Despite how increasingly difficult it was, Kahlan kept Richard in sight as soldiers attacked him. For many, he was the object of their wrath. He was responsible for the blasphemy against the Imperial Order. He was the one who had dared to think he could defeat the emperor's team.

He had accomplished the unthinkable. They hated him for it. They hated him for what they saw as his arrogance.

Kahlan supposed that they believed that he should have failed- deliberately if he had to-and then everything would have been fine. Failure was a talisman for such men, a grudge they kept close. It brought out their hatred whenever someone succeeded at something, at anything. Success had to be crushed. These were the brutes of the Order, steeped in the Order's teachings, being brutes. The beliefs of the Order, after all, needed brutes to enforce the faith.

As Richard steadily crossed the field, coming toward Kahlan, men continually attacked him. He cut them down with summary composure. He was methodical in the way he made his way across the field. Those who tried to stop him died.

"What should we do?" a frightened Jillian asked.

Kahlan glanced around. There was nowhere to escape. The Imperial Order Army was all around them. There was no route out. Kahlan, being invisible to most of them, could escape on her own, but she wasn't about to leave Jillian and Nicci to fend for themselves among such brutes. Even if she wanted to, though, there was the matter of the collar around her neck.

"We need to stay here," Nicci said.

Kahlan, knowing that there was no real way for them to get away, still puzzled at the woman. "Why?"

"Because Richard will have a difficult time finding us if we go far from this spot."

Kahlan didn't really think there was anything he could do. After all, she and Nicci both had collars around their necks. Jagang might have been hurt, but he was still conscious. If they tried to leave he would stop them with those collars-or worse. She was willing to test it, but not until she saw a worthwhile opportunity.

It was always possible that Richard would be able to finish off Jagang. Then they would have a chance-as long as Sister Ulicia or Armina didn't show up in the meantime. Jagang was a dream walker. For all Kahlan knew, he might have already used his control of their minds to bring them running to his aid.

Holding Jillian close, Kahlan glanced around. Nicci protected the girl from the other side. In every direction men were in a frenzy of killing.

Kahlan nodded. "For the moment we're safer here, protected by Jagang's guards. The way things are going, though, that may not last long."

All around men fought on. Jagang was on his knees, in the center of his guards, clutching his chest. Some of the guards had knelt down beside him to support him in case they had to get him on his feet and fight their way out. Other men shouted urgent orders to get a Sister. Other royal guards savagely slashed at the soldiers who came within range, trying to keep the mob back. The ground all around the emperor's observation area was becoming slick with blood and gore.

Kahlan stood transfixed, watching Richard.

Men from every side rushed in, trying to kill him. He moved among them as if he really were a phantom. In much the same way he had evaded blockers, he ducked aside when blades swung at him, sidestepped thrusts when he had to, slipping between men when they tried to wall him in. When he thrust his sword it was swift and sure and men died. He was a picture of economy of motion, never doing more than was necessary as he fought his way across the Ja'La field. All around tens of thousands of men fought in a noisy, tumultuous battle.

"I think we need to try to start moving."

"We can't," Nicci said. "If Richard can't find us, we're lost."

Kahlan gestured around at the chaos. "What do you think he's going to be able to do?"

"By now," Nicci said, "I would think that you would have learned not to underestimate him."

"Nicci's right," Jilian said. "I've even seen him come back from the world of the dead."

CHAPTER 36

Kahlan could only wonder at Jillian's claim. She now knew that the man could indeed start a war, but she didn't really believe that he could go to the underworld and come back. Watching the perilous turmoil unfolding all around them, though, she knew that this was not the time or place to discuss it.

She scanned the confusion of runaway violence, searching for a way out. If Jagang died, or even if he were only to pass out, she might be able to use such an opportunity to get Jillian, Nicci, and herself away from there. She wondered if it mattered if Jagang, being a dream walker, was unconscious or not. She worried that even in an unconscious state he might still be able to control them through their collars.

If Jagang did die or lose consciousness, and wasn't able to stop Nicci and Kahlan through their collars, there was still the matter of the vast army all around them. Kahlan was invisible to virtually all of the men around them, but Jillian and Nicci certainly weren't. Getting a woman who looked like Nicci and the tempting target of a girl like Jillian through all these men would not be easy. Nicci certainly put a lot of faith in Richard, though.

"Do you really think Richard can get us out of here?" she asked Nicci.

Nicci nodded. "With my help. I think I know a way."

Kahlan didn't think that Nicci was the kind of woman who would put her faith in a hope and a prayer. During her ordeal with Jagang she had never tried to latch on to delusions or false hope for salvation. If she said she knew a way, then Kahlan was inclined to think that there was something to it.

Off through a gap in the battle, Kahlan spotted Richard. He thrust the sword forward, running a man through before the soldier could complete the swing of his own sword. Richard, covered in the bloodred symbols, immediately pulled the sword back out of the man and on the backswing smashed the pommel into the face of the man coming at him from behind.

"This may be our only chance, then," Kahlan said.

Nicci stretched her neck to check on Richard's progress before again glancing to the confusion swirling around the injured emperor. "I don't think we'll get a better one. I think it's now or never. With these collars, though . . ."

"If Jagang is distracted enough he might not use our collars to stop us."

Nicci shot Kahlan a look that suggested how foolish the thought was. "Now, listen to me," she said. "If anything goes wrong, I'll do what I can to see to it that you, Jillian, and Richard have a chance to get away." Nicci held up a cautionary finger. "If it comes to that, you take that chance-you hear me? If it comes to that, don't you dare waste the opportunity I gain you. Do you understand?"

Kahlan didn't like that Nicci was thinking of sacrificing her life to give them a chance to get away. She also wondered why Nicci would think it more important that Kahlan live than her.

"If you promise that you won't even consider doing such a thing unless there's absolutely no other way. I'd rather find a way to get us all out of this."

"It's the only life I have," Nicci said. "I want to keep it, if that's what you're wondering."

Kahlan smiled at that and put a hand on Jillian's shoulder. "Stay close, but don't get in the way if I have to use a knife. And don't be afraid to use yours if you have to."

Jillian nodded as Kahlan ushered her in the direction of the Ja'La field where she'd last seen Richard. Nicci stayed close behind Jillian.

Before Kahlan had taken a dozen steps, Commander Karg, atop a huge warhorse, broke through the wall of combat behind them. The big horse snorted its displeasure at the men in its way.

The commander, leading a large force of royal guards, looked around in appraisal of the situation. Like the men guarding Jagang, these were elite combat soldiers. They were all big, powerfully built, and armed to the teeth-and there looked to be thousands of them. The violence they brought to bear was extraordinary to witness. They poured through the soldiers on a wave of blood.