Wizard's First Rule

"Do you see them?" he called out over the sound of the wind.

Scarlet gave a grunt to indicate that she did. In the fading light, the gars looked like black dots moving about on the rocky ground below. Steam trailed up from Fire Spring, and even this high up Richard could smell the acrid fumes. Scarlet rose steeply into the air, making his legs press against her as she lifted them higher; then she rolled into a sharp bank to the right.

"There are far too many," she called back.

Her head tilted behind, one yellow eye peering at him. Richard pointed.

"Go down there, behind those hills, and don't let them see us."

Scarlet climbed with strong strokes. When they were higher than they had been so far, she glided away from Fire Spring. She swooped down, between the rocky slopes, threading her way back toward where Richard had told her to land. With a silent flutter of wings, she gently settled on the ground near the mouth of a cave, and lowered her neck so he could climb down. Richard knew she didn't want him on her back any longer than necessary.

Her head swung around toward him, her eyes angry, impatient. "There are too many gars. Darken Rahl knows I can't fight that many; that's why there are so many there-in case I ever found my egg. You said you would think of a plan. What is it?"

Richard glanced over at the mouth of the cave. The Shadrin's cave, Kahlan had told him. "We need a diversion, something to distract them while we get the egg."

"While you get the egg," Scarlet corrected, with a little flame to make her point.

He looked over at the cave again. "One of my friends told me the cave goes all the way through, to where the egg is. Maybe I could go through, snatch the egg, and bring it back."

"Get going."

"Shouldn't we discuss if it's a good idea? Maybe we could think of something better. I've also heard there might be something in the cave."

Scarlet brought her angry eye closer to him. "Something in the cave?" She snaked her head around to the opening and sent a horrific blast of fire into the darkness. Her head came back. "Now there's nothing in the cave. Go get my egg."

The cave was miles long. Richard knew the fire wouldn't have harmed anything farther back. He also knew he had given his word. Collecting cane reeds growing nearby, he bound them together with a sinewy vine into several bundles. He held one bundle up to Scarlet as she watched him

"Light the end of this for me?"

The dragon pursed her lips and blew a thin stream of flame across the end of the cane reeds.

"You wait here," he told her. "Sometimes it's better to be small than big. I won't be spotted so easily. I'll think of something, and get the egg, and bring it back through the cave. It's a long way. It may take until morning before I'm back. I don't know how close the gars will be behind me, so we might need to leave in a hurry. Stay sharp, all right?" He hooked his pack over a spine on her back. "Keep this for me. I don't want to carry more than I have to."

Richard didn't know if a dragon could look worried, but he thought she did.

"Be careful with the egg? It will hatch soon, but if the shell is broken now, before it is time…"

Richard gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Scarlet. We're going to get it back."

She waddled to the cave entrance behind him, poking her head in, watching him disappear inside.

"Richard Cypher," she called after him, her voice echoing, "if you try to run away, I'll find you, and if you come back without the egg, you will wish the gars had killed you, because I will cook you slow, starting at your feet."

Richard stared back at the hulk filling the cave entrance. "I have given my word. If the gars get me, I'll try to kill enough of them so you can get the egg and escape."

Scarlet grunted. "Try not to let that happen. I still want to eat you when this is done."

Richard smiled and went into the darkness. The blackness swallowed up the light of the torch, making him feel as if he were walking into nothingness. Only a small spot of ground before him was lit. As he went on, the floor of the cave sloped downward, descending into cold, still air. A ceiling of rock appeared, and walls, as the way narrowed into a tunnel that snaked deeper. The tunnel opened into a huge room. The path led along a narrow ledge at the edge of a still, green lake. Flickering torchlight showed a jagged ceiling and walls of smooth stone. The ceiling sloped downward as he went into a wide, low passage. He had to bend over to pass through. For a good hour, he walked, hunched over, his neck starting to hurt from holding it sideways. Occasionally he pressed the torch to the rock ceiling to shed its ash and keep it burning brightly.