Chapter 33
"Kyminn? They told me I'd find you in here. What the blazes are you doing up at this time of night?" Randen's distinctive heavy limp grew louder as he entered the Healer's reference library. The Herald generally used crutches – or Derris – to move about the grounds. But for times that he had to do a lot of walking within the walls, he resorted to a heavy contraption of wood and leather in place of his missing leg. From the weariness in his voice and the drag in his step, he'd been on his feet a lot that day.
Kyminn didn't respond and continued leafing through the book in front of him. He freed one hand to dig among the stack of books and papers strewn about and fished something out, pushing it across the table to Randen.
Randen lowered himself into a chair with a tired sigh and scanned the page. "Another Foresight?" The description was brief:
Sometime within the next moon (definite), within the next fortnight (highly probable)
Fire.
A wooden structure. Small. Smell of fowl.
Beneath the words, a sketch of a tall, woody plant.
"I don't get it," Randen confessed. "I thought your Foresights always included an animal actor. I don't see one on here."
Kyminn finally broke his attention away from the book. Wordlessly, he pulled back the page and, dipping his pen in the ink, added four additional words:
A Companion
Male
Unknown
Randen tried not to flinch at the chill that went through him. "Unknown? What does that mean?"
"It means that either I've met him, but didn't see enough to identify him, or that I've never met him before. I have no idea who it might be." Frustrated.
"I see. And all this?" Randen gestured at the mess spread out around them.
Kyminn tapped the picture of the plant. "This. I've never seen it before. When Mother and Grandmother started teaching me Healing, they made sure I knew as many kinds of plants as possible, not just healing herbs. Some plants are dangerous, or are perfectly fine by themselves, but can change how a medicinal herb functions. However, there are still several thousand kinds of plants I don't know. Hence…this…" A nod at the mess.
"That's a pretty tall order, Kym." Randen was dubious.
"I know. But I saw this plant clearly, and I think it will help tell me where. I've been able to narrow it down quite a bit. It was growing in dry, sandy soil." Kyminn cleared an area and carefully lifted a very large book into the cleared space. He handled the tome gently, respectfully.
"This book grew from notes created by a Healer several generations ago. They think it dates from around the founding of the Collegia. His name was Bear and he was a highly regarded herb healer in his day. His notes included details and rough maps about where each plant can be found in the wild. This book grew from those notes."
The book was a massive collection of maps, interleafed with lists of plants and trees. Randen, at Kyminn's nod, carefully browsed through the pages.
"These remind me of the map books we use to teach geography. But I've never seen maps quite like these." Randen examined a page depicting the area to the west of Haven. The normal lines of elevation were overlaid by coloured bands in browns and tans.
"They are closely related," Kyminn confirmed. "These show climate, temperature, soil type, and rainfall patterns. Information gathered from Healers, Heralds and Guard units over decades. A hill may have one kind of plant on the windward type, but a completely different sort of growth and soil on the lee side." Kyminn leafed back to a large map of Valdemar, tracing his finger over bands of pale yellow. "These are areas of generally dry and sandy soils, areas with low rainfall. Unfortunately, there's a lot more of those then you'd think." The last was tired.
Randen tried not to think about the fact that midnight was behind them and reached for a book. "Alright, what are we looking for again?"
"Not that pile, I've done those. I'm concentrating on the south and east. Those are areas that I'm least familiar with and are more likely to have the kinds of climate we're looking for." Kyminn flipped open one of the books and showed the Herald the table of contents. "Healers describe plants in very specific ways according to size, leaf shape, leaf pattern and so on." He scrawled some notes on a scrap of paper. "These are the terms you need to look for in the description. That will help you eliminate most of these."
"I didn't need sleep anyway." Randen moved the lamp closer and started leafing through the pages.
"Kyminn? I think I might have it." Randen was unsurprised to see how far the time candle had burned.
Kyminn carefully looked at the page in question, comparing it to his sketch and his memory. Finally, he nodded. "That's it alright. Well done Randen. Thank you."
"Now what? Still no idea which Companion is involved?" A rub of his weary eyes and Randen started stacking the books.
"Sorry, no. I am almost certain it's no one I've met though. Not much help, I've only met a couple dozen Companions." Kyminn carefully added the information to the Foresight record:
Torchwood (variant – Shrewnose Tree) – unusual, confined to dry slopes
Resinous tree
Zone – may appear singly or in clumps on or near southern border. Presumed to be more prolific further south.
"Derris will pass this through the Companions and I'll make sure this gets to the Circle. You go to bed. You've got a whole three marks before first bell."
Kyminn didn't argue.
X X X
In the far distance, a lone, unencumbered Companion adjusted his course, his stride lengthening. Sometime in the night, he crossed the southern border and carried on, deeper into Karse.
X X X
"KYMINN!" The voice cracked over the training ring. Equitation as a first class was better than weapons if you were an overtired student, but not by much.
Kyminn pulled Vik up, the shaggy bay more than willing to take a rest. Kyminn found he was actually tired of people yelling his name and tried to bury the yawn that crept out. Why not just a pleasant "Hey there!" instead?
Keren gestured for him to come closer and dismount. Beside her, Dantris snorted in…disapproval?
Kyminn silently slid to the ground, Vik's reins clasped loosely in one hand.
"You look like something the dog brought home. And you ride like you're hung over. What's going on?"
He opened his mouth to reply, but stopped abruptly when Keren threw up her hand. A brief 'listening' moment followed and the Herald's demeanor softened a bit.
"Dantris just told me. A Foresight involving a Companion?" At his nod, she chewed her lip thoughtfully. "Well, while there certainly may be times that you end up riding exhausted, I can't see it being something your job is generally going to require. In the state you're in, you're more liable to get hurt than learn anything useful." She jerked her chin at Vik, "Walk with me, we'll cool him out."
Kyminn was too tired to argue. They made their way slowly around the training pen, Dantris pacing silently at his Chosen's shoulder.
"Kyminn, Dantris brought up something interesting this morning." She looked thoughtfully over at the young Healer. "You're not a Herald."
"Thank Havens," he muttered, too tired to be tactful. The previous nights' labours had only been the latest in days that started before dawn and ended far past nightfall.
"So Dantris tells me," dryly. "Which begs the question – if you're not a Herald, and you don't want to be one, why…all this?" It took in Vik, his blue uniform, his fatigue. "Presumably you agreed to this, at some point or another."
"I think I did. I seem to remember agreeing to something, at some point," a rueful snort. Then, more seriously, "I had a lot of misgivings about coming to Haven. Have Dantris ask Jareth and Derris about it sometime. Frankly, I didn't see the point, didn't see any benefit and was perfectly happy where I was."
"So what happened?"
"To be honest, I've got no idea. At some point, I suppose that I changed. I do know that it started when Jareth pointed out that I might be doing myself – and others – a disservice if I didn't master my Gifts and make sure I was a properly trained Healer. That was a good enough reason to get me to Haven at any rate."
"And now?" Keren idly scratched Dantris under the chin, an attention he seemed to consider his due.
"And now…Healers wasn't what I expected it to be. For one thing, it was better; more open, more accepting. I learned a lot even though I was only officially enrolled for a short time. I admit, it was gratifying to know that my skills were up to standard. I don't think you'd understand that, because you're a Herald."
Keren's ironic look invited him to explain himself.
"Heralds train Heralds. I've learned it wasn't always done quite the way you do it now, but it's always been like that. Heralds always come here for training, and anyway, you've always got a Companion looking over your shoulder. Healers, well, yes, most Healers are trained here and that's encouraged. It makes sure everyone's training is complete. But it's not required. Some Healers never come to Haven, and – by and large – that's accepted. My mother never came to Haven and she's certainly a fully trained Healer."
"I'm not sure I'm explaining it well," Kyminn stopped to face Keren. "My training was two generations removed from Haven. It was certainly very thorough, but Grandmother's training was decades ago. Has anything changed in that time? Did something get overlooked? Watered down?" He made a weak, uncharacteristically uncertain gesture. "I wasn't sure I was fully, properly trained. Once I realized that, then I realized that I needed to be here."
Keren nodded. "Never really considered that. Our Companions, busybodies that they are, generally tell us quickly enough if they think there's something we need to know." That was acerbic. Dantris looked smug.
Keren indicated they should resume walking. "That gets you to Healers, it doesn't get you here though."
A sigh. "Believe me Herald, there have been a lot of mornings lately that I've asked myself the same thing. All of this is certainly not what I expected, and yet it feels like it's what I'm meant to do. Dantris told you about my Foresight," at the Herald's nod he continued, "Ever since I've started getting ready for this…project of Herald Talamir's, there has been a lessening of the…pressure I guess is the best way to describe it. My Foresight isn't pushing me to do something. There's less pressure on my shields. It's…hard to explain."
"And yet we don't usually send Healers into situations like this," Keren pointed out. "Generally speaking, Heralds and our 'shoot-me-now' uniforms do the bulk of the risky stuff and you folks clean up the mess. You seem to be reversing that trend."
"That thought has occurred to me." His tone was tart. "And I have no more desire to be a human pincushion than the next fellow. I think it's pretty safe to say that I have a far, far better appreciation of how very many ways the human body can get mangled than many new Heraldic Trainees. Randen's leg wasn't the first limb I've removed." The last was bleak. "Believe me Herald, my eyes are wide open. I have every intention of staying in the background and letting the Heralds do all the heavy lifting, but that doesn't mean I'm not willing to accept the risks."
He dug in his heels, forcing her to stop. His voice was almost angry. "Why is it so very surprising to Heralds that others, with different Gifts, care as much about Valdemar as they do? That we are willing to serve, are willing to risk? Tell me that if I spend my days with the army, Healing wounded men and beasts, selecting, training, and using my Mindspeech to turn out the best possible mounts, tell me that that that's not valuable, not the most possible good? I get to choose, Herald Keren. I do. And this is the life I choose." He blinked a bit, as though he had surprised even himself with his vehemence.
"Enough." She sighed. "Enough. I had to ask. There were…rumblings…that we had stampeded you into this project, that no one had even asked you if you were willing. Clearly you…" she broke off at Kyminn's expression. "What…?"
Kyminn shook his head, Vik's reins dropping from nerveless fingers. His eyes unfocused. "No…no…tell her no…not that alley, not now….fire…it's going to burn…"
Keren didn't touch him, although her fingers itched with the desire to shake him into articulate speech.
"Where Kyminn? Where are you?"
"Warehouse. On fire. But not the danger, not there. Nearby, in the dark. The Companion can't go there, there's too much fire…" his voice trailed off as he tried to verbalize the images.
"Dantris is telling the others. He says there's a fire in the rope works. They're moving the pitch barrels now, it's alright, they got the warning in time." Keren was steady, grounding.
"No!" He shook his head frantically. "More fire!"
The ground shook, or maybe it was in his imagination, yet he fell to his knees, trying to gabble out his warning. A searing shock of anguish. Silence.
This time, the earthshake was real, peals of the explosion echoing across the city. Keren was already on Dantris' back, flying for the fence before the echoes faded.
In the distance, a bell began to ring, a somber peal that drove all joy before it. Kyminn didn't need to be told what it meant. He knew. He'd known the Companion was going to die. He'd felt the loss score his soul even before the first peal of the Death Bell.
SCENE BREAK
He didn't remember climbing back on Vik and taking him into the city. He barely remembered the remainder of the day, tending burned and shattered bodies, relieving suffering of both human and animal patients. He didn't remember dozing off in the temple forecourt they'd taken over to manage the injured.
"Kyminn," the voice was rough, raw. "Kyminn." A hand shook his shoulder gently.
"I'm here. Who's next?" He blinked his bleary eyes and tried to climb to his feet. The hand on his should pressed him back down again.
"There's no one else. They've found all the injured. It's time to go back to Healers." Randen was splashed with mud and ash, the hems of his sleeves an ominous darker rust brown.
"Are they sure? There might be others…in the rubble…" Kyminn looked down the street at the smoking pile of stone that had once been a warehouse. A few nearby buildings leaned precariously and everything in sight was cracked or fire damaged in some way.
"They're sure. They called in Healers and Mindspeakers. If there was anyone alive, they'd know." Randen squeezed his shoulder in emphasis. "They're sure."
Kyminn nodded and let Randen help him to his feet. "Randen….I couldn't stop it. I tried, but my Foresight just wasn't enough. I'm sorry!" It was a choked wail.
"Shush! No, Kyminn! You're wrong! You did save them!" Randen gave him a little shake.
"But…there was a bell…and I felt it Randen, I FELT it!" Kyminn pleaded, searching Randen's face for understanding.
Bleak grief washed into Randen's face and settled there, etching lines of pain. "There was a fire Kyminn, at the rope walk. They moved the pitch barrels out and did their best to fight the fire. There were a lot of people saved." He hesitated, then stumbled on. "The building beside it…the owner was shipping lamp oil. By law, he should have stored them in a stone warehouse, with proper signs, but he didn't want to pay the extra silver. We also suspect the kegs weren't very good. The lamp oil fumes exploded. That's what you saw."
"I tried to tell them the Companion shouldn't go down the alley," it was miserable.
"She didn't Kyminn, she got the warning. She was trying to make sure the area was clear and when she got the warning, they didn't go down that alley. You saved them Kyminn, you did!"
"But…I felt them die!" Kyminn searched the Herald's face.
Randen sagged, "You did. There were two Heralds, Kyminn. Two Companions. Coming from two different parts of the city, they both responded to the fire. You saved one of the pairs. The Herald and her Companion. The other pair…" Tears streamed down Randen's cheeks. "The others Kyminn…were Jannen and Niko."
