Witch's Oath

20

Richard needed to be the one to get to the witch man first. He realized, though, that even while Michec was already injured and now being tormented by wasps, he was still profoundly dangerous. The biggest worry was that Richard had no idea what the man was capable of in spite of his condition. He was aware that they could easily get caught up in a trap they weren’t expecting, so they had to be on the lookout for things that they weren’t expecting.

Richard only knew that he needed to kill him before he could use any of his dark talents. He especially needed to kill the man before he could harm Kahlan. And, with the Glee showing up everywhere more frequently all the time, they needed to be done with the witch man so they could get to the Keep.

Richard sprinted down halls and corridors, watching for anything unexpected as he took turns instinctively from the mental map in his head and also from his knowledge of where the witch man was headed. Eager to get at Michec, Richard didn’t wait for the others, and had soon pulled out a substantial lead over the rest of them. Checking back over his shoulder from time to time, he made sure not to get too far ahead of them lest they lose sight of him and not know which way he went.

If any of them fell behind and made a wrong turn down in the confusing maze of the complication, it could easily be fatal. He just wanted to stay far enough ahead that Kahlan and the others wouldn’t fall into the witch man’s grasp before Richard could get his hands on the man.

Richard was well aware that Michec was running in a blind panic, taking the swarm of wasps with him, running haphazardly, taking turns at random but still intent on where he was going. He simply wanted to get to a place of safety. That was fine with Richard, because despite the witch man’s random course he knew where Michec would end up. Every once in a while, he could hear Michec in the distance, crying out and cursing as the wasps stung a particularly tender spot on his face.

Richard slowed a little to let the others get a bit closer. His blood was up and he wanted to get to the witch man, but he didn’t want to let his anger cause him to run out too far ahead and have the others lose sight of him. He looked back over his shoulder at Shale as he ran.

“Those are your wasps, right?”

Shale nodded.

Richard gestured to let them know his intended direction before he cut down a narrow hallway to the right. “Why isn’t he simply making them vanish? Kahlan said he made the snake you conjured vanish.”

Shale ran up closer to him so she could speak without having to yell. “Because I intended the snakes for the Glee. I didn’t know that I needed to shield them against a witch man’s magic. I shielded the wasps, though. And, I made sure they were plenty angry. Only I can withdraw them.”

Richard slid to a halt and looked up a set of broad stairs to the left. It was a shortcut that would gain distance on Michec, but it would take them away from his route for a time. He knew that was risky, because Michec, in his distracted state from the wasps, might deviate in his route and end up going someplace Richard wasn’t expecting. But he needed to get to Michec before he could escape. The shortcut was the best way to help close the gap.

Decision made, he started up the stairs two at a time.

“When we get close to him,” he called back over his shoulder to Shale, “I need you to withdraw the wasps so they don’t sting us as well.”

Shale nodded as she ran up the stairs after him. “Don’t worry about the wasps. I’ll make sure they’re gone as soon as we catch him.”

At the top of the short flight of stairs, a corridor branched off to each side. Richard paused to make sure Kahlan wasn’t lagging behind. She wasn’t. The Mord-Sith were surrounding her. Reassured, he went straight on down the dark center corridor between the other two. After a short distance the corridor came to stairs that descended back to the original level, where he again took a right.

As he raced down a corridor with dusty marble columns supporting a barreled, plastered ceiling, he slowed and turned as he trotted backward so he could see all the others.

“What magic is Michec liable to use against me when I catch him? Any guesses?”

Shale turned her palms up. “I’ve been asking myself that same question. I don’t have an answer. I don’t really know anything about witch men, except that they are witches. That’s bad enough, but from what I’ve seen so far, I suspect he can do things I can’t even begin to imagine.”

“Do you think you will be able to do anything to counter whatever magic he might do?”

Shale shook her head as she hurried along. “He can’t make my wasps vanish. There are limitations for a witch using their power against another witch, which limits what I can do. He is likely to shield anything he does so I can’t stop it. You’re a wizard, why don’t you do something?”

Richard sighed unhappily. “All right. I will just have to deal with whatever he does, if I can’t kill him first. But I need you to be ready to at least create light. Conjure a flame in your palm or something—I don’t care, but I will need light to see. It’s going to be pitch black when I catch him.”

Shale blinked in surprise. “How do you know that?”

“Prophecy,” Kahlan told her. “Richard was in the underworld, remember? There is prophecy in the underworld. Do you think a war wizard would fail to avail himself of any opportunity to gain an advantage against an enemy?”

Richard grinned at her in answer. He thought she was not only the most intelligent person he knew, but sometimes it seemed she could read his thoughts.

Shale looked alarmed. “You mean to say you have been acting on prophecy?”

“How do you think I knew that spiral corridor was packed with Glee waiting to ambush us? Would you rather I knew nothing about it and walked into Michec’s trap?”

“Well, no,” she admitted.

As he went past the second wooden door on the right and slowed down, he hushed her before she could ask any more questions.

“From now on,” he told them all in a low voice, “try to move as quietly as you can. Michec won’t be far ahead, now. He is down this passageway here, to the right. Rikka, Vale, Cassia, Nyda, Berdine, be ready to use your knives on him to protect Kahlan. Shale, be ready to provide light.”

They all nodded as they started out after him down the hallway to the right. As they went farther in, the first light sphere began to brighten, showing them the way. As it was dimming behind them on their way past, the second began to glow. Richard slowed to a stop.

He held up a hand for everyone to be still as he listened into the dark distance. When he heard the echo of heavy breathing, he started running as fast and quietly as he could. He motioned for the others to stay back a ways. He didn’t want Michec to snatch Kahlan or anyone else and use them as a hostage. Kahlan had a knife and knew how to use it, but he didn’t want it to come to that. The witch man was unpredictable, had magic, and, after all, had called all those Glee back in the spiraled corridor to lay a trap for them.

As the second light sphere dimmed in the distance behind, they hurried past the third, and then beyond, on into darkness.