. “Like Rikka says, he’s a witch man.”

Richard shook his head again. “No. Berdine, what is he?”

She made a face. “He’s a bastard witch man.”

Richard smiled then looked at Vale. “What is he?”

She lifted her hands out in frustration. “He is called the butcher?”

Richard finally looked at Vika.

“Think, Vika,” Richard said. “What is he?”

She frowned in thought as she shared a long look with him. Finally her eyes lit with understanding. “Michec is a trainer of Mord-Sith. When I encountered him up at the stables, I immediately tried to use my Agiel on him. That was my mistake. It was over in that instant. He had me. That was how he did it.”

“That’s what happened to me!” Berdine said. The others nodded that they, too, had tried to use their Agiel against him.

Richard snapped his fingers. “Exactly. In order to train Mord-Sith, Darken Rahl must have instilled in him the same power instilled into a young woman when she is initiated into the sisterhood of the Mord-Sith. They are given power, through the bond, to use a person’s magic against them to capture them.

“I once made the mistake of trying to use the magic of my sword against a Mord-Sith. I made that same mistake again when I tried to use my sword against Michec. He captured me the same way Denna did the first time I tried it.”

Shale looked a bit sheepish. “I tried to use magic to stop him as well.”

Kahlan was frowning. “I don’t remember what happened, but I guess I must have tried to use my ability against him. Used against a Mord-Sith, that would be a very bad death. So why didn’t my power work against him?”

Richard looked at her with a sad smile. “He isn’t a Mord-Sith. He is a witch man and Darken Rahl gave him the ability to capture those with magic. I’m afraid that I made the same mistake as the rest of you.”

Kahlan let out a heavy sigh. “That’s how he had us all.”

Richard’s gaze passed over them all. “So don’t make that same mistake again.”

“I cut him with my knife,” Vika said. “Since that’s not magic, he couldn’t capture me again. Now he’s wounded. So we can hurt him, just not with our Agiel or with your magic.”

“Exactly,” Richard said. “Using your knife was the right thing to do. But now he’s a wounded animal. Now that we understand what his trick was, remember not to try to use your Agiel on him. If you get the chance, use your knives. But that shouldn’t be necessary. I will take care of him.”

“Not with your sword,” Kahlan admonished in alarm.

“No, not my sword. But I will take care of him.”

“Lord Rahl,” Vika said with a serious look, “promise me that you will let me cut him.”

He looked into the iron in her eyes. “You got it.”

He had a sudden thought and looked at Shale. “Can you use your ability as a witch woman, not to make something come into existence, but to make something go out of existence?”

Shale looked confused. “What do you mean?”

Richard gestured at the stone column they were standing beside. “Well, for example, could you make this column, or this wall, cease to exist? Make them disappear?”

Shale made a face like he must be crazy. “Of course not.”

Richard let out a disappointed sigh. “That’s a shame. All right.” He gestured into the eight-sided room. “He went down one of the other seven corridors leading out of here. Which hallway did he take?”

Shale’s dark expression returned. “How am I supposed to know?”

“You said you could smell a witch. Smell the air at each archway entrance and see if you can smell which one he took.”

The dark look left Shale’s face. She blinked. “Oh. That’s a good idea, actually.”

Richard smiled. “And here you thought I was crazy.”

Shale smirked. “Not entirely. Just somewhat.”

They all followed as Shale started around the large room, pausing in the entryways to sniff the air. She stopped at the fifth archway she came to and spent some time smelling the air. Finally she lifted an arm, pointing.

“He went this way.”