best one to wear this necklace until the one it belongs to comes for it. You must wear it always until then. Don’t let anyone else even try it on for play. This is not something to play with.”
Her expression turned serious at the mention of the box. “I’ll take good care of it, Zedd, if you say it’s important.”
“Zedd,” Chase hissed as he pulled Rachel’s head to himself, cupping his hand over her ear so she couldn’t hear, “what do you think you’re doing? Is that what I think it is?”
Zedd gave him a forbidding look. “I’m trying to keep all the children of the world from having very bad nightmares. For eternity.”
Chase gritted his teeth. “Zedd, I don’t want …”
Zedd cut him off. “Chase, how long have you known me?” Chase didn’t answer. He only glared. “In all the time you have known me, have you ever known me to bring harm to another, especially a child? Have you ever known me to put another at risk for anything foolish?”
“No,” Chase said in a voice like grating stone. “And I don’t want to see you start now.”
Zedd kept his own voice firm. “You will have to trust that I know what I am doing.” His eyes flicked to where the screeling had killed the people. “What has happened today doesn’t even begin to touch what is about to happen. If the veil isn’t closed, the suffering and death will be beyond your comprehension. I am doing what I must, as a wizard. As a wizard, I recognize this little one, just as Giller recognized her. She is a ripple in the pond. She is destined to do important things.
“When we were in the tomb of Panis Rahl, earlier, checking to see that they were walling it in properly, I studied some of the runes on the walls. They weren’t all melted yet. They were in high D’Haran, and I don’t understand much of it, but I understood enough. They were instructions on going to the underworld. You know that stone table in the Garden of Life? It’s a sacrificial altar. Darken Rahl used it to go to the underworld, to travel under the boundaries.”
“But he is dead. What does …”
“He killed children, and offered their unsoiled souls as a gift to the Keeper of the underworld to gain himself passage. Do you understand what I am saying? He made pacts with the Keeper.
“That means the Keeper has been using people in this world. Where he has used one, he has surely used more. And now the veil is torn. That a screeling was here proves it beyond question.
“Many of the oldest prophecies, I believe, are about what is beginning to happen now, and about Richard. Whoever wrote them was intending to send him help across time. I believe they are meant to aid him in the fight against the Keeper. But much has happened in the last few thousand years to muddy those words. I fear that it is the Keeper’s patient work that has obfuscated the meaning of the prophecies.
“He has no more important skill than patience. He has an eternity of it. He has probably been sending careful tendrils into this world to influence people, wizards, like Darken Rahl, to do his bidding. The fact that we need the prophecies so much right now, and there are no wizards left who understand them, can’t be coincidence. I have no idea where the Keeper’s eyes lurk, or what he intends next.”
Chase’s eyes still had fire in them, but it was different from the kind they held before. “Tell me how to help. What would you like me to do?”
Zedd smiled sadly and patted the big man’s shoulder. “I would like you to teach this child to be like you. I know she is smart. Bring it out in her. Make her your student. Teach her how to use every weapon you know. Teach her to be strong, and quick.”
Chase sighed and gave a nod. “Such a little warrior.”
“In the morning, I must leave to get Adie and take her to Aydindril. I would like you to go to the Mud People. Ride hard, fast as you can go. Richard and Kahlan and Siddin will be with the dragon tonight, and tomorrow she
Her expression turned serious at the mention of the box. “I’ll take good care of it, Zedd, if you say it’s important.”
“Zedd,” Chase hissed as he pulled Rachel’s head to himself, cupping his hand over her ear so she couldn’t hear, “what do you think you’re doing? Is that what I think it is?”
Zedd gave him a forbidding look. “I’m trying to keep all the children of the world from having very bad nightmares. For eternity.”
Chase gritted his teeth. “Zedd, I don’t want …”
Zedd cut him off. “Chase, how long have you known me?” Chase didn’t answer. He only glared. “In all the time you have known me, have you ever known me to bring harm to another, especially a child? Have you ever known me to put another at risk for anything foolish?”
“No,” Chase said in a voice like grating stone. “And I don’t want to see you start now.”
Zedd kept his own voice firm. “You will have to trust that I know what I am doing.” His eyes flicked to where the screeling had killed the people. “What has happened today doesn’t even begin to touch what is about to happen. If the veil isn’t closed, the suffering and death will be beyond your comprehension. I am doing what I must, as a wizard. As a wizard, I recognize this little one, just as Giller recognized her. She is a ripple in the pond. She is destined to do important things.
“When we were in the tomb of Panis Rahl, earlier, checking to see that they were walling it in properly, I studied some of the runes on the walls. They weren’t all melted yet. They were in high D’Haran, and I don’t understand much of it, but I understood enough. They were instructions on going to the underworld. You know that stone table in the Garden of Life? It’s a sacrificial altar. Darken Rahl used it to go to the underworld, to travel under the boundaries.”
“But he is dead. What does …”
“He killed children, and offered their unsoiled souls as a gift to the Keeper of the underworld to gain himself passage. Do you understand what I am saying? He made pacts with the Keeper.
“That means the Keeper has been using people in this world. Where he has used one, he has surely used more. And now the veil is torn. That a screeling was here proves it beyond question.
“Many of the oldest prophecies, I believe, are about what is beginning to happen now, and about Richard. Whoever wrote them was intending to send him help across time. I believe they are meant to aid him in the fight against the Keeper. But much has happened in the last few thousand years to muddy those words. I fear that it is the Keeper’s patient work that has obfuscated the meaning of the prophecies.
“He has no more important skill than patience. He has an eternity of it. He has probably been sending careful tendrils into this world to influence people, wizards, like Darken Rahl, to do his bidding. The fact that we need the prophecies so much right now, and there are no wizards left who understand them, can’t be coincidence. I have no idea where the Keeper’s eyes lurk, or what he intends next.”
Chase’s eyes still had fire in them, but it was different from the kind they held before. “Tell me how to help. What would you like me to do?”
Zedd smiled sadly and patted the big man’s shoulder. “I would like you to teach this child to be like you. I know she is smart. Bring it out in her. Make her your student. Teach her how to use every weapon you know. Teach her to be strong, and quick.”
Chase sighed and gave a nod. “Such a little warrior.”
“In the morning, I must leave to get Adie and take her to Aydindril. I would like you to go to the Mud People. Ride hard, fast as you can go. Richard and Kahlan and Siddin will be with the dragon tonight, and tomorrow she
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