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to avoid stepping on anything that would make noise. He moved like a shadow. They tried to be silent as well, but with less success.
    After they had put a good deal of distance between themselves and the dead man, they all began to feel more confident that the man had been a loner.
    Not all the half people traveled in groups. Some hunted for souls by themselves, feeling they had a better chance to steal a soul if they were alone. Being greedy about getting a soul, they weren’t inclined to share, or wait their turn. When they found prey, even if they hunted in large groups, it was every man or woman for themselves.
    As skinny as the man had been, he was probably weak from hunger. On top of that, it was night. It was easy enough to fall in the darkness and be seriously injured.
    As exhausted as they all were, Kahlan knew that it was a mistake to keep going all night. Every time she thought of stopping, though, she remembered Richard lying in the bedroom back at the citadel. He had no chance if they didn’t find a way to help him.
    â€œHow much farther is it to the witch woman’s lair?” Cassia asked as she stretched to get a foothold high up on a jut of ledge.
    Kahlan realized that she wasn’t sure. She was having trouble thinking. With the weight of grief, she’d slept only in brief fits the night before they were to have the ceremony at the funeral pyre. It had been a long and sleepless night. With the long trek through the woods on top of that, she was near to dropping from exhaustion.
    She tried to think of how much farther it might be. After leaving Red’s valley home the last time, Kahlan had been distraught and distracted. Red had told her that she was going to be murdered within days. With the stress and tension of everything that was happening, to say nothing of the poison she and Richard were carrying within them, Kahlan hadn’t been paying a great deal of attention to where they were. Her thoughts had been elsewhere. She had simply followed along with Richard and the rest of them, unable to get Red’s words out of her mind, her warning that Nicci would kill Richard if Kahlan didn’t kill Nicci first.
    â€œI’m not sure, exactly,” Kahlan finally admitted. “The pass is in the mountains, so I don’t think we are likely to reach her for at least another day, maybe more. Sorry, but I guess I’m too tired to think clearly.”
    â€œFrom what I remember, I think you’re right,” Nicci said.
    â€œThat’s a long way,” Cassia said as she had to bend down to give Kahlan a hand in climbing up.
    â€œWe’re going to need to get some sleep, then,” Nicci said. “I would not like to be this tired when we finally reach her.”
    â€œI think you’re right,” Kahlan said as she reached the top of the rock.
    She took some dried meat when Cassia handed it to her. Once Nicci was up top, she took a piece as well.
    â€œIt’s easy to make mistakes when you’re tired, especially this tired,” Kahlan said. “If that man back there hadn’t been alone we could have had a time of it. With the half people one mistake would be the last and then we won’t ever have the chance to talk to Red.”
    Nicci seemed to be appraising Kahlan’s state of exhaustion. “We also really need to have clear heads when we talk with the witch woman. There is nothing more important than finding out if there is a way to help Richard. We can’t afford to make a mistake.”
    â€œThere is that,” Kahlan agreed.
    Kahlan tore off a piece of the dried meat with her teeth. It felt good to chew on something. Besides getting no sleep, she hadn’t eaten anything for quite a while.
    She realized that she was hungry. She supposed this would have to do unless Hunter was true to his name and caught them some rabbit or something. But she hated the thought of taking time for sleep, much less to cook a meal.
    She wished