Terry Goodkind - Confessor - Chainfire Trilogy Part 3

“That was the reason that the Sword of Truth has always been the responsibility of the First Wizard. It was beyond priceless.

“You, Zedd, were a proper caretaker for the sword. You found the right person for it, the right person to be the true Seeker of Truth.

“The reason it was so important to find the right person to be the Seeker is because only that kind of person, with the love of life and empathy for others, would be able to turn the blade white. Only that person, when touching it to the correct box, could have turned the blade white.

“Only a true Seeker of Truth can use the Sword of Truth and thus the power of Orden.

“It’s tied in to the admonition at the beginning of The Book of Life that says ‘Those who have come here to hate should leave now, for in their hatred they only betray themselves.’ The Sword of Truth requires compassion to work. Hate will not turn the blade white—only compassion will. That is the final fail-safe for Orden. At the same time, it works this way in order to be the key to the boxes of Orden.

“You can’t use hate to make Orden work. Hate is not a part of the solution. The Book of Life warns of that very thing. Once you grasp the concept, it’s all pretty simple.”

“Yes, I can see how simple it is,” Zedd muttered to himself as he poked a finger through his thatch of unruly white hair to scratch his scalp.

Nathan snapped his fingers as he turned to Zedd. “Now I also understand that other prophecy.”

Zedd looked up. “Which one?”

Nathan leaned close. “You remember: ‘Someday, someone born not of this world will have to save it.’ Now it makes more sense.”

Zedd frowned. “Not to me.”

Nathan flicked a hand. “Well, we’ll have to work out the details later.”

Zedd turned an intent look on Richard. “There are a lot of questions remaining, a lot to understand. As First Wizard I need to know everything so I can tell if you got all the particulars correct. What if you made some sort of miscalculation in some aspect of it? We need to know if—”

“There was no time,” Richard said, cutting him off. “Sometimes one has only an instant to do something, and in such circumstances every eventuality can’t be considered or addressed. In that cusp of opportunity not every circumstance can be recognized, much less planned for or dealt with.

“Sometimes it’s more important to seize the chance and do what you can, even knowing that it won’t likely account for everything, every problem, than it is to do nothing.

“Only later can one go over the what-ifs and should-haves.

“I had to act. I did the very best I could before it was too late.”

Zedd smiled and then gripped Richard’s shoulder, giving it a jostle. “You did good, my boy. You did good.”

“Yes, he certainly did,” Nicci said.

They all turned to see her making her way down the path, a big smile on her face.

“I just checked. The army of the Imperial Order is gone from the Azrith Plain. There are a few men left, those like Bruce, who want the chance to live free to try to make something of their lives.”

A cheer went up from all those in the room at hearing confirmation that the vast army of the Imperial Order was gone.

As soon as Nicci was close, Kahlan immediately embraced her. She finally pushed back and smiled knowingly at Nicci.

“Only someone who truly loves him would do all you did to get me back. You are more than a friend to us.”

“Richard taught me that to love someone means that you sometimes are fulfilled the most by putting their deepest desires above your own. I won’t deny loving him, Kahlan, but I still couldn’t be happier for both of you. To see you both together, and so much in love, brings me profound joy.”

Nicci turned her attention to Richard. She was looking serious to the point of disquiet. “I want to know how you could create a distant world on the other side of nowhere and send everyone there.”

“Well,” he began, “I read in the books on Ordenic theory that the gateway that was created could bend magic around in a way to counter Chainfire. That gave me an idea.”

He pulled the folded white cloth from his pocket. “See here? A drop of ink fell here.”

Zedd leaned in. “So what?”

Richard unfolded the white cloth. “Look,” he said, pointing to the two spots on opposite sides of the cloth. “When the cloth is folded, these two spots are touching. When you unfold it, they are on opposite ends of the cloth.

“The power of Orden is able to bend existence—in effect Orden is the bend in existence that is able to undo Chainfire and restore memory. So in effect, I used Orden’s power to create an impression of this world. Orden sent those people through the gateway to that other world that was actually right here in the same place, and then when I pulled the sword back out of the box and closed off the gateway, that other world is now on the other side of existence—just like this spot that was once touching the original is now on the other side of the cloth.”

“You mean,” Zedd said, deep in thought as he rubbed his chin, “Orden created a gateway that momentarily joined the two places in order to allow those who wished a world without magic to step across, and then it separated the worlds forever.”

“You’re a quick study,” Richard said, teasingly.

Zedd swatted Richard’s shoulder.

Richard took a few steps to lay a hand on Verna’s shoulder. “It was Warren who gave me the spark of the idea. It was he who first told me that the boxes of Orden were a gateway, a conduit through the underworld. I couldn’t have done it without Warren. He helped us all with his knowledge.”

Verna, her eyes brimming with tears, rubbed Richard’s back affectionately in appreciation.

Richard lifted the amulet he wore around his neck, the one once worn by wizard Baraccus.

“This amulet illustrates the dance with death. It’s about more than just fighting with the sword, or even about living life. This emblem also contains what I needed to go to the underworld, the world of the dead. This is part of what Baraccus intended for me to understand.

“But this amulet also represents that final movement of the dance with death, the killing thrust, that was needed to use the boxes of Orden.”

Kahlan circled her arm around his waist. “You have done wizard Baraccus proud, Richard.”

“You have done us all proud,” Zedd said.

Nicci’s blue eyes sparkled with her smile. “He certainly has.”

Zedd smiled in a manner Richard had not seen in a very long time. It was the old Zedd, Richard’s grandfather, advisor, and friend. Zedd spoke with quiet pride.

“What all those ancient wizards tried to do with the great barrier to the south, and what I, as First Wizard, tried to do with the boundaries, you actually did, Richard.

“You eliminated the threat to prevent them from ever harming us again, but you left life for the future. All those children of those people will have a chance to learn from the mistakes of their parents and, possibly, they will learn and grow and rise above hatred of others as a way of life. You have given them a world to live out their hatred of life, a world to take into a thousand years of darkness, but you have also given future generations the chance for a rebirth of mankind there, who hopefully will embrace life and the nobility of the human spirit.

“You have given both worlds the gift of life, and you did it through strength without hate.”

The balmy breeze lifted Jennsen’s red hair as she stared at the ornate letter “R” engraved on the silver handle of her knife.

“Thinking about your brother?” Tom asked as he walked up to her, bringing her out of her memories.