The Third Kingdom

“I asked what was going to happen to her and the general, and Zedd and Nicci, and all the rest of the men.” Henrik paused briefly to choke back a sob. “Cara gritted her teeth and said they were doing what they had to do to protect you.”

Henrik dissolved into tears, choking back sobs. Sammie put a hand over his and softly told him that she understood. Her eyes, too, brimmed with tears. She told the boy that the same thing had happened to her father, and that her mother was missing. She told him that she knew what it felt like to hurt inside from losing people you loved.

Henrik was surprised to hear about her parents. He told her that he was sorry. Sammie squeezed his hand and told him that there was grave trouble at hand, and they all had to be brave.

When she asked, Henrik finally went on with the story. “Cara lifted me down over the side of the wagon and set me on the ground. The general yelled back to her from the other side of the wagon, telling her to hurry. She nodded then turned back to me.

“She pointed her Agiel at my face again and told me to run like the wind and get away. She told me that I had to get away so that I could find help for Lord Rahl and the Mother Confessor. She said that they were all counting on me. She said that they would try to lead the enemy in the other direction to buy me time so that I could slip away through the woods and find help.

“I was terrified. I didn’t want to leave them. I asked what was going to happen to her and the others.

“She said not to worry about them. She said that my job was to run, to get away, and to find help. I stood there trembling, staring at her, unable to believe it was happening. Cara grabbed my jaw and said, ‘Run. Don’t look back. Don’t stop for anything. Get help for them. Understand?’ I nodded that I did. I couldn’t answer because I was too afraid to talk.

“Cara pointed off into the darkness with her Agiel and said, ‘Go!’ I turned to go, but then she grabbed my arm.

“I turned back and she was real close, looking right into my eyes. She said, ‘Don’t let us die for nothing, Henrik. Find them help no matter what. Make our lives count for something. Get them help.’ I said, ‘I promise, Cara.’

“As I turned to run, I saw her race around the wagon to join the others. And then they all ran, the howling enemy right on their heels.”

Henrik’s words dissolved into sobs.

Richard was in so much pain that his hands shook. His breathing was ragged. But the pain seemed distant in the numb haze of his grief.

He rubbed the boy’s shoulder, understanding his emotions, feeling great sorrow for his ordeal. His own heartache felt as if it would crush his chest.

“As I ran toward the woods, I finally spotted the trail,” Henrik said, trying mightily to pull himself together enough to finish the story. “I heard the howls around me. I raced onto the trail without slowing to look back. Before I had taken ten strides down the dark trail, I saw someone moving back in the trees. I froze. They didn’t spot me. I saw dark shapes moving through the brush. I realized that the enemy was in the woods and remembered that Zedd had said that they were all around us. They had been lying in wait in case anyone tried to escape in that direction.”

“It was a trap,” Richard said. “They made it look empty and inviting as an escape route to draw people in. They were waiting in ambush.”

Henrik nodded. “I guess. Because I’m small, or maybe it was because I was alone there in the dark and there was so much noise going on back the way I’d come, they didn’t spot me. Once they realized that the cavalry and the others were running to try to escape in the other direction they all went crazy, howling as they raced out of the cover of the woods to join the chase.

“When I saw them coming I knew that if I kept going down the trail they would soon have me. I was trapped and there was nowhere to run, so I dove behind a fallen tree. I clawed through the soft moss and decayed wood to squeeze in under the trunk.

“I lay as still as I could, holding my breath where I hid. I could just make out dark shapes moving through the trees. Closer in a lot of legs ran past me. More and more people kept running by all the time. Thousands, it seemed, ran past. I could hear the sound of all their feet rumbling through the forest.

“I was terrified that any moment one of them would spot me and then reach down and pull me out. I knew that if they did, they would tear me apart with their teeth the way they had the man I saw pulled off his horse and killed.

“I stayed hidden a long time, too afraid to move. I could hear them making that awful shrieking sound as they charged through the trees like a pack of wild animals on the scent of blood.”

Henrik looked up at Richard. “The general and the others were right not to have tried to take you and the Mother Confessor back through those woods. If they had, you would be dead now.”