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only to run into another blow.
We don t get to choose the way of the world. We have to deal with it as we
find it. So& deal with it. You don t have the luxury of waiting for things to
be perfect.
Rahl forced himself back into a defensive posture.
Don t fight the darkness. Accept it.
Accept it. That was easy enough for Taryl to say. He had order-senses.
Listen& if you ever want to be more than a checker or a clerk& listen. Listen
to the darkness as well as the light.
Rahl tried, but, just as soon as he felt something, another blow struck from
somewhere, no matter how he tried to defend himself.
Feel& unless you want to die! snapped Taryl.
The padded staff jabbed Rahl s chest.
Rahl backpedaled quickly, taking a deep breath and just trying to get a sense
of the room, of the darkness.
There was a blur to his left, and he brought up the staff in a parry, actually
avoiding being hit. He stumbled and - took another blow, but grasped a brief
image of Taryl and dodged the next thrust.
Slowly, Rahl began to sense where Taryl and his staff were, and even more
slowly, he began to be able to block and to parry, to sidestep and to avoid
some of the sudden attacks.
He still took blows, but they were far fewer, as his order-senses
strengthened, and he was able to weaken the impact Of many of those that did
strike.
Still, his arms ached, and his legs burned. He was sweating heavily, and
breathing loudly, and still Taryl pressed him, but& he could sense where the
older mage was, and even the staff s position.
For all that, Taryl kept attacking, and Rahl was forced to defend& and defend.
At some point, he became one with his order-senses but still Taryl pressed.
Then, abruptly, came the words. That s enough.
Rahl could sense Taryl as the mage-guard moved to the south window and pulled
away the black cloth covering and opened the shutters. Then he walked back to
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Rahl, who was as much leaning on the padded staff as holding it.
Why did I do this? asked the mage-guard, looking at the younger man.
Still sweating and breathing heavily, Rahl stared at Taryl. After a moment, he
said, Was it to prove my shortcomings?
In a way, but not in the way you think. Inside, you were still arrogant. You
still are, but now there are some doubts. You have always had the feeling that
you could overcome anyone, if the odds were anywhere close to even. Rahl& the
odds are almost never close to even. Most times, the thieves and brigands and
the others you ll have to bring to justice won t stand a chance against you.
Some few times, it will be the other way. You have to understand, not just
with your head, that there s always that slight chance that you might come out
on the short end of the staff.
Rahl knew that. He did& didn t he? Except&
Have you ever lost a fight anywhere except here?
Rahl wanted to look down. No. Not really.
Would it have made any difference if you had been surrounded by three men
with staffs or blades in that darkness, rather than me? Until the end, that
is?
Rahl had to think about that. Until I could sense you& ah& probably not.
Oh, you could have killed one or two, but not all three, and that s an
instance where, if you re not totally successful, it doesn t matter. Ah, yes,
I killed two, but the third killed me.
Rahl winced. He hadn t thought that, and yet&
Good.
I meant what I said about fairness. Life is not fair. Some people have
ability; some do not. Some have wealth; most do not. Some are fortunate; some
are not. Horrible things happen to good people, and fortune often smiles on
the evil. That is the way of the world. A mage-guard s duty is no more and no
less than to make the world less unfair by reducing the unfairness created by
evil. But never think that you will make matters fair or just. You will not.
You will only make them less unfair and less . unjust. Taryl smiled ruefully.
Why else did I do this?
To force me& to become one I think that s it with my order-senses?
Exactly. You have still been thinking of yourself and your abilities as two
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