"Richard Cypher, you are the true Seeker." "See how the deer changed direction when he heard us coming?" "Can you tell me which way he went?" "I don't see why I need to learn to hunt." "We're not in a temple." "We don't have slaves to bring dinner." "I'm here to protect you, Richard, not provide meals." "Kahlan's not above digging up roots." "Even Zedd's been known to do the washing now and then." "We all need to contribute." "Are you saying I'm not doing enough for you?" "Just tell me which way the deer went." "That way, where the bark has rubbed off the tree." "See, I knew you'd be good at this." "Get me a strong one." "There's no need to harm us." "Take that girl too." "Veta!" "And spread out so I can get a better look at the rest of you." "These men who attacked you, do you know who they were?" " Slave hunters." " And you didn't try to fight them?" "My people are called the Minders." "We mind the laws of the Creator, who teaches us that every life is sacred." "We love our enemies as we love ourselves." "Love them?" "I'd kill a thousand men before I'd let one make me his slave." "Think of all the battles fought over the centuries, all the blood spilled, all the victories won, and what has it gotten us?" "Only more battles and more blood." "The Midlands is a bloody place." "If you don't fight, even to protect yourselves, how have you survived?" "We're healers." "For thousands of years, people have come to us with their sick and injured." "And so we were respected and left to live in peace." "You're not at peace anymore." "No." "The passing of Darken Rahl, these lands turned to chaos." "A warlord named Caldor came across the mountains and captured our village." "Those of us who escaped came together in the woods." " And the slavers?" " Caldor's men." "When they realized we wouldn't fight, they came after us, to force us to serve their master." "Your camp is too vulnerable." "We saw some caves at the top of that ridge." "You'd be safer there." "We could escort you." "I know you're trying to help, but we've always been all right on our own." "May the Spirits be with you." "They don't want our help." "And we need to get back to Kahlan and Zedd." "I don't like leaving those people by themselves." "They have a right to follow their own beliefs." "The Seeker can't save everyone." "That's strange." " It's giving us a new bearing." " Which way is it pointing?" "Back the way we came." "To the Minder's camp." "Seeker, please." "Don't leave." "Caldor's men will be back." "Teach me how to fight so that I may defend my people." " What about your beliefs?" " My mother doesn't speak for all of us." "Some of us think the old ways don't make sense anymore." "When Caldor's fighters attacked our village, my father stood in front of them and he prayed for their spirits." "They slit his throat anyway." "I'm sorry." "I don't want your sympathy." "I want you to teach me to fight." "I'm not asking you to do anything you don't choose to do." "But if you wanna join Kur and learn to fight, we'll stay and teach you." "Kur, fighting is not the way." "We'll go to the caves." "We'll barricade ourselves." "We'll be safe there." "For how long?" "Till they starve us?" "Burn us out?" "Who will fight with me?" "You'd all rather stick to the old beliefs?" "Watch us get cut down and dragged away till there's nobody left?" "I'll fight." "No, Veta." "You know the Creator's will." "And I also know I don't want to die." "Or be a slave." "Do you?" "You lot will stay here with me and Kahlan." "Roga, will you let Zedd and Cara go with you to the caves and protect you until these people are ready to protect you themselves?" "We need to ask you something." "Do you know anything about the Stone of Tears?" "Of course we know of it." "It's in our prayers." "Today, the compass we're following shifted its bearing to your encampment." " Do you have the Stone?" "No." "We thought the Stone had been lost forever." "For all our sakes, I hope it hasn't." "Don't we need better weapons?" "These staves will do fine for now." "The slavers have swords and battleaxes." "What can we do with these?" "I used to be a trail guide on the other side of the boundary." "Sometimes there were bandits in the woods and all I had was a staff to fight them off with." "Nobody I guided through the woods ever lost a farthing." "One, two, three." "Strike." "You have to give it more than that." "One, two, three." "Strike." "Better." "But even harder." "You're fighting for the lives of people you love." "One, two, three." "Strike." "Kur?" "Kur, answer me!" "I knew no good could come of this." "I'm sorry." "What is it, Zedd?" "I believe these people are under a binding spell." "Very ancient and very powerful magic." " They were fighting when they collapsed?" "Yes." "This is the first time they've raised a weapon against an opponent." "That may be what caused the spell to strike them down." "I don't understand." "The wizards of long ago created the binding spells as a way of reining in the powerful forces that burn inside us." "Lust, anger, envy, violence." "Could be that this spell was put on the Minders to prevent them from raising their weapons." "If this magic is thousands of years old, how could it be affecting these people?" "Some spells don't die with those on whom they are cast." "They're intended to be passed down through the blood." "Which may explain your aversion to fighting." "We choose not to fight because we love the Creator and her works, not because of a spell." "Whatever the reason," "I think I can draw the magic into my own body, but healing all of them will drain me of my powers." "It may take days for me to recover." "And who knows what the consequences will be." "What do you mean?" "Ancient wizards were men of great wisdom." "They did not cast powerful spells for no reason." "We have no way of knowing what will happen to them, or me, if I remove the binding spell." "We have to risk it." "Thank the Creator." "And the wizard." "Don't thank me yet." "It's our turn to help you, wizard." "I'll take you back to the caves." "Can we fight again now?" "How can you even ask?" "You saw the price you paid." "But the spell has been lifted." "Kur, if you fight again and something happens, the wizard won't have the strength to heal you." "If we don't learn to fight, we die anyway." "You'll keep teaching us, won't you?" "This is not a game." "Your enemy's not going to just stand there while you poke at him." "He's going to try to kill you." "You have to try and kill him first." "Hesitate and die." "I brought you dinner." "Quick little bastards." "But not quick enough." "Thank you, but we never eat anything that's been killed." "Actually, I found them by the side of the road, where they died a natural peaceful death." "Cara, we're Roga's guests." "There's no sense to this." "It's one thing not to kill another person, but you have to eat." "I saw some winterberries growing along the path, down below the rocks." "We'll gather some." " Go after them." " They don't want our help." "As long as we're with them," "I'm not going to allow any more of them to be killed." "Go." "Hungry?" "Not particularly." "Don't you like winterberries?" "Maybe stuffed inside a crisply roasted suckling pig." "Try one." "You may be surprised." "Good, right?" "Roga!" "Take a message to Caldor." "Leave the Minders alone." "I won't let you hurt him." " I'm just gonna teach him a lesson." " Yes." "The same lesson you've both been taught all your lives, that violence will help you." "Do what you want." "I'm through with you." "Go in peace." "Serve the Creator and she will reward you." "We'll start again at first light." "Come on, Seeker." "Draw your sword." " A good soldier knows when to rest." " Caldor's men aren't resting." "I wanna test myself against a real fighter, with a real weapon." "You're not scared of me, are you?" "Hesitate and die." "That's what you taught us, right?" "You've been paying attention." "Don't go so easy on me." "Nice move." "But know when your opponent has a better one." "Richard?" "What are you doing?" "What does it look like?" "I'm teaching him to fight." "You almost killed him." "He'll never learn to defend himself until he's faced someone trying to hurt him." "Richard, you just started training him two days ago." "I know what I'm doing, Kahlan." "Don't get in my way." " Did he hurt the boy?" " Mostly just scared the wits out of him." "But there was an anger in Richard's eyes I'd never seen before." "It's bitter and harsh." "Maybe you're just upset because Richard raised his voice at you." "You weren't there." "Had you seen what happened, you'd know something was wrong." " The Sword was glowing." " Glowing?" "Does that mean something?" "The magic of the Sword is fueled by the Seeker's anger." "With it, he's able to fight with the strength of many men." "The Sword only glows when the Seeker's anger turns to rage." "He was out of control." "Could this have something to do with removing the binding spell from the Minders?" "I don't know." "But I need to see him." " You're ready." " For what?" "I only planned to teach you how to defend yourselves against the slavers." "But you're better fighters than I expected you to be." "We're gonna take your village back from Caldor." "Am I wrong about you?" " Are you afraid to take back what's yours?" "No." "There's nothing we want more." "But to fight Caldor, we need better weapons." "The wizard can make them for us." "You won't always have a wizard to help you." "We'll get them ourselves." "How?" "If it weren't for Kur, we could all be dead." "Kur didn't hesitate." "He did what had to be done." "Grab a weapon." "It's time to go." "You were raised with the belief that no man's life is worth more than another's," "but I tell you today, the enemies we will face are not men." "They are the monsters who held your father and forced him to watch while they violated your mother." "They are the demons who forced hot coal down your brother's throat." "They are the ghouls who dragged your sister away and forced her to live in slavery, humiliation and despair." "Don't fight the rage." "Let it hold you in its grip." "Let it guide the deadly sweep of your sword." "Because it is the torch of rage that will guide your way to victory." "This is where he was training the Minders." "The slavers must have taken them." "They weren't taken, not with Richard to protect them." "But then where have they gone?" "This is for my father." "Follow them into the forest." "Hunt them down." "And kill them all!" "Our village has been desecrated." "Creator, forgive those who did this." "Tamra." "I never thought I'd see you again in this world." "Spirits be thanked." "The Spirits have abandoned us." "Never, Tamra." "Never." "She was taken slave by Caldor's men when they attacked our village." "You can't imagine what I saw." "Killing." "And the blood." "And it was Minders doing it." "Veta and Kur." "Slashing men to the ground." " My son, killing?" "Man after man." "His clothes were soaked with their blood." "It was the Seeker who led them to do this." "That isn't Richard." "There's magic at work here." "Caldor's men tried to run, but the Seeker killed them anyway." "Maybe he thought he had to." "These men are savages, slavers and killers." "If Richard let them go, they may have come back." "Kahlan." "Zedd, what is it?" "Inscriptions written in an ancient wizard's tongue, one I learned long ago." "There are more inside the temple." "We've never known what they meant." "If they mean what I think they do, then there's no telling what terrible things Richard may be capable of." "Find him." "Bring him back here as quickly as you can." "Cara." "If Richard is truly out of control, then maybe only Mord-Sith magic can stop him from using the Sword." "Caldor's main camp." "All those tents." "There must be a hundred men." "That's a hundred more souls for us to send to the Keeper." " How do we fight that many?" " We don't." "These are the men who killed our fathers." "We can't let them live." " We won't." " If we're not gonna fight them, then how?" "We're going to burn them while they sleep." "You all right?" "I'm fine." "Richard." "What do you want?" "You need to go back to the village." " All of you." " We're not finished with Caldor." "More killing only serves the Keeper and everything we are fighting against." "The Minders have their village back, you've taught them to defend themselves, isn't that enough?" "No, it's not." "Let's move." "Richard." "You're not yourself." "Put down the Sword." "Not until Caldor and every one of his men are dead." "Now you can stand with us or you can fight against us." " I'm not gonna let you do this." " Richard, no." "Cara." "Cara." "Cara." "Cara!" "There's nothing I can do for her." "I don't have my powers back yet." "You're healers." "You can help her." " Maybe I shouldn't." " What?" "Did the Creator give me the gift of healing so I could put a killer back in the fight, only to kill again?" "Isn't that a Mord-Sith's life, one long killing?" "You don't know anything about Cara." "And if you can save her, but you let her die, isn't that the same as killing her yourself?" "Take her to my home." "How could I do it, Zedd?" "How could I raise the Sword to Kahlan?" "Nearly kill Cara?" "How could I have slaughtered all those slavers?" "I have something to show you." "These writings tell the story of a bloodthirsty warlord who used dark magic to chain a clan of fierce warriors to his will three thousand years ago." "Through the chain flowed a storm of bloodlust and rage." "Together, the warlord and his warriors rampaged through the Midlands, leaving death and destruction in their wake." " Who was this warlord fighting?" " Anyone and everyone." "He was mad for blood and power." "Finally, he was captured and beheaded on the spot where this temple now stands." "The greatest wizard of that time, fearing that the warlord's bloodthirsty men would become chained to another dark master, put a binding spell on them that would cause them and their descendents to sicken and die if they ever again raised arms in violence." "Those warriors were ancestors of the Minders." "And when you removed the binding spell, they were free to fight again." "Yes." "And free to become chained to another master." "Me." "How?" "Why?" "Because, Richard, the madman that first put the spell on them was named Canton Rahl." "He was your ancestor." "We start with water, the foundation of all elements." "That's you." "To the water we add alum." "That's the Minders." "When I removed the binding spell, the Minders became chained to your will, but the water stayed calm as long as you stayed calm." "But then you added the magic of the Sword of Truth to the brew and that... was the vinegar." "Three elements, Richard." "Each of them harmless on their own, but together a catastrophe." "Because now that we're chained together, when I feel the rage, so do the Minders." "Yes." "Then to protect the Minders we need to break the chain." "Maybe if I got far away from them..." "Oh, I don't think that would work." "The chain seems to be like a Confessor's magic, which is broken neither by time nor distance." "So whenever I pick up the Sword, no matter where I am..." "Every time you use the Sword and lose yourself to your rage, they will too." "Then I need to learn to control the Sword again." "I don't know if it's possible." "The magic of the Sword may have become too potent." "But I'll do what I can." "It seems so unlikely, Zedd." "Of all the clans in the Midlands, I just happen to meet one that's magically chained to my bloodline?" "Nothing in this world just happens, Richard." "The compass pointed us in their direction." " Why?" " The compass is supposed to guide the Seeker's way." "Maybe that means more than just showing us where to go." "You think there's something I needed to do here" " to help me find the Stone." " Maybe." "Maybe there's something you needed to learn." "About your ancestry, about yourself." "Who knows?" "Maybe you were brought here to find an army to fight with." "Seeker." "Caldor's men, they're coming." "Always and again, killing only brings more killing." "Zedd, have your powers returned?" "Can you fight?" "I couldn't incinerate a fly." "Cara's hurt." "Zedd can't fight." "It's you and me and the Minders we trained against dozens of men." "Then you'll need this." "No." "Not after what I did to Cara." "We don't know if the Minders can fight without the Sword's rage fueling their courage." "Zedd, when I hold that Sword all I feel is hatred." "What happens if I use it in battle and the fury takes control of me?" "I can't trust myself with it anymore." "Not yet, anyway." "Then what do we do?" "My mother and the other Minders still have the binding spell on them." "You know they can't fight." "They just have to look like they can." "Halt." "The Minders want nothing more than to remain in their village and live in peace." "But if you force them to fight, they'll fight to the death, your death." "It's your choice." "It's your fault, Seeker." "These people were clever enough to know not to fight back until you came." "Now we're here to take blood for blood." "You've already tasted the wrath of the Minders and now you're outnumbered 4-to-1." "If I do decide to let you live, how do I know the moment we turn our backs, your peace-loving friends won't attack us?" "I'm the leader of this clan." "You have my word." "Only a fool trusts his enemy." "I know this woman, Lord Caldor." "She's telling you the truth." "I would stake my life on that." "I accept your assurances." "But you have my word that if any of your clan attack one of my men," "I'll be back with a thousand." "Every one of you will die!" "We need to restrain you so no one gets hurt while Richard and I work with the Sword." "I'm sorry." "I hope you won't have to stay here for long." "What if the magic's too strong?" "What if you can't control it?" "Then I won't use the Sword again." "How will the Seeker complete his quest without the Sword of Truth?" "Let the power of the magic rise within you." "Don't resist it." "I don't wanna lose control." "The rage is part of you, Richard." "Fighting against it only makes it stronger." " What do you feel?" " Anger." "At what?" " Everything." "That's no reason." "What are you angry at?" "Darken Rahl." "You've killed him." "You've used that anger up." " What are you angry at?" " The Keeper." "The Keeper didn't drag you into this fight, you released him." "What are you angry at?" "Losing my father and brother and everything I knew in Hartland." "Everybody has to grow up and leave home." "That's nothing for a man to moan about." "What are you angry at?" "I can't be with the woman I love." "Lots of people can't be with the ones they love." "Some of us have even lost our children and you don't see us flying into rages." " What are you angry at, boy?" " I'm not your boy!" "What are you angry at?" "Tell me, Richard." "Who dragged you into this fight?" "Who are you angry at?" "You." "Now we're getting somewhere." "All those years, you knew who I was and you said nothing." "You lied to me about being my grandfather." "You weren't ready for the truth." "You took me out of Hartland." "You named me the Seeker." "You're the one who gave me this damned Sword!" " Richard, no." " No!" "He has to stop himself." "I almost killed you, Zedd." "But you didn't." "You were stronger than the rage." "This time." "But you will master it." "As long as you have the courage to keep working at it." "It's yours, Richard." "And only yours." "If you want it." "Try again." "That's it, Richard." "Good." "Now let it go." "You've done well." "It's pointing due east." "The way we were going before it sent us back to the Minders." "Maybe I learned what I needed to." "I think you have." "The hardest people to break were always the ones who weren't afraid to die for their beliefs." "I think you'd be especially difficult." "Thank you for helping save our village." "I hope the Creator isn't too disappointed in us." "The next time you're about to use your Agiel," "I hope you'll remember that we defeated a whole army without spilling a raindrop's worth of blood." "What are you thinking?" "Just daydreaming, that's all." "You're actually trying to lie to a Confessor?" "When will I learn?" "I thought I knew Richard." "I watched him his whole life and only seen the good in him." " Until now." " There is only good in him." " It's the magic that's the trouble." " Oh, if it were only that simple." "Just a few weeks ago we learned who his real father was." " A Rahl." " He wasn't raised by a Rahl." "He was raised by George Cypher." "The Rahl bloodline carries with it powerful magic, and that magic is in Richard." "I wasn't sure until now." "Magic isn't always passed from one generation to the next." "But the only way he could have become chained to the Minders is through the magic of the House of Rahl." "He's still Richard." "He's still the Seeker." "Kahlan, there's part of the Minders' story I didn't tell him." "Canton Rahl, the man who first put the spell on the Minders, wasn't always bloodthirsty." "He started out as a protector and benefactor to his people." "But then as his powers grew, he began to fight and to kill." "The more he killed, the more the blood lust overtook him." "He went mad with it." "And now we know that darkness is in Richard." "But Richard learned to control the Sword." "He mastered his rage." "Yes." "He controlled the Sword today." "What about tomorrow?"