Carved medallions stood out on each facet of the octagon-shaped room. Richard leaned over the edge to peer down the walls. He could see that there were similar carved medallions far below, and also up high on the walls, both almost in darkness, both denoting other levels of the complication. The stone of the room, like the rest of the place they had seen so far, was covered in dark, dirty, gritty, mottled splotches, almost like lichen that grew on rocks. In some places it was draped with filthy cobwebs.
“I think we should trust your first instinct,” Richard said. “After all, the other way around could have even worse things than this.”
“Well, this is just ridiculous,” Shale huffed, obviously nervous about the stone bridge. “Do you mean to tell me that this is part of a spell-form? Like you would draw in the dirt with a stick?”
“Actually, yes,” Richard said. “Like I explained before. It’s a kind of decorative element in the complication.”
Shale’s hands fisted at her sides. “Why in the world would the builders decorate this spell-form?”
It was clear that she didn’t like the place one bit. Richard couldn’t say that he blamed her. But it wasn’t like they had a choice.
“Well, the People’s Palace is similarly built in the shape of a spell-form laid out on the ground. It has a lot of beautiful, grand decorations—columns, arches, statues—that aren’t needed for that spell-form. Things like that aren’t really a part of the spell-form, so I can only assume the builders wanted to make it beautiful or interesting.”
Shale scowled. “You call this beautiful?”
“No,” Richard admitted. “I’d say this place looks—”
“Dangerous,” Kahlan said as she stared out across the bridge.
Richard squeezed her hand. “The whole complication is dangerous, so that would make sense.”
“Do you have any idea where Michec would be?” Shale asked.
When Richard gave a questioning look to the Mord-Sith, they all shook their heads.
“I don’t either,” Richard told her. “From the plans, this place is enormous. I can tell you that this is only the very tip of one edge of the spell-form, and it comprises several levels. Michec wasn’t in any of those rooms behind us, so obviously he has to be deeper in.” Richard pointed down. “By the footprints in the dust, he comes and goes this way, across the bridge. That would make sense, since the most straightforward way deeper into the heart of the spell-form is straight ahead across the bridge.”
Nyda stepped out past Richard. “We’d better go across first and check, then.”
Richard was about to object, but all five of the Mord-Sith pushed between him, Kahlan, and Shale and started across the bridge before he had a chance to argue.
Vale was the last one in line. She looked back over her shoulder. “Just wait there a minute until we check out what’s beyond the door.”
As she turned back to catch up with the others, the stone in the middle of the bridge abruptly shattered and began to fall away. Loud cracking noises came from the rest of the stone. Vale had to leap off one of the big blocks as it tipped and began to tumble into the darkness. Nyda and Cassia grabbed her arms and pulled her onto the far landing with them just as the rest of the stone bridge gave way underfoot and all dropped into the pit.
Clouds of dust rose up as the stone fell with a roar. Large blocks of stone, parts of blocks, chunks, lumps, and flakes all cascaded down into the black abyss.
The Mord-Sith all pressed their backs against the door as even the edge of the landing they were on began to crumble. To keep from falling, they opened the door and stepped back into the dark doorway.
Shale, Kahlan, and Richard backed up against their own door in disbelief as they watched the dust billowing up. They could hear the large blocks hitting the bottom somewhere far below in the darkness.
The five Mord-Sith stood in surprise across the room, in the dark doorway, staring back through the clouds of dust at Richard, Kahlan, and Shale. He was at least relieved that they all made it safely to the other side.
Shale was beside herself. “I thought this was a spell-form! How could that happen? It’s obviously not drawn in the dirt collapsing into a big hole in the middle of it, is it?”
“No, it isn’t.”
“Then what just happened?” the sorceress demanded.
“Chaos.” Richard drew his lower lip through his teeth. “The complication just did something chaotic.”
Shale stared back at him. “Or it was a trap laid by Michec.”
“Either way,” Kahlan said, “we can’t leave them over there and us over here. We need to all stay close together.”
“You’re right,” Richard said. “All of you … wait there,” he called across to the five Mord-Sith. “We’ll go around and come meet you over there.”
18
Kahlan followed closely behind Richard as he moved quickly down the side hallway. Shale brought up the rear, watching over her shoulder so that they wouldn’t be surprised from behind. None of them said anything about it, but they were all worried about what could have caused the stone bridge to collapse. After all, it had been there since the palace had been built, and it certainly hadn’t looked like it was weak.
They were even more worried, though, about the Mord-Sith being separated from them. After all, Michec had separated Vika from them. The bridge giving way felt too much by design.
Despite being in a hurry, Richard stopped briefly at each room they encountered. Each time he took a glass light sphere from a nearby bracket and used it so he could quickly check inside the dark rooms. Most were empty. Several were not.
The first one they found that wasn’t empty had a mummified corpse of a man. Even though his clothes were covered with a thick layer of gray dust, they could still see that the dead man was wearing a fancy outfit. Under his embroidered coat there was a shirt with ruffles at the neck and cuffs, that Kahlan recognized as likely a sign of nobility. Expensive-looking rings were still on three of his fingers.
“Do you think,” she wondered aloud, “that some of your wicked ancestors might have put people they didn’t like behind the locked doors of this complication to let them wander around, looking for a way out, only to eventually die a slow and terrifying death in the darkness?”
Richard, on a knee taking a quick look at the dead noble, looked back over his shoulder. “I never thought of that, but you certainly could be right. What better way to rid yourself of a pesky detractor vying for power than to put them down here where they would never be found? I think that Darken Rahl, though, favored more public demonstrations of his displeasure.”
Kahlan nodded. “He liked to make examples of people, so these bodies are likely from long before his time. The ones we’ve see so far look to have been down here for hundreds of years.”
In several places on their way down the hall, they came across yet more desiccated remains with leathery skin, and a few that were mostly bare bones. All the bodies, though, were still dressed in clothes. They found both men and women where they had finally collapsed and died. It was surprising to Kahlan to see how many people had managed to get into the remote place. Or were locked in. Despite the numbers they had found, she supposed that given the timespan it was rare for anyone to find their way in.
When they reached an odd-shaped room, Richard stopped to look in with the aid of the light sphere. Kahlan saw skeletal remains in a far, acutely pointed corner. Before Richard saw the remains, Kahlan was sure she saw the bones move.