The Hunch Pays Off

The room was starting to grow dark as Koda quietly closed the 
last of the three journals she'd taken from Amblee's room earlier. 
Laying her head back against the neck rest of her chair, Koda 
tried to decide what to do next.

<You should tell Aura and Raynod's riders,> her dragon's thoughts 
entered her mind. <They should know what you found out.>

<<Yes!!>. the healer agreed. <<They should. Ribbon my love would 
you please ask...>>

<I already have my rider and they are both waiting for you where 
Aura lives.>

<<Thank you my sweet,>> Koda replied.

Getting up for where she sat she reached for her coat. 'Quimeite! 
she thought. 'Yes that would do it.' she'd used the drug a time or 
to herself when the situation had called for it. As she picked up 
the three journals she wondered how Z'lec would react when he found 
out.

--------

"Thank you for seeing me on such short notice," Koda said as she 
was shown into Waylene's apartment. "I'm sure you'll find it worth 
it by the time that I'm through."

She waited until they were all seated and Z'lec had filled a glass 
of wine for her to begin.

"Ribbon told Aura that you wanted to speak to us about something 
you found out about ... Amblee..." the woman all but spit out the 
girls name.

Koda nodded her head slowly while trying to collect her thoughts. 
"What I have to say will undoubtedly come as a shock to the both 
of you, as it shocked myself when I found out...." 

"Go on Koda," Z'lec moved to sit next to Waylene.

The healer took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. "All 
right, but first before I tell you what I found out I need to ask 
you a few questions first. Hopefully it'll make sense out of what 
I have to say." 

"What kind of questions?"

"One's I'm sure you would both rather not answer," she grinned 
knowingly. "I wouldn't ask them if I didn't think they were 
important, I want you both to know that."

"All right."

"First," Koda said turning to face the Wingleader. "Who was 
Playlia?"

"Playlia," he frowned at the unexpected question.  "She was a 
friend from you youth who died some years ago while we were 
still kids. Why?"

"Tell me, did they ever find out why she died? What caused it?"

"No... and we all thought it was strange at the time because 
Playlia was always so full of life."

Koda reached for the first of the three books. Opened it up to 
a place she had marked and began to read the words Amblee had 
written there.

"... I did it!! I finally got rid of her. She won't be around 
any longer to bother me and my love. He should be happy to hear 
that. The little bitch got just what she deserved. She should 
have listened to me when I told her to stay away from him, that 
he was mine!!! If she had only listened she might have gone on 
living and I wouldn't of had to do it...."

Koda stopped and looked up to meet the shocked expression on the 
mans face.

"There's more, but you get the idea." she told them. "She used 
a drug called Mylanthol, which she mixed in with the girls hand 
cream. A prolong exposure to this drug can cause the bodies motor functions
to just shut down. We use it sometimes to detour the 
growth of some cancers. It's absorbed through the skin and hard 
to trace if you don't know what you're looking for."

"My Gods..." the words were torn from the soul of the man. Koda 
noticed Waylene's hand reaching for his.

"As I said there is more," She went on before anything more could 
be said. There were two others she ..ah... removed for coming 
between the two of you. The first was a girl named Eleiza..."

"No it couldn't be," Z'lec interrupted her. "Eleiza, who I barely 
knew and her brother Choly, who was my friend, let the Warren one 
night and left me a note telling me he had gotten a job in another 
town."

Koda opened up the second book to a page she had marked. "...The 
note to Z'lec was a smart move. When he reads it he'll think *she* 
wrote it and believe they are really gone. No one suspects anything, 
nor will the girl and her brother be missed. I made sure their 
bodies were hidden where they will never be found...."

"I hardly knew the girl..and she killed them both.." his head bowed, 
"I wondered at the time why Choly never came to say good-bye to me 
before he left."

"Where did you get these books you're reading from Lakoda," Waylene 
asked, breaking the silence that had fallen over the room.

"From Amblee's apartment," she admitted. "On a hunch, I went by 
there earlier tonight just to take a look around. I wanted to find something
that would tell me how she could have turned out the way 
she had. What might have caused it. I found these books hidden 
under her bed. I think what's in them will explain everything. The 
woman wrote down everything she ever did. They might help us to 
keep her locked p for the rest of her life."

"You said everything?" Waylene asked. "Even about..."

"Yes.. even about how she caused you to keep losing your babies 
and then about finally deciding she had to ..."

"...Kill me?" The woman snapped.

Again Koda nodded her head.

"There's just one other thing... Koda paused, unsure how to phrase 
her next words. "Normally I would not be asking the next question 
I'm going to ask. But now I feel I must. As it's a rather personal, between
the two of you...but let me assure you both that what ever 
you tell me.. I'll keep it to myself."

"What could be that bad," Z'lec asked. "After everything else you've 
told us.?"

"I need to know what happened between the two of you that caused 
you to break up and split apart."

"I don't see where that any of your...." Waylene started but the 
man sitting beside her cut her off. 

"Waylene please! I have a feeling Koda may know something about it already,"
Z'lec told her softly. "So what's the harm in retelling 
it. It might even help settle things between us."

The healer saw the look that past between the two sitting across 
from her. For a moment she thought that the woman would refuse to cooperate,
but then she seemed to sag and consented. Z'lec picked 
up the story leaving nothing out. Not even to spare the feelings 
of the woman he loved. Koda listened quietly, without interrupting 
until he was through.

"I thought as much," was all she said for a moment or two then she 
asked another question. "Have either of you ever heard of a drug 
called Quimeite?"

Both shook their heads no. A question appeared in their eyes.

"It's a drug we use sometimes to help in hypnotizing people," she 
told them. "It makes them easier to reach, and for us to make 
suggestions. For instance, given to a young scared child about to 
go into surgery... We can use it to help convince the child that 
there's nothing to fear. Soon they'll start believing it. Or given 
to a person who has hidden fears that prevents them from doing something's..
we can make them forget all about the fears using 
mild suggestions."

"What does this have to do with out breaking up and Z'lec's dreams 
of making..oh!!..with Diana?" the Warrenlady wanted to know... 
then it hit her. 
"Amblee? This was *her* doing?!? But how...?"

"She once told me that there was more than one way to make someone 
fall in love with you," Koda said explaining herself. "At the time 
she said it I didn't understand and couldn't get her to say 
anything more about it. Except that 'the other one' walked in 
before she could and ruined everything... I think she was talking 
about Diana and I believe she had given you Z'lec, a dose of the 
Quimeite drug then planted a suggestion in you mind about the next 
woman you saw. She didn't know Diana was on her way to see you or 
would get there first... so in affect it was Diana you had dreams 
about... and not Amblee herself like she had planned."

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(Kris...when you get around to it :) Tag!!!!

****Submitted by: ******
Barbara (a.k.a.

Lakoda & Ribbon
Marrid Warren Healer