"Uncle B`rand?" 

"Yes sweetie?"

"Why did he do this to us? How come he hates us now. He didn't used to." 
the little girl asked. 

"Who Ley?" the rider asked. He thought he knew but wanted to see if the 
girl would tell him his thoughts on the matter were right.

"My'kel..." she frowned. "I always thought he liked us. But if he liked 
us then he wouldn't have messed up our apartment like he did.  Maybe the
other two were making him do it." 

"Do you know who the other two where sweetie?" 

"Those friends of his...the ones he's always with now."

"I don't think he hates you Ley," he assured her, though he wasn't sure 
what was in the boy's mind. "I just think he's a little mixed up right 
now that's all."

"Will you talk to him and tell him to stop doing these thing's to us?" 
the little girl turned in his embrace, her sweet little face turned 
upwards until her eyes met his. "Will you Uncle B`rand?"

"That I promise you sweetie," he told her and then tightened his hold 
around her. 

A sound alerted him that someone was standing in the door way. Turning 
he found the girl's Aunt standing there. 

"How long have you been there?" he asked her suddenly knowing that she 
knew.

"Long enough," she told him meeting his emerald green eyes. "So what 
are you going to do about it?"

He knew she was worried about her son. What mother won't worry.

"I have to tell them," he told her. "Dan'yar and the others... they have 
to know about this."

"I know." Thina replied. "But I want you to know... he wasn't always 
like this. He started to change when he joined with the Voger of his."

 B`rand nodded his head and then turned his attention's back to the 
little girl in his arms. 

"Sweetheart.. I need to go talk to your Papa and tell him okay? Your 
Aunt Thina is here and she's going to stay with you for a bit."

"All right...Uncle B`rand.. thank you."

He hugged her and then sat her back onto the bed. 

"You going to be all right little one?"

She looked up at him. A ghost of a smile on her tiny lips. "I will now."

"Good," he returned her smile and bent down to place a soft kiss on her
forehead, then he turned to go.

He found Dan'yar and the others in the main living area, with a brief 
nod to greet Farr'in, he turned back to Dan'yar.

"We need to talk," B`rand told him.

"What is it?"

"I had my suspicions, but I wasn't sure. Now you've got a witness," B'rand
said, jerking his head back towards where Leyean lay. 

"Witness for what? For...this?"

"That's right. My'kel."

Dan'yar laughed. "Sure it is. Might as well accuse Mother."

"I'm not kidding. He's jealous. He was unaccounted for whenever something
happened. Fr'ougth's footprints were there on the ledge when we 
checked before, and now Ley saw him do it."

"Leyean said so? Why didn't she tell me?"

"Scared, I think. It doesn't matter. My'kel did it. What do you want,
fiery letters in the sky?" B'rand was starting to lose his temper.

"We'll just have to go ask him, won't we? If you suspected, then
why didn't you tell me?" Dan'yar glowered at the redhead.

"Because it would have set you all at each other's throats when I told
you. I was going to tell you anyway, but...aw, hell, forget it." B'rand
was not about to tell him that the mating flight with Rook and 
Tymor interrupted him!

"We've got to find him."

"I want to go. If I'm wrong, then I'll take the fall. I need you help,
Lonnie, I might, ah, need some help making his friends understand."

"I'm coming," Lonnie said.

*************************

They didn't get far. <<B'rand- >>

*Not now, you know what we have to do.*

<< You don't understand, my rider. You and Meritanth's rider have been out
on patrol, you didn't know about Syren's rider being hurt, or something.>>

*Or something? What are you babbling about?*

<<She was unconscious. Then, Blanchie's rider helped rescue her.>>

*Good for her! I'll make sure to bring that up...so what's the problem?*

<<Blanchie says that her rider has been taken by some other rider she 
didn't recognize. She followed, but the man took her rider into a cave. 
The wing is organizing to search.>>

*All right, let's go...let me get my cutlass, a spear isn't going to be much 
use underground.*

******************************

(snip)

B'rand, Lonnie, and a small group of riders continued down the 
central hallway when it took a sharp downward turn. His boots skidding
against the steep drop, B'rand swore. 

<<J'rrid wants to know how we are doing.>>

*I'm falling, dammit! That's how we're doing!!* B'rand thought. *This 
tunnel took a sharp downward drop. We may have to rope together
to follow it.*

<<Do you want to continue, or go back and help their group?>>

*I want to see what's down here.* B'rand looked up to see shock
written on Lonnie's face.

"Now what the hell did I do?"

"Nothing...it's My'kel. Cynthia attacked him." Lonnie quickly
filled him in on what he knew.

"Remind me not to tell her to sit on a nail anymore. At least, not
near a ledge. Wonder what he did? Snotty bastard."

"Whether he did it nor not-and it's not proven that he did-My'kel's
still family. You can't just accuse him of anything, and he damn sure
didn't deserve being knocked over a ledge."

"Far as I'm concerned, he had it coming." B'rand stared impassively
at Lonnie. "You going to help us find Lenna, or not?"

********************

After a somewhat steep descent, the tunnel flattened out. B'rand was 
as suprised as anyone when they started splashing. He whistled as
the tunnel opened up.

"Will you look at that. Well, that river J'rrid mentioned had to go 
somewhere."

A large underground lake stretched before them, mirror-black. Light
reflected from the torches, sputtering now because of the humidity,
casting wild moving shapes on the ceiling roughly ten or so feet
above the surface of the water. The light dimly picked out an
opening on the far side...what appeared to be the continuing tunnel
about a hundred feet away. 

"Now what do we do?"

_______________________

Sorry so long since I've posted. B'rand or Lonnie will relay this 
back to the other groups :)




Allen Veazey
wolf@dbtech.net
	
	"I'm not really bad, I'm just drawn that way."
			--Jessica Rabbit