"You be the hiders, I'll be the Seeker." "All right." "One, two, three, four, five, six," "Whoa." " seven, eight, nine, ten." "Come out, everybody." "Look what I found." "Oh." "Oh." "Can I hold it?" "Maybe it's a puzzle." " Maybe it's something magical." "Yeah." "You know why Zedd suggested we go back to Cowley Glen, don't you?" "Sure." "He's hoping our friends there have heard something about Darken Rahl's movements." "There's a lot of places where we might get that information, but only one place where the elder's wife makes Zedd's favorite rabbit stew." "He asked me to get the recipe." "So we're tramping up this mountain like a couple of pack mules to fill Zedd's belly?" "Do you hear that?" "I don't hear anything." "Exactly." "Not even birds." "Dead." "All of them." "But how?" "I don't know." "No weapons drawn." "There wasn't a fight." "Richard." ""By proclamation of Lord Darken Rahl:" "This is the fate of all those who give harbor and comfort to the Seeker. "" "They murdered all those people..." "Unarmed women and children." " just because they gave me food and shelter a few months ago." "Richard, Darken Rahl has been killing innocent people long before you got to the Midlands." "From the tracks I saw, the D'Harans who attacked the settlement weren't on horseback." "Those can't be the same ones." "Tell me, friend, who is it I owe my life to?" "Richard Cypher." "Huh?" "Then you must be Kahlan Amnell." "Something wrong?" "No, it's just that we've been fighting the D'Harans for so long, and now, to have the Seeker and Confessor standing with us..." "It's an honor." "My name's Garrick." "I'm the leader of the resistance in this valley." "That one is still alive!" "Command me, Confessor." "My name is Carver Dunn." "My unit was dispatched here from Azarith." "Why?" " The garrison at Grayson needs reinforcements." "The rebels in this valley have been growing stronger every day." "I appreciate the compliment." "Do you know what this is?" "The soldiers call them Whisperers." "The D'Harans have massacred four settlements in our valley." "My men found cylinders at all of them." " Do you know how they work?" "Dark magic." "Some say Rahl's sorcerers have captured the voices of Shadow People and bottled them inside the weapons." "When their screams are unleashed, they kill everyone within a league." "Rahl could wipe out every village in the Midlands." "Or at least terrify people into submission." "Four attacks all in this area." "They must be keeping these weapons somewhere nearby." "Maybe at the fort near Grayson?" "All the compliance missions are dispatched from there." "Compliance missions?" "We'll have to get into the fort and destroy these weapons." "No, the fort can't be taken." "It's too big." "Too many D'Haran butchers." "Or if we could steal just one of these Whisperers, we could wipe out every soldier in the garrison." "You'll report as ordered, get one of the weapons, and bring it back to us." "Yes, Confessor, I'll try." "But I'm afraid I'll fail you." " Why?" " Only certain soldiers are trusted with these weapons." "What kind of soldiers?" "Ones who enjoy killing." " Then you'll have to steal the weapon." " I'll do anything to please you, but I don't think I'm clever enough." "I'll be caught." "Carver, have you ever been to this fort before?" "No, I've never been away from my post at Azarith." "Then nobody here knows you?" "No other soldiers were sent from Azarith as reinforcements to Grayson?" "I don't think so." " What are you getting at, Richard?" " Please, call me Carver." "I'll report to the fort in his place, trick them into giving me a Whisperer." "Or steal it." "Either way, we use it to wipe out the entire battalion." "The D'Harans may be brutes, but they're not gullible." "You won't be able to bring your sword for protection." "And if they even suspect you're an imposter..." "Which is why I'll have to convince them I'm one of them." "Name and rank?" "Archer, third class, Carver Aloysius Dunn." "Only a Confessor could get him to admit to a middle name like that." " Keep going." "Commanding officer?" " Captain Jandor." " Attack position?" " Third pentangle." " Battle arms?" " Twenty bolts." " Wife's name?" "Um..." "Marta?" " Mary?" " Maris." "One mistake, and you're dead." "You need to study more." "The longer we wait, the more time the D'Harans have to massacre more people." "I'm ready now." "Not quite yet." "Blacksmith, it's time." "I'll do it." "You're sure?" "I've had worse." "I'm Archer Dunn." "My unit was attacked by the rebels." "I'm the only survivor." "Open the gates." "That's a very unfortunate story, Archer Dunn." " "Dunn. " There you are." "Let's go." "The rebels who killed my friends, I wanna make them pay." "Assign me to a new patrol so I can go after them." "You already had your chance to fight, but you abandoned your duty." "You should have fought to the death." "I'm worth more to Darken Rahl alive than I am as a corpse, trust me." "Haven't you heard, soldier?" "Lord Rahl has issued new orders." "He wants to send a clear message to our enemies." "D'Harans always fight to the death." "Cowards will not be tolerated." "You'll be executed." " I wanna talk to the commander." " Shut him up." "He's going to want to hear this." " You're making a big mistake, sergeant." "Gag him." "I have information about the rebels." "If he has something to say, I'll hear it." "But it better be good." " What do you know about the rebels?" " After they ambushed us, the cowards fled back into the woods." "I tracked them there." "I can take you to where they're hiding." " Did you know this?" " He didn't say anything." "If you ask me, he's trying to save himself." "I told him I wanted the bastards to pay for killing my friends." "He didn't give me a chance to say more." "He abandoned his unit." "There are..." "I don't need you to quote regulations to me, sergeant." "Tell us the location of the rebels." "I'll send my men to find out if you're telling the truth." "Lock him in the stockade till they get back." "This D'Haran is your new cellmate, Dror." "He's a coward, but he told us what we've been trying to beat out of you for weeks:" "Where to find your rebel friends." "You'd better pray he's lying, Dror, because if we find your friends, then we won't need you anymore." "Except to use your head to decorate a pole." "D'Haran pig." "Rebel scum." "Trust me, I gave them the right information." "Your friends are as good as dead." "And so are you." "We'll give Richard three days." "If he's not back by then, we'll need a plan to get him out." "They store supply wagons outside the gate here." "If we set them on fire, that would draw enough attention for one of us to slip in and find the Seeker." "Confessor?" "Is there anything I can do for you?" " When I need you, I'll let you know." " Yes, Confessor." "Is there something else?" "I feel guilty." "Because you've been confessed." "No, no, Confessor." "I felt this way for a long time." "Long before you used your power on me." "It's about the things I did, fighting for Darken Rahl." "Give us a moment." " I'm listening." " First," "I haven't sent any of my pay back to my wife in Azarith." " I gambled it away at dice." " You'll need to make up for that." "Yes, Confessor, I will." "There's something else?" "Before I was conscripted into the army," "I was a cook for a lord in our village." "It's all I ever wanted to do." "I never wanted to do anything else." "But Rahl needed every healthy man, so I was forced to join the army." "Confessor, I did terrible things." "I went on raids, even against civilians." "I burned houses." "I hurt people." "I k..." "I k..." "I killed some." "Well, that's what D'Haran soldiers do." "No, I didn't have to." "I could have run." "The night before we raided Araban, my friend Kerwin deserted." "He asked me to go with him, but I didn't." "I was too afraid." "Well, you're not a soldier anymore." "Maybe we can find a way for you to do some good now." "You lied." "You sent us into an empty clearing." "You could have gotten us killed out there just to save your own skin." "You probably tramped in like a pack of boars, and the rebels heard you." "I can track better than anyone in this camp." "There wasn't a fire pit, wasn't even a snot rag." "There was never anyone there." " I would have found them." " Oh." "You know what I think, sergeant?" "You didn't wanna find the rebels." "Because if you found them, you would have had to fight them." "Yeah, give him some." "These men are cowards." "They can't track." "They can't fight." "And if you don't want those rebels to kill you all, you need a man like me." "Those men you just bloodied are my best soldiers." "All three of them are your superiors." "Sir, it's not my fault they couldn't take advantage of the information I gave them." "Every good woodsman knows a noisy hunter never catches his prey." "I don't trust anyone in this fort." "They're all schemers, liars, thugs." "You probably are too." "This is a very dangerous post." "The most dangerous in the Midlands." "Every day, the rebels get more aggressive." "Every time we step outside this fort, our lives are at great risk." "So more than anything, what I need are men who can fight." "So maybe you are right." "Maybe I could use a man like you." "Sir, the men say you've got Whisperers in this fort." "Give me one and let me kill some rebels." "You got nerve, Dunn, but you need to slow down." "I'm going on a mission tomorrow." "I need a man to go with me." "Prove yourself, then maybe I'll let you have your revenge." "No one goes past you." "Yes, sir." "Whoa." "Off-limits." "Comfortable with your new weapon?" "Well, it's not the Sword of Truth, is it?" "But it'll do." "Dunn's getting closer to the captain than a fly on a cow's ass." "Ask around." "See if anyone knows anything about him." "Hyah." "Hyah." "Everyone's got a weakness." "When I find out what Dunn's is, I'm gonna crush him." "Look at that." "Elk tracks." "I'd say he was 600 stone." "Eight hundred." "They're fresh." "He knows we're here." "How can you tell?" "See how his hoof pivots a little as he caught our scent?" "He ran off into the brush there." "If only we'd been downwind." "Might have had venison for supper." "Sir, if I may, what's our objective on this mission?" "You wanted to know our objective, Dunn?" "There it is." "Grayson." "Hyah." "Ready to do your duty, soldier?" " Is that family aiding the rebels?" " And if they are?" "I'm ready to do whatever's necessary, sir." "Well, you're a hard man, Dunn." "I like that." "But we're not going to kill them." "We're going to feed them." " Sir?" " They're my family." "Look what your father's brought you!" "The last chicken in the Midlands!" "It's too dangerous for a soldier to travel alone in these parts, Dunn." "Too many rebels who'd like nothing better than the ears of a D'Haran captain to adorn their trophy belts." " That's why I had to bring you along." " Yes, sir." "Food's hard to come by in Grayson these days." "It's the last loyalist village in the valley." "The rebels are all over the trade roads." "So from time to time, I requisition supplies for my family, courtesy of Lord Rahl." "Naturally, it's against regulation to visit your family except on leave." "That's why I requested a posting near Grayson." "Of course, I'm not on leave, am I?" "I know all the other men at the fort." "They talk." "I can count on you not to say anything about this to the higher-ups, can't I, Dunn?" "I can keep a secret, sir." "If you don't, I can always hand you back to Sergeant Frye." "Sorry, son." "Your clumsy dad didn't mean to scare you like that." "I'm sorry." "Shh, shh." "Tanner jumps at every loud noise lately." "If I drop something, or a wagon passes." "The war's been hard on him." "He's afraid there'll be more fighting." "Fighting?" "Here?" "A few months ago, rebels attacked our village." "He saw some people killed." "His best friend's house was burned to the ground." "Do you have a wife, Carver?" "Her name's Maris." "She's in Azarith." "She must worry about you." "Soldiers forget how hard war is on their families." "Yes, ma'am, maybe we do." "Confessor, I found some blackberries, and I made these for you." "I usually use butter, but I could only find lard." " Mm, it's delicious." " There's more." "That's plenty for me." "Give them to the others." "Uh, Confessor, can I have a word?" "What's he still doing here?" "He's not making any trouble." "My men don't like it." "It's not up to them, is it?" "Forgive me, Confessor, but some of these men have had their homes burned and their families killed." "Do you know what the D'Harans do when they capture one of us?" " We aren't D'Harans." " They torture him and then they publicly execute him as an example to anyone else thinking of joining the fight against Rahl." "Now, my men think we should do the same to Dunn, so that the D'Harans fear us like they want us to fear them." "Do your people want justice or revenge?" "This is a magic whistle." "If you're ever afraid of anything, a noise, something in the dark, you just play the whistle and you won't feel scared anymore." "Go ahead, try it." "Carver, that's the first time he's smiled in three months." "I'm so grateful my husband has a friend like you to watch out for him now." "Sir?" "There's something that's been weighing on my mind." " Can I tell you the truth?" " What is it?" "Your chicken was much too spicy." "I appreciate the honesty, Dunn." "And I appreciate what you did for my son." "What the rebels did to him, your village, my comrades?" "I wanna make them pay." "Sir, I think it's time you gave me a Whisperer and let me go after them." "I can't do that." "But I've showed you I can fight, I can track." " I can be trusted." " I am beginning to trust you, Dunn." "I'm afraid we've run out of Whisperers." " Sir?" " Relax, Dunn." "A shipment is on its way from D'Hara." "It should arrive tomorrow." "Isn't it too dangerous taking the weapons through rebel territory?" "That's why they're being transported at night." "But even at night, the open roads can be dangerous." "The rebels will never see them." "They're going through the Rekuna Pass." " I have orders to question the prisoner." "I didn't get any orders." "You're right." "I don't have any orders." "But that rebel scum spit on me, insulted my friends." "I want a piece of him." "Thought you might like to give me a hand." "Got a visitor, Dror." "Your old cellmate, come to pay his respects." "What are you doing?" " I'm helping you escape." " Why?" "Because I'm on your side." "I'm the Seeker." "I'm sorry about how I treated you before." "I needed the D'Harans to think I was one of them." "Now, I want you to go back and find Garrick." "You know my brother?" "We're working together to stop the massacres." "You might need this." "How do I know this isn't a trick, so you can follow me back, kill my friends?" "Because I already know where they are." "A cave, about 600 paces southwest of the river crossing." "I need you to tell your brother a shipment of Whisperers is coming through the Rekuna Pass tonight." "If he acts fast, he can capture them." "If you're the Seeker, why not go after the weapons yourself?" "Because if I don't make bed check, the D'Harans will think I deserted and send a search party." "But the next guard doesn't come on duty until dawn." "You go now, you can reach Garrick and intercept the shipment before anyone knows you're missing." "Get his uniform on." "I'll try to slip away and meet up with you the first chance I get." "Come on." "You're late, Dunn." "I'm gonna have to report you to the captain." "No need." "I was just with him." "And he gave me this to share with my comrades." "Pays to make friends with the right people." "Plenty for everyone." "Don't shoot!" "It's me, Dror." "Dror?" " I thought you were dead." " Only taken prisoner." "The Seeker helped me escape." "It's good to see you, brother." "We've got work to do." "Who's the new man?" "Confessed D'Haran." "The one the Seeker is impersonating." "Let's move out!" "Confessor." "I wanna go with you and fight the D'Harans." " I wanna make up for the things I've done." " No." "No more killing for you." "Just stay here and make something to eat." "The men will be hungry when we get back." "Yes, Confessor." "I..." "Rebel prisoner's escaped." "I need men for a search party." "I'll find him, sir." "Captain, wait." " Not now, sergeant." "Sorry, sir, but you'll wanna hear this." "Tell the captain what you told me." "I was posted at Azarith two summers ago." "I met Archer Dunn there." "And that's not him." "I remember Dunn because another soldier at Azarith deserted." "A friend of his." "The officers suspected Dunn helped the man escape, but the other archers in Dunn's unit convinced the officers that wasn't possible." "Why not?" " Well, Dunn was too timid." "He was too scared to even snicker when the men were mocking the officers behind their backs." "They called him Mouse." "He was a laughingstock." "That was two summers ago." "Maybe your memory's cloudy." "No, sir." "I remember Dunn clear as day." "Scrawny, with yellow hair." "Confessor?" "Did you get the weapons?" "Careful with that, careful with that." "I'm glad." "Torben, the blacksmith, was killed." "I'm sorry." "Would you like something to eat?" "Get away from me!" "I'm sorry for the loss of your friend." "You're sorry?" "You're one of them, you D'Haran bastard!" "Carver!" "Carver!" "Carver." "I need bandages." "Confessor, thank you for giving me another chance." "He's dead." "This is ridiculous." "I never saw this soldier before," " not in Azarith or anywhere else." " You're calling Voss a liar?" "Sir, you know Frye hates me." "I thrashed him in front of his men, humiliated him." "He ordered this soldier to make accusations because he wants revenge." "A liar's excuse." "I am doing my duty:" "protecting against an infiltrator and serving Darken Rahl." "Captain, this man is an imposter, maybe even a spy." "It's time for him to get four arrows in his chest." " Dismissed." "But..." "Don't push me, sergeant." "Move." "You're confined to the garrison till I get to the truth of this." "It was cold-blooded murder." "Dror must be punished." "You think I'm going to let you punish my own brother for killing a D'Haran?" "After what those pigs did to him in their stockade, after they killed so many of our people?" "It wasn't Carver who tortured your brother or killed your friends." "He was a soldier in Rahl's army, wasn't he?" "He was Confessed." "He was a changed man." "And he wasn't even armed." "It's my duty as a Confessor to bring his killer to justice." "I'm not going to let that happen." "We have the weapons." "There's no need for Richard to spend another minute in that garrison." " We need to get him out." " Not yet." "We still have time before the D'Harans realize they've been robbed." "Pack up the Whisperers." "We're going to pay a little visit" " to the good citizens of Grayson Village." " Why?" "Grayson is filled with loyalists." "Let's see how they like it when Rahl's dark magic is used against them." "Those people are civilians." "You use the weapons against them, and you're no better than Rahl." "I won't let you do it." "Stay out of our way, Confessor." "I wanna believe you." " Your instincts are sharp, sir." " Don't try to flatter me, Dunn." "Swear to me on your father's soul that you're telling the truth." "I swear." "I trusted you." "I brought you to meet my family, even thought we could be friends, if that's possible in this cursed place." "So if you're lying to me," "I won't send you to the crossbows." "I'll kill you myself." "Captain." "Dunn's wife is here." " His wife?" " Yes, sir." "She's outside the gate, very agitated." "Claims she walked for days from Azarith to find her husband." "Says he left her destitute." "Insists on seeing him, sir." "Sir, I know that's against regulations." "Send her away." "You see, sir?" "Anyone else in this garrison would murder his bunkmate just for the chance to smell his woman's skin." "When she sees this man isn't her husband, it'll prove he's a liar." "Let's find out." "Carver." "Maris." "You abandoned me." "You haven't sent a penny home for your children." "How do you expect us to survive?" "You shouldn't have come here." "Don't they pay you?" "How much does he earn?" "Well, ma'am, he's only been at this posting a few days." "Well, he hasn't sent me money for months." "You selfish wench." "Who's watching our children while you're chasing after me?" "Captain, I'm sorry about this." "Let me get rid of her." "May have made quick work of you, sergeant." "I don't think Carver Dunn is any match for his wife." " "Wench"?" " You started it." " Did you have to hit me so hard?" " Richard, we have to get out of here." "Garrick's captured the Whisperers and he's going to use them to attack Grayson." "The village?" "It's full of innocent women and children." "Why?" "Revenge." "The captain's family lives there." " I have to warn him." " No." "He'll know you're a spy." "Go." " He's the Seeker!" " Hyah!" "Close the gates!" "After them!" "Hyah!" "Stop!" "Out of our way, Seeker." "Don't do this, Garrick." "Think about what we're fighting for:" "an end to all the suffering." "To stop us, you're gonna have to kill us." "Keep moving!" "Take them all!" "Get out of here before they kill you all!" "Stop!" "Or everyone dies!" "We're close enough to the village that all of those people will be on their way to the underworld too." "But I can still stop the Whisperer from releasing its magic." "So if you wanna save those people, then retreat." "Now." "All of you!" "What's to stop you from killing them anyway once we're gone?" "That's a chance you'll just have to take." "Run!" "You betrayed me." " But you're fighting the rebels." "Why?" " They were going to attack Grayson." "Why does the Seeker care about a loyalist village?" "My mission is to stop Darken Rahl, not kill innocent people." "Thank you for saving my family." "But my duty is to serve Lord Rahl." "I don't wanna fight you." "Then die where you stand." "No, stay back." "I could have used a man who can fight like you." "Do your duty, Seeker." "Finish me." "Go back to your family." "Maybe we should have kept at least one of the weapons." "We could have used it to attack Darken Rahl." "Nobody should have weapons like these." "Too many innocent people have already died." "The D'Haran captain wasn't innocent." "He would've killed you in a heartbeat if he had the chance." "He might still try again someday." "Why did you let him go?" "Why did you try to protect Carver Dunn?"