Wizard's First Rule - Terry Goodkind [76]
Chase handed Kahlan a sheathed long knife, telling her to wear it at all times. Richard asked if he could borrow a knife, too, as he had left his home. Chase’s fingers deftly found the strap he wanted among the tangle, freed it, and handed a knife to Richard.
Kahlan eyed all the weaponry. “Do you think you will need all those?” He gave her a crooked smile. “If I didn’t take them, I know I would.” The small company, Chase leading, followed by Zedd, then Kahlan, with Richard bringing up the rear, settled into a comfortable pace through the Hartland Woods. It was a bright autumn morning with a chill to the air. A hawk wheeled in the sky over their heads, a sign of warning at the beginning of a journey. Richard thought to himself that the sign was totally unnecessary.
By midmorning they had left the Hartland Valley and passed into the upper Ven Forest, joining Hawkers Trail below Trunt Lake, and turned south, with the snakelike cloud in slow pursuit. Richard was glad to be leading it away from Chase’s house and children. He was troubled that they had to travel so far to the south to cross the boundary, for time was dear. But Chase had said that if there was another pass, he didn’t know about it.
Hardwood forests gave way to stands of ancient pines. Passing among them was like traveling through a canyon. The trunks soared to dizzying heights before the limbs branched out, and Richard felt small in the deep shade of the old trees. He had always been at ease traveling. He did it often, and the familiar places they passed made it seem to be just another trek, but this trip was not the same. They were going places he had never been. Dangerous places. Chase was concerned, and had warned them. This alone gave Richard pause, for Chase was not a man to worry over nothing; in fact, Richard had often thought he worried far too little.
Richard watched the other three as they rode: Chase, a black wraith upon his horse, armed to the teeth, feared by the people he protected as well as the ones he hunted, but somehow, not by children; the wisp of a wizard, sticklike Zedd, unassuming, hardly more than a smile, white hair, and simple robes, content to carry nothing more than a bundle of fried chicken, but wielder of wizard’s fire and who knew what else; and Kahlan, courageous, determined, and keeper of some secret power, sent to threaten a wizard into naming the Seeker. The three of them were his friends, yet each in their own way made him uneasy. He wondered who was more dangerous. They followed him unquestioningly, yet led him at the same time. The three of them, all, sworn to protect the Seeker with their lives. And yet, none of the small company, singly or together, was a match for Darken Rahl. The whole of their task seemed hopeless.
Zedd was already into the chicken. Periodically he would toss a bone over his shoulder. After a while he thought to offer a piece to the others. Chase declined, as he kept up a continual scan of their surroundings, paying particular attention to the left side of the trail, to the boundary. The other two accepted. The chicken had lasted longer than Richard thought it would. When the trail widened, he brought his horse up with Kahlan’s and rode next to her. She took off her cloak as the day warmed, and smiled over to him with the special smile she never gave anyone else.
Richard had a thought. “Zedd, is there anything a wizard can do about that cloud?”
The old man squinted up at it, then peered back at Richard. “That idea has already come into my head. I think there might be, but I want to wait a while longer, until we are farther away from Chase’s family. I don’t want to lead a search to them.”
In the late afternoon they came upon an old couple, woods people whom Chase knew. The four brought their horses to a halt while the boundary warden spoke with the couple. He sat relaxed on his mount, leather creaking, as he listened to them repeat rumors that they had heard about things coming out of the boundary. Richard now knew them to be more than rumors. Chase treated the couple with respect,