Smoke and Memories (The Dark Sorcerer Book 3)

by D. K. Holmberg

  Which meant Jayna couldn’t harm them.

  Oh, she certainly could harm them, but she didn’t want to. Until she knew whether they were using dark magic, she didn’t dare.

  “Tell them who you are,” Jayna said.

  Dorian stood across from her.

  “Tell them, or I might be able to merge my memories with theirs so they can know the truth.” Jayna didn’t know if her memory spell would even work, but she thought there would be a way to mix it with their memories. Maybe it would be enough. Either way, the threat itself was more than enough.

  Dorian smiled tightly. A burst of power erupted from him, and he re-created the shell of power she had used to seal him inside, now trapping her inside, separating her from the other sorcerers.

  “You were the one instigating the dular agitation.”

  He smirked. “The dular rioting gave the Society reason to take action. It made it easier for me to do what I needed to do.”

  “The others in the Society will learn what you did. Not all of them are dark sorcerers.”

  He chuckled. “They don’t need to be dark sorcerers to serve the same purpose. And thankfully, the Society will not be fragmented by one such as you. This city has hidden the presence of the great enchantment for too long.”

  “You didn’t even know it was here,” Jayna said.

  “We suspected. The rothand was to have uncovered the key to it, but unfortunately they failed.”

  Rothand. Decay.

  What sort of ceremony had he used on this?

  Jayna knew it was all tied together.

  Ceran hadn’t said anything about the rothand. Either he hadn’t known, or he didn’t think it important for her to know.

  Rothand. The festival and Asymorn. Norej.

  Now Dorian.

  How many others?

  “How did you not know?” Jayna asked. She needed time to figure out how to break free of the wrappings of magic holding her in place.

  “The El’aras have been clever in how they hide them, then they used the dular to work with them. And the Ashara.” He spat the last. “Now we will remove the seal, and we will be one step closer.”

  “One step closer to what?” Char asked.

  Dorian turned to him. He raised his hand, creating a quick whip of power, and Jayna recognized the spell.

  “Shield yourself,” she shouted, making a point of getting her voice heard through the barrier.

  It was something that would affect his memory. It might even control him.

  Char raised his hands, crossing his arms in front of him, and he threw them down with a sharp crack of thundering energy.

  He had grown more skilled.

  Dorian’s spell struck and bounced off, disappearing harmlessly.

  Jayna looked around. Where was Eva?

  Smoke filled the clearing, though she couldn’t see where Eva had gone.

  Dorian just chuckled. “Perhaps I will have you stay here and watch as I destroy this great enchantment. And then I will dispose of you.”

  He marched away, and Jayna focused, holding on to the energy within her, trying to borrow power from the dragon stone, using the augmentation of the bloodstone, but that power as it came through her wasn’t enough. She could feel its energy within her, but she couldn’t do anything with it.

  They were blocking her.

  It was some sort of spell designed to cut her off from power.

  She had a way past it though. She had done it before.

  She focused on the linking spell with Char. He was there right in front of her, their connection stronger than before.

  She pulled on it, and through the energy within the spell, drawn across it, she could feel a tie to sorcery. It was like pulling through mud, slow but steady, and as she called on it, she could feel it gradually drifting into her.

  Jayna pulled on more power.

  Then she could feel the Toral ring filling with energy.

  Strangely, there was still a hint of smoke within it.

  No, not just a hint. A flood.

  Somewhere, Eva was pushing power into the bloodstone.

  Smoke swirled around Jayna, up her legs, chest, and arms, then out through her. That smoke gave her a strangely solid connection to the bloodstone.

  She focused.

  The power was out there, that edge of energy she always saw tinged with darkness, but this time there was no nearly incapacitating pain. There was only a cloud of smoke, as if Eva somehow protected her.

  Jayna called that energy to her. She breathed it in, and with her connection to Char, she created a pattern. This time, the pattern was only in her mind, and as she pushed it down, creating a ring of power, it erupted outward, and she tossed the two sorcerers away.

  They went flying to either side.

  Jayna sent her hands out, and a burst of power streaked from her, smoke twirling along it, as if Eva were helping guide her magic, and it struck both sorcerers.

  She stormed forward.

  Where was Eva? She still wasn’t here, though she had felt her power, and she knew Eva must be around here somewhere.

  Jayna found Dorian in front of the fountain. She used a burst of power, sending it streaking toward him, but it bounced off of a protective spell.

  He glanced over his shoulder. “You really are a nuisance.”

  “I’m going to be more than a nuisance.”

  “And you brought one of those lovely Ashara with you. You know, I thought that one was already dead.” He nodded, and Jayna glanced behind her to where Eva stood.

  “Why?”

  “We came across her on our way to Nelar.”

  Dorian was responsible for what had happened to her?

  “You aren’t going to complete this,” Jayna said.

  “Oh, that is where you’re wrong. You see, I have already made my preparations, and all I need to do is this.” He flicked his wrist, and a spell began to build.

  Jayna could feel it building, rising up with power, and the ground began to rumble around her. There was something she could do that she hadn’t yet tried, but why not use the ring to fortify herself? It was something Dorian wouldn’t anticipate.

  She darted forward, pulled on power from the dragon stone, and brought her fist around, connecting it with Dorian, catching him in the chin.

  With the power she held, he went flying.

  Jayna followed him and grabbed him by the shoulders, slamming him down again, holding on to the power of the Toral ring.

  “I bet you weren’t expecting that.”

  She got up and made a quick circle around him, pouring power into it, holding him in place.

  Now she had to stop the enchantment from breaking. Now she had to keep the power of Sarenoth from escaping.

  24

  Jayna headed back to the fountain. The spell attempting to destroy the seal had been sealed off. Smoke drifted everywhere, and she could see it creating a thick barrier that held the other sorcerers away. She would have to deal with them later, but for now she needed to check on the fountain.

  On the enchantment.

  It was a powerful one. And now it was damaged. The fountain itself had cracked, and Jayna could practically feel darkness spilling out.

  Worse, it was a familiar darkness. She had felt something like that before.

  She looked over to see Asaran approaching as smoke swirled around. He had a different form than the last time; his dark features, his dark hair, and his pale skin all seemed to glow.

  “Do you have any way of sealing this back off?” she asked him.

  “Unfortunately, one of the great enchantments cannot be restored.”

  “Can we prevent the rift from expanding more?”

  “We would need more bloodstone than we have.”

  Bloodstone would change it. She’d seen how bloodstone was the key to augmenting enchantments, which meant she might have a way. “What if we have more?”

  “Then it might be possible.”

  They still had some in
her home that they’d collected from the manor homes. “Can you keep him from going anywhere?” she asked, nodding to where Dorian lay motionless. “I think there’s a place that can hold him.”

  Char was still there, along with two of the other sorcerers. She had no idea if they were dark sorcerers, but given the bewildered stares on their faces, she doubted it. She created a quick spell, tapping the two others and clouding their minds.

  “Jayna . . .” Char said.

  “It’s just a confounding spell. You can take it off if you feel it’s inappropriate.” She looked over to where Dorian lay. “The Sorcerers’ Society has been infiltrated. Perhaps it always has been. I need you to take him to the cell beneath the outpost. It can hold him.”

  “Why?”

  “Because he’s one of the twelve who served Sarenoth.”

  “Not Master Agnew.”

  “This isn’t Master Agnew. This is Dorian Hale. He’s a dark sorcerer hiding as Master Agnew. And if we don’t hold him, we may not learn what the twelve plan.”

  Char looked over. “Jayna . . .”

  “I know you don’t want to believe it, and I wish it wasn’t the case, but it is. We need to figure this out. There’s darkness coming. Sarenoth will escape. If they’ve already broken one of these great enchantments, I don’t know how many more they might be able to break, but I fear we aren’t going to be strong enough, or fast enough, or—”

  Char took a step toward her, grabbing her hands. “I’m going to work with you.”

  “You are?”

  “I felt what was going on. I felt what was happening to you, even though I couldn’t do anything about it.”

  “I’m sorry, Char. I didn’t want you to get involved in this.”

  He smiled sadly. “You didn’t force me to get involved in anything.”

  “Can you take him beneath the outpost? I can join you when this is done.”

  “I don’t know if I can hold him,” Char said.

  “I can help with that,” Asaran said.

  Jayna still didn’t know what was going on with Eva. She looked around the courtyard. She had felt her smoke, her influence, but still didn’t see her anywhere.

  Dorian had mentioned her though.

  Jayna made a quick circuit around the courtyard. She didn’t want to get too close to the enchantment, but every time she got nearer to the fountain, she could feel something.

  The Toral ring constricted. Dark power.

  She found Eva lying on the ground, injured.

  There were three sorcerers around her, none of them moving.

  Jayna pressed her hands down on her, and immediately began to call upon power from the dragon stone ring, pouring it into her. She didn’t even try to anchor her head and feet the way she should have, and as soon as she started pouring power into her, she realized there was something going on, something she couldn’t correct.

  “You won’t be able to help her,” a voice said from behind her.

  Jayna looked over to Asaran standing there holding Dorian, smoke swirling around them as Char stood nearby.

  “I am going to help her.”

  “You cannot. She was the first sent. She was to have prevented this, and she failed.”

  “You know her.”

  “Not until I saw her here,” he said. “I didn’t recognize her form.”

  “But you know her.”

  “I know her,” Asaran said, his voice soft.

  “She’s my friend. I want to help her.”

  “I’m afraid nothing can be done. She extended too much.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry.”

  He marched Dorian away, across the courtyard, as Jayna turned her attention back to Eva, covered in smoke, motionless.

  She pushed power down into her again using the dragon stone. The more power she pushed, the more she felt a resistance. There wasn’t going to be anything she could do.

  The idea that she could lose Eva this way . . .

  “Don’t,” Eva said.

  “I’m not letting you go.”

  “You can’t save me.”

  “I can. I did it once before.”

  “You can’t save me this time,” Eva said.

  Smoke started to dissipate, as if drawn away by the wind.

  Jayna cried out.

  She wasn’t about to leave her. She wasn’t about to do nothing.

  What had she learned about the Ashara?

  Heat.

  It was restorative.

  There was one thing she did know how to do.

  She got to her feet and hurriedly made a pattern. She placed points all around Eva, forming a star with her in the center.

  She could feel the energy as she worked, but she knew she needed something more. If she wanted this to be successful, she was going to need a focus—she was going to need more power.

  The bloodstone surrounding the dragon stone.

  Jayna didn’t care if it would change how she could draw upon the dragon stone ring; she only cared about drawing enough heat to feed Eva. She had seen Asaran in the outpost, standing in front of the fire, feeding his own power.

  She could do the same thing.

  Only this time, she wondered if she could give enough to Eva to save her. She had to act quickly. The smoke continued to drift, and somehow, Eva’s body was dissipating with it, drifting away. She needed to move quickly.

  Jayna stepped back.

  Then she pulled energy off the dragon stone ring and set it on top of Eva.

  As she did, she called upon sorcery.

  She would save her friend.

  She felt that energy building and poured it into the spell, which began to glow. It rapidly worked its way around and formed the star as it touched upon each of the points. From there, it struck the bloodstone and burst into bright light.

  It created something akin to a fireball. Jayna was forced to back away, the heat of it too much for her.

  She waited as the moments passed.

  I couldn’t have been too late. Not to save Eva.

  And then there was movement.

  It came from deep within the flames and seemed as if the flames themselves shifted, forming something with massive wings, a long jaw, and an enormous tail, but then that image flickered, the smoke and flame coalesced, and then they disappeared.

  Eva stood there, watching Jayna, light blazing in her eyes. “You saved me,” Eva said.

  “You’re back,” Jayna said.

  “It shouldn’t have been possible.”

  “I used the bloodstone. The dragon stone.”

  Eva held out her hand. The dragon stone ring rested in her palm, but the bloodstone was gone. “This is yours.”

  There was something different about Eva.

  “Thank you for your help. I could feel what you did when I faced those sorcerers,” Jayna said.

  “I think I was always meant to help you.”

  “If Asaran is right, then you were supposed to be the first one here.”

  She frowned. “And yet, I was here when I needed to be.” She tipped her head to the side. “I remember . . .” She shook her head. “I don’t know. The memories are there, but they’re faint.”

  That was better than they had been before.

  “We need to go get the bloodstone to seal off the cracked enchantment. I know we can use it for that, but I don’t know how to do it,” Jayna said.

  Eva tipped her head to the side again, and there was something strange about the way she did it, almost birdlike. Flames seemed to flicker in the back of her eyes.

  “Yes. I can see how that would work.”

  She began to emit smoke, though Jayna saw no blood this time, then she suddenly disappeared.

  Jayna frowned.

  Where had she gone?

  She looked around the clearing, but there was nothing. The sorcerers who had been destroyed were gone. There was nothing but darkness pressing in upon her. She took the Toral ring and slid it back onto her finger.

  “You did well.”<
br />
  Jayna spun to see a face appearing out of the darkness. “Ceran?”

  “You did well. I wasn’t expecting you to face this, but . . . Unfortunately, there has been more challenges than I realized.”

  “More challenges?” She tried taking a step forward, but she realized she could not.

  Ceran held her.

  It was strange, and different from the time he had transported her to show her the battleground; this time, it felt as if she couldn’t even move her limbs.

  “Let me go,” Jayna said.

  “In a moment,” Ceran said. “You have served well.”

  “I could serve better if you would tell me what I’m doing,” she said.

  “You know what you’re doing, Jayna Aguelon.”

  “I’ve been battling with your dark magic. Isn’t that enough? What more do you expect from me?”

  “A war is coming, Jayna.”

  “A war to release Sarenoth?”

  “Unfortunately.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me that the twelve are already freed?” When he didn’t speak, she laughed softly. “You didn’t know.”

  There was a moment of silence, and in the shadows, she could almost see Ceran’s face. “I didn’t know how many of them were. The constructs holding them should have held.”

  “Dorian told me that they never held. That was the secret.”

  He took a step forward. There was only a hint of shadow on his face, barely enough to hide his features. She had always wondered about Ceran, curious about what he looked like and whether she might even recognize him. Maybe she knew him as someone with a different name. Even now, as he stepped forward, a hint of light around him, she could not see enough to tell anything.

  “That should not have been,” he said.

  “I don’t know what to tell you.”

  “He must be questioned. This is for you to do.”

  “Why me?”

  “Because it must be done.” Ceran smiled tightly. “And because I am prevented from doing so.”

  She started to laugh. “Prevented? What sort of Sul’toral is prevented from anything?”