Chainfire: Chainfire Trilogy Part 1

Zedd stepped off the gold and red carpet and down into the room. "Let me guess. You're here about the blank places in the books of prophecy."

Nicci had to run Zedd's words through her mind a second time before she was sure she'd heard him right.

Nathan nodded. "You've just sat down in the middle of the muck."

"What do you mean you're here about blank places in the books of prophecy?" Richard looked suddenly suspicious. "What blank places?"

"Extensive sections of prophecy-that is, prophecy written down in the books of prophecy-have simply vanished off the pages of a number of the books we've so far inspected." Nathan's brow bunched in an expression of apprehension. "We've checked with Verna and she confirmed that the books of prophecy at the People's Palace in D'Hara are suffering the same inexplicable problem. Therein lies the heart of our worry. We came, in part, to see if the works of prophecy here at the Keep are still intact."

"I'm afraid not," Zedd said. "The books here have been similarly corrupted."

Nathan swiped a hand across his tired face. "Dear spirits," he murmured. "We had been holding out hope that whatever is causing such havoc among the prophecies had not affected the books here as well."

"You mean that entire sections of prophecy are missing?" Richard asked, stepping down into the heart of the room.

"That's right," Nathan confirmed.

"Would there happen to be a pattern to the missing prophecy?" Richard asked, suddenly focusing on a line of reasoning that Nicci knew would end up being somehow related to his own search. Ordinarily she would have been frustrated or even annoyed that he could think of nothing else but his fixation with the missing woman, but this time she was heartened to see that the familiar Richard was back.

"Why yes, there is a pattern. They are all prophecies having to do with events beginning roughly around the time of your birth."

Richard stared, dumbfounded. "What are the missing prophecies about-specifically? I mean, are they related to specific events, or are they nonspecific and instead share only a time period?"

Nathan stroked his chin as he considered the question. "That's the thing that makes this so strange. Many of the prophecies that are missing we know we should be able to recall, but they are suddenly and completely just as blank in our minds as they are on the page. We can't remember a single word of them. We don't recall what they were about, and since they're gone from the books as well I can't tell you if they were event related or time related-or something else. We realize that they are missing, but that's about all."

Richard's eyes turned to Nicci, as if to ask if she caught the correlation. She thought he could see that she did. His voice remained casual, but Nicci knew how intent was the interest behind his words.

"Pretty odd that something you've known all your lives can just vanish right out of your memory, wouldn't you say?"

"I certainly would," Nathan said. "Any thoughts on the subject, Zedd?"

Zedd, who had been silently and intently watching Richard, nodded. "Well, I know what's causing it, if that will help you out."

He smiled innocently. Nicci noticed that Rikka, standing in the shadows back behind the red pillars, smiled as well. Nathan, at first stunned, became animated with curiosity.

Richard gently tugged Zedd's robes at his shoulder. "You know?"

"You do?" Nathan asked, urging Richard back out of the way as he stepped closer. Ann rushed forward with him. "What is it? What's happening? Tell us."

"A prophecy worm, I'm afraid."

Nathan and Ann blinked, their faces blank of any comprehension.

"A what?" Nathan finally ventured, somewhat cautiously, if not suspiciously.

"The text vanishing is caused by a prophecy worm. Once a fork of prophecy is infected with this scourge, it worms its way entirely through that branch, consuming it as it goes. Since it consumes the actual prophecy itself, that means that over time all manifestations of it, such as the written prophecy or any memory of it, are destroyed. It's quite virulent." Zedd regarded their rapt stares with another polite smile. "If you want, I can show you the reference work."

"I should say so," Nathan said.

"Zedd this is important," Richard said. "Why haven't you said something?"

Zedd gave him a familiar clap on the shoulder as he started away. "Well, my boy, when you arrived you weren't much in the mood to listen to anything but what you were here about. Remember? You were rather insistent that you had trouble and you needed to talk to me about it. Since then you haven't exactly been willing to talk. You've been rather — distracted."

"I guess I was." Richard caught his grandfather's arm, halting him before he could get far. "Zedd, look, I need to tell you something about all of that, and about that night."

"Like what, my boy?"

"I know that a contradiction cannot exist."

"I never really thought you did, Richard."