"Richard Cypher, you are the true Seeker." "Your friendship and service over these many years" " have been a blessing to me, Matthew." "Beloved Creator," " may your light shine upon us." " I shall miss you." "My Lord, I fear the Keeper." "Your faith in the Creator will protect you." "Farewell, old friend." "My Lord, it won't be safe here for long." "Matthew was loyal, but not strong." "He will not withstand the torments of the Underworld." "He will reveal our hiding place to Darken Rahl." "We always knew that one day we might be discovered." "And if that day is today, let it be today." "Welcome to the Underworld, Matthew." "It's so wonderful to see you again after all these years." "You always were one of my father's favorite servants." "So tell me, where is the old man now?" "You killed your father years ago." "He must be here in the Underworld." "Yes, I did kill my father years ago." "So imagine my surprise when I myself arrived in the Underworld and discovered that he was not here." "But then I remembered that many of his retinue fled the palace shortly after I killed him." "I can only conclude that you somehow revived my father and then spirited him away." "I..." "I don't know what you're talking about." "Father once left me in your charge." "Do you remember?" "It was the day we found my pet kitten dead in the gardens." "And when you saw those maggots squirming out of its eyes you almost fainted." "Now, where is my father?" "Hello, Thaddicus." "What do you want?" "What I want is what I believe you want as well." "To bring death to the man who murdered your father." "The man who murdered my father was your father and you killed him years ago." "Somehow my father cheated death." "Just as he cheated everything and everyone in life." "Now I have finally discovered where he has hidden himself all these years." "Unfortunately, as I am a spirit, I, myself, cannot kill him again." "But I thought you might want to." "Even if I did want to ram a dagger into that bastard's heart, why are you coming to me?" "I'm not powerful enough to kill someone like Panis Rahl." "No, but your brother is." "Well, why don't you go to him?" "Because the great Zeddicus will not listen to anything that comes from me." "But maybe if he were to hear it from family..." "This is the longest the compass has ever pointed in one direction." "Who would ever have dreamed that the Seeker could go 12 days without stopping to save helpless children and distressed farm animals." "Perhaps it's a sign that we're nearing the Stone of Tears." "And then what?" " We use it to close the tear in the veil." "But how?" "Hmm." "My point exactly." "For three months, we've been going after this mysterious Stone." "But none of us has the slightest clue what we're actually supposed to do with it once we find it." "Richard has succeeded at every task laid before him." "When the time comes, I believe fate will provide him with the answer." "Oh." "Thaddicus." "Good to see you too, brother." "How did you find us?" "Our old friend Sebastian made me one of his maps." "Charged me for it too, the scoundrel." "I need to speak with you." "Alone." "For 24 years, no one's seen hide nor hair of Panis Rahl." "Now you know precisely where he is?" "Oh, of course." "How could an old fool like Thaddicus know anything so important?" "Let me tell you, Zedd, I'm a man of the world." "I travel, I trade, I meet people, I hear things." "You've never been able to deceive me, Thaddicus, so don't try now." "How did you learn about Panis?" "Darken Rahl appeared to me." "And you take that demon at his word?" "For all we know, he might be trying to lure me away from Richard for some nefarious purpose." "I don't think so." "He wants Panis dead as much as we do." "And this might be our only chance to avenge Father's death." "Even if you're right, Richard may be close to finding the Stone of Tears." " I can't leave his side." " Zedd, we swore an oath." "Father?" "Thaddicus?" "Where have you been all these months?" "You were supposed to be here." "You could have protected him." "What happened?" "He was murdered." "By Panis Rahl." "No." " No, that's impossible." " Are you calling me a liar?" " I saw it with my own eyes." " Saw what exactly?" "I came home to see you and Father arguing." "You said it, I haven't been home for months." "If for once you'd just listen to me, you'd understand." "You and Father were arguing." " the most brutal tyrant the world has ever known." "I couldn't hear what you were arguing about." "I didn't want to intrude." "That's why I came to the palace." " I was trying to warn you." " And then suddenly you drew a knife and began stabbing Father." "What are you talking about?" "I would never stab Father." "Will you shut your mouth and listen?" "!" "I should have tried to stop it." "I should have tried to help Father." "I couldn't." "And then I saw it..." "It wasn't you." "It was Panis Rahl, only he'd disguised himself as you." "Father died thinking I killed him." "Zedd, swear that no matter what happens, no matter how far apart life takes us, we will never rest until we drive this dagger into Panis Rahl's heart." "We promised each other, Zedd." "Yes." "Yes, and we owe it to Father." "But Panis is too dangerous." "I'll go alone." "Please, Zedd." "While Father was being killed," "I just stood there like a trembling lamb and did nothing." "Don't make me do nothing now." "You're leaving?" "Why?" "It's a family matter." "Zedd, I'm family." "And if something's wrong, I wanna help." "Nothing's wrong that Thaddicus and I can't manage on our own." "I'll catch up with you just as soon as we settle our business." "Business?" "What business?" "It's nothing to concern yourself with." "I'm sorry you had to leave Richard." "It isn't that." "Richard is well protected by Kahlan and Cara." "I'm just thinking none of this would be necessary if only I'd listened to Father." "Darken Rahl, future lord of D'Hara." "He has your eyes, My Lord." "Zedd." "You have been such a loyal friend." "And you've already done more for me than any man has a right to ask." "But would you do me the great service of teaching my son just as your father taught me?" "I would be honored." "Now relax, my friend, and enjoy yourself." "What are you doing here, Father?" "The Great Wizard Zeddicus Zu'I Zorander, bought for the price of a harlot." "I haven't been bought by anybody." "Panis is my friend." "Oh, yes, Panis Rahl was a great friend of mine as well." "Until I refused to teach him magic." "Then he set about finding a new friend." "In your day, Father, D'Hara was a land of gentle farm folk." "Now it is darkened by the smoke of war." "Magic is necessary to protect all of us." "And most especially our king." "So it's true." "You have taught Panis magic." "I am only teaching him to use the magic that already runs in his bloodline." "There is a reason why the magic in the Rahl bloodline has been dormant since they assumed the throne." "Our ancestors made sure of it." "Because no king should ever possess both earthly and magical powers." "Together they create an unstoppable force that can only produce tyranny." "Panis will not be able to resist the temptation to dominate everything and everyone in this world." "But he trusts me." "I will be able to teach him to use his magic wisely and justly." "Zeddicus, you know nothing of this family, or what it will become if you continue to do their bidding." "So now you have the power to see into the future." "Come home with me now, Zeddicus." "Before it's too late." "My place is here, Father." "I'm not going anywhere." "Carracticus." "My old teacher." "I've missed you." "Oh, I know we've had our differences in the past." "But on the occasion of the birth of my son, can't we put that aside and share a drink like old friends?" "You may have seduced my son into believing your lies, but I know exactly what you are." "And I will do whatever it takes to end the tyranny of the House of Rahl." "Father was right about the future of the Rahl dynasty." "If I'd listened to him, I would've been home the night he was murdered." "I would've been able to stop Panis." "You had important business the night he died." "That's what I told you then." "But it wasn't true." "Bad news?" "From my father." "What does he say?" "He apologizes for barging into the palace and disrupting your celebration." "Then he begs me to come home." "Says he wants to make peace." "The times have passed your father by, Zeddicus." "He was once a great man, but now he's just holding you back." "Yes." "But he is still my father." "And he does love me." "If he wants to make peace, maybe I should hear what he has to say." "You're right." "A man should make peace with his father." "Go to him." "Be with him." "And while you're there, tell him I would also like to make peace with him." "I'll return as soon as I can." "Have a safe journey." "I'll tell Princess Ariana you can see her next time." " Princess Ariana is here?" " Yes." "That's what I was coming to tell you." "Apparently, she grew quite fond of you on her last visit." "As I did of her." "Doubly unfortunate then that she's only here for one night." "Perhaps she's worth a short delay?" "My important business was bedding a young beauty." "I was so blinded by lust for power, as well as for Princess Ariana, that I didn't see how Panis was deceiving me." "Well, brother, you're finally going to get a chance to pay him back." "Maybe we should be looking for Zedd." "If Zedd doesn't wanna be found, we won't find him." "I just wish he'd ask for our help." "Richard, whatever business Zedd's attending to, it's clearly private." "We have to respect that." "He'll catch up with us when he's ready." "Help me!" "It's my life's work!" "The Sword of Truth." "You're the Seeker." "Just the person I've been looking for." "The Creator herself must have brought us together." " Why is that?" " So that I can join you on your quest." "Oh." "I'm letting my enthusiasm get the better of me." "Forgive me." "Horace Guildermayer, scholar and antiquarian, ready to fight and die at your service." "As difficult as it will be to succeed without you, we'll have to find a way." " But, uh, thank you for your interest." " No, no, no." "No, you..." "You don't understand." "After a lifetime of scholarship," "I have finally made a discovery of vital importance." "Hidden inside the Winding Wall of Valdaire is an ancient scroll." "It instructs the bearer of the Stone of Tears how to use it to seal the rift to the Underworld." "Seeker, without my help, you will never find the scroll, your quest will fail, and the world of the living will come to an end." "Am I the only one who finds it a little suspicious that we were just asking ourselves what we should do when we find the Stone and suddenly a mysterious man shows up saying he knows where the instructions are?" "Zedd did say when it was time, fate would provide Richard with the answer." "Maybe this is how." "We appreciate your help." "But if you told us where this wall is, we could find the scroll ourselves." "Well, I wish that were possible but it's not." "Long ago, the Order of Ulrich was assigned to protect the scroll." "One of the monks sealed it inside the Winding Wall for safekeeping." "He spelled the niche so that it could only be opened using a secret code." "But the key to the code was lost, seemingly forever." "Until now." "Using fragments of the monk's papers, I have painstakingly created this lexicon." "And with this, I have deciphered the code." " Well, then, you can teach it to me." " We haven't the time." "The Keeper's forces grow stronger every day." "Seeker, I am aware of the fact that I am now an old man and I do not wish to burden you." "But you need this and you need me." "Let's go." " Calm down." "What do you mean, "calm down"?" "Panis is in there." "Yes, and he's guarded." "They're just monks." "Armed monks who protected the evil tyrant all these years." "Stay close behind me." "Now let's find Panis." "Do you think you could hide forever, Panis?" "That's for our father." "It's not him." "What are you talking about?" "He used the magic I taught him to trick me again." "How are we gonna find Panis now?" "We'll search the monastery." "There must be some clue as to where he was going." "Let me save you the trouble, wizard." "After everything you've done, the death and destruction you've caused, do you think I'd listen to a word you'd say?" "For once our interests are aligned, yet all you can do is dwell on the past." "Really, Zeddicus, that's rather petty of you." "If our interests were aligned, you wouldn't have led us here to murder the wrong man." "Oh, I had no idea my father had gone from this place." "As I am unable to walk among the living," "I can only know what I'm told by the recently dead." "Fortunately, your vengeful rampage has provided me with a fresh supply of souls." "I've already tortured one into telling me where my father went." "We'll take no more direction from you!" "Then you won't want to know that Panis has disguised himself as a kindly old scholar and that he has gone to find his other son, my brother, your grandson." "Did you ever doubt that you would learn the secret code to Valdaire?" "No." "No." "My only doubt was that I'd live long enough to find you." "But when I last checked, my heart was still beating." "How about you, Richard?" "Do you ever have any doubts about the success of your own quest?" "Sometimes." "You have already saved the world from Darken Rahl." "And by doing that, I opened up a rift to the Underworld." "Now things are worse than they were before." "Richard, you succeeded once." "You will succeed again." "I hope you're right." "Think of it this way:" "How many men get to save the world with the woman they love by their side twice?" "Sounds like something my father would say." "Must have been a wise man." "What about you, Horace?" "Do you have a family?" "Two sons." "Are they scholars too?" "No, no." "No, they took very different paths." "Do you get to see them often?" "One of them is dead." " I'm sorry for your loss." "Oh, don't be." "He led a tragic life." "Well, what about your other son?" "He and I, we're not close." "But I couldn't be more proud of him." "Horace, wake up." " Oh, I've overslept." "I am so sorry." "I'm ready to go." "Unh." "It's all right, Horace." "Have something to eat." "It's Zedd." "Stop!" "Zedd, what are you doing?" " Out of my way, Richard." " Cara, protect Horace." "That's the man who killed my father." "Zedd, there must be a mistake." "This man is a scholar." "He's taking us to a place where we can find out what to do with the Stone of Tears." "He can disguise himself however he wants." "There's no mistake, he's Panis Rahl." "That can't be." "Zedd is telling the truth, Richard." "I am a scholar." "But I am also Panis Rahl." "Your father." "Give me one reason why I shouldn't let Zedd kill you right now." "I know how this must appear." "But everything I have told you, except for my name, is true." "Twenty-four years ago, I renounced my former life." "I took the oaths of the Order of Ulrich." "Since then, I have led an austere life of prayer and study." "I sought not only to uncover the secrets of Valdaire, but also to atone for my many and terrible sins." "Don't listen to his lies, Richard." "I am not lying." "If I had come to you in the guise of a man that the world only knows the worst side of, you'd never have trusted me." "Forty years ago, he charmed me into teaching him the magic he used to kill my father." "And now he's trying to trick you, Richard." "I did use the magic Zedd taught me to kill his father." "And that was just a terrible mistake." "I have been doing penance for it ever since." "But at the time, I thought I had no choice." "Before you allow him to kill me, and thus end all chances of finding the scroll," "allow me tell you what happened, and why." "If you have something to say, say it." "All those years ago, there was an awful secret that I kept from you, Zedd." "Your son's illness is not natural, My Lord." "His fever has been caused by a terrible curse cast from afar." "A curse?" "Yes." "And one that could only have been sent by a wizard." "Carracticus." "Send for Zeddicus." "He may be able to save your son." "No." "Let him die." "I let the disease run its course." "The child soon expired." "But I had a Mord-Sith revive him, and my son was soon alive and healthy again." "My father may have been a difficult man, but he was no baby killer!" "That's what I thought." "But who else could have done it?" "I decided I would ask him myself." "But knowing that he would never tell me the truth," "I decided to disguise myself as you." "Zeddicus." "Oh, I am so glad you've come." "Did you cast a curse upon Panis Rahl's infant son?" " Is he dead?" " No." "By luck, he survived." "How could you do such a monstrous thing?" "I'm sorry that I had to do it, but I'm even sorrier that I failed." "Have you lost your mind?" "The great witch, Shota, came to me with a prophecy that Darken Rahl would grow up to kill his own father and become the most brutal tyrant the world has ever known." "Now the baby's life has been threatened," "Panis will spare no effort to protect him." "Everything depends on you now, Zeddicus." "You're the only one who can get close enough." "You must go back to the palace and, horrible as it sounds, you must kill Darken Rahl." "I'm not going to kill him." " I'm going to kill you!" " Unh!" "Zedd." "I did what I had to do to protect my family." "I knew you would come looking for vengeance." "I sealed myself in my palace with my son." "That's just a story you've made up to justify your crime." "The real reason you killed my father is because you feared him." "He was the only man strong enough to end the tyranny of the House of Rahl." "Oh, Zedd, if it had been about power, I would have found some way to kill you." "But I didn't." "Why?" "Because, old friend, I loved you." "And I love you still." "Killing your father was a terrible mistake." "He was right." "I should have killed my son." "If I had done so, I would have spared the world all the pain and the misery and the evil that he has brought into it." "But, Zedd, you know how hard it was for me to become a father." "I could not sacrifice my firstborn son." "But I decided I would correct my mistake by siring a child who would destroy Darken Rahl." "And that child was you, Richard." "Now I beg you, son, please, let me help you find the scroll." "Lord Rahl." "Your sisters slumber so peacefully while the Keeper wages war." "Say the word and I'll rouse them." "The Mother Confessor and the Seeker are on their way to the Winding Wall of Valdaire in search of an ancient scroll." "You and your sisters are to get there before they arrive." "Lie in wait, but do not attack until the Seeker finds the scroll." "Once he has it, I want you to steal it." "Why do you want this scroll?" "It contains secret instructions for the bearer of the Stone of Tears." "If the Seeker has this scroll, he will defeat the Keeper." " Then I will get the scroll and destroy it." " No." "Once you have taken the scroll, it is the Keeper's wish that you protect it with your life." "Once you've gotten it safely away from the Seeker," "I will come and tell you what to do with it next." "Oh." "Yes, one more thing." "There is an aged scholar traveling with the Seeker." "I've sent the wizard Zorander to kill him, but if, for some reason, the Seeker prevents the wizard from killing this old man," "I want you to make sure that he dies." "My sisters and I will leave no survivors." "Consider it a victory if you manage to kill the old man and get the scroll." "This is the right section." "Now, the key is to read every fourth symbol." "This scroll belongs to you, my son." "I've done what I came to do." "I am ready now to pay for the crime of killing your father." "May the taking of my life bring you some measure of peace." "What are you doing?" "Zedd." "For decades, Panis and I have been carrying the same burden of remorse." "If either of us had listened to Father, none of this evil would have come to pass." "Not the reign of Darken Rahl, not the tearing of the veil." "It's time to end the recriminations." "Kill the old man." "Kahlan!" "She has the scroll." "Kahlan!" "Can you heal him?" "I can't remove a dacra." "It's all right, Zedd." "I have paid for my sins." "And I get to hold my son's hand one time before I die." "What more can a man ask for?" "You will find the scroll again." "You..." "You will defeat the Keeper." "Oh." "I wish we had more time." "So do I." "So do I." "But I want you to know, son, you have been in my heart from the moment I heard the prophecy of your coming." "Zedd, old friend," "I never thought you would make your peace with me." "I am humbled by your generosity." "It is time for me to join my other son." "Father." "Do your worst to me, son." "I'm ready." "Rise." "I forgive you, Father." "Do you forgive me?" "She took the scroll that way." "Home is in that direction." "I'm sorry I couldn't go through with it." "I think Father would have been proud of you." "Hmm." "Why didn't you ever tell me that Panis Rahl killed your father?" "Maybe because all the evil we've been fighting for so long is my fault." "Because you wouldn't listen to your father?" "Because you let Panis trick you?" "It's time to let go of that, Zedd." "Richard." "There's something else I've never told you." "Or anyone." "The first lesson my father ever taught me was that a wizard commits his greatest crime not when he attempts to do the work of the Keeper." "The greatest sin of all is when a wizard attempts to do the work of the Creator." "What's wrong, My Lord?" "I have a problem of personal nature." "Although the queen and I have tried for years, we have been unable to achieve our greatest dream, to produce an heir to the throne of D'Hara." "As I have not fathered a child with any of the concubines that I have taken to my bed," "I know the failure lies not with the queen but with me." "If you help me with this, Zeddicus," "I will raise you up." "I will make you First Wizard of all of D'Hara." "You will have greater influence than any other wizard who has ever lived." "You will beget a son." "I unleashed the greatest evil the world has ever known." "Without me, there'd be no Darken Rahl." "Zedd, if you hadn't helped Panis, I wouldn't have been born either." "Still," "I can never forgive myself." "I know what it's like to doubt yourself at every turn." "But I've realized that if I stop and question every decision I make," "I'll never get anywhere." "All we can do is make the best choices we can and keep putting one foot in front of the other."