Wizard's First Rule

They set up camp on a high hill to give a clear view of anything that approached. Chase and Zedd tended to the horses while Richard and Kahlan started the fire, unpacked the bread, cheese, and dried fruit, and began cooking a simple stew. She went with him and scouted for firewood among the sparse trees, helping carry it back. He told her the two of them made a good team. She smiled a little smile and turned away. He took her arm and turned her back.

"Kahlan, if it had been you, I would have come after you," he said, meaning more than the words he spoke.

She studied his eyes. "Please, Richard, don't even say that." She gently pulled her arm away and went back to camp.

When the other two, back from tending the horses, came into the firelight, Richard could see that the scabbard strapped over Chase's shoulder was empty, the short sword missing. One of his battle axes and several long knives were gone, too. Not that this left him defenseless-far from it.

The mace hanging from his belt was covered in blood from one end to the other, his gauntlets were soaked with it, and it was splattered everywhere on him. Without comment he pulled a knife, pried a three-inch yellowish tooth from the mace where it was wedged between two of the blades, and threw the tooth over his shoulder into the darkness. After wiping the blood off his hands and face he sat down in front of the fire with the others.

Richard tossed a stick in the fire. "Chase, what were those creatures that were after us? And how could anything go in and out of the boundary?"

Chase picked up a loaf of bread and tore off about a third. He met Richard's eyes. "They're called heart hounds. They're about twice the size of a wolf, big barrel chests; heads are kind of flat, big snout full of teeth. Fierce. I'm not sure what color they are. They only prowl at night, until today, that is. But it was too dark in those woods to tell, and, anyway, I was kind of busy. There were more than I've ever seen together before." -

"Why are they called heart hounds?"

Chase chewed a piece of bread as he stared back with intense eyes. "That's a matter of some debate. Heart hounds have big rounded ears, good hearing. Some say they can find a man by hearing the beating of his heart." Richard's eyes widened. Chase took another bite of bread, chewing for a minute. "Others say they're called heart hounds because that's how they kill. They come at your chest. Most predators go for the throat, but not heart hounds; they go straight for your heart, and they have big enough teeth to get the job done. It's the first thing they eat, too. If there's more than one hound, they'll fight over the heart."

Zedd dished himself a bowl of stew and handed the ladle to Kahlan.

Richard was losing his appetite, but he had to ask. "And what do. you think?"

Chase shrugged. "Well, I've never sat real quiet in the dark next to the boundary, just to find out if they could hear my heart beating." He took another bite of bread, looking down at his chest as he chewed. He pulled the heavy mail away from himself. There were two long ragged rips in the chain. Broken pieces of yellow teeth were jammed into mangled links. The leather tunic behind it was soaked with hound's blood. "The one that did this had the blade of my short sword broken off in his chest, and I was still on my horse at the time." He looked back to Richard and raised an eyebrow. "That answer your question?"

Bumps ran up Richard's arms. "What about the way they can go in and out of the boundary?"

Chase took the bowl of stew from Kahlan as she handed it to him. "They have something to do with the magic of the boundary; they were created with it. They are' the boundary's watchdogs, so to speak. They can go in and out without being claimed by it. But they're tied to it too, and can't go far from it. With the boundary weakening, they've been straying farther and farther all the time. That makes traveling Hawkers Trail dangerous, but to go another way would add a good week to the journey to Kings' Port. The cutoff we took is the only one that veers away from the boundary until we get to Southaven. I knew I had to reach you before you passed it, or we would have had to spend the night back there, with them. Tomorrow, in the daylight, when it's safer, I'll show you the boundary, how it's weakening."

Richard nodded as they all went back to their own thoughts.

"They are tan," Kahlan said softly. They all turned to her. She sat staring into the fire. "The heart hounds are tan, with short fur, like that on the back of a deer. They are seen everywhere now in the Midlands, having been released from their bonds when the other boundary failed. Crazed with lack of purpose, now they even come out in the daytime."

The three men sat motionless, considering her words. Even Zedd stopped eating.

"Great," Richard said under his breath. "And what else does the Midlands have that is even worse?"