“What is your name, my son?”

The boy’s lower lip quivered as he looked up at Rahl. His eyes shifted to the big man back by the trees. It was a fearful look. Rahl turned and looked to the commander.

“Leave us, and please take my guards with you. I wish not to be disturbed.”

Demmin bowed his head and left, the guards following. Darken Rahl turned back, regarding the boy, then lowered himself to sit on the grass. He rearranged his robes once on the ground, and smiled again at the boy.

“Better?”

The boy nodded. His lip still quivered.

“Are you afraid of that big man?” The boy nodded. “Did he hurt you? Did he touch you where he shouldn’t?”

The boy shook his head. His eyes, reflecting a mix of fear and anger, stayed locked on Rahl. An ant crawled from the white sand onto his neck.

“What is your name?” Rahl asked again. The boy did not answer. The Master watched his brown eyes closely. “Do you know who I am?”

“Darken Rahl,” the boy answered in a weak voice.

Rahl smiled indulgently. “Father Rahl,” he corrected.

The boy stared at him. “I want to go home.” The ant inspected its way across his chin.

“Of course you do,” Rahl said with a tone of sympathy and concern. “Please believe me, I’m not going to harm you. You are simply here to help me with an important ceremony. You are an honored guest, meant to represent the innocence and strength of youth. You were selected because people told me what a fine boy you are, what a very good boy you are. Everyone has spoken highly of you. They tell me you are smart, and strong. Do they speak the truth?”

The boy hesitated, his shy eyes looking away. “Well, I guess they do.” He looked back to Rahl. “But I miss my mother, and I want to go home.” The ant went in a circle around his cheek.

Darken Rahl stared off wistfully and nodded. “I understand. I miss my mother also. She was such a wonderful woman, and I loved her so. She took good care of me. When I would do a chore that pleased her, she would make me a special supper, whatever I wanted.”

The boys eyes got bigger. “My mother does that too.”

“My father, mother, and I had wonderful times together. We all loved each other very much and had fun together. My mother had a merry laugh. When my father would tell a boastful story, she would poke fun at him and the three of us would laugh, sometimes until we got tears in our eyes.”

The boy’s eyes brightened, he smiled a little. “Why do you miss her? Is she gone away?”

“No,” Rahl sighed, “she and my father died a few years ago. They were both old. They both had a good life together, but I still miss them. So I understand how you miss your parents.”

The boy nodded a little. His lip had stopped quivering. The ant walked up the bridge of his nose. He scrunched up his face trying to get it off.

“Let’s just try to have as good a time as we can for now, and you will be back with them before you know it.”

The boy nodded again. “My name is Carl.”

Rahl smiled. “Honored to meet you, Carl.” He reached out and carefully picked the ant off the boy’s face.

“Thanks,” Carl said with relief.

“That’s what I’m here for, Carl, to be your friend and help you in any way I can.”

“If you’re my friend, then dig me up and let me go home?” His eyes glistened wetly.

“Soon enough, my son, soon enough. I wish I could right now, but the people expect me to protect them from evil people who would kill them, so I must do what I can to help. You are going to be a part of that help. You are going to be an important part of the ceremony that will save your mother and father from the evil ones who would kill them. “You do want to protect your mother from harm, don’t you?”

The torches flickered and hissed as Carl thought.

“Well, yes. But I want to go home.” His lip began quivering again.

Darken Rahl reached out and stroked the boy’s hair reassuringly, combing it back with his fingers, then smoothing it down. “I know, but try to be brave. I won’t let anyone harm you, I promise. I will guard you and keep you safe.” He gave Carl a warm smile. “Are you hungry? Would you like something to eat?”

Carl shook his head.

“All right, then. It is late, I will leave you to rest.” He stood, straightening his robes, brushing off grass.

“Father Rahl?”

Rahl stopped, and looked back down. “Yes, Carl?”

A tear rolled down Carl’s cheek. “I’m afraid to be here alone. Could you stay with me?”

The Master regarded the boy with a comforting expression. “Why, of course, my son.” Father Rahl lowered himself back down to the grass. “For as long as you want, even all night if you want me.”

Chapter 20

Green light glowed all about as they cautiously shuffled their feet through the rubble of the hillside, climbing over or under tree trunks, kicking limbs aside when necessary. The iridescent green sheet of the boundary walls pressed against them from both sides as they groped their way ahead. Blackness lay thick all about except for the uncanny illumination that made them feel as if they were in a cave.

Richard and Kahlan had come to the same decision at the same time. No choice had been left to the two of them—they couldn’t go back, and they couldn’t stay at the split rock, not with the grippers and shadow things coming for them, and so they were forced ahead, into the Narrows.

Richard had put the night stone away—it was useless for following the trail, as there was no trail to follow, and it made it difficult to tell where the boundary light changed to the green wall. He hadn’t put it back into its leather pouch, in case it was needed again in a hurry, but had simply dropped it into his pocket.

“Let the walls of the boundary show us the way,” he had said, his quiet voice echoing back from the blackness. “Go slow. If one wall turns dark, don’t take another step, go a little more to the other side. That way we can stay between them, and get through the pass.”

Kahlan had not hesitated, the grippers and shadows being a sure death—she had taken Richard’s hand as they had stepped back into the green glow. Shoulder to shoulder, they had entered the invisible passage. Richard’s heart pounded—he tried not to think about what it was they were doing—walking blindly between the walls of the boundary.

He knew what the boundary looked like from when he had been close to it with Chase, and again when the dark thing had tried to pull Kahlan in. He knew that if they stepped into the dark wall, there would be no return, but that if they could stay in the green glow before the wall, then they at least had a chance.

Kahlan stopped. She pushed him to the right. She was close to the wall. Then it appeared on his right. They centered themselves and continued forward, finding that if they went slowly, carefully, they could stay between the walls, walking a thin line of life, with death to each side. Years of being a guide were of no help to him. Richard finally stopped trying to find a trace of the trail, and let himself feel the force of the walls pressing from each side, let the pressure be his guide. It was slow going, with no sign of the trail in sight, no view of the hillside around them, only the tight world of the luminous green light, like a bubble of life floating helplessly through an endless sea of darkness and death.

Mud sucked at his boots, fear at his mind. Any obstacle they encountered had to be crossed, they couldn’t go around—the boundary walls dictated where they went. Sometimes it was over fallen trees, sometimes over boulders, sometimes through washouts where they had to use exposed roots to pull themselves up the other side. They helped each other silently, giving only a squeeze of the hand for encouragement. Never was there more than a step or two to either side of their way that didn’t bring up the dark walls. Each time the trail turned, the dark wall appeared, sometimes several times, until they could decipher which way it turned. Each time the wall loomed up, they pulled back as quickly as possible, and each time it scared him with a cold jolt.