The Third Kingdom

As Richard stood gazing at the enormity of the wall, he realized that what he was actually seeing was the physical manifestation of how much the people back in Naja’s time feared what was beyond that wall. That was not a comforting thought. He knew that there was no choice, so he deliberately pushed the thought aside and went back to thinking of solutions.

“Let’s make our way down closer to the gates,” he said in a quiet voice so that his voice wouldn’t carry. “We need to get a better look.”

CHAPTER

50

“And what if there are people down there, near the gates? What if there are guards standing watch?”

“I can’t imagine there would be guards,” Richard said. “After all, the barrier was built to keep the half people in, not to keep us out. Why would anyone want to go in there? They’d be slaughtered.

“The half people obviously want out so they can hunt souls. So why would they have guards?”

Samantha shrugged. “I don’t know. But what if there are homes or buildings right inside, a village or town of some kind, and the half people there would—”

“Samantha,” he said in a quiet voice, cutting her off to get her to stop talking. “Let’s not invent problems. We have enough real ones to solve. Let’s first take a look and see what we’re facing, then we can decide what we need to do. All right?

“Keep in mind, too, that this wall was not built to be a fortress wall. In many ways, as enormous as it is, it’s only symbolic. The real barrier was the gravity spells and the barrier spells keeping evil on the other side. Those spells are what kept the half people and the walking dead behind the wall for thousands of years.

“If that weren’t so, then over all this great expanse of time they could have cut through the wall, or dismantled it, or tunneled under it, or something, wouldn’t you think? If someone can put something together, then someone else can always find a way to take it apart. Especially given enough time and motivation. The half people had both.

“That means it’s the spells that matter, not the stone or the gates. The spells are the barrier, not the wall. Those spells are what would be of concern to anyone inside, not the stone or the gates. That works in our favor.”

“How?”

“Because it likely means they don’t care about the gates. Why would they? The gates wouldn’t hold any real significance to them except as a passage for them to get out into the world of life.”

Richard started making his way down the slope, staying in among the denser growth of trees and using the shadows and foliage for cover as best he could. Since he now knew precisely where he was going, he could cut through the dense woods to remain hidden in case anyone was watching.

The forest was strangely quiet. He was used to being in the woods and, night or day, there being signs of life and activity, but these ancient stands of trees seemed forlorn and empty. He had no way of knowing if that was out of the ordinary. Animals could sense things that humans couldn’t, so it was possible that such powerful magic had discouraged animals from living in the area near the wall.

Either that, or something else, some threat, had frightened them into silence. That was the possibility that worried him and kept him on high alert.

As he moved downhill, ever closer to the gates, he stopped periodically to peer out from behind the cover of the trees, checking for anyone. He still saw no one, no movement of any kind. The world felt so eerily empty outside the wall that in a way he wished he would see someone.

As they moved steadily down the slope, down lower toward the level of the ground outside the gates, the wall soaring up above them seemed even more impressive. To Richard, the enormity of the wall seemed a tangible representation of how much people in ancient times feared what was on the other side.

Richard paused. Something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. He thought he saw lightning, or some kind of light, flicker from beyond the gates, but as soon as he focused his attention toward the gates, it was gone.

He carefully scanned the area around them before starting out again. He wished he could climb a tree to have a look over the wall to see what danger might lie beyond, but the trees, despite how huge they were, didn’t begin to reach the top of the wall. The only thing he could do was to keep moving toward the gates so that he could look in.

Coming down the hill, he began to see that there was no road, clearing, or even a path outside the open gates. That made sense, of course. No one had gone in or out of it for thousands of years.

He could see, though, that the bushes, small trees, ferns, and grasses in that area had been trampled by heavy foot traffic, most likely from all the half people leaving. The ones who had attacked him and Samantha had probably come this way not long ago. There were also the men who had attacked him and Kahlan at the wagon. There might have been a lot of others like them who had come out through the gates.