To Be Chosen (22 page)

“I am not asking if you have difficulty seeing people in the nude or healing them of various sexual dysfunctions,” he replied, and then folded his hands in his lap. “It seems you have not been fully informed. Some mentors wait a year or more before discussing this topic, but I see no reason for keeping necessary information from you.”

“I am prepared to receive your instruction,” Sherree replied, wondering what
Barbara Cofer had kept from her.

“Talenteds are taught that Accomplisheds do not marry, and that is true. We do not marry nor reproduce. Any attempts by Talenteds to indulge in sexual activity are stamped down hard. It is part of the discipline. There are two schools of thought; I am of the old school. It is a point of personal pride that I do not behave as the commoners do, that through self-discipline I do not engage in sexual intercourse. There are a good number of Accomplisheds who subscribe to the same tenants as I. However, there are some who are sexually active and sometimes accept gratuities in the form of intercourse rather than coins. Do not look so shocked. I have read how you disciplined a number of male Talenteds who attempted to seduce you. Celibacy is required of all Talenteds, but is only suggested for Accomplisheds. The only rules are: Be discrete and do not reproduce.
You are young, from puberty to adulthood is not many years, do you really think those boys you humbled will remain celibate for two or three hundred years?”

“I never thought about it,” Sherree replied, she was shocked, and apparently doing a poor job of hiding it. The hypocrites! She brought her emotions back under control and tried to match her tone with that of her new mentor. “I believed Accomplisheds held themselves to a higher standard.”

Fenton nodded his head. “Then we are of the same mind. Those who indulge in such behavior lack self-discipline,” he said while producing a paper from the inner pocket of his cloak and handing it to her. “The Melody is titled, Childless, and it prevents reproduction. It works for both male and female Accomplisheds. If for any reason you slip from the firmness of your ideal, cast this Melody upon yourself.”

Sherree glanced at the paper and quickly put it in the inner pocket of her cloak. “I’ll not have need of this spell,” she said and then waited for her mentor to speak.

The Senior Practitioner leaned forward in his chair. “It is no longer my concern. I have given you the necessary information and it is yours to do with as you will. According to your records, you have great compassion, on people as well as animals, and many of your Instructors have written that you are destined to be a great healer.”

She felt the heat in her face, having not expected such praise, even if it was delivered in a flat tone and dead pan expression. “I don’t like to see people or creatures in pain.”

“What about yetis? They are creatures, you have not only seen them in pain, you caused it,” Fenton replied.

Sherree remembered the Battle of Bashierwood and directing, Wall Of Wind, at hordes of yetis, knocking them down so archers could slaughter them with arrows. “I don’t have compassion on the cause of pain.”

Fenton’s lips quirked up slightly. He almost smiled. “That is the answer I wanted to hear. This means I merely have to redirect your passion. Compassion will only carry you so far. If you feel too strongly for patients, over many years and many cases, especially those where the person cannot be saved, you will eventually become an emotional wreck.”

“I understand about the need for clinical detachment,” Sherree was quick to assure her mentor. This man was famous for his ability to emotionally detach from the suffering of his patients.

“You are my intern and what you learn from me is a reflection on me, therefore I will teach you how to divorce your emotions from the patient,” he stated and then sat back in his chair. “You had no problem with the suffering of yetis because you viewed them as the cause of the affliction. That is the secret. Do not focus on the suffering of the patient, focus on the affliction. Pain is a part of life, so forget about how your patient feels, he or she hurts, and that is that. Illness, disease, and injuries are my enemies and the patient’s bodies are the arena in which I face my foes, nothing more. I must conquer each ailment. Most of the time I win, but sometimes I lose, usually because the patient has waited too long to receive my healing or was not brought to me in time.”

Sherree was not sure she could ever learn to treat each patient as merely a battle arena, but she would certainly listen to the Senior Practitioner, and try to improve on her emotional detachment.

“Self-discipline and focusing on the ailment, these are the keys to being a success, and must be developed in you. Time and experience will strengthen your focus. Discipline we will work on every day,” he added.

Sherree knew the time spent with Fenton Chen would not be fun, but it would be educational. “Where do we begin?”

Fenton stood up. “We have patients to attend. You will treat the minor ailments while I heal the more challenging ones. After I see how you work, your cases will become more difficult, and I will guide you through the ones that are actually life threatening.”

Sherree arose and followed her mentor out of the room, down the hall, through several more doors, to where twenty nobles were waiting. There were a few Ducaunans in the room, but most of the patients seemed to be from other kingdoms. Clearly the locals still did not fully trust Aakacarns. Fenton quickly sorted the cases that would be hers and then the healings began.

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Samuel Cresh stood in the middle of a pine forest staring at the mummified remains of two Accomplisheds, one of which had been stripped of his cloak. It was possible that these Aakacarns had nothing to do with Serin Gell’s escape, but not probable. What he could not figure out was, if they were going to teleport anywhere, why here? A clearing less then twenty-five spans from Aakadon seemed to be a poor choice. Whatever the reason, Samuel wanted to be on the move, but Jeremiah Lassiter, the Senior Soarer, and his mentor, had other plans. He kept pacing the area, bending down, examining twigs, leaves, and who knew how many other insignificant things. Still, the Two-bolt Accomplished knew his business and Samuel kept his mouth shut and tried to appear patient.

“Sam, stop fidgeting and come over here,” Lassiter told him. The man was of mixed parentage, his mother Ecoppian and his father Taracopian, not that it mattered among the Aakacarns, but the combination gave him his father’s face and his mother’s skin tone and height. The Senior Soarer was clean shaven and a full head taller than his Fledgling.

Samuel walked over to his mentor and looked where he had been squatting. “What do you see?” the man asked.

“Pine needles disturbed, probably by Serin Gell and two other persons,” Samuel replied. He had visited the cell once occupied by the Accomplished of the Serpent Guild, collected samples, and had the report of how many Aakacarns were involved straight from the Senior Soarer who had been there.

“Your theory sounds plausible, but I want verification of the facts, not assumptions. Hunches and guesswork have their place in our profession but they can lead us wrong, so it is best to verify what we can when we can,” Lassiter told him.

Samuel pulled a vial containing a single hair from the inner pocket of his cloak, cast, Locate: Serin Gell, and focused the potential on the ground, rather than in a radius. He closed his eyes and sensed a hair beneath the disturbed pine needles. He placed a Da Capo in the Melody, opened his eyes, and kept blinking to keep focused on the target item while brushing aside the gray-green needles to get to the hair, and then levitated it up for his mentor to see. “Verification, this hair matches the one I retrieved from Serin Gell’s pillow. He was definitely here,” he announced triumphantly.

Lassiter chuckled at him. “How long ago were they here? What way did they go?”

Samuel eyed the area. The pine needles indicated the trio moved off to the north and that made him think of what places would be of interest to Serin Gell in that direction. Tinewood was a large town fifty-two spans to the northeast. Clover was forty-seven spans to the northwest. Fifty-two spans north of that town was the city of Bane located near the southern base of Mount Tannakonna and then realization struck him like a lightning bolt.

“What conclusion has widened your eyes?” his mentor inquired.

“I don’t know how long ago they left this place but I know where they are going,” he told him with certainty.

“Perhaps we should all be mentored by you, such a gifted Fledgling who can determine exactly where his prey is after a glimpse of the scene, but before we take flight to wherever you believe we should go, let us review the facts,” Lassiter said and there was amusement in his tone of voice. “We found these bodies because I decided to go north from Aakadon and cast, Locate: Serin Gell, with a Da Capo, focused
five spans half a radius to the north as we progressed, and thus I sensed the hair you uncovered long before we arrived. Once here, I cast, Time Of Death, to determine that these two Aakacarns have been deceased for fifteen and a quarter marks, which means we are not far behind our prey. Eight Aakacarns entered the cell and encircled Serin Gell. I killed three of them and Accomplished Julian killed the fourth. Five Accomplisheds vanished before my eyes, they appeared here, we know this because ours are the only tracks leading into this clearing, and two died due to the potential demands of the Melody. It does not appear anyone was here to meet them and they headed north on foot. Are you following me so far?”

“Yes,” Samuel replied. He never questioned the Senior Soarer as to why they were headed north in the first place. Clearly, their direction was more than a lucky guess, this man expected to find evidence of their prey. Even so, Samuel was sure he was right about where the escapee was headed. “I probably should have inquired why we came this way and admit it never occurred to me to establish the time of death for the corpses, nor did I consider whether there were people here to meet them. I saw the disturbed pine needles and assumed they walked out, it never occurred to me they might have teleported elsewhere.”

“Those are the things I was determining,” Lassiter said and gestured toward the horses. “Mount up and we can talk on the way.”

Samuel swung into the saddle and patted Salsa, his black Battencayan bred mare, while Lassiter mounted, Bio, his Taracopian palomino. On our way to where? Samuel wondered. He was about to suggest Bashierwood but the Senior Soarer spoke up before he could get the words out.

“We are going to Lamont,” Lassiter announced.

Lamont, why a city more than a hundred spans away? Well, Samuel considered, at least the trail north would bring them to within fifteen spans of Tannakonna’s eastern slope as they passed. “Why not Bashierwood?” he inquired, while guiding Salsa between a pair of pines. It was too much to hope his prey would stick to the trails, oh no. Serin Gell and his accomplices had to travel through the forest.

Lassiter glanced at him. “Tell me why you are so sure our prey has flown to Bashierwood and I will tell you why we are going to Lamont.”

Fair enough. Samuel was sure of his hunch and had no problem sharing it with his mentor. “Daniel Benhannon is from Bashierwood. Serin Gell must hate the mountaineer and is the vengeful type, so Tannakonna is the logical place for him to begin. Daniel’s family and friends live there and are vulnerable,” he told him, and then quickly added, “We can check it out on our way to Lamont.”

Lassiter eyed the treetops while the wind whispered through the pine needles above. After no small amount of time pondering who knew what, he smiled and nodded his head. “Not bad thinking. Serin Gell is vengeful, but it is not the strongest motivation in him. The greatest driving force in the renegade is ambition. I was his primary interrogator and learned some things that can help us figure out where he is likely to go and what he will probably do. Yes, he will eventually get around to revenge, but not before he accomplishes a few things first. Point number one: his potential is still shielded off.”

“How can you know that?” Samuel wanted to know. He had observed the same area as the Senior Soarer and found nothing to indicate one way or the other
.

“A Soarer is more than a hunter or tracker. We are investigators. Our eyes are trained to see things ordinary people tend to overlook. One of Serin Gell’s first priorities is to break the shield on his potential. If he could summon the necessary potential, he would have teleported away from the clearing rather than walk. Practically everyone knows Sir Daniel Benhannon is in Ducanton, killing him would break the shield, which is why some of our guild members are circling that capital even as we speak. But we know Gell did not go that way, unless he changes his route, although I do not believe he will. So, point two, Serin is headed for Lamont because it came out in my questioning that his Nest is there. A Nest is what members of the Serpent Guild call their personal base of operations.”

“You mean the way Randall Kamis is Aakadon’s Accomplished of Zoltair?” Samuel said to show he understood.

“Precisely, Serin Gell is the Serpent Guild’s Accomplished of Lamont, although in secret,” Lassiter replied. “Upon arrival, he will most likely utilize a crescendo to break the shield, after that it will become difficult to catch him. Point three: He is in the middle of a power grab. I learned during the interrogation that the Serpent Guild had one Five-bolt Accomplished, who is now dead, two Three-bolts, thousands of Two-bolts, and tens of thousands of One-bolts.”