Rise of the Elder

by D. K. Holmberg

  Cael sighed. “Many others.”

  Chapter 32

  Rsiran released Brusus’s arm as they emerged from a Slide on the edge of the city. From here, Asador reminded him more of Elaeavn with the massive boulders that dropped off toward the water. Waves crashed below, the sound filling the night.

  “We should return to the Aisl for others,” Brusus said.

  Rsiran had considered that, but dismissed the idea. “You heard what Cael said.”

  “I don’t know if we can trust what she says. She’s the daughter of a man on the Elvraeth council who wants to see that you fail. Doesn’t that strike you as a bit risky to trust her?”

  Rsiran shrugged. “No riskier than her trusting me. She knows what I can do.”

  “What if they won’t meet with us?”

  That had been the biggest fear. If they wouldn’t meet with him, he would have to force his way in. If the “others” that Cael mentioned were the type that he suspected, there were no guarantees that he would succeed.

  “Then we have to find another way.”

  Brusus nodded. “What of this business with the trees? Will they really die if we don’t recover the crystal?”

  “Why don’t you ask about your mother?”

  Brusus squeezed his eyes shut. “That will come, Rsiran. But the crystals…”

  “I’ve been so focused on the crystal, I haven’t paid as much attention to the Elder Trees.” And he’d used the power stored within the trees, not even giving thought to whether doing that damaged them. After losing the one tree, how could he have ignored the risk to the others?

  “You think it’s possible?”

  “From what I can tell, the crystals are connected to the trees,” Rsiran said. “I think that’s why the one crystal was lost in the first place. It’s possible they work together.” He shook his head. “Even after holding each of the others, I don’t know the answer. Are they separate powers, or are they connected?” Similarly, were the ancient clans separate from those who eventually were able to reach the crystals, or were they connected? The answer might be somewhere in between.

  A shadowy figure appeared, making its way toward them.

  “You see this?” Brusus asked.

  Rsiran nodded. “Well enough.” The shadows seemed to swirl, and he stepped toward them. “Why are you here, Carth? Where’s Galen?”

  “Galen’s friend claims you must return the crystal to your home.”

  “That’s why I’m here.”

  “The others won’t allow it.”

  “Others?”

  Carth nodded. “I believe you met one of them? Sayanne tells of a powerful man who nearly killed her, one who can use metal like Venass, but who speaks as if he despises Venass. I can only imagine that was you?”

  “Sayanne was the one who wanted to kill Josun Elvraeth?”

  Carth tipped her head slightly. “There are many who wish to see him dead, Rsiran Lareth. He made the mistake of offending far too many, including those with powers he doesn’t fully understand. It is the same mistake your grandfather made.”

  “Josun remains in my custody.”

  Carth smiled. “For now.”

  “What of the crystal?” Rsiran asked.

  Carth took a step around them, glancing at Brusus as she did. “You won’t be able to use your mind abilities on me, Elvraeth,” she said to him.

  Brusus flushed slightly and shrugged when Rsiran shot him a look. “Worth a try.”

  “You believe you can protect the crystal,” Carth said.

  “I think I’m the only way the remaining crystals survive.”

  Carth paused in front of him. “I have secured the crystal, and I doubt you will be successful in persuading the A’ras to allow you to reclaim it.”

  A’ras. Had he heard that before? “That’s what Sayanne is?” Rsiran asked.

  Carth nodded. “Leave the crystal, Rsiran Lareth. It is protected now.”

  “It’s not protected. Once Danis reaches it—”

  “What do you think you can do, Rsiran Lareth? He has proven he will outmaneuver you, outsmart you. I cannot risk him gaining any more influence than he has.”

  She started to turn away from him, the shadows again swirling around her.

  “And I can’t leave the crystal here,” Rsiran said. “Too much is at risk.”

  “Even you won’t be able to reach it,” Carth said.

  She stepped to the edge of the rock and disappeared.

  Rsiran turned to Brusus. The hope that they could recover the crystal without a battle was gone. If it was only about keeping the crystal protected, he thought that Carth might actually be the right person to do it, but there was more to it than protection. The crystal needed to be recovered and returned to the chamber with the others.

  “What will you do now?” Brusus asked.

  “I can’t leave it to Carth to protect,” he said. “I don’t know much about the A’ras”—had Haern still lived, he suspected he would have known something—“but I can’t leave it here.”

  “What then?”

  “We’ll need help,” he said.

  “Who?”

  “Someone who knows Carth better than I do. Someone she respects.”

  After searching for the heartstone-infused coin, Rsiran Slid into Asador long enough to grab Galen and Cael. He didn’t give them an opportunity to resist and Slid them to the Aisl, emerging in Della’s hut.

  Smoke drifted from the fire, and the air smelled of mint tea, but Della wasn’t here.

  Galen spun toward him as Rsiran released him, a pair of darts already prepared to throw. Cael touched his arm and he relaxed.

  “Can’t you see where we are?”

  Galen quickly scanned the room. “No. It’s like he tried to create a place that would remind me of Della’s but this is not her home.”

  The door opened and Della strode in, glancing from Rsiran to Galen. “This is my home, Galen, and if you could only see clearly you would recognize that.”

  Galen flushed slightly and placed his darts back into his pouch. “Della. I didn’t know you were here. Your student grabbed us and brought us here.”

  “After you proved you couldn’t help him recover the crystal, it seems,” Della said. Rsiran suspected she Read Galen.

  Galen nodded. “I ensured the crystal was protected. If anyone could, it would be her.”

  Della looked to Rsiran. “This is the same woman who wanted Haern?”

  “She is. The same who helped establish me as Lorst.”

  “Carth set you up as Lorst?”

  Rsiran nodded.

  A slight smile twisted on Galen’s mouth, and he glanced at Cael. “Damn that woman.”

  “Which one, Galen?” Della asked. “The one you’re with, or the one who has been working with Rsiran as well?”

  Galen started pacing, his eyes taking on a distant look. Rsiran couldn’t help but feel annoyed at him. “Is that all this is?” He said it mostly to himself, stopping at the hearth to stare.

  “What?” Rsiran asked.

  He turned and looked at each person in the room. “It’s a game to her. That’s all this is. When it comes to Carth, everything is a game.”

  “Losing the crystal isn’t a game to me,” Rsiran said. “It won’t be to the people of Elaeavn if the crystals fail and the Elder Trees die.”

  “Carth won’t lose,” Galen said. “I’ve never known her to lose.”

  “All it takes is one time,” Brusus said. “One bad hand, one poor roll of the dice. That’s all it takes. Then we lose everything. Do you really trust this Carth to be able to survive even when the odds are against her?”

  Galen turned to Brusus, matching the intensity on his face. “I trust Carth more than I trust you,” he said softly. “More than I trust the council that exiled me. More than I trust damn near anyone.” He met each of their eyes, his burning a deep green. Had they been that green the last time that Rsiran had seen him? “You talk of odds, like that matters to someone lik
e Carth. She won’t play the game if the odds aren’t in her favor. Even then, she has a way of forcing them into her favor.”

  “No one can do that,” Brusus said. “Luck always plays a role.”

  “Not when you’re prepared. You ever hear of Tsatsun?” he asked.

  Della nodded thoughtfully. “That… is an old game,” she said slowly. “When I was a younger woman, I used to play, but I was never any good.”

  “What is it?” Brusus asked.

  Della looked at Galen. “Not a game that I would expect anyone to still play. It’s an ancient game, one of skill and foresight. One that requires the player to think dozens of moves ahead. True masters can plan a hundred moves in advance.”

  Galen grunted. “Dozens. I’m lucky if I can plan even ten in advance. Stupid game, with stupid rules.” He shook his head. “Carth tried to teach me, but I never had the mind for it, but the only other person I’ve ever feared was also a master of it. They played one time. I thought I followed, and thought Carth was getting outsmarted, but she played Orly in such a way he didn’t even know that he was getting played. Even when it was over, he thought he’d played her close.”

  “The thief-master?” Rsiran asked. “That’s who you compare Carth to? Do you really expect us to trust your comparison of her abilities when you use the thief-master?”

  “How long have you known Orly?” Galen asked.

  “I don’t.”

  “I do. I was in Eban when he started taking control of the city. I was there as he consolidated his power. I was there as he maneuvered himself so that he could be protected from the city council. This is a man who is smarter and more ruthless than you can understand. And Carth toyed with him.”

  Della rested her hand on his arm, silencing him.

  “If Carth is the master that you say, then we need to determine what game she’s playing. What does she have in mind?”

  Galen shrugged. “Maybe she’s reached the end point.”

  Della considered him a moment. “You don’t think so.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

  “Why?” Rsiran asked.

  “When I was in Asador—when you dropped me in Asador—I learned from someone close to her that she was dead.”

  Dead. Carth had mentioned her willingness to die to capture Danis. Had it all been a game—even the time she spent with him? “Yet she lives.”

  “She faked her death. There would be a reason for Carth to do so.”

  “And now that she revealed herself to us?” Rsiran asked.

  “I think that’s all part of the game she’s playing. She’s after something. It has to do with the Hjan, but more than that, I don’t know.”

  Rsiran had thought he would find a way to force Josun to help, maybe trade Josun for the crystal if the A’ras really wanted him that badly, but he worried even that wouldn’t be successful, not if Carth protected it. After facing her, he didn’t think he would be able to defeat her if it came down to it. Somehow, her abilities countered what he was capable of doing.

  How would he get the crystal back?

  Rsiran didn’t know how much time they had remaining, but he suspected time was growing short. Why else would the Great Watcher reveal the visions that he had to him? Why else would it seem like the power in the crystals seemed to wane?

  They had to do something now.

  “If she won’t return the crystal, then she intends to use it for something else,” Brusus said, jarring Rsiran from his thoughts.

  Galen frowned. “That is possible. I hadn’t considered she would use the crystal in such a way, but then, as I said, she’s the master. I can barely last with her more than a few moves.”

  “I think you underestimate yourself,” Cael said.

  “Perhaps he’s playing a game with us,” Della said.

  Brusus looked from Galen to Della, his deep green eyes no longer hidden. How long had it been since he’d Pushed on the faintness of his eyes? “We need to find out what she wants. Then we can figure out how to trade that for the crystal.”

  But Rsiran thought he knew what she wanted. Hadn’t she told him?

  It was the same reason that she had wanted Haern. The same reason that she had probably faked her death, playing a long game that he didn’t fully understand. But he could see the end of that game clearly…. It was the same ending that he wanted.

  They needed to work together, and for all that he knew, Carth wanted them to work together, even if she’d denied it when he’d asked.

  Could she be playing him?

  He looked at the others, trying to read from their faces whether they had come to the same conclusion he had He couldn’t tell.

  “What is it, Rsiran?” Brusus asked.

  “Danis,” Rsiran said. “She wants Danis.”

  And somehow, they had to use him to coax Carth into returning the crystal.

  Chapter 33

  “This is about as stupid as anything we’ve done,” Valn said to Rsiran.

  Rsiran clasped him on the shoulder as he grinned at him. Crouching on the ridgeline overlooking Thyr, with the sun setting in the distance, reminded him of the times he’d spent with Valn searching for Venass. Since they’d moved to the trees, their times together had grown less frequent, and he missed his new friend. Rsiran had no idea if what he planned would even work, but this was the only thing they had managed to come up with.

  “You don’t have to stay if you’re scared,” he said to him. Jessa jabbed him with the blunt end of a knife, and he turned his grin to her. Since deciding what they would try, he’d felt a little… punchy. He couldn’t think of any other way to describe it. The plan would either work, and they would be rid of Venass and recover the crystal, or it would not.

  Valn glared at him, and turned to stare at the distant tower as it rose up into the sky. “I think I’ve proven I don’t scare easily.”

  “It sounded to me like you wanted to return to the cozy Forgotten Palace.”

  “At least I have privacy there. Sarah likes that.”

  He glanced at Sarah standing next to him, the wind catching her blonde hair, and she flushed. “Stop it. We need to focus on what we’re doing.”

  “Which is what, exactly?” Valn said. “Sitting here isn’t what I thought you intended for us. I thought you wanted us to get into the city and get noticed.”

  “I do. But I wanted to determine how many Venass I can detect.”

  “Fine, and then what?”

  Rsiran shrugged. “Then we make our run.”

  Valn sighed softly. “You say so.”

  “Can you do this, Lorst?” Galen asked.

  Rsiran shook his head. Galen hadn’t taken to referring to him by his real name, preferring to use the one that Carth had given him. It stopped mattering to him. When they had decided to draw Venass out this way, Galen had offered to come. Rsiran hadn’t known whether that was a good idea or not, but Della pushed, so Rsiran relented. And maybe Lorst was who was needed here. Facing Venass required the assassin, especially if they were to end this.

  He focused on the sense of lorcith within the city of Thyr. There were nearly a dozen different moving pieces of lorcith, all of which he suspected to be implants for Venass. He tried to search for heartstone, but didn’t detect anything clearly. That didn’t mean that there was no heartstone there; Rsiran had seen Venass mask their implants before. He also couldn’t tell if there were any with shadowsteel implants. That might be the most worrisome to him.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  The others grabbed onto his arms.

  Rsiran Slid.

  They emerged in a small room. The man sitting at the desk glanced up as they appeared, and tried Sliding, but Rsiran caught him with a knife in his arm. Sarah used her ability and held him in place, preventing him from Sliding away.

  “How many do you think you can kill?” the man asked.

  Rsiran shook his head. “Not kill.”

  Squeezing his focus through the lorcith ring on his
finger, he could feel the lorcith within the implant more solidly. As he did, he pulled on it, pushing at the same time. The man screamed, but Jessa clamped her hand over his mouth, silencing him.

  Rsiran worked quickly and shifted the intent of the lorcith implant. Once done, they released the man.

  “What did you do?” the scholar asked.

  Valn shook his head. “Why is it they always say the same thing?”

  “There are other ways to silence them,” Galen suggested.

  “No. Not silence. We need them to talk,” Rsiran said.

  The man tried Sliding again, but the implant failed him.

  “I’m coming for each of you,” Rsiran said. “You can let Danis know that I know how to stop him.”

  With that, they Slid, emerging where he’d detected the next person of Venass. The man wasn’t alone, and the other with him—a younger girl with a fresh scar along her face—tried attacking, but Valn held her back.

  Focusing on the lorcith implanted in the man first, he reforged it, neutralizing the effect of the lorcith. He did the same with the girl. As with the first, they left them alive.

  Four more times, they did the same, and each time, the question was the same.

  “How many more times do you intend to do this?” Jessa asked after he had modified the implant in an older man.

  They were inside a wide, empty room, deep beneath the ground. The stone walls rising around them reminded Rsiran of the time when he’d come to Thyr with Brusus and Jessa, when they had tracked Venass beneath the ground. There was a single candle resting on a table at the center of the room, and the man they had found here had almost seemed like he expected them to come, looking up at them with a resigned expression. Rsiran would take his time with this man. For his plan to work, he needed to.

  “As many as it takes to get his attention.”

  “You’ve already got his attention,” the man said. “Why else do you think I am here?”

  Rsiran felt it before he saw it: a surge of lorcith mixed with heartstone. There was a sickly sense of something else—likely shadowsteel, he decided—and seven Hjan appeared.