Wizard's First Rule

They continued down the dismal trail, watching the woods as they went. Richard wondered what else Zedd could do. He let his horse pick its own way in the gathering darkness, wondering how much longer this dead world went on, or if the road would ever take them away from it. The night was bringing life to the place, strange calls and scraping noises. His horse whinnied at things unseen. He patted its neck reassuringly and checked the sky for gars. It was hopeless; he couldn't see any sky. But if gars came they would have a hard time surprising the three of them, as the canopy of twisted, dead limbs and branches would prevent a silent approach. Maybe the things in the trees were more of a threat than gars. He didn't know anything about them, and he wasn't sure he wanted to. He realized his heart was pounding.

After about an hour, he caught the sound of something coming through the brush in the distance to their left. It was breaking branches as it came. He urged his horse into a canter, and checked to be sure Kahlan and Zedd were keeping up. Whatever it was, it was staying with them. They weren't going to be able to get ahead of it. They were going to be cut off. Maybe it was Chase,he thought. Then again, maybe it wasn't

Richard pulled the Sword of Truth free as he leaned forward and pressed his legs around the horse, spurring it into a gallop. His muscles tensed as his horse raced down the road. He didn't know if Zedd and Kahlan were keeping up with him, and in fact he never gave it a thought. His mind focused on trying to see ahead in the darkness, trying to see anything that might come at him. Anger was slipping its bounds, heat and need coming forth. Jaw set tight, he charged ahead with lethal intent. The sound of his horse's hooves on the road prevented him from hearing the thing in the woods, but he knew it was there, knew it was coming.

Then he saw the black form moving against the barely discernible shapes of the trees. It broke from the woods into the trail a dozen yards in front of him. He raised the sword and went for it, picturing in his mind what he would do. It waited, motionless.

At the last instant he realized it was Chase, holding up an arm to halt him, the silhouette of a flanged mace in his fist.

"Glad to see you're keeping alert," the boundary warden said.

"Chase! You scared the wits out of me!"

"You gave me a moment of concern too." Kahlan and Zedd caught up with them. "Follow me, stay close. Richard, take the rear, keep your sword out."

Chase turned his horse and took off at a gallop, the rest following. Richard didn't know if something was after them or not. Chase didn't act as if there was about to be a fight, but he did tell him to keep his sword out. Richard kept a wary eye over his shoulder. They all hunched their heads down in case there were any low branches. It was dangerous to run the horses in the dark like this, but Chase knew that.

They came to a fork in the road, the first one all day, and without hesitation the boundary warden cut to the right, away from the boundary. Before long they were clear of the woods, moonlight showing an open country of rolling hills and few trees. Chase slowed after a time, letting the horses walk.

Richard sheathed his sword and pulled up close to the others. "What was that all about?"

Chase hooked the mace back onto his belt. "Things in the boundary are following us. When they came out of the boundary for you, I was there to spoil their appetite. Some went back in. The ones left continue to follow from within the boundary, where I can't pursue them. That's why I didn't want you to go too fast. I wouldn't have been able to keep up through the woods, they would have gotten ahead of me, and then they would have had you. I took us away from the boundary now because I wanted to get our scent away from them for the night. It's too dangerous to travel that close to the boundary at night. We'll camp on one of those hills up there." He looked over his shoulder at Richard. "By the way, why did you stop back there? I told you not to."

"I was worried about you. I heard the howling. I was going to come and help. Zedd and Kahlan talked me out of it." Richard thought Chase would be angry, but he wasn't.

"Thanks, but don't do it again. While you were standing there thinking about it, they almost had you. Zedd and Kahlan were right. Don't argue with them the next time."

Richard felt his ears burning. He knew they were right, but it didn't make him feel any better about not helping a friend.

"Chase," Kahlan asked, "you said they had gotten someone, was that true?"

His face was cold stone in the moonlight. "Yes. One of my men. I don't know which one." He turned back to the trail and rode on in silence.