The Sword of Truth -5- Soul of the Fire by Terry Goodkind

Author:Terry Goodkind
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 0765344947
Publisher: Tor Books
Published: 2008-12-23T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 36

FITCH, HIS HEAD BOWED, could see Master Spink’s legs and feet as he walked among the benches, his boots making a slow thunk, thunk, thunk against the plank floor. Around the room, a few people, mainly the older women, sniffled as they wept quietly to themselves.

Fitch couldn’t blame them. He, too, was occasionally reduced to weeping at penance assembly. The lessons they learned were necessary if they were to fight their evil Haken ways-he understood that-but that didn’t make listening any easier.

When Master Spink lectured, Fitch preferred to look at the floor rather than by chance meet the man’s gaze. To meet the gaze of an Ander as he taught the horrors of what was done to his ancestors by Fitch’s was shaming.

“And so it was,” Master Spink went on, “that the Haken horde came by chance upon that poor farming village. The menfolk, with frantic concern for their families, had gathered together with those other simple Ander men from farms and other villages around. Together, they prayed to the Creator that their effort to repulse the bloodthirsty invaders might succeed.

“In desperation, they had already left nearly all their foodstuffs and livestock as a peaceful offering for the Hakens. They had sent messengers to explain the offerings, and that they wished no war, but none of those brave messengers ever returned.

“So it was a simple plan these men had, to go to the crest of a hill and wave their weapons overhead to make a show of strength, not to invite a fight, of course, but in an urgent effort to convince the Hakens to pass their villages by. These men were farmers, not warriors, and the weapons they waved were simple farm tools. They didn’t want a fight; they wanted peace.

“So, there they were, those men I’ve taught you about- Shelby, Willan, Camden, Edgar, Newton, Kenway, and all the rest-all those good and kind men who you have come to know over these last few weeks as I’ve told you their stories, their loves, their lives, their hopes, their simple and decent dreams. There they were, up there on that hill, hoping for no more than to convince the Haken brutes to pass them by. There they were, waving their tools-their axes, their hoes, their sickles, their forks, their flails-waving them in the air, hoping to keep those wives and children you’ve also come to know safe from harm.”

Thump, thump, thump went Master Spink’s boots as he came closer to Fitch.

“The Haken army did not choose to pass those simple men by. The Hakens instead, laughing and hooting, turned their Dominie Dirtch on those gentle Ander men.”

Some of the girls gasped. Others wailed aloud. Fitch himself felt a twist of fear in his gut, and a lump in his throat. He had to sniffle himself as he imagined their gruesome death. He had come to know those men on the hill. He knew their wives’ names, their parents’ names, and their children.

“And while those murderous Haken bastards in

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