Kahlan realized that she had been holding her breath. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes.
“Will we even be remembered?” She thought it was a rather meaningless question as soon as she asked it, but it seemed important to her.
Nicci slowly shook her head. “Once your souls are severed, existence itself is dissolved. It will be as if you never existed.”
Somehow, that made it even worse. She looked up at Nicci, resisting the pronouncement. “But that didn’t happen to Jit. Her existence wasn’t dissolved away by the sound of that scream, that call of death. We remember her.”
“Jit was a different kind of creature. The poison she carried inside was intrinsic to her kind. That sound was never meant to be heard by humans. She had no soul to sever.”
Nicci wiped a tear from Kahlan’s cheek. “You do.”
Kahlan could hear the whispers and the screams in the back of her mind, the sound of death hungering to have her. She could feel those whispers getting closer. She knew, from Richard’s experience the night before, that if either of them went unconscious again, they most likely would never wake.
In the end, she didn’t know which fate was worse, eventually falling into the clutches of what Sulachan had waiting for them in the underworld, or the haunting dread of soulless oblivion.
“Then I guess we had best get an early start so we can get to Saavedra as soon as possible,” Kahlan said.
Nicci nodded. “I agree. But try to not lose sight of the fact that I’m not going to let that happen to either of you.” She took Kahlan’s arm and started back. “I will get it out of you.”
CHAPTER
52
The next day took them over a high pass with towering peaks soaring high all around and then, from among the tall pines, lower through the mountains, down into more heavily wooded terrain. The lower forest was wetter, with frequent brooks draining the higher ground. They sometimes had to make their way through muddy areas to get around standing water. Some of the men scouted the way out ahead of the main group to make sure of the quickest route, while yet others protected them from a rear attack.
Any Shun-tuk who might still be alive were a constant worry. After what she had seen, Kahlan was sure they were all dead, but there was no way to be absolutely positive. Worse, though, there was always the possibility that Sulachan could have sent others, or that other tribes of half people who had escaped through the gates of the third kingdom could be hunting the forests. After all, they weren’t all that far from that dreaded, broken barrier.
Ned had left at first light, taking their only horse and Richard’s orders on the hard ride back to the People’s Palace. It was somewhat disconcerting being without a horse because it was their fastest means of travel, but having only one did them little good. It was more important to get word to the palace and all the people there, letting them know what was coming so they could prepare.
Kahlan shuddered to think of Hannis Arc, Emperor Sulachan, and all the Shun-tuk having free run of the palace and all the artifacts kept there. In a way, that palace was the heart of hope for civilization. To have it fall to such evil made her blood run cold. They had to hold it until Richard was healed and could get back there.
While a horse wouldn’t get them to Saavedra any faster, should Richard or Kahlan begin to lose strength, the horse could carry them easier than any other method. As much as Kahlan worried about not having the horse with them any longer, the farther they went it was becoming apparent that the mountains they were crossing were too rugged in places for a horse. They could have gone around in certain areas so a horse could make it, but that would have meant more travel time and they didn’t have the time to spare.
Every moment of delay meant that she and Richard were a moment closer to dying. Kahlan’s thoughts kept drifting back to the dark ones Sulachan had waiting for them on the other side of that veil. There would be no peaceful eternity for the two of them. The spirit king had seen to that.
As they made their way down the mountain the terrain was so difficult in places that the men had to fell small trees and stake them along the steep walls of crumbling rock to give them some kind of sure footing that wouldn’t give way. It was a quick, flimsy, very temporary way to make it across otherwise impassable areas, but it was enough for them to keep moving forward without losing their footing or much time. Some of the places they had to traverse were quite steep, slippery, and had loose rock that slid and tumbled down when disturbed. In those places a rope tied to trees gave them a useful handhold.
There was no easy way through the uncharted wilderness. They knew the direction of Saavedra, and if they wanted to get there, the quickest way was a direct route across the mountains. Fortunately, there were passes. Going around would add many days of travel and they had no extra days to waste.