Richard, Kahlan, Zedd, and Cara track down Denna, who took the compass needed to find the Stone of Tears. But Denna eludes them and escapes with a captive Zedd. In pursuit, Richard is suddenly crippled by a series of debilitating headaches, after which he encounters members of an order known as the Sisters of the Light. They reveal to Richard that he is a wizard and must immediately abandon his mission in order to train, or the unharnessed power will kill him. He agrees to accompany the Sisters to the Palace of the Prophets, even though it means abandoning his quest. Zedd convinces Denna to leave the compass behind and fake his death so as to prevent Kahlan and Cara from searching for him. But the two realize something is wrong and keep searching until Kahlan and Cara kill Denna and rescue Zedd.