He went outside and removed the tooth from around his neck, putting it in his pocket, and left his shirt on the porch to keep it dry. He took the sword with him to the back of the house, where Adie had told him he would find the firewood pile. Placing logs on the sawbuck, he cut off pieces to length. Most of the wood was birch, easiest for an old woman to cut. He picked out the rock maple, excellent firewood but tough cutting. The woods nearby were dark and dense, but they didn’t feel threatening.

They felt welcoming, enveloping, safe. Still, there was the last man of the quad out there somewhere, hunting Kahlan.

He thought about Michael, hoped he was safe. Michael didn’t know what Richard was doing and probably wondered where he was. He was probably worried. Richard had planned on going to Michael’s house after they left Zedd’s place, but there had been no time. Rahl had almost caught them. He wished he had been able to get word to his brother. Michael was going to be in great danger when the boundary failed.

When he tired of sawing, he split what he had cut. It felt good to use his muscles, to sweat from labor, to do something that didn’t require him to think. The cool rain felt good on his hot body, making the work easier. To amuse himself, he imagined the wood was Darken Rahl’s head as he brought the axe down. For variation he sometimes imagined it to be a gar. When the piece of wood was particularly tough, he imagined it to be the red-haired man’s head.

Kahlan came out, and asked him if he was ready to come eat. He hadn’t even realized it was getting dark. After she left, he went to the well and poured a bucket of cold water over himself, washing off the sweat. Kahlan and Adie were sitting at the table, and since there were only two chairs, he brought in a log round to sit on. Kahlan set a bowl of soup in front of him as he sat down, and handed him a spoon.

“You have given me a wonderful gift, Richard,” Adie said.

“And what would that be?” He blew on a spoonful of soup to cool it.

She looked at him with her white eyes. “Without taking offense, you have given me the time to talk to Kahlan in my native tongue. You cannot know what joy that be for me. So many years it has been. You are a very perceptive man. You are a true Seeker.”

Richard beamed at her. “You have given me something very precious too. The lives of my friends. Thank you, Adie.”

“And your spice soup be wonderful,” she added, with a hint of surprise.

“Yes.” Kahlan winked at him. “It’s as good as I make.”

“Kahlan has told me about Darken Rahl, and about the boundary failing,” Adie said. “It explains much. She has told me that you know of the pass, and wish to cross into the Midlands. Now you must decide what you will do.” She took a spoonful of soup.

“What do you mean?”

“They must be awakened every day to drink, and they must be fed a gruel. Your friends be asleep for many days, five, maybe ten. You must decide, as Seeker, if you are to wait for them, or go on. We cannot help you—you must decide.”

“That would be a lot of work for you to do by yourself.”

Adie nodded. “Yes. But it not be as much work as going after the boxes, as stopping Darken Rahl.” She ate some more soup as she watched him.

Richard stirred his spoon around absently in his bowl. There was a long silence. He looked to Kahlan, but she showed nothing. He knew she didn’t want to interfere with his decision. He looked back down at his soup.

“Every day that passes,” he said quietly at last, “brings Rahl closer to the last box. Zedd told me he has a plan. That does not mean it is a good plan. And there may not be time to use it when he awakes at last. We could lose before we start.” He looked up into Kahlan’s green eyes. “We can’t wait. We can’t take the chance—too much is at risk. We must leave without him.” Kahlan gave him a smile of reassurance. “I wasn’t planning on letting Chase go with us anyway. I have a more important job for him.”

Adie reached across the table and put her weathered hand on his. It felt soft and warm. “It not be an easy choice to make. It not be easy to be Seeker. That which lies ahead be difficult beyond your worst fears.”

He forced a smile. “At least I still have my guide.”

The three of them sat in silence, considering what must be done.

“You both will have a good sleep tonight,” Adie said. “You will need it. After supper, I will tell you what you will need to know to get through the pass.” She looked to each of them in turn—her voice became even raspier. “And I will tell you how I lost my foot.”

Richard placed the lamp on the side of the table, close to the wall, and lit it with a stick from the fire. The sound of gentle rain and night creatures drifted in from the window. The chirps and calls of small animals going about their nocturnal lives were familiar to him, comforting sounds of home. Home. His last night in his homeland, and then he was to cross into the Midlands. As his father had done. He smiled to himself at the irony. His father had brought the Book of Counted Shadows out of the Midlands, and now he was taking it back.

He sat down on the log round, across from Kahlan and Adie. “So, tell me, how do we find the pass?”

Adie leaned back in her chair and swept her hand through the air. “You already have. You be in the pass. The mouth of it anyway.”

“And what do we need to know to get through it?”

“The pass be a void in the underworld, but it still be a land of the dead. You be living. The beasts hunt the living if the living be big enough to be of interest.”

Richard looked at Kahlan’s impassive face, then back to Adie. “What beasts?”

Adie’s long finger pointed to each wall of the room in turn. “They be the bones of the beasts. Your friends were touched by things of the underworld. The bones confuse their powers. That be why I said your friends were being helped from the moment you brought them in here. The bones cause the magic poison to leave their bodies, letting the death sleep lift. The bones keep the evil away from here. The beasts cannot find me because they feel the evil of the bones and it blinds them, makes them think I be one of them.”

Richard leaned forward. “If we took some of the bones with us, would that protect us?”

Adie smiled her little smile, making her eyes wrinkle. “Very good. That be exactly what you must do. These bones of the dead have the magic to help protect you. But there be more. Listen carefully to what I tell you.”

Richard folded his fingers together and nodded.

“You cannot take your horses, the trail be too small for them. There be places they cannot fit. You must not wander from the trail—it be very dangerous to do so. And you must not stop to sleep. It will take one day, one night, and most of the next day to cross.”

“Why can’t we stop to sleep?” Richard asked.

Adie looked to each of them with her white eyes. “There be other things, besides the beasts, in the pass. They will get you if you stop long enough.”

“Things?” Kahlan asked.

Adie nodded. “I go into the pass often. If you are careful, it be safe enough. If you are not careful, there be things that will get you.” Her raspy voice lowered bitterly. “I became overconfident. One day I was walking a long time, and became very tired. I was sure of myself, sure I knew the dangers well, so I sat against a tree and took a small nap. For a few minutes only.” She put her hand on her leg, rubbing it slowly. “When I was asleep, a gripper fixed itself on my ankle.”

Kahlan scrunched up her features. “What’s a gripper?”

Adie regarded her in silence for a minute. “A gripper be an animal that has armor all over his back, spikes all around the bottom edge. Many legs underneath, each with a sharp, hooked claw at the end, a mouth like a leech with teeth all around. He wraps himself around, so only his armor is out. With his claws he digs into the flesh to hold tight so you cannot pull him off, and then he fixes his mouth to you, sucking the blood from you, tightening with the claws all the time.”