Foretellers (The Ydron Saga Book 3) (9 page)

“Do you have any idea how soon that will be?” Darva asked, casting Pandy a glance.

The girl shook her head. “I suspect he’s still making up his mind. I can’t see with certainty. All I can tell you for sure is that he will come. And when he does… ”

She felt her face contort as a new vision filled her and she hesitated before she went on. This was like the morning in danTennet, but felt even odder.

“The man is crazy,” she said, shaking her head at what the vision revealed. “So his army will consist in part of aging farmers and young boys.”

The group stared as she ran a hand through her hair. Eyes wide, she looked at Bedistai. Staring pointedly, she continued, almost in a whisper.

“I’m not saying he’s nothing to worry about. Harad will bring a few thousand. But the greatest threat will not come from him. That one will come from east of Lake Ossan—real warriors, not the ragtag army Harad will assemble. If you value the ones you leave behind when you go to fight… ” She paused and looked at him intently. “ …you will remember this.”

“The girl is joking,” said Bedistai turning to Peniff for confirmation.

“No, she is not. I see it clearly in her thoughts.”

“I’m sorry,” said Pandy. “I know it sounds crazy, but I can see that much with absolute clarity.” Looking directly again at Bedistai, she said, “Please don’t forget this. This part is important. Unless you act promptly when you recognize the truth of what I am telling you, many will die.” She spread her arms wide to indicate the village. “Your mother will die. The old people and children will die as well.” Her voice dropped again as she begged, “Please remember.”

Bedistai looked from Pandy to Peniff and the thought gazer returned his look with a confirming nod.

“And you,” said Pandy, turning to Darva.

Darva’s brow furrowed.

“Stay out of it.”

“Stay out of what?” Darva asked.

“The fighting. When Harad comes to Mostoon, stay out of it. It’s not your fight.”

“If Harad comes to Mostoon, it will certainly be my fight.” Darva’s eyes widened. “I love Bedistai. I love Salmeh. I love these people. I will most certainly fight to protect them.”

“I’m sorry,” said Pandy. “I didn’t mean to offend you. But please… ” She paused and looked away for a moment.

“Yes?” Darva prompted.

Pandy hesitated a moment longer, then said, “I’m just asking you. Please don’t.”

“Why…? ”

“It’s something I saw. It’s not a certainty, so I’d rather not say.” She paused again. “Just don’t,” she concluded before turning away.

“When are you going?” Miened asked in a monotone dulled with resignation.

Peniff turned to Pandy and asked, “Tomorrow morning?”

Pandy nodded.

A howl in the night jerked Pandy awake. Eyes wide, ears pricked, heart pounding in her chest, she gripped the blankets and peered into the darkness. Although she knew the hunters could never follow her to Mostoon—not the way she had come—fear is an irrational thing and she soon felt the cold prickle of sweat run down her back and along her thighs. Pandy’s scalp, neck and forehead, even her palms and the soles of her feet, all felt alive as if thousands of moist insects were crawling over them.
It was just an animal
, she told herself.
Nothing to do with me.
Even so, the terror refused to subside.

The image of a man with a topknot and a moustache flashed across her mind, then vanished. It had something to do with either herself or her mother, she thought, but it came and went so swiftly, she could not be sure. Even as her trembling increased, the vision returned of how things could be if only she would act. From the minute she had shoved Roanna overboard, she knew it was for a purpose far greater than keeping her mother safe. Her foresight had failed to reveal what that something might be, but the elusive images that had danced in the corners of her mind ever since, taunting her, trying to take shape like a demon looking for a way to materialize, told her it was so. Now the vision was luminous, revealing faces and scenarios, names, locations and times. It showed her what changes she could make if only she would act. This was the time. This was the critical moment.

She drew in a breath and swiped her hair from her face. Tearing away the covers, she swung her feet onto the floor, then rose, knowing it was imperative she gather the things she would need and depart as soon as possible. If she were to wait until morning, Miened would prevail. She would tear at Peniff’s heart strings and emotion would triumph over reason.

Fumbling in the dark, she patted the table by her bed and located a spark stone. She felt for the knife she knew was there as well. When the blade’s edge nicked her finger, she drew back her hand and bumped the oil lamp, nearly upsetting it and spilling its contents.

She slowed and traced the knife’s shape with care, finally identifying the haft. A few strikes of its blade against stone created enough sparks that, in a matter of seconds, the lamp was burning brightly. Only a few more minutes passed before Pandy was shouldering her pack and was striding through the village towards the house where Peniff was sleeping. As welcoming as the Haroun had been, as well as Salmeh, Bedistai and the others had cared for her, Mostoon was not her home. It was only a place to bide her time until this moment arrived. It seemed she could not walk fast enough and she broke into a trot.

When she arrived at the cottage, she eased the door open. The fragrance of dinner still hung in the air. Over the susurrus of sleepers breathing, she heard a man’s snores and suspected they were Peniff’s. She made her way toward him, taking care not to wake the others.

“Peniff,” she whispered as she knelt by his bed. She put a hand on his shoulder and shook it. “Peniff, wake up,” she murmured and shook him again.

The snoring stopped and she heard, more than saw him roll toward her.

“Who… ?” he began, louder than she would have preferred.

She covered his mouth and whispered, “It’s Pandy.”

He was quiet for a moment. Then, as her eyes adjusted, she saw him sit up. He inhaled and began to respond, but she silenced him again.

“Shhh! I have to go.”

“Go?” he replied in a voice thick with sleep. “You can’t leave now. It’s late. Tomorrow morning… ”

“If I don’t leave tonight… ” She stopped and corrected herself. “If I don’t leave
now
, it will be too late.”

“I don’t understand. Can’t you wait until morning?”

“Peniff?” called Miened. “What’s the matter? Is someone there?”

“It’s nothing, Miened. It’s just Pandy. Please go back to sleep.”

“Pandy?” said Miened and Pandy heard the rustle of covers. “Are you alright, child?”

“I’m fine,” Pandy said. Then, lowering her voice, she told Peniff, “I have to go.”

Without waiting for a reply, she shouldered her pack and rose.

“Wait,” Peniff said. “I’m coming with you.”

“Peniff? What do you mean?” cried Miened. “You can’t go now.”

“Mommy?” a child called.

“Peniff!” Miened pleaded as he rose from his bed, “Please don’t go. What about us?”

Everything was becoming complicated and the moment was slipping away. Pandy was almost at the door when Peniff said, “Wait outside. I’ll be dressed in a minute.”

As the voices grew louder, Pandy closed the door behind her. In the cool of the night, she studied the silhouettes of houses against the panoply of stars. It only took her seconds to determine what direction she would take. She was about to set off when a dark form, larger than the house, towered in front of her.

Pandy gasped.

“Don’t be afraid,” Peniff said as he emerged. In a voice filled with kindness and amusement, he explained, “It’s an endath.”

“An endath?” she said, having forgotten all about them.

“Her name is Chossen. She carried me here from Liad-nur and I suspect she has come to take me back again. I suspect yours will be along any minute.”

“Mine?” When he didn’t reply, she said, “I don’t understand. Do you mean I have an endath as well?”

“I do. Have you ever met one?”

“I suppose. Yes. I rode one into Mostoon,” she said.

“That’s not the same as meeting one.”

He explained how endaths are empathic creatures, how they can anticipate a person’s needs. “They interact with people on a personal level. Chossen and I have grown very close. She’s saved my life on more than one occasion and I suspect she will do it again if the need arises.”

He stepped forward and patted the beast, then continued.

“I have been thinking about our journey ever since we first discussed it. I’m sure she’s been anticipating our departure ever since.”

The door to the cottage burst open and Miened appeared. The light from a lamp inside showed she was wrapped in a blanket.

“I’m going to get Bedistai,” she blurted in a voice choked with tears. “Maybe he can talk some sense into you.”

Stifling a sob, she turned and ran off.

“I really have to go,” said Pandy when Miened was gone.

“You’re afraid you won’t get there in time,” said Peniff. “You’re afraid that if you don’t cover enough ground or somehow get delayed, the opportunity you see will pass.”

Pandy nodded, adding, “Yes,” when she thought he might not see her head bob.

“But what if you could cover ground faster and get where you’re going long before you can on foot? What then?”

Pandy stopped to consider, then admitted, “I don’t know.”

“Look ahead,” said Peniff. “See if the outcome changes.”

“I can’t. At least not yet. My mother could study alternatives, but I haven’t learned how. Right now, when a vision comes, I can see what will happen if I act on it at once.”

“And the vision you are having is starting to change, perhaps fade, because you haven’t yet departed.”

“Yes. That’s why I have to go now.”

Again she started to leave, but Peniff placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Consider this. What if you were suddenly to be taken farther along your journey than you could have managed on foot, even if you had departed the very moment the vision appeared? Don’t you think it would return? Don’t you think it would begin to grow bright again?”

Pandy paused to consider, then replied, “I suppose.”

“That is what I am proposing. Wait a few minutes and the endaths and I will take you.”

Broodik and Halli appeared. They ran to their father and wrapped their arms around him.

“Don’t go,” Halli begged.

In the glow from the cottage, Pandy watched as Peniff dropped to his knees and returned their embraces.

“I have to stop the men who put you and Mommy in prison,” he told them.

“I thought he was dead,” said Broodik.

Peniff shook his head. “I don’t mean Sabed Orr. I’m talking about the man who hired Orr and the other one who took you to him. The first is the warlord, Hath Kael, and the second is named Harad. If Pandy and I don’t leave tonight and do what we must, they will continue to do bad things.”

“Pandy’s just a girl,” sneered Broodik, glancing back at her. “What can she do?”

“Girls can do a great deal,” said Peniff. “And Pandy is very special. We can do a great deal together. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life worrying if you and your mother are safe.” He paused, looked each child in the eye, then added, “Once, before you two were born, there was a time when the whole world was at peace. There was none of this fighting. I want to do what I can to get us back to those days. Does that make sense?”

There was a pause, then both children nodded.

“I promise I’ll come back as soon as I’m finished. After that, I won’t ever leave you again.”

“Mommy says that the bad man who took us is going to come to Mostoon and hurt everyone,” said Halli.

“That one is Harad,” said Peniff, “and it’s me and Pandy that he wants. I think if we go, he will follow us and leave Mostoon alone.”

“So Miened is right,” a man’s voice interrupted.

The four turned to look and Pandy recognized Bedistai and the woman named Darva. A short distance behind them stood Miened, clasping her blanket tightly to her bosom. Her head was down and, in the glow, Pandy could see her glaring at them beneath tightly knitted brows.

“It’s as we discussed,” Peniff said.

“I wish I could accompany you,” replied Bedistai and Miened’s jaw dropped as she glanced from the Haroun to her husband.

“Those were serious wounds,” Peniff said. “You’re lucky to still be alive.”

Darva approached and leaned against Bedistai. She held his arm with both hands and gazed up at him.

Placing a hand on one of hers, he said, “The girl needs an endath and one is waiting.” Turning to Pandy he said, “Shall I bring him to you?”

“Really?” said Pandy, then, “Oh, yes! Would you?”

Darva added, “While you and Tuweh get acquainted—that’s his name—I’ll put some provisions together. Salmeh and Bedistai have packed certain items already. Even though it’s late, I think I can rouse Salmeh and persuade a couple of other women to help.” She turned to Peniff adding, “That way, you and Pandy can be gone within the hour.”

At that remark, Miened whirled and vanished between the houses. Pandy started after her, but Peniff held her back.

“I don’t know if she will accept our leaving and that’s unfortunate.”

Pandy nodded. “I wish there was something I could say,” she said, feeling helpless in the face of Miened’s distress.

“We both do,” said Peniff, holding his mouth tight. “I wish I could stay, and in another time I could. But these days are difficult with no easy solutions.”