As soon as they were allowed, the members of the Underworld Research and Extermination Club visited Rierdan. They said various things. Some said they would look after his plants and send letters to his parents to tell him what was going on. Others swore bloody vengeance in his name.
Zach didn't say much. He patted Rierdan on the shoulder and stood up.
"We'll fix this, Rierdan. Just be patient."
The air stilled and seemed to grow cold around Zach as he left Rierdan's room. He went to one of the rooms they had commandeered in the name of the club. It wasn't the club room or the storage room. It was the room they used to experiment and test things with the samples from the forest and the underworld energy.
Zach locked the door behind Yanael and Alzara. He looked at the tall desert witch.
"You said you can make potions, right? Can you whip something up to fix Rierdan?" Zach asked, but it was as much a request–an order–as it was a question.
