The pillars of creation

Jennsen knew that Altur'Rang was the emperor's homeland, the city he came from. Sebastian had told her that Brother Narev and the Fellowship of Order were there, in that great shining city of hope for mankind. A great palace would be built there in homage to the Creator and as a symbol to solidify the unity of the Old World.

"I received reports not long ago that enemy forces overran the city. Altur'Rang is very distant, and it was cut off. Partly because of winter, the reports were a very long time in reaching me. I await news.

"Given this inauspicious turn of fate, I don't think it wise to wait for Brother Narev to make it up here. He will be busy throwing the invaders back. If the Mother Confessor and Richard Rahl are in Aydindril, we must not wait; we must strike back swiftly, and with withering force."

Jennsen laid a sympathetic hand on Sebastian's forearm. "That must have been what you told me about. When I first met you and you told me that Lord Rahl was invading your homeland, that must have been what he was after-Altur'Rang."

Sebastian stared at her. "It may be that he isn't in Aydindril. It may turn out that he's still to the south, Jenn, in the Old World. You have to keep that in mind. I don't want you to invest all your hopes only to have them dashed."

"I hope he is here and it can finally be ended, but, as His Excellency said about moving on Aydindril, there is nothing to lose. I didn't expect to find him here. If he isn't in Aydindril, then I'll still have the help for which you brought me here in the first place."

"And what is the nature of that help?" Jagang asked.

Sebastian answered for her. "I told her that the Sisters might be able to help with a spell-so that she can get past all of Lord Rahl's protection and get close enough to him to act."

"One way or another, then. If he is in Aydindril, you shall have him." Jagang plucked up the olive he had been rolling around and popped it in his mouth. "If not, then you shall have the sorceress at your disposal. Whatever help you need from the Sisters is yours. You have but to ask, and they will provide it-my word on that."

His raven eyes were deadly serious.

Outside, thunder rumbled. The rain had picked up. Lightning flickered, lighting the tent from the outside with eerie light that made the candlelight seem all the darker when each flash of lightning ended, leaving them again in near darkness, waiting for the roll of thunder.

"I just need them to cast me a spell to divert those protecting him, so I can get close enough to him," Jennsen said after the thunder had died out. She drew her knife from its sheath and held it up to look at the ornate letter «R» engraved in the silver handle. "Then I can put my knife through his evil heart. This knife-his own knife. Sebastian explained how important it is to use what is closest to an enemy to strike back at them."

"Sebastian has spoken wisely. That is our way, and why, with the Creator's guidance, we will prevail. Let us pray that we at last have them both and it can finally be ended, that the scourge of magic will finally be ended, and that mankind will at last be allowed to live in peace as the Creator intended."

Jennsen and Sebastian both nodded at the invocation.

"If we catch them in Aydindril," Jagang said, looking her in the eyes, "I promise that you will be the one to put your blade through his heart, so that your mother may finally rest in peace."

"Thank you," Jennsen whispered in gratitude.

He didn't ask how she could accomplish such a task. Maybe the conviction in her voice had betrayed the fact that there was more to this than he knew-that she had some special advantage that would enable her to accomplish such a thing.

And there was more to this than he knew, or Sebastian knew.

Jermsen had been thinking long and hard about it, putting all the various elements together. Her whole life had been devoted to thinking about this problem. But in the past, her thoughts always revolved around how insoluble it was, how it was only a matter of time until Lord Rahl caught her and the nightmare began in earnest.

She had always been focused on the problem.

Now, since meeting Sebastian and the death of her mother, events had accelerated at a breathtaking pace, but those events had also added, bit by bit, to her understanding of the larger picture. Questions were beginning to have answers, answers that seemed so simple, now, looking back on them. She almost felt as if, deep down inside, she must have known all along.

Now, she was turning her focus away from the problem; she was beginning to think in terms of the solution.

Jermsen had learned a great deal from Althea-as it turned out, more, even, than the sorceress knew she was revealing. A sorceress of Althea's power would not be trapped there all those years unless what she said about the beasts in the swamp were true. The snake was different. Friedrich had said that the snake was just a snake.

But the beasts were magic.