But Nicci could still give him her unwavering loyalty.
Back in D’Hara, Richard and Kahlan were both concerned when Nathan proclaimed that he wanted to help the people in the war-torn Dark Lands. The old wizard had been imprisoned in the Palace of the Prophets for a thousand years, considered too dangerous to be free. But after escaping, he had fought hard on behalf of D’Hara. He had asked to be sent off on an adventure with the excuse of calling himself the roving ambassador for D’Hara.
Though the tall, handsome wizard was no fool, in many ways he was like a child in search of excitement. Knowing he was bound to get into trouble, Richard had asked Nicci to accompany him as his bodyguard and protector. She would do whatever Richard asked her to do, even if it cost her own life. Nicci had realized that her best way of serving the man she loved, and saving herself, was to go away—far away—and be independent. She would help rebuild the world, secure and strengthen the far-flung corners of the D’Haran Empire. In that way she would help Richard. In that way she could love Richard.
Eventually the D’Haran peacekeeping army would spread south to establish beachheads and outposts. In the meantime, Nicci was like a scout, a one-woman vanguard strong enough and confident enough to take care of problems in these outlying territories. If she did her job properly—and she intended to—Lord Rahl and his army would not need to intervene.…
The pines thinned as the hills opened up, and the terrain became chaparral, rolling grassy slopes scattered with ferocious thistles that were nearly as tall as trees; the enormous purple thistle flowers attracted fat bumblebees. Islands of low, dark-leaved oaks filled the hollows and ran up some hillsides. A spray of grasshoppers clicked and leaped out of the way as the travelers trudged through tufts of grass. A snake slithered away in the underbrush, curling and coiling as it disappeared into a thicket.
With Mrra ranging ahead, the three travelers spent most of that day descending the primary ridge. They camped for the night in a sheltered valley by a fast-running stream. Bannon managed to catch five small trout, and even though it was barely enough to make a meal for the three of them, the young man tossed the two smallest fish to Mrra. The sand panther regarded him with cautious gratitude, then tore into their silvery scaled sides.
Nathan hunched close to the crackling fire Nicci had ignited with her magic. “How many days do you think it’ll take for us to reach that city, Sorceress?”
“You’re assuming the city even exists,” she said. From Kol Adair, they had seen the elaborate skyline, the high towers, the geometrical rooftops … but then the image had vanished. “It could just be an illusion, or a projection from elsewhere.”
Nathan shook his head, sank his chin into his hand. “We must believe it is real! That’s what I beheld from Kol Adair, as Red’s words said—therefore, it is required to exist. The witch woman said so. We will keep walking as far as we need to.” His azure eyes turned away, as if in shame. “I have to get my gift back, and at present that is our only clue.”
Bannon spread his cloak on the ground and curled up on the soft leaves near the stream. “Of course we’re going to the city, so let’s get rested.” He yawned. “Shall I take the second watch?”
Nicci arranged a sleeping spot for herself. “No need,” she said, as Mrra locked feline eyes with her own. She and the sand panther were spell-bonded, connected in ways no one else could understand. “Mrra will guard us, so we can rest well. No harm will come to this camp. She’ll warn us of any danger.”
* * *
Next morning, they toiled up the tree-covered slope to the next ridge, regaining the hard-fought elevation they had lost the day before while descending into the valley. They worked their way back and forth up the steepening path to the crest. Nicci was sure the mysterious city should be just past this last ridge, on the broad plain that extended beyond the foothills.
By noon, after fighting their way through trackless oaks and sparse spruce, they topped the high point. Once the trees cleared enough for them to get the full view, they looked ahead as the vista opened out before them.
“Dear spirits!” Nathan whispered. Bannon stared, rubbed his eyes, and continued to stare.
Beyond the foothills they could see an open plain that ended abruptly at a sheer drop-off to a wide river, as if the landscape had been torn and then separated vertically.
But there was no city. No city at all. The great and fantastical metropolis they had seen from Kol Adair was not there.
The plain was not empty, however. What they did see was an army—a vast army that spread across the foothills and the plain in a blur of human figures in numbers to rival the largest force Nicci had ever seen when she served Emperor Jagang. She knew full well how much destruction such an army could cause.
She squinted into the distance, taking in the alarming sight. “That must be half a million fighting men.”
Bannon touched the hilt of his sword, as if considering how many of them he could fight single-handedly. “Then I’m very glad you’re here to save the world, Sorceress.”
CHAPTER 2
Standing on the ridge far from the unexpected army, Nicci took her time assessing the situation, considering what to do next. “This could be a problem.”
With irrational optimism, Nathan adjusted the ornate sword at his side. “Or maybe not. A conflict has two sides, and as far as I know we’re not a party to either. We have no enemies here, so deep in the Old World. We’re just travelers from afar, and we pose no threat.”
Nicci shook her head, standing close to a low, bent oak. “If I were their commander, I wouldn’t take the chance. I’d assume that any wanderers might be spies.”
“But we’re not,” Bannon said. “We’re innocents.”
Sometimes Nicci found the young man’s naiveté refreshing, other times annoying. “Why worry about a few dead innocents, if it protects a military campaign?”
When Jagang’s army had been on the move and blundered into guiltless travelers who found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time, Nicci had dealt with the matter herself … and it had never turned out well for those travelers.
Nathan bit his lower lip. “But we don’t know, Sorceress. This army could be the same people who put the heads of those Norukai on stakes and therefore they are the enemies of the slavers. And if that is the case, I’d happily call them allies.”
Nicci gripped one of the gnarled, lichen-patched oak branches, feeling the roughness against her palm. “I don’t want to take the risk. We need to be cautious until we learn more.”
While gazing ahead, Nathan absently touched the center of his chest, as if trying to find the missing gift inside himself. He hung so much hope on the obscure writing in his life book, on his need to find the mysterious city that had somehow vanished. “But if there’s a chance, we have to go there, find out what happened to the city. Maybe one of those soldiers knows. Then I can learn why I lost my gift.”
Nicci turned her gaze toward Nathan. “Did I tell you what the Sisters of the Dark believed was the surest way to strip a wizard of his power? Skin him alive so that the magic could bleed out of him, drop by drop.” She set off again. “They did it to several gifted young men in the Palace of the Prophets.”
Nathan trudged after her, his expression indignant rather than queasy. “I can assure you that isn’t how I misplaced my gift.”
After gliding through the tall grasses, Mrra now circled back. The big cat didn’t seem bothered by the hundreds of thousands of soldiers, who were too far away to pose any immediate danger.
Nicci watched the massed military force for a long time, listening to the rustle of the dark green oak leaves. She narrowed her blue eyes. “Something isn’t right here. Have you noticed?” She pointed to the lines of countless soldiers spread out below. “With that many people, we should see constant movement, patrols or scouting parties heading out or coming in to report, foot soldiers drilling. There is no smoke from cook fires. And listen—you can’t hear a sound.”