Warheart by Terry Goodkind Page B

one and nothing able to put them back where they belong. Once everything has spun out of control, it is only a matter of time before it is all over. Life–existence–would be extinguished.
    â€œEmperor Sulachan and Hannis Arc arrogantly think they will be able to control the forces of chaos, use them to rule what they will bring about. They are deluded.
    â€œYour abilities are powered by what the Grace represents. Sulachan wants to bend those forces until they break. That threatens the entire world of life–it means your very existence is at stake as well.”
    â€œI know what is at stake,” Red said in warning. “In this case, acting upon that danger is dangerous in and of itself.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?” Kahlan asked.
    The witch woman leaned forward. “You are seeking to meddle in the world of the dead, in the forces of the underworld.”
    â€œWhat is it you think we are here for?” Kahlan growled.
    Red blinked. “To help Richard’s soul escape the trap he is in and go to the good spirits. If he does that, he has a chance to marshal those forces to cut off Sulachan’s power. His power is both Subtractive and occult–both are underworld forces. If Richard can do something about that from the other side, we might be able to stop the darkness that will soon smother the world of life. In that way you will also help the man you love so much to find eternal peace.”
    â€œHe can work to do that from this side,” Kahlan insisted. “We need his soul brought back to the world of life.”
    Red was momentarily struck speechless with anger. “He’s dead!”
    â€œProphecy says that he is the only one with a chance to stop the grim fate Sulachan and Hannis Arc are trying to bring about.”
    â€œYes, prophecy says he is the one. The flow of time tells me he is the only one with a chance. But from the other side. That is how the flow of time tells me he has a chance to stop Sulachan. With him dead, now, that is the only way.”
    Kahlan wiped a trembling hand back across her eyes. Before she could say anything, Nicci spoke first.
    â€œRed, I lived at the Palace of the Prophets. I lived there a very long time. While I was there, I studied prophecy, as all the Sisters did. Richard is named in many ways in many of those prophecies. I saw him mentioned throughout thousands of years of writing, although at the time I did not fully comprehend it all or connect it to him.
    â€œOur prelate knew who he was, though, and she protected Richard since before he was born. She knew he was the pebble in the pond, the one who would be born to do what must be done. Many prophecies named him as the only one who would be able to stop one with Emperor Sulachan’s power by ending prophecy itself. They don’t say how, only that he is the one who can.
    â€œRichard is the only chance we all have. He is the only one with the potential to save the world of life. To save life, he must be here, in the world of life.
    â€œEven the first Confessor, Magda Searus, saw that three thousand years ago and did what she could to help him.” Nicci gestured to the ring with the Grace on it that Kahlan was wearing. “The first Confessor sent this ring across time by leaving it for Richard to discover along with the message that he is the one meant to fight for what the symbol on this ring represents, to fight the battle begun by Sulachan in her time. That ring, that duty, has now come full circle, from the first Confessor, to the last, just as Sulachan first threatened the people in the time of Magda Searus, and he has now returned to threaten life in our time.
    â€œThe Mother Confessor, the descendant of the very first Confessor, has now come here to you, come with the weight of the responsibility she carries across the ages, to ask you for your help in finding a way to do what must be done.
    â€œIf you do not help her, then Richard’s soul will