Free Soul of the Fire by Terry Goodkind Page A

“before anyone knew it was poison.”
    “ Or the crops,” Kahlan added.
    Zedd leaned in. “And think of what more it would mean.”
    Richard looked from Ann to Kahlan to Zedd. “The Dammar River flows into the Drun. If the Dammar was poison, then too would be the Drun. Everything downstream would be tainted as well.”
    Zedd nodded. “And downstream is the land of Toscla. The Nareef is to Toscla as a flea is to a dog. Toscla grows great quantities of grain and other crops that feed many people of the Midlands. They send long trains of cargo wagons north to trade.”
    It had been a long time since Zedd had lived in the Midlands. Toscla was an old name. It lay far to the southwest; the wilds, like a vast sea, isolated it from the rest of the Midlands. The dominant people there, now calling themselves Anders, repeatedly changed their name, and so the name of their land. What Zedd knew as Toscla was changed to Vengren, then Vendice, then Turslan, and was presently Anderith.
    “ Either poison grain would be sold before it was known to be such, thus poisoning countless unknowing souls,” Zedd was saying, “or the people of Toscla would find out in time, and then couldn’t sell their crops. Their livestock might soon die. The fish they harvest from the costal waters could likely be poisoned by the waters of the Drun flowing into it. The taint could find its way to the fields, killing new crops and hope for the future.
    “ With their livestock and fishing industries poisoned, and without crops to trade for other food, the people of Toscla could starve. People in other lands who relied on purchasing those crops in trade would fall on hard times, too, because they, in turn, then couldn’t sell their goods. With trade disrupted, and with shortages driving prices up, people everywhere in the Midlands would begin to have have trouble feeding their families.
    “ Civil unrest would swell on the shortages. Hunger would spread. Panic could set in. Unrest could turn to fighting as people flee to untainted land, which others already occupy. Desperation could fan the flames. All order could break down.”
    “ You’re just speculating,” Richard said. “You aren’t predicting such a widespread calamity, are you? If magic were to fail, might it not be that bad?”
    Zedd shrugged. “Such a thing has never happened, so it’s hard to predict. It could be that the poison would be diluted by the water of the Dammar and the Drun, and it would cause no harm, or at most only a few localized problems. When the Drun flows into the sea, that much water might render the poison harmless, so fishing might not be affected. It could end up being nothing more than a minor inconvenience.”
    In the dim light, Zedd’s hair reminded Kahlan of white flames. He peered with one eye at his grandson. “But,” he whispered, “were the magic of the gambit moth to fail, for all we know it could very well begin a cascade of events that would result in the end of life as we know it.”
    Richard wiped a hand over his face as he contemplated how such a disaster might ripple through the Midlands.
    Zedd lifted an eyebrow. “Do you begin to get the idea?” He let the uncomfortable silence drag before he added, “And that is but one small thing of magic. I could give you countless others.”
    “ The chimes are from the world of the dead. That would certainly fit their purpose,” Richard muttered as he raked his fingers back through his hair. “Would that mean that if magic were to fail, with the weakest dying out first, the magic of the gambit moth would be among the first to fail?”
    “ And how strong is the gambit moth’s magic?” Zedd spread his hands. “There is no telling. Could be among the first, or the last.”
    “ What about Kahlan? Would she lose her power? It’s her protection. She needs it.”
    Richard was the first person to accept her as she was, to love her as she was, power and all. That, in fact, had been the undiscovered secret