The Third Kingdom. Terry Goodkind

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СКАЧАТЬ ahead of us as well as behind. He said we were surrounded.

      “The soldiers pulled their horses around to shield the wagon. All the lancers formed an outer ring and lowered their lances toward the advancing horde. It was hard to imagine anyone trying to run up on those lancers.

      “At the same time, other men, in an inner ring behind the lancers, drew their swords. Yet others pulled battle-axes from hooks on their weapon belts. There weren’t a lot of soldiers with us and seeing how many people were rushing in toward us I wished there were more, but they were D’Haran soldiers, after all. Seeing all those big men draw their weapons made me think that maybe we had a chance.”

      They would not have been regular D’Haran soldiers. Richard knew that the men who had come from the palace with Zedd, Nicci, and Cara would have been men of the First File. The First File, led by General Meiffert, were the Lord Rahl’s personal guards at the People’s Palace. They weren’t simply the biggest and best of the D’Haran troops, they were the elite fighters. They were disciplined, skilled in combat, and prepared to fight. They lived for just this sort of duty. They had competed all their lives to earn their place at the point of the spear.

      “Zedd stood up in the wagon trying to see better,” Henrik said. “Nicci stood up too, growling in anger over having to stop working on healing you, Lord Rahl, saying that she needed more time. As people kept streaming out of the woods, all of them running toward us, Zedd told her that it looked to him like their time had run out.

      “General Meiffert told his men that he didn’t want to stand and fight, but it looked like they were going to have to. Cara suggested putting you and the Mother Confessor over the back of horses. She said she and a couple soldiers could run for safety while the rest of the soldiers held the horde at bay. Zedd said in a low voice that it was a bad idea. When she asked why, he said that the worst thing you could do was run from predators because it excited them to chase. He said that there were people coming in from all directions and they would run down anyone who tried to get away.”

      The room was dead silent except for the soft, sputtering hiss of the candle flames. Sammie sat frozen, wide-eyed as she waited to hear what had happened next. Even Ester had stopped working. Her hand, holding a poultice, floated frozen above Kahlan.

      “Then Zedd threw his hands toward the sky, sending up a flare of light,” Henrik said. “At first, as it rose high up into the air, it was only a spark, but then it exploded into a bright, sparkling fire that lit the countryside all around.”

      Henrik’s eyes brimmed with tears. “In that flare of light, we could finally see the thousands and thousands coming for us. I saw not only men racing toward us, but women, too. Most of the men had no shirts and were bare-legged. I didn’t see any of them with swords or spears or shields. A lot of them had knives, though. So did the women. Our men were on horseback and had much better weapons. I would have felt better about that were we not so overwhelmingly outnumbered.

      “The fire that Zedd had sent up started to die out, and it was getting harder to see all the people racing toward us. As they got even closer, he tried to send up another flare of fire to replace the one that was fading, but nothing happened. Nicci asked what was wrong. Zedd looked confused. He stammered and said that he didn’t know. So Nicci tried then, but it didn’t work for her, either.”

      Henrik swallowed again and looked down for a moment. Richard put a hand on the boy’s shoulder but didn’t say anything, instead giving him the time to find his words.

      Henrik cleared his throat. “When they were close enough that they would be able to hear him, the commander of the cavalry stood in his stirrups and yelled at the people running in toward us, warning them to stop, to stay back, or they would die. It didn’t do any good.

      “All the people had been silent up till then, but after the general told them to stay back or they would die, they started yelling battle cries, like they were eager for such a fight. It wasn’t the battle cries of soldiers, but some kind of shrill shrieks. It sounded to me like they were evil spirits charging out from the world of the dead. Their yells all jumbled together into an eerie howl that made my hair stand on end.

      “When General Meiffert saw that they weren’t going to stop, and we could see the knives raised, there was no doubt that they intended to attack us, so he ordered the cavalry to cut them down before they could get too close. About half the men raced away across the open ground while the other half shielded the wagon.

      “The cavalry sliced into the leading edge of the swarm, cutting them down like scything down a wheat field at harvest. Even though it was dark, there was enough light from the moon that I could see people falling in great numbers.

      “I was relieved, thinking that such powerful cavalrymen would cause the attackers to break and flee in fright. But then I saw that the enemy didn’t fear the men on horseback. Most didn’t even cry out as they were cut down. Even though the cavalry was slicing down hundreds of enemy, it seemed that for every one that fell ten more appeared out of the trees.

      “Then I saw the first man unhorsed. He was a big man, fighting fiercely, cutting down attackers by the dozens as he charged through the leading edge of the enemy. Unafraid, the people paid no attention to the danger and swarmed in around him as he was attacking. He hacked them to pieces as they came. His horse trampled a number of them. But he was overwhelmed by the incredible numbers pressing in on him.

      “There were so many people piling in that there was no room for all those who were trying to get at him. They swarmed in, climbing over the backs of others both living and dead, trying to be the first to get at him. People were trampled and crushed by their own kind. None of them seemed to care about the dead and dying. They only cared about getting at the man on horseback.

      “Despite how the soldier and his powerful horse struggled and fought, the weight of all the people finally dragged the big animal to a stop. Even as other soldiers raced to try to help him, hacking at the enemy to get through, I saw dozens and dozens of arms flailing, stabbing at the horse until it went down.”

      Henrik swallowed again, and again wiped at his eyes. “Then they all piled on the man like a pack of wolves. The thing was, they weren’t stabbing at him, like they had been stabbing at the horse.”

      Sammie frowned when Henrik fell silent for a time. “What were they doing, then?”

      Richard knew the answer. It had almost happened to him.

      “The throng seized his arms, legs, even his hair, and from what I could see it looked like they were all ripping into him with their teeth. They were tearing into him like a pack of wolves on a lamb.”

       CHAPTER

       13

      Sammie glanced at the bleeding bite wound on Richard’s arm. “Just like the way they were starting to use their teeth when they attacked you, Lord Rahl.”

      “It would seem so,” Richard said, waiting for Henrik to gather his thoughts and go on.

      Richard knew that what he was hearing from Henrik about the bizarre attack fit with what he had overheard from the two men who had attacked him. As he had been waking up, he heard them talking about the Shun-tuk eating people. He remembered all too well seeing human bones and parts of D’Haran uniforms not far from the wagon. He didn’t know how many more such remains there might have been out СКАЧАТЬ