Soul of the Fire Read Online Free PDF

down on one knee in the shallow water, resting a forearm over the other bent knee as he leaned toward the water.
    Juni lay facedown in the stream. The water wasn’t even deep enough to cover his head.
    Kahlan dropped to her knees beside Richard, pushing her wet hair back out of her eyes and catching her breath as Richard dragged the wiry hunter over onto his back. She hadn’t seen him there in the water. The covering of sticky mud and grass the hunters tied to themselves had done its intended job of hiding him. From her, anyway.
    Juni looked small and frail as Richard lifted the man’s shoulders to pull him from the icy water. There was no urgency in Richard’s movements. He gently laid Juni on the grass beside the stream. Kahlan didn’t see any cuts or blood. His limbs seemed to be in place. Though she couldn’t be sure, his neck didn’t look to be broken.
    Even in death, Juni had an odd, lingering look of lust in his glassy eyes.
    Cara rushed up and lunged at the man, stopping short only when she saw those eyes staring up in death.
    One of the hunters broke through the grass, breathing as hard as Cara. His fist gripped his bow. Fingers curled over an arrow shaft kept it in place and ready. In his other hand his thumb held a knife to his palm while his first two fingers kept the arrow nocked and tension on the string.
    Juni had no weapons with him.
    “ What has happened to Juni?” the hunter demanded, his gaze sweeping the flat country for threat.
    Kahlan shook her head. “He must have fallen and struck his head.”
    “ And her?” he asked, tipping his head toward Cara.
    “ We don’t know yet,” Kahlan said as she watched Richard close Juni’s eyes. “We only just found him.”
    “ Looks like he’s been here for a while,” Cara said to Richard.
    Kahlan tugged on red leather, and Cara slumped willingly to the bank, sitting back on her heels. Kahlan parted Cara’s blond hair, inspecting the wound. It didn’t look grievous.
    “ Cara, what happened? What’s going on?”
    “ Are you hurt badly?” Richard asked atop Kahlan’s words.
    Cara lifted a dismissive hand toward Richard but didn’t object when Kahlan scooped cold water in her hand and tried to pour it over the cut to the side of her temple. Richard wrapped his fingers around a fistful of grass and tore it off. He dunked it in the water and handed it to Kahlan.
    “ Use this.”
    Cara’s face had turned from the rage of before to a chalky gray. “I’m all right.”
    Kahlan wasn’t so sure. Cara looked unsteady. Kahlan patted the wet grass to the woman’s forehead before wiping away at the blood. Cara sat passively.
    “ So what happened?” Kahlan asked.
    “ I don’t know,” Cara said. “I was going to check on him, and here he comes right up a stream. Walking hunched over, like he was watching something. I called to him. I asked him where his weapons were while I made motions, like he had done back in the village, pretending to use a bow to show him what I meant.”
    Cara shook her head in disbelief. “He ignored me. He went back to watching the water. I thought he had left his post to catch a stupid fish, but I didn’t see anything in the water.
    “ He suddenly charged ahead, as if his fish was trying to flee.” Color rushed into Cara’s face. “I was looking to the side, checking the area. He caught me off balance, and my feet slipped out from under me. My head hit a rock. I don’t know how long it took before I regained my senses. I was wrong to trust him.”
    “ No you weren’t,” Richard said. “We don’t know what he was chasing.”
    By now, the rest of the hunters had appeared. Kahlan held up a hand, halting their tumbling questions. When they fell silent, she translated Cara’s description of what had happened. They listened dumbfounded. This was one of Chandalen’s men. Chandalen’s men didn’t leave their duty of protecting people to chase a fish.
    “ I’m sorry, Lord Rahl,” Cara whispered. “I can’t