Warheart: Sword of Truth: The Conclusion (Sword of Truth 15)

Kahlan waited until Nicci fell silent before speaking. “What is that language you’re speaking?”

“It is the opposite of the language of Creation. It is the language of the dead,” Nicci said softly without opening her eyes. “It is used by Sisters of the Dark to summon that other world all around us that we never see. The language of the dead contains Subtractive threads that bring about the parting of the veil to the underworld.”

In a way, it all made sense. It made Kahlan, sitting in the center of the Grace, feel a part of everything. The problem was going to be finding the one they needed out of all the souls in the darkness beyond the veil, out of all those voices she heard.

“Wait,” Kahlan said as she frowned in thought.

Nicci opened her eyes and looked up.

“You said ‘Sacred is the sword when there is no hope but in the blade.’ I think I know what needs to be done.”

She scrambled to her feet and retrieved the amulet from around Richard’s neck. In its place, she laid the Sword of Truth down the length of Richard’s body. She placed his arms across his chest and then folded his fingers around the wire-wound grip and the word TRUTH woven in gold through the silver wire.

“Let the sword’s anger help be your beacon,” she whispered to Richard. “Let the righteous rage from the sword help you find your way back to the righteous anger against evil and those who would end life. Let anger be your guide back to the fight for life.”

She could feel the magic of the sword’s anger heat in response.

When finished, she carefully stepped over the blood and back into the center of the Grace. She held the amulet out by the chain and dropped it into Nicci’s hand when she turned up her palm. Kahlan tried not to think about how she had just handed an ancient object of power to a Sister of the Dark.

Nicci placed the chain around her neck and let the ancient amulet, made by Baraccus himself, lie against her chest, against her heart.

“Time to dance with death,” she whispered into the darkness.

CHAPTER

14

Hannis Arc, standing in the well-used road, gazed with displeasure at the closed gates in the wall around the small city of Drendon Falls. With the heavy gates closing off the road, the sheer cliffs hard against the back of the city, and the forested mountains all around, the place was well protected from threat of conquest. The falls showering down from the cliffs at the back of the city, fed by mountain springs above, provided ample water flowing through waterways that eventually drained underground, so the people of Drendon Falls felt confident they could close the city gates and be able to endure a long siege.

Hannis Arc had no interest in conducting a siege.

Soldiers of their home guard, most armed with bows or spears, manned the tops of the walls ready to repel any assault. They all watched from a position they considered to be safe, and although obviously tense, didn’t look overly concerned. None of them had arrows nocked, or spears at the ready. Hannis Arc knew that Drendon Falls had withstood sieges in the past, and had never been conquered.

Of course, there was not much reason for an enemy to bother with putting a lot of effort into conquering Drendon Falls. The small city lay on a less important trade route in one of the less populated areas of D’Hara. There were bigger and more important conquests to be made elsewhere. That, in large part, and not the walls, was what had kept the place safe from conquest. It also meant that the defenses had never really been tested in the heat of battle.

For Hannis Arc, it was not a matter of conquest, but a matter of respect. He should not need to conquer people he already considered his subjects. They seemed to be unclear on that point. He intended to make it clear to them.

“You dare to close the gates to the city?” Hannis Arc called up to the man in simple robes standing with both hands resting on the edge of the wall.

“We mean you and your people no ill will,” the man called down, “but there have been rumors of terrible atrocities being visited on other places. As the mayor of Drendon Falls I must think first of the safety of the people of my city. We make no judgment against you, sir, and certainly intend no offense, but we must err on the side of safety and keep our gates closed.”

Hannis Arc glanced over at Emperor Sulachan, the glow of his spirit twisting the face of his long-dead worldly form into a grim smile.

Hannis Arc looked back up at the mayor on the wall. “I sent people on ahead from other cities with instructions that they speak to you of that very matter–the safety of your people. They were to inform you of your fate should you and the people of your city not bow down and show proper respect.”

The man on the wall spread his arms. “We deeply respect all people, and we respect them all equally. We do not want war.”

“War!” Hannis Arc exclaimed with a grunt of a laugh. “This is not a war.” He looked around, feigning incredulity. “There is no war. The war is long over. This is a matter of rule. It is a matter of allegiance to the D’Haran Empire.”

“We are loyal to the D’Haran Empire,” the man insisted.

“Well, I am Lord Arc, the ruler of the D’Haran Empire.”

The man paused, momentarily unsure what to say. “Lord Rahl is the ruler of the D’Haran Empire.”

“Not any longer.” Hannis Arc dismissed the distasteful notion of the long line of the House of Rahl with a wave of his hand. “I told you, the war is over.”

“We heard of no war for rule,” the mayor called down.

“Richard Rahl now resides in the world of the dead,” Emperor Sulachan said in a voice that caused the armed men on the wall to take a step back from the edge.

“Dead…?” the mayor asked. “Are you certain?”

“My servants in the underworld have taken his soul and carry it into a forever of darkness.”

Hannis Arc checked the silent, eager Shun-tuk nation waiting quietly behind. Only a portion of them were visible among the thick growth of trees. So vast were their numbers that their army extended far back into the forested valley, filling it from the mountains on one side to the mountains on the other.

“Do you really think this place worth the bother?” Sulachan asked in a low, gravelly voice. “Shouldn’t we be getting on to the People’s Palace? That is the seat of power you seek.”

Hannis Arc wasn’t worried about the seat of power for the D’Haran Empire going anywhere

. “We will be there soon enough.”

Sulachan regarded him with a dark look. “We would be best served by securing the omen machine.”

Hannis Arc returned a look in kind. “I am the one who awakened it out of millennia of darkness. I alone awakened it to help me in bringing you back into the world of life. The only man besides me who could use the omen machine is Richard Rahl and he is dead.”

Sulachan gazed at him with dead eyes that were alive with the menace of his spirit. “Even so, it would be best–”

“It can’t cause us any trouble now that Richard Rahl is dead. I rule the D’Haran Empire, now.”

The spirit appraised him for a moment. “You will, but only once you take the seat of power for that empire and secure the omen machine. With the help of my army of half people, of course.”

“In good time.” Hannis Arc looked off toward the southwest, imagining that he could almost see the vast palace up on the heights of the plateau rising from the Azrith Plain. “Unlike these outposts along the way, the People’s Palace is not an easy place to take. You, better than anyone, should realize that. You, better than anyone, understand the importance of instilling terror in an enemy.

“This is all a necessary part of the plan to insure that we will have no opposition in taking the People’s Palace. Better to break their spirit before we get there. That will make our reception one of celebration.”

The spirit considered briefly before shrugging. “I am in no hurry. I have all of eternity. If that is what you want, so be it.”

“What I want is a palace from which I can rule.” His temper heating, Hannis Arc leaned toward the spirit king. “I don’t want to have to reduce the place to rubble.”

The unsettling spirit gaze returned. “As long as the omen machine is secured, that is all that matters.”

“Richard Rahl is dead, so for all practical purposes it is secure since there is no one else who could use it. You see to it that the dark ones take him into oblivion and I will see to the omen machine.”