Phantom: Chainfire Trilogy Part 2

He sounded tired. Nicci wondered how long he'd been up. Because of the arid timbre to his voice and the slightest unsteadiness in his movements, she suspected that it had probably been days since he'd slept. Despite how weary he might have been, he sounded resolute in his conviction. She knew that it was his worry for Kahlan driving him on.

Nicci, having been pulled out of the spell-form by him twice, wasn't one to want to so easily discount his theory. More than that, though, she had come to understand that Richard had an insight into magic that was very different from the conventional wisdom. At first she had thought that his perception of how magic functioned in part through artistic concepts was a product of his having been raised without having been taught about magic, without having any exposure to it, but she had since come to see that that unique insight, along with his singular intellect, had enabled him to grasp an essential nature of magic that was fundamentally different from the orthodox teachings.

Nicci had come to believe that Richard might actually understand magic in a way not envisioned by anyone since ancient times.

Zedd turned back, his face illuminated by the warm glow of lamplight on one side and, on the other, the faint, cold light of dawn. "Richard, let's say you're right about the meaning of the symbols on those wristbands and the ones like them on the First Wizard's enclave. Understanding those things does not mean that you can understand the lines within a verification web. It's a completely different, and unique, context. I'm not doubting your ability, my boy, I'm really not, but dealing with spell-forms is a vastly complex matter. You can't leap to the conclusion — "

"Have you seen a dragon in the last couple of years?"

Everyone in the room fell to stunned silence at Richard's sudden change of topic — and not just to any subject, but one that could only be described as strange at best.

"A dragon?" Zedd ventured, at last, like a man inching out onto a newly frozen lake.

"Yes, a dragon. Do you recall seeing a dragon since we left our home in Westland and came to the Midlands?"

Zedd smoothed back some of the wavy tufts of his white hair. He glanced briefly to both Cara and Nicci before answering. "Well, no, I can't really say that I recall having seen any dragons, but what does that have to do — "

"Where are they? Why haven't you seen any? Why are they gone?"

Zedd looked at his wits' end. He spread his hands. "Richard, dragons are very rare creatures."

Richard leaned back in his chair, crossing one leg over his other knee. "Red dragons are. But Kahlan told me that other types are relatively common, with some of the smaller ones kept for hunting and such."

Zedd's expression turned suspicious. "What are you getting at?"

Richard gestured with a sweep of a hand. "Where are the dragons? Why haven't we seen any? That's what I'm getting at."

Zedd folded his arms across his chest. "I give up. What are you talking about?"

"Well, for one thing, you don't remember — that's what I'm talking about. The Chainfire spell has affected more than just your memory of Kahlan."

"Don't remember what?" Zedd sputtered. "What do you mean?"

Instead of answering his grandfather, Richard looked back over his shoulder. "Have you seen a dragon?" he asked Cara.

"I don't recall any." Her gaze remained fixed on him. "Are you suggesting that I should?"

"Darken Rahl kept a dragon. Since he was the Lord Rahl at the time, you would have been at hand so you would probably have seen it."

Zedd and Cara shared a troubled look.

Richard turned his raptor gaze on Nicci. "You?"

Nicci cleared her throat. "I always thought they were mythical creatures. There aren't any in the Old World. If there ever were, they haven't existed for ages. No records since the great war have any mention of them."

"What about since you came to the New World."

Nicci hesitated at recounting the memory. She realized, though, by the way he patiently and silently waited for her answer, that he wasn't going to let the subject go. She knew that whatever obscure equation he was working to solve wouldn't involve anything trivial. Under his silent scrutiny, Nicci felt not only a compulsion to answer, but a rising sense of foreboding.

She threw the bedcovers back and swung her feet down off the side of the bed. She didn't want to be lying there any longer — especially when speaking about that time. Gripping the side rail, she met Richard's gaze.

"When I was taking you away to the Old World, before we left the New World, we came across colossal bones. I never got down off my horse to look at them, but I remember watching you walk through those rib bones — rib bones that were well beyond twice your height. I had never seen anything like them. You said that you believed that it was the remains of a dragon.