Richard smiled at the honor. “Promise.”

Opening her waist pouch once more, Kahlan withdrew a small round bottle with a stopper. Blue and silver lines spiraled around the fat part. There was light inside.

Her green eyes came to his. “The creature is a night wisp. Her name is Shar. A night wisp cannot be seen in the day, only at night. Shar is part of the magic that helped me cross the boundary—she was my guide. Without her, I would have been lost.”

Kahlan’s eyes filled with tears, but her voice remained steady and calm. “Tonight, she dies. She can live no longer away from her home place and the others of her kind, and she does not have the strength to cross the boundary again. Shar has sacrificed her life to help me because if Darken Rahl succeeds, all her kind, among others, will perish.”

Pulling the stopper free, Kahlan placed the little bottle in the flat of her palm and held it out between them.

A tiny flare of light lifted clear of the bottle, floating up into the cool, dim air of the wayward pine, giving everything a silvery cast. The light softened as the wisp came to a stop in the air between them, hovering. Richard was astonished. His mouth hung open as he watched, transfixed.

“Good evening, Richard Cypher,” it said in a tiny little voice.

“Good evening to you, Shar.” His own voice was not much more than a whisper.

“Thank you for helping Kahlan today. In so doing you are also helping my kind. If you ever need the help of the night wisps, say my name and they will help you, for no enemy may know it.”

“Thank you, Shar, but the Midlands are the last place I would want to go. I’ll help Kahlan find the wizard, but then I must take us west and get us safely away from those who would kill us.”

The night wisp seemed to turn in the air for a time, considering. The silvery light felt warm and safe on his face.

“If that is what you wish, then you must do so,” Shar said. Richard felt relieved. The tiny point of light spun in the air before them again.

Shar spun to a stop. “But know this: Darken Rahl hunts you both. He will not rest. He will not stop. If you run, he will find you. There is no doubt of that. You have no defense against him. He will kill you both. Soon.”

Richard’s mouth was so dry he could hardly swallow. At least the gar would have been quick, he thought, and then it would be over. “Shar, isn’t there a way for us to escape?”

The light spun again, making flashes on his face and the branches of the wayward pine.

Shar stopped again. “If your back is to him, your eyes will not be. He will get you. He enjoys it.”

Richard stared. “But… is there nothing we can do?”

The tiny point of light spun again, coming closer to him this time before stopping. “Better question, Richard Cypher. The answer you want is within yourself. You must seek it. You must seek it or he will kill you both. Soon.”

“How soon?” His voice turned harder, he couldn’t help himself. The light backed away a little as it spun. He would not let this opportunity pass without finding out at least something he could hold on to.

The night wisp stopped. “The first day of winter, Richard Cypher. When the sun is in the sky. If Darken Rahl does not kill you before then, and if he is not stopped, then on the first day of winter when the sun is in the sky, my kind will all die. You both will die. He will enjoy it.”

Richard tried to decide the best way to question a spinning point of light. “Shar, Kahlan is trying to save the others of your kind. I am trying to help her. You are giving your life to help her. If we fail, everyone dies, you just said so. Please, is there anything you can tell me to help us against Darken Rahl?”

The light spun and went in a little circle around the inside of the wayward pine, bringing light to the areas it went near. It stopped again in front of him.

“Already told you the answer. It is in you. Seek it or die. Sorry, Richard Cypher. Want to help. Don’t know the answer. Just that it is in you. Sorry sorry.”

Richard nodded, running his fingers through his hair. He didn’t know who was more frustrated, Shar or himself. Glancing over, he saw Kahlan sitting calmly, watching the night wisp. Shar spun and waited.

“All right, can you tell me why he’s trying to kill me? Is it because I help Kahlan, or is there another reason?”

Shar came close. “Other reasons? Secrets?”

“What!” Richard jumped to his feet. The night wisp followed him up.

“Don’t know why. Sorry. Just that he will.”

“What’s the wizard’s name?”

“Good question, Richard Cypher. Sorry. Don’t know.”

Richard sat back down and put his face in his hands. Shar spun, throwing off shafts of light, and flew in slow circles around his head. Somehow he knew she was trying to comfort him, and that she was near her end. She was dying, and she was trying to comfort him. He tried to swallow back the lump in his throat, so he could talk.

“Shar, thank you for helping Kahlan. My life, as short as it seems it will be, has already been made longer because she saved me from doing something foolish today. My life is also better for knowing her. Thank you for helping bring my friend safely through the boundary.” His vision turned watery.

The night wisp floated to him and touched against his forehead. Her voice seemed to be as much in his head as in his ears.

“I am sorry, Richard Cypher. I do not know the answers that would save you. If I did, please believe I would give them eagerly. But I know the good in you. I believe in you. I do know that you have within you what you must to succeed. There will be times when you doubt yourself. Do not give up. Remember then that I believe in you, that I know you can accomplish what you must. You are a rare person, Richard Cypher! Believe in yourself. And protect Kahlan.”

He realized his eyes were closed. Tears were running down freely, and the lump in his throat kept catching his breath.

“There are no gars about. Please let me be alone with Kahlan now. My time comes.”

Richard nodded. “Good-bye, Shar. It has been my deep honor to have known you.”

He left without looking at either of them.

After he was gone, the night wisp floated to Kahlan and addressed her properly.

“Mother Confessor, my time passes soon. Why have you not told him what you are?”

Kahlan’s shoulders were slumped, and her hands nested in her lap as she stared into the fire. “Shar, I cannot, not yet.”

“Confessor Kahlan, that is not fair. Richard Cypher is your friend.”

Tears began rolling down her face. “Don’t you see? That is why I cannot tell him. If I tell him, he will no longer be my friend, will no longer care for me. You cannot know what it is like to be a Confessor, to have everyone fear you. He looks into my eyes, Shar. Not many have ever dared that. No one could ever look into me the way he does. His eyes make me feel safe. He makes my heart smile.”

“Others might tell him before you do, Confessor Kahlan. That would be worse.”

She looked up at the night wisp, her eyes wet. “I will tell him before that happens.”

“You play a dangerous game, Confessor Kahlan,” Shar warned. “He could fall in love with you first. Then your telling would hurt him unforgivably.”

“I won’t let that happen.”

“You will choose him?”

“No!”

The night wisp spun back at the sound of Kahlan’s shriek, then slowly came back by her face. “Confessor Kahlan, you are the last of your kind. Darken Rahl has killed all the others. Even your sister, Dennee. You are the Mother Confessor. You must choose a mate.”

“I could not do that to someone I cared for. No Confessor would,” she sobbed.

“Sorry, Mother Confessor. It is for you to choose.”

Kahlan pulled her legs up, wrapped her arms around them, and rested her forehead against her knees. Her shoulders heaved as she cried, her thick hair cascading down to encircle her. Shar flew slowly around her head, throwing off shafts of silvery light, comforting her companion. She continued to circle until Kahlan’s weeping slowed and finally stopped. When it did, Shar returned to hover in front of her.