-----.It had been two days since company had arrived at Zedd's house. Richard had been asleep most of the time. Kahlan had been forced to sleep and Katrina - well, she did her own thing, mostly experimenting. Zedd was happy to assist her. He took her out behind the house. Kahlan stayed at the table, waiting for Richard to be up.
-----."From what I hear, young one, you can use strange magic." Zedd said, stopping a good distance from the house. He motioned for Katrina to walk a bit further. She took a good fifteen steps before turning around.
-----."That's right. So what are we going to do?" She asked, spreading her feet about shoulder's width apart in anticipation.
-----.Instead of answering with words, Zedd threw one of his arms up and sent a solidified wind at Katrina. In response, she furrowed her brows and chopped at the wind with one hand, breaking it apart. Zedd thrust out his other hand and a small ball of fire shot forth. Katrina caught it, spun it around herself at the hips and threw it up into the air where it exploded into a stunning display of fiery constellations. Zedd stood tall and watched as the shimmery fire dissipated and Katrina stood unscathed.
-----."Very good, young one. Not many can stand against-"
-----."A wizard of the first order." Katrina finished for him with an all-knowing grin. Zedd smiled too, then threw another wall of wind at her. She quickly spun out her hand, twisting the wall into a small swirling cyclone which dissipated rapidly.
-----."You're a natural and you've got good instinct." Zedd complimented.
-----."You think so?" Katrina said, a half smile showing her amusement. "You should see some things that don't make any sense in this world."
-----.Zedd gave her a puzzled look, then straightened back out. "Such as the quick clothing changes? Yes, I did find that curious in the story that Richard and Kahlan told me. I figure I'll get to witness it at some point considering the imminent danger ahead."
-----.Katrina gave the old man a nod. "Zedd, you can't imagine the things that I dearly want to tell you - all of you. I just don't want to screw up the story or . . ." Zedd put his hands on her shoulders and looked down at her.
-----."Young one, it's okay. Magic has its rules and so do magic users. You know this." He pulled her into a kind, grandfatherly hug. "Now come on, we can't have our little prophet getting all soft on us."
-----.Katrina perked up. "Prophet? Huh...I suppose that'll do as a likely story. 'Behold! Katrina, the mighty prophet!' "
-----.Zedd laughed. "You're a hoot."
-----.Katrina grinned. "We should probably get back to the house. Richard will be out of the tub soon. It's a little after noon." She judged by looking at the shadows the nearby trees were casting. Zedd nodded to her and led her back, but not before throwing another fireball at her. She expertly caught it like a baseball pro, then squeezed it into nothingness.
o()xxxx[{::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::>
-----."Huh. I wouldn't have expected to have slept until noon." Richard said after he sat down at the bench outside Zedd's house. Everyone laughed. Kahlan's hair shimmered, looking freshly washed and her dress looked to have been washed too. Kahlan straightened up in her seat.
-----."This is the second noon you have slept to, Richard. How's your hand?"
-----."It itches, but it feels great." He flexed out his fingers and wiggled them around as though to accentuate his point.
-----.Kahlan grinned. "My mother always said that if it was itchy, it was getting better."
-----."Mine too." Richard responded, taking a bite of the hot spice soup at the table. "It's almost as good as mine," he said, surprised.
-----.Kahlan laughed. "Zedd tells me otherwise. However," she started, a low voice, but not so low that Zedd couldn't hear, "I think Zedd would eat dirt if someone else dished it up for him."
-----.Richard laughed. "I see you've gotten to know Zedd well."
-----.Zedd pointed a bony finger at Richard. "I tell you, Richard, this woman could make dirt taste good. You best take lessons from her."
-----.His demeanor turned dark. "There is one thing I don't trust about her though." Richard caught his breath and tensed up, his spoon full of spice soup just hovering inches above his bowl.
-----."She doesn't like cheese! I don't think I could trust anyone who doesn't like cheese. It's just not natural."
-----.Richard relaxed. The old man had been twiddling with his mind, as he always called it. Zedd had a knack for catching him off guard and relished doing so. Richard enjoyed another spoonful of soup. Zedd took a bite of cheese to make his point. Kahlan took a nibble of bread to make hers.
-----.Richard picked up another spoonful, then blew on it lightly. "The next quad? Has there been any sign?"
-----."Zedd did a cloud reading for me and said they ran into some trouble of some kind and are nowhere to be found."
-----.He gave Zedd a sideways glance. "Is that true?"
-----."True as toasted toads." Zedd said, a phrase that he used since Richard was young to win him over with humor and to always let him know that he could be trusted. He remembered that Katrina has first used that phrase to win him over and looked around for her. She wasn't at the table, so she must have been inside, he thought.
-----."Zedd, we need your help to stop Darken Rahl." Richard said.
-----."I know. You want me to find the great wizard for you."
-----."That won't be necessary. You are the great wizard."
-----.Kahlan was shocked and tried to stand up. Richard put a hand on her forearm and led her back down.
-----."What makes you say that, Richard?" Zedd asked calmly.
-----.Richard took a deep breath. "When I spent that first night with Kahlan in the wayward pine, she told me the history of the three lands and how the boundaries came to be. She said the council had taken actions that made the deaths of the wizard's wife and daughter at the hands of a quad stand for nothing. As punishment, he did the worst possible thing to them: have them suffer the consequences of their actions.
-----."That sounded like the very thing you would do, but I couldn't be sure. I had to find a way to know. When you first saw Kahlan, you were angry that she came here from the Midlands. When I told you that she was attacked by a quad, you changed. Completely. You said she would be safe here. That was your biggest mistake.
-----."You would not lie, especially about something like that. And you know what a quad is. How could an old man make it safe here, against a quad, without magic? One old man can't, but one old wizard might. You said so yourself; the next quad is nowhere to be found. You were always as good as your word, Zedd.
-----."I have always known in a thousand little ways that you were more than you claimed to be, that you were special. I'm honored to have you as my friend." Richard's voice was gentle now.
-----."Richard. I have never before been this proud of you." He put his hands across the table and leaned forward. "I have also never been this sad for you. Sit. I will be right back. I have something for you."
-----.Zedd cleared the table, holding all of the plates in the crook of his arm, then walked into the house. Kahlan looked worried as she watched him go. Richard thought she'd be happy that he found the wizard, but she looked more frightened than anything. Things weren't going as he expected.
-----.When Zedd reappeared, he was holding something long. Kahlan came to her feet. Richard realized that Zedd was clutching the scabbard of a sword. Kahlan put herself in front of him before Zedd could reach the table, then grabbed fistfuls of his robes.
-----."Don't do this, Zedd." Her voice was desperate.
-----."It is not my choice."
-----."Zedd, please no, choose someone else, not Richard . . ."
-----.Zedd cut her off. "Kahlan! I warned you about this. I told you that he chooses himself. If I pick someone else, we all will die. If you have a better way . . . put words to it!"
-----.He swept her aside, came to the side of the table opposite of Richard, and slammed the sword down in front of him. Richard jumped. He looked from the sword up into Zedd's fierce eyes as the other leaned over the table.
-----."This belongs to you," the wizard said. Kahlan turned her back to them. Katrina walked outside, a dishrag in one hand and a half-clean plate in the other just in time to watch Richard draw the sword. The ring of the magical metal leaving the scabbard gave her heart an extra beat. The metallic sound hung in the air for a few moments.
-----.Zeddicus Zu'l Zorrander threw his head back and his arms open, shouting a warning to the sky. "Fair warning to those living and those dead! The Seeker is named!"
-----.Thunder from the blue sky shook and took off toward the boundary.
-----.Kahlan fell to her knees, head bowed and her hands behind her back, in front of Richard. "I pledge my life in the defense of the Seeker."
-----.Zedd did the same. Katrina, on the other hand, jumped up and down with excitement just outside the doorway.
-----.Richard stood gripping the Sword of Truth in his hand, eyes wide with breathless bewilderment.
-----."Zedd," he whispered, "what in the name of everything good is a Seeker?"
This is not an original story. This is a fan-fiction based off of the Sword of Truth novels by Terry Goodkind. I do not own any of the characters or places or anything part of the series. Katrina is my character.
