“So then we at least know that this chasm runs back that direction for quite a distance,” Kahlan said, trying to think of what they would do to get around it. “So were you able to see if the Shun-tuk stayed in the gorge? Did any of them try to escape the lower end when you went up onto the ridge?”
“When we were still farther back, we reached the top after the wizard’s fire ended. We hung back to see if they would turn back, but they kept going, howling, intent on getting to you. They probably felt pretty safe with those smiling bastards bringing up the rear. We never saw any of them turn back.
“Then we started to hear explosions. The entire length of the gorge shook as it started exploding apart. At times up on the ridge, with the way the ground was shaking, we couldn’t even maintain our footing and stand up. It was crazy. The cliffs to both sides down the entire gorge all blew apart and collapsed down into the defile and buried the Shun-tuk.”
“Do you think it buried them all?” Kahlan asked.
He shrugged. “Hard telling from up as high as we were on the mountain. As far as I could tell, the explosions and the falling walls extended back well past where I’d seen the tail end of the line of Shun-tuk, so I’m pretty sure that with as fast as it all happened, it caught them all in the gorge and buried them. With as much stone as fell in on them, surely none of them could have escaped with their lives. After it ended, we didn’t hear them howling anymore. There weren’t even any cries or screams of any left alive and injured. It was dead silent.”
Commander Fister let out a sigh. “That’s good news.”
“Still,” Kahlan said as she gestured at the dark rift before them. “I’d feel better if we could get across this chasm to the other side.”
“So then let’s get across,” Sergeant Remkin said, as if it were only a skip and a hop. It wasn’t. It was discouragingly wide—far too wide by a long shot for any person to jump.
“We don’t have a way to get across,” Kahlan said.
Remkin shrugged. “Easy.”
She frowned at the man. “Easy?”
Zedd leaned a bony shoulder into the conversation. “Nothing is ever easy.”
Sergeant Remkin shrugged again. “Sure it is.” He flicked a hand up at the trees towering over them as they stood near the edge of the chasm. “Just fell a tree and walk over. Then, when we all get across, push the tree down into the chasm. Even if there were any Shun-tuk left, they won’t be able to follow us.”
Kahlan shared a look with Commander Fister. She wondered if he felt as stupid as she did.
“That would work,” Fister said, trying not to sound too surprised by the idea. “Good thinking, Remkin.”
“What about the horse?” Zedd asked. “How are you going to get the horse carrying Richard to walk across a log spanning that chasm? Horses can’t walk on a log. Not so easy, now, is it?”
Sergeant Remkin shrugged again. “All we need to do is fell a second tree right next to it. Then cut down another tree and split it into planks. Lay planks between the two tree trunks to make a kind of roadbed, blindfold the horse, and lead him across.” He shrugged again. “Easy. After we’re done it’s a simple enough matter with all the men we have and a few ropes to send the whole thing crashing down into the gorge.
“I haven’t seen the Shun-tuk with anything more than a knife, so I don’t know that they would be able to fell a tree to follow the same way. They’ll have to go around, and from what I’ve seen on the way up here, it would be a long journey.”
Kahlan shared another look with Commander Fister.
“Unless they can fly,” the sergeant added with a smile.
“Still not easy,” Zedd said. “It’s a lot more work than it sounds like.” He folded his arms. “But a bit of magic would speed the task.”
Sergeant Remkin bowed his head. “It certainly would, sir.”
“Well, you sound like the man to handle it, Sergeant,” the commander said. “Why don’t you take the men you need and get it done as fast as you can. Zedd will help. We need to get across to a safe place to set up camp. It’s already the middle of the night and we need to get what rest we can before morning.”
The sergeant tapped a fist to his heart. “At once, Commander.”
After the man had rushed off to collect his men, Zedd stepped closer. “I’d be a lot happier about the sergeant’s plan if he didn’t look so blasted young.”
Kahlan’s worry returned to Richard as she laid an arm over his back.
“We will be able to help him soon,” Nicci said.