Faith of the Fallen (Sword of Truth 6)

tten in their sleep, without ever knowing it happened, until they awake in the pitch blackness with the shivering chills of a frightful fever, only to discover the first truly debilitating symptom of this particular fever: blindness. You see, it isn’t the blackness of night they awake to—dawn has already broken—but blindness. Then they find that their legs won’t obey their wishes. Their ears are ringing with what sounds like an endless, tingling scream.”

The general’s gaze darted about, testing his eyesight as Zedd went on. He twisted a big finger in an ear as if to clean it out.

“By now, anyone bitten is too weak to stand. They lose control of their bodily functions and lie helpless in their own filth. They are within hours of death…but those last hours will seem like a year.”

“How do we counter it?” On the edge of his seat, Warren licked his lips. “What’s the cure?”

“Cure? There is no cure! Now a fog is beginning to creep toward the camp. This time, the few gifted left can sense that the wide mass of seething murk is foul with dark, suffocating magic. They warn everyone. Those too sick to stand wail in terror. They can’t see, but they can hear the distant battle cries of the advancing enemy. In a panic not to be touched by the deadly fog, anyone able to rise from their bedrolls does so. Too delirious to stand, a few manage to crawl. The rest run for their lives before the advancing fog.

“It’s the last mistake they ever make,” Zedd whispered. He swept a hand out before their white faces. “They run headlong into the horror of a waiting death trap.”

Everyone was wide-eyed and slack-jawed by now, sitting on the edge of their benches.

“So, General,” Zedd said in a bright, cheery tone as he sat back, “what about those mass graves? Or are you planning on any of you left alive just abandoning the sick for dead and leaving the bodies to rot? Probably not a bad idea. There will be enough to worry about without the burdensome task of trying to care for the dying and burying all the dead—especially since the very act of touching their white flesh will contaminate the living with a completely unexpected sickness, and then—”

Verna shot to her feet. “But what can we do!” She could plainly see the potential for chaos all around her. “How can we counter such vile magic?” She threw open her arms. “What do we need to do?”

Zedd shrugged. “I thought you and your Sisters had it all figured out. I thought you knew what you were doing.” He waggled his hand over his shoulder, gesturing off to the south, toward the enemy. “I thought you said you had the situation well in hand.”

Verna silently sank back down to the bench beside Warren.

“Uh, Zedd…” General Reibisch swallowed in distress. He held out the mosquito. “Zedd, I think I’m starting to feel dizzy. Isn’t there anything you can do?”

“About what?”

“The fever. I think my vision is getting dimmer. Can you do nothing?”

“No, nothing.”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing, because there’s nothing wrong with you. I just conjured a few albino mosquitoes to make a point. The point is that what I saw when I came into this camp scared the wits out of me. If the gifted among the enemy are at all diabolical, and with Jagang we have ample reason to believe they are, then this army is ill prepared for the true nature of the threat.”

Sister Philippa haltingly lifted a hand like a schoolgirl with a question. “But, with all the gifted among us, surely, we would…know…or something.”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you: the way things are now, you won’t know. It’s the things you never heard of, haven’t seen before, don’t expect, and can’t even imagine, that are going to be coming for you. The enemy will use conventional magic, to be sure, and that will be trouble enough, but it’s the albino mosquitoes you must fear.”

“As you said, though, you only conjured them to make a point,” Warren said. “Maybe the enemy isn’t as smart as you, and won’t think of such things.”

“The Order did not take over all of the Old World by being stupid but by being ruthless.” Zedd’s brow drew lower. He lifted a finger skyward to mark his words. “Besides, they have already thought of just such things. This past spring, one of the Sisters in the hands of the enemy used magic to unleash a deadly plague that could not be detected by anyone with the gift. Tens of thousands of people, from newborn infants to the old, suffered gruesome deaths.”

Those Sisters, in the hands of the enemy, were a grave and ever-present danger. Ann had gone off alone on a mission to either rescue those Sisters or eliminate them. From what Zedd had seen when he had been down in Anderith, Ann had failed in her mission. He didn’t know what had become of her, but he knew that Jagang still held Sisters captive.

“But we stopped the plague,” Warren said.

“Richard stopped it, as only he could.” Zedd held the gaze of the young wizard. “Did you know that in order to save us from that grim fate, he had to venture to the Temple of the Winds, hidden away beyond the veil of life in the underworld itself? Neither you nor I can imagine the toll such an experience must have taken on him. I saw a shadow of the specter in his eyes when he spoke of it.

“I can’t even hazard a guess as to how trifling a chance at success he had when he started on so hopeless a journey. Had he not prevailed against all odds, we would all be dead by now from an unseen death brought on by magic we could not detect and could not counter. I’d not want to again count on such an auspicious deliverance.”

No one could disagree with him; they nodded slightly, or looked away. The tent had become a gloomy place.

Verna rubbed her fingers across her brow. “Pride is of no use to the dead. I admit it: those gifted among us have little knowledge of what we’re doing when it comes to using our gift in warfare. We know some things about fighting, perhaps even a great many things, but I admit we could be woefully lacking in the depth of knowledge needed.

“Think us fools if you will, but don’t ever think us at odds with you, Zedd; we are all here on the same side.” Her brown eyes betrayed nothing but simple sincerity. “We not only could use your help, we would gratefully welcome it.”

“Of course he will help us,” Adie scoffed while giving Zedd a scolding frown.

“Well, you have a good start. Admitting that you don’t know something is the first step to learning.” Zedd scratched his chin. “Every day, I amaze myself with all I don’t know.”

“That would be wonderful,” Warren said. “If you would help us, I mean.” He sounded hesitant, but forged ahead anyway. “I would really like to have the benefit of a real wizard’s experience.”

Despondent with the weight of his other troubles, Zedd shook his head. “I would like to—and to be sure I will give you all some advice in the task at hand. However, I’ve been on a long and frustrating journey, and I’m afraid I’m not yet finished with it. I can’t stay. I must soon be off again.”

Chapter 17

Warren swiped back his curly blond hair. “What sort of journey have you been on, Zedd?”

Zedd pointed a bony finger. “You don’t need to keep that flattened mosquito, General.”

General Reibisch realized it was still between his finger and thumb. He tossed it away. Everyone awaited Zedd’s words. He smoothed the heavy maroon robes over his twiglike thighs as his gaze absently studied the dirt floor.

He let out a crestfallen sigh. “I was recovering from my own auspicious deliverance from grappling with remarkable magic I’d never before encountered, and, as I regained my senses, spent months searching. I was down in Anderith, and saw some of what happened after the Order swept in there. It was a dark time for the people. Not only from the rampaging soldiers, but also from one of your Sisters, Verna. Death’s Mistress they called her.”

“Do you know which one it is?” Verna asked in a bitter voice at hearing of a Sister causing harm.

“No. I only saw her once, from a goodly distance. Had I been fully recovered, I might have tried to remedy the situation, but I wasn’t myse

lf yet and dared not confront her. She also had a few thousand soldiers with her. The sight of all the soldiers, led by a woman they had heard of and feared, had people in a panic. The Sister was young, with blond hair. She wore a black dress.”

“Dear Creator,” Verna whispered. “Not one of mine—one of the Keeper’s. There are few women born with the strength of power such as she has. She also has power acquired by nefarious means; Nicci is a Sister of the Dark.”

“I’ve gotten reports,” General Reibisch said. By his grim tone, Zedd knew the reports must have had it right. “I’ve heard, too, that it’s quieted considerably.”

Zedd nodded. “The Order was at first brutal, but now ‘Jagang the Just’—as they have taken to calling him—has spared them further harm. In most places, other than the capital of Fairfield where the most killing took place, people have turned to supporting him as a liberator come to deliver them into a better life. They’re reporting neighbors, or travelers—whoever they suspect is not an adherent to the noble ideals of the Order.

“I was all through Anderith, and spent a good deal of time behind the enemy lines searching—without success. I then journeyed up into the wilds and north to a number of towns, and even a few cities, but I can find no sign of them. I guess my abilities were a long time in recovering; I only a short time ago discovered where you all were. I have to commend you, General, you’ve kept the presence of your forces well hidden—took me forever to find your army. The boy, though, seems to have vanished without a trace.” Zedd’s fists tightened in his lap. “I must find him.”

“You mean Richard?” Adie asked. “You be searching for your grandson?”

“Yes. For Richard and Kahlan, both.” Zedd lifted his hands in a helpless gesture. “However, without any success, I must admit. I’ve talked to no one who has seen even a sign of them. I’ve used every skill I possess, but to no avail. If I didn’t know better, I’d say they no longer existed.”

Looks passed among everyone else. Zedd peered from one surprised face to another. For the first time in months, Zedd’s hopes rose. “What? What is it? You know something?”