When they were clear of the slide, and on the forest path on the other side of the Narrows, they slowed to a fast walk to catch their breath. Drizzle wet their faces and hair. Happiness over finding her alive dimmed his worry about the difficulties that lay ahead. They shared bread and fruit as they kept moving. Even though his stomach was grumbling with hunger, he didn’t want to stop for anything more elaborate.

Richard was still confused by the reaction of the magic when Kahlan had taken his hand. Was it something the magic felt in her, or was the magic reacting to something in his own mind? Was it because he was afraid of her secret? Or was it something more, something the magic itself felt in her? He wished Zedd was around, so he could ask him what he thought. But then, Zedd had been there the last time, and he hadn’t asked him about it then. Was he afraid of what Zedd might tell him?

After they had eaten a little and the afternoon had worn on, they heard growls off in the woods. Kahlan said it was the beasts. They decided to run again, to get clear of the pass as soon as possible. Richard was beyond being tired. He was simply numb as they ran through the thick wood. Light rain on the leaves washed out the sound of their footfalls.

Before dark they came to the edge of along ridge. Below, the trail descended in a series of switchbacks. They stood at the top of the ridge, in the woods, as if at the mouth of a cave, looking out over an open grassland swept with rain.

Kahlan held herself erect, rigid. “I know this place,” she whispered.

“So what is it?”

“It is called the Wilds. We are in the Midlands.” She turned to him. “I am returned home.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “The place doesn’t look that wild to me.”

“It is not named after the land. It is named after those who live in it.”

After descending the steep ridge, Richard found a small protected spot under a slab of rock, but it wasn’t deep enough to keep out all the rain, so he cut pine boughs and leaned them against the jut of rock, making a small, reasonably dry shelter where they could spend the night. Kahlan crawled inside, and Richard followed, pulling boughs over the entrance, sealing out most of the rain. Both slumped down, wet and exhausted.

Kahlan took her cloak off and shook out the water. “I’ve never seen it be overcast so long, or rain so much. I can’t even remember what the sun looks like. I’m becoming weary of it.”

“Not me,” he said quietly. She frowned, so he explained. “Remember the snakelike cloud that followed me, the one sent by Rahl to track me?” She nodded. “Zedd cast a wizard’s web to bring other clouds to hide it. As long as it’s cloudy, and we can’t see the snake cloud, neither can Rahl. I prefer the rain to Darken Rahl.”

Kahlan thought this over. “From now on, I will be happier about the clouds. But next time, could you ask him to bring clouds that are not so wet?” Richard smiled and nodded. “Do you want anything to eat?” she asked.

He shook his head. “I’m too tired. I just want to sleep. Is it safe here?”

“Yes. No one lives near the boundary in the Wilds. Adie said we are protected from the beasts, so the heart hounds should not bother us.”

The sound of steady rain was making him all the more sleepy. They wrapped themselves in their blankets, the night being cold already. In the dim light Richard could just make out the features of Kahlan’s face as she leaned up against the rock wall. The shelter was too small for a fire, and everything too wet anyway. He reached into his pocket, fingering the pouch with the night stone, considering if he should take it out, to see better, but at last decided against it.

Kahlan smiled over at him. “Welcome to the Midlands. You have done as you said you would: you got us here. Now the hard work begins. What would you have us do?”

Richard’s head was throbbing—he leaned back next to her. “We need someone with magic who can tell us where the last box is, where to find it. Or at least where to look for it. We can’t just go running around blindly. We need someone who can point us in the right direction. Who do you know like that?”

Kahlan gave him a sideways glance. “We are a long way from anyone who would want to help us.”

She was avoiding telling him something. His anger jumped. “I didn’t say they had to want to help us, I said they had to be, able to. You just take me to them and I’ll worry about the rest!” Richard immediately regretted his tone of voice. He leaned his head back against the rock wall and put the anger down. “Kahlan, I’m sorry.” He rolled his head away from her. “I’ve had a hard day. Besides killing that man, I had to run my sword through my father again. But the worst of it was I thought my best friend was lost to the underworld. I just want to stop Rahl, to end this nightmare.”

He turned his face to hers, and she gave him one of her special, tight-lipped smiles. Kahlan watched his eyes in the near darkness for a few minutes.

“Not easy, being Seeker,” she said softly.

He smiled back at her. “Not easy,” he agreed.

“The Mud People,” she said at last. “They may be able to tell us where to search, but there is no guarantee they will agree to help us. The Wilds are a remote part of the Midlands, and the Mud People are not used to dealing with outsiders… They have strange customs. They do not care about the problems of others. They wish only to be left alone.”

“If he succeeds, Darken Rahl will not respect their wishes,” he reminded her.

Kahlan took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Richard, they can be dangerous.”

“Have you dealt with them before?”

She nodded. “A few times. They do not speak our language, but I speak theirs.”

“Do they trust you?”

Kahlan looked away as she wrapped her blanket tighter. “I guess so.” She looked up at him from under her eyebrows. “But they are afraid of me, and with the Mud People that may be more important than trust.”

Richard had to bite the inside of his lip to keep from asking why they were afraid of her. “How far?”

“I’m not sure exactly where we are in the Wilds. I didn’t see enough to tell for certain, but I’m sure they are no more than a week to the northeast.”

“Good enough. In the morning we head northeast.”

“When we get there, you must follow my lead, and if I tell you something, you must pay heed. You must convince them to help you, or they will not, sword or no sword.” He gave her a nod. She took her hand out from under the blanket and put in on his arm. “Richard,” she whispered, “thank you for coming back for me. I’m sorry for what it cost you.”

“I had to—what good would it do to go to the Midlands without my guide?”

Kahlan grinned. “I will try to live up to your expectations.”

He gave her hand a squeeze before they both lay down. Sleep took him as he thanked the good spirits for protecting her.