Fire Within: Book Two of Fire and Stone (Stories of Fire and Stone 2) by Stephanie Beavers

Esset said, although it didn’t make him feel much better. “Better we know now than going all the way to Nadra with a useless…” He trailed off without finishing the sentence.
    “Esset?” Lors asked when he didn’t speak for several moments.
    “Are we sure this equipment was destroyed?” Esset said, suddenly looking at his father. Mr. Esset gave a bewildered shake of his head.
    “Andarus said the workshop was destroyed, but if the apprentice had these,” Esset held the scroll aloft. “Why not some of the equipment?” It was a thin hope, but hope nonetheless.
    “Or, maybe the apprentice made diagrams of the instrument even though Atah didn’t,” Mr. Esset said; Esset knew he was just as desperate for any shred of hope to cling to.
    “Let’s ask Andarus,” Esset said. He’d already sprinted up two steps before remembering Lors.
    “Thank you, Lors!” he called back, twisting to wave. Lors looked half-hopeful as he waved back, but he let the two Essets vanish through the doors ahead of him.
    They found Andarus exactly where they’d left him, next to the Atah scrolls with his nose buried in the scroll.
    “Andarus, how much do you know about Atah?” Mr. Esset asked as they approached. Esset went over to the table to sort through the Atah scrolls again, hoping there was something they’d missed there.
    “Andarus?” Mr. Esset asked again when Andarus didn’t reply. “Andarus!”
    “Hm?” Andarus finally looked up from his scroll. “I thought you left.”
    “We did leave, but we came back. This diagram, it’s only half of what we need.” Mr. Esset briefly explained their problem. “What do you know about what happened to Atah and his workshop?”
    “Not much, I’m afraid,” Andarus replied. Esset felt his spirits sinking again. “From what I recall, he died during one of his experiments, an experiment that also caused most of his workshop and its contents to be destroyed. As I mentioned previously, he did have an apprentice, but the apprentice was reluctant to come forward with any surviving material. Rumor at the time had it that someone had actually killed Atah and staged the workshop’s destruction to cover it up. Why, I hesitate to succumb to conjecture, but his work is now a rare thing, so more’s the pity. I know we would love to have more of his collection here.”
    “Where was this workshop, and where’s the apprentice now?” Esset asked.
    “Oh, the apprentice is dead. His name was… Hm, let’s see, his surname was Garson, if I recall correctly. He and Atah precede your father and me by a couple generations. But he and Atah did their research on the northern edge of what’s now Symria.” Andarus paused before continuing. “I can’t remember what the name of the kingdom it used to be before it was annexed by Symria.”
    “That’s fine. We’ll just have to take a look at some maps before I go,” Esset said. He was already combing over the scrolls to double-check the apprentice’s name.
    “It will be the only town in the northwest corner of the kingdom,” Andarus said.
    “Thank you, Andarus,” Esset said. Then he found what he was looking for. “Ah, here it is, John Garson.”
    Andarus gave Esset a little nod and looked back down at the scroll in his hand.
    “Okay, it’s time for me to go visit this town and find Mr. Garson’s descendants, if he has any,” Esset said to his father.
    This time, they didn’t bother saying farewell to Andarus—he was clearly already lost in the scroll again—but they left the mess for the scholar, just the way he liked it.
     
    Mrs. Esset walked in on her son packing his travel bag.
    “What are you doing?” Her voice was barely above a whisper.
    “I told you, Mom. We may have found a way to lift a geas. I have to find what I need and then go get Toman.” If he was still alive.
    Mrs. Esset started shaking her head. Her hands clenched the plate of snacks she’d brought for her son, her grip so tight her knuckles were white.