Before he could touch Fand, grab her or even open his mouth, Fand and Renate were gone! A cloud of ochre smoke engulfed them. The air reeked of sulfur. Within the cloud Loren shrieked, “MOTHER!” Never had Pyre heard such desperation in a son’s voice. As quickly as it had come, the cloud evaporated. Pyre looked at Loren. Tears stood in Loren’s eyes and fear resided in them.
Pyre asked, “What just happened?”
With the back of his hand, Loren smeared his unshed tears away and said, “My mother has whisked Fand away to a place I don’t know and can’t reach. I fear her decision was colored by her guilt. Blast her, must she cling to her regrets? She was young, she was stupid. I am so worried for her. A woman her age in her condition should NOT do a Transferrance. It is not good for her or the baby she carries. What on earth did Resen say to Petran to convince him to try Regeneration in his condition?”
Pyre didn’t have any answer for these questions. All he knew was that Fand had vanished again. Would she ever return? Ever? He asked, “What happens now?”
For a moment there was only silence. In that moment Pyre saw panic in Loren’s eyes. He had never seen panic in his eyes before. In a low voice, that he struggled to control Loren said, “Best case, they arrive safely wherever that outpost is. Worst case, the pressure of Transferrance forces my mother into early labor, leaving all of them vulnerable.”
“Vulnerable to what?”
Squinting his eyes, Loren said, “Anything. There are forces beyond the Council Wall that we cannot even imagine. Some deep darkness has taken root, and change is coming. For good or ill, I don’t know.” Loren swore, then said, “I should have taken Fand to Dr. Kran, not my mother. When will I ever learn not to trust my mother?”
Uncertain how to answer this question, uncertain of everything, Pyre remained silent. He thought of Renate. Innately he had trusted her. Something inside of him, trusted her still. His eyes traveled over the cart’s interior. Renate spent her life helping others. How could she be a bad person? He said, "You don't mean that. I know you don't. Your mother wouldn't hurt Fand, she wouldn't I just know it. I've watched her care for Fand and for Petran. Her skill as a healer and her compassion are unequaled. Whatever she has done she acted from her compassion, not her guilt."
All Loren said was, "Mabye." He didn't sound convinced. He picked up the bloody sheets that Fand had been wrapped in and shoved them into a box. "We have to burn these." Suddenly the cart lurched sideways. Loren snapped the lid shut and shoved the box under the bed.
The door of the cart burst open. With nostril's flared and eyes wide Resen entered. So, he had broken out of the holding room. His eyes traveled from Pyre to Loren. He asked, “Where is Fand?”
An unusual hardness came into Loren’s voice when he answered, “With my mother.”
Through gritted teeth, Resen asked, “Where is your mother?”
Loren’s voice grew hard as well. “With Fand.”
Resen grabbed hold of the front of Loren’s robe and said, “You know what I mean.”
With a hard tug, Loren pulled himself free. “Yes, I do, and I am not at liberty to tell you where either of them are.”
Resen turned to Pyre. “Do you know where they are?”
“No.”
Swiftly, Resen’s eyes went back to Loren. “So you and your mother have acted independently again. Will you ever learn?”
Hot anger colored Loren’s face. He asked, “Will you?”
To Pyre, Resen said, “Tell me what happened.” It was a command Pyre would not answer. He met Resen’s angry gaze. A fresh fire of rage sparked in the Pathfinders eyes. He spat on the floor and said, “You will not tell me either Pyre. Is it appropriate for a vowed Apprentice to be in love with a woman? What is the penalty for that?”
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Still silent, Pyre did not drop his eyes before Resen. There was something hateful in the Pathfinder. It had not been there when Pyre first met him, or even when he rescued them out of prison. It had come during the time Fand had been broken, scarred and unconscious.
Resen continued, “You realize Pyre that you could be in a great deal of trouble. Do you really want to risk prison again?”
Finally Pyre spoke, “Of course not.”
Loren said, “Go on Resen. Tell on us.”
The animosity between these two men filled the tiny cart. Pyre was certain there would be blood shed, he only hoped none of it was his.
With the swiftness of a ferret upon its prey, Resen leapt at Loren. The two men tumbled backwards. The table crashed behind them. Vials, herbs, and containers shot into the air. The entire cart swayed. Cabinet doors sprung open expelling medicines and tonics. The air became thick with pollen and colored dust. Locked in each other's arms the two men were swinging punches high and wide. Some landed with a sickening crunch. They looked intent on killing each other.
Over the years Pyre had witnessed many fights. Fights between cocks, rams, bulls and men. This was going to end badly if he didn't do something. He threw himself into the melee, arms flying and pushed the two apart. Though he did get hit, their fury rendered their blows inaccurate. He shouted, “Enough. This stupidity will not bring Fand or Renate back. They will most likely need both of you to get out of whatever they have disappeared into. Now, put your differences aside and think of something besides your own stupid rage.” Much to his relief the two men both dropped back. Like two circling dogs, Resen and Loren eyed each other. Pyre saw hatred in both of them. They had a past, an old grievance. What was it?
Loren had a bleeding cut above his right eye and on Resen’s jaw was the deep red of a bruise in its infancy.
Backing toward the door, Resen said, “If anything happens to Fand it will be on your head, Loren!”
Pyre saw Loren choke back words his response. What had he wanted to say? In Pyre’s mind, the blame did rest with Resen, at least part of it.
Resen strode out of the cart. In the darkness, his step was silent. How did he do that?
Under his breath Loren said, “The bastard.”
“What do you think he will do?”
“I have no idea, but whatever it is, it won’t bode well for my mother or Fand.”
Pyre had the same feeling. “What do we do now?”
“We wait for word from my mother. She will contact me, she always does. But she can be very slow about it when she chooses.”
“Do you know where that outpost is that she mentioned?”
With his left hand Loren wiped the blood from his forehead. “No, until she mentioned it, I had never heard of it. My mother does not misspeak. She wanted me to know about the place, she just didn’t want me to know where.” Loren wiped his hand on his robe. The blood smeared across his chest. “If only my mother had been born male. So much has gone amiss because she is female and gifted. Gifts that have cost her much. Now Fand is paying too. I am so sorry Pyre. If there is anyway to get to Fand, I will do so. I fear my mother in her rashness has set another unfortunate chain of events into motion.”
Pyre said, “I am not so sure she has.”
“What do you mean?”
A strange faint light began to glow inside Pyre’s mind. He should be panicked, he should be hopeless only he wasn’t. The thing he had learned when he was recovering from his burns came to him. There was more to this life than what was visible. So. Much. More. Hope beyond his own capabilities took hold of him and steadied him. Slowly he said, “In my spiritual lessons I was taught that we can believe we are born to a purpose. It is a purpose that we must uncover as we live. Your mother continues to live out her purpose. If not for her, Resen and I would not have been able to return to the city and find Fand. Without your mother’s medicinal skill, Fand would have died.”
Bitterly, Loren said, “She still might die. They both might.”
“True, but I just have this feeling that I can’t explain, that all of us are moving toward something larger than ourselves. I don’t know what it is, but I have faith that good will come.”
Carefully, Loren considered his words before he spoke. “I pray that you are correct. It gives me some hope, and I am in need of that right now.” The pain in Loren’s eyes was obvious. His mother was all that he had. Pyre thought of his wealth of family. He had a mother, father, siblings, a home. He doubted Loren had ever had a home, or a father.
In the midst of the wreckage of Renate’s cart Pyre located a clean cloth and some cleansing herbs. He motioned to the Renate’s bed and told Loren, “Sit, let me clean your wounds.” He was not sure would Loren agree, but to his relief, he did.
Neither spoke once the wound was dressed. They both knew they needed to tell Appocca what had happened, if Resen hadn’t done it already. They left the cart and walked along the under ground river. Loren lit the area with an orb of light. Until today, Pyre had no idea there was a river down here. It wasn’t just a river it was a network of streams that broke in other directions. The air smelled of minerals and water.