A City in Ruin (The Dark Sorcerer Book 2)

by D. K. Holmberg

  “I was trying to reach you.”

  “Why would you need to reach me?”

  Jayna nodded toward the line of men moving along the street. “Who are they?”

  “The soldiers—”

  “No, the other sorcerers. There are more than I expected. I don’t remember that many in the outpost.”

  “Well, given the attack on the city, the Society sent the Order of Norej to investigate. There’s a sorcerer by the name of Daratha who leads them.”

  “They sent the Order?” she asked. She’d heard of the Order, though she knew little about them other than the fact they were powerful sorcerers. Not healers. They preferred to use a more destructive type of magic.

  “What did you think would happen?” Char asked.

  “I guess I didn’t know.”

  “What’s going on here?” He glanced behind him, looking along the street. “We got reports of illegal sorcery.”

  “It wasn’t sorcery.”

  “That’s not what the report said.”

  “I can’t tell you what your report said, but I can tell you it wasn’t sorcery. It was enchantments. The dular have a market here, and something happened.”

  “Something?” He arched a brow, turning back to her, a hint of a smile on his face. “If you don’t want to say you were involved, then don’t, but you don’t have to treat me like I’m an idiot.”

  “I’m not treating you like you’re an idiot at all. I’m just saying something happened. I’m not sure what it was. Only that there was something here. Power of some sort.”

  “Power? Sort of like the last time there was power?”

  “Different. I haven’t figured out what it is.”

  “A dark sort of different?”

  Jayna turned away from him. She didn’t need to go into that with him again. He had seen her when she had called upon the power of the dragon stone ring, and he had known what had happened when they’d battled with the Celebrants of Asymorn. He believed she was something she was not. He feared she had connected to dark power, and she didn’t have any way of convincing him otherwise. “It’s not the same.”

  “What is it?”

  “I’m still trying to figure that out.” She nodded toward the distant market. “Some were injured. I tried to help them, but you might need to make sure there aren’t any others.”

  “How did you help them?”

  “Well . . .”

  “You didn’t use sorcery, did you?”

  She shrugged. “I might’ve used a little bit. I had to heal some people. There was a woman with a broken leg, and a boy with bad burns. If I hadn’t helped the woman, she would’ve died.”

  “Oh, Jayna. They’re going to detect your magic. I told you. They’re looking for illegal sorcery. They’re going to sense your type of magic.”

  “I didn’t use the other type of magic.”

  “I don’t know if that’s better or worse. The fact you used your own sorcery might be too much anyway. If they follow it, and detect you, then . . .”

  “Then they will try to hold me,” Jayna said.

  “For using unregulated sorcery.”

  Jayna wrinkled her nose up in a deep frown. “And here I thought I was only helping.”

  “I don’t think they have any way of detecting your other use of magic, but even that I’m not entirely sure of. You might’ve been better served not using it at all.”

  “If I didn’t use it, a woman would’ve died, and a boy might have suffered.”

  “You could’ve alerted me.”

  She shook her head. “If they discover me, then so be it. I did what was needed.” If she had sorcerers after her, members of the Society, it only meant she was going to have to try to navigate through the city without them finding her.

  It wasn’t going to be easy, but these days, nothing was particularly easy.

  “I haven’t seen you in a while,” Char said. “I figured after what happened before, you would have stopped by to visit, maybe take another spellbook . . .” He tried to force a smile, but Jayna couldn’t smile along with him. She couldn't tell if Char was upset. Not only had she abandoned him in the Academy, but she had used him to defeat Gabranth. Now the relationship was far more complicated than it had been before. “I just want to understand,” Char said.

  “I didn’t think it was a good idea to get you involved in anything more,” she said. She twisted the dragon stone ring, focusing on it. She was willing to accept it if she had to use only the power of the Toral ring, but at the same time, she preferred to have access to sorcery from time to time. She might be able to use low-level sorcery, spells that would only trigger the kind of power that one of the dular would have, but that limited her. What she needed was a way to use her sorcery more openly.

  What she really needed was a way to mask her sorcery.

  Maybe there would be an enchantment for that. If so, then she wouldn’t have to fear any of the sorcerers from the Society detecting her kind of magic.

  “You don’t have to get me involved, but you could’ve at least kept me informed. After what you did during the last attack, I would’ve appreciated that.”

  She breathed out a long sigh. “I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry. Now you have a strange attack here in the middle of the night, and it leaves me struggling with how to react to it.”

  “You don’t have to react to it at all. Just help the dular as much as you can.”

  “You know I will, it’s just . . .”

  “What is it?” she asked, more harshness in her tone than she intended. “What is it that the Society might demand of you?”

  “Careful, Jayna,” he said.

  “I’m not possessed by dark magic,” she said.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Do you think you need to test me?”

  “After what you did to me, I’m not sure. I haven't decided if that needs to be part of the reason,” he said, his tone rational in a way that irritated her. “Why shouldn’t I test you? I saw what happened. I can’t claim to fully understand everything you’ve gone through, or all the reasons you had in leaving the Academy when you were so close to finishing. You could have been like me. You could’ve used your magic more freely. And you could have—”

  “Been under the thumb of the Academy still.” She shook her head. “You’re still dependent upon the Academy, Char. I need to move more freely and openly. I couldn’t do that if I had stayed with the Academy.”

  “So you didn’t stay just because you believe there is something you can do that the Academy can’t?”

  “Now more than ever,” she said softly. She nodded, tipping her head down the street. “You should get going.”

  “I suppose I should. After the last dark magic attack in the city, Master Agnew has been much more careful with me.” He smiled awkwardly again. “Between the body you left in the outpost and the dark sorcerers we found near the temple—”

  “There wasn’t any alternative,” she said.

  He nodded, falling silent for a moment. “What are you going to do?”

  The answer should be easier than it was. She knew what Ceran wanted her to be doing, but at the same time, she wasn’t at all sure what her next steps were. The answers weren’t as simple as chasing down some dark festival.

  “I need to track down who was responsible for what happened in the market.”

  “I could help you with that,” Char said.

  She cocked her head to the side, smiling tightly at him. “You just made it clear you couldn’t. Not without engaging with an unlicensed sorcerer.”

  “Jayna . . .”

  She slipped back into the darkness of the alley. “You should stay away from this. Help the people there, but I don’t know what else is going on. I worry it’s the kind of danger you don’t want anything to do with.”

  “Dark magic,” he said.

  “I'm not sure. It might be, but . . .” She twisted the dragon stone ring. If it had been dark magic, she would've exp
ected it to pulsate on her finger, giving her some clue, but it had not. The only thing that troubled her more was what she had seen with Ceran, and the violence she now knew to fear.

  “You still haven’t told me what you intend to do.”

  “If you’re asking whether or not I’m going to get involved in it, then you should know better. I need to stop it.”

  He looked as if he wanted to take a step toward her before catching himself. “Be safe,” he whispered.

  “I’m as safe as I can be.”

  “You’re as safe as you let yourself be. I could help. I can’t help you with the dark magic side of things, but if there is something I can help you with, then I would do it. You know I would. I’m still your friend, regardless of anything else that’s happened between us.”

  “I didn’t realize anything happened between us.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “I do.” She hesitated. She needed to get going, and had to follow the other linking spell and figure out what Rosal had done, but she didn’t want to. Not yet. Standing with Char pulled on something deep within Jayna—a desire for the normalcy she had known within the Academy. After having chased dark power, Jayna wasn't entirely sure that was what she wanted to keep doing. Even if there weren't many others doing it. But there was another draw, one that worried her, if only because Ceran believed she did not feel the desire. She wanted to understand the magic he understood. She wanted to master sorcery—even more now after having seen it on the battlefield.

  “What happened with the others who were hurt during the festival?” Jayna asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean did they recover? I’ve only seen two of them: Topher, the man who first came to our attention, and Robert, the tavern owner.”

  “You never liked going to taverns at the Academy,” Char said.

  “I might have been persuaded otherwise.”

  “Maybe that’s where the two of us should meet. You wouldn’t have to worry about me in the outpost, and I could enjoy seeing you in some new setting.”

  “When this is over,” she said.

  He watched her, and there was a hint of disappointment in his eyes. “They are as well as can be. Most of them recovered, but there were residual injuries. I had to downplay what happened.”

  “Robert struggles to walk,” she said.

  “Others have different injuries like that, but there’s one man who can’t speak anymore. He can still write, so I suppose that means he can communicate, but it’s like when he was possessed by that dwaring, whatever that creature was, he lost some part of himself.”

  Topher had changed—at least, she suspected he had. She didn't really know what he was like before, but now he had a childlike quality to him. Perhaps that was just who he was, and not the effect of the dwaring, though she couldn't help but wonder.

  Jayna sighed. She hadn’t really known what had taken place for the other dular after Gabranth and the other Celebrants had been defeated. All she had known was that the darkness had fed on the dular. She didn’t even know how long the darkness had been there or how long it had used them. Topher was the only one she knew of who still had his ability to create enchantments. Robert had been a dular, but that ability had faded since the dwaring had fed on him. She suspected the same thing would have happened to the others.

  “What did the Society do about Gabranth?” Jayna asked.

  Char's expression darkened. “He was identified as a dark sorcerer. Master Agnew doesn't like to speak of it, but from what I've overheard, he wasn't surprised to learn about Gabranth.” He fell silent for a moment. “The Society believes Gabranth and those working with him were going to use the dular they had attacked for their festival.”

  “They were,” Jayna said.

  “They don't know about the dwaring. And I couldn't really explain it without revealing what I knew.” He eyed her. “Though I might, depending on what you keep from me.”

  Jayna smiled at Char.

  “You’re a good man, Char.”

  “I wish it were easier,” he said.

  “You don’t think it is?” She smiled as she said it, but knew there was nothing easy about what either of them were going through these days.

  “It could be. There was a time when it all seemed simple.” He shrugged, looking back down along the street, and there was a bit of concern in his eyes. He would have to get going soon. “I remember when we first went to the Academy. Seeing you that very first day, when they were making introductions, and how you had this big grin on your face. I tried to keep my own smile to myself, but . . .” He shook his head. “I felt the same way you did. It was excitement. How could it not be? We were doing something we’d wanted to do for our entire lives. And I remember thinking how pretty you were, and how clever you were when I got to know you, and . . .” He shook his head again. “Now things are different. Not at all easy. Not at all simple. How could it be?”

  “It can still be simple,” she said.

  “No. There’s nothing simple about what we’re doing. Nothing simple about what you’re doing. I once felt like I was a part of your every day, and then you were gone. And now you’re back, but I’m still not connected to you the way I once had been. I still don’t know what your every day is like.” He looked as if he wanted to reach for her, but drew away.

  “I don’t know if you could be involved in this, Char.” It was more than just that, though. It wasn’t so much that he couldn’t be involved; it was that she knew he didn’t want to be. “Go help the people who still need it. Try to keep the Society from tracking me, if you can. And I’m going to keep a greater danger from hurting the rest of Nelar.”

  “What would happen if that danger were to get out?” Char asked.

  “Well, considering what I’ve seen, there’s a very real possibility that the kind of power these people can use would completely destroy the city. They would leave it in ruins.”

  “I see.”

  “But maybe that’s an exaggeration. I think I can stop it.” She had no idea how; she only knew Ceran wanted her to, and without Eva’s help, she didn’t even know how to put out the fires. “There might be something you could do, if you were willing.”

  “What?”

  “I could use a spellbook. Something that goes into complicated fire magic. Not your typical fire magic either, but something . . . unusual.”

  “Why do I get the feeling this will be dangerous?”

  “I don’t want to start the fires. I intend to put them out.”

  Char watched her for a moment, and she could see the debate warring in his eyes. “I’ll see what I can do.” He turned, looking down the street again. “I really should get going.”

  “So should I,” Jayna said.

  He reached toward her, and she took his hand, squeezing it for a moment. The linking spell flared in her mind, and she wondered if the same thing happened to him. Then he released her grip, and the spell faded once again back into the recesses of her mind. Char headed down the street, and she turned, following the linking spell she had formed with Rosal. It was time for her to figure out who was responsible for these fires and these attacks.

  It was time for her to stop them.

  12

  The dark city felt different for some reason, and though Jayna had spent quite a bit of time in Nelar over the last few months, there was just something off about it tonight. Maybe it was the attack, or maybe it was her lack of true understanding and preparation for what was taking place.

  She focused on the linking spell she’d placed between herself and Rosal, using that to guide her. The link was there, though hazy and a little indistinct. It was a fairly straightforward spell, one she had learned very early in her time at the Academy, so she suspected she had done it correctly, though she had not used it in quite some time, and had even had to modify it to ensure it was not nearly as robust as the one between her and Char. There remained the possibility her knowledge was incomplete and she hadn't d
one it correctly.

  The city itself was dark, though there were brighter sections in the distance, with lanterns glowing, illuminating the nicer parts. They were the sections of Nelar that had patrols of soldiers to ensure the safety of its residents. Many of the homes there had fantastic enchantments around them as well, items of power that had been placed to ensure the people who lived inside of the homes weren’t subjected to the same dangers as those who lived on the periphery—those like Jayna and Eva.

  The moss glowing along the walls wasn’t quite as thick here as it was in other parts either. She followed it, using some of that luminescence to guide her, though for the most part she stayed focused on her task at hand, moving as quickly as she could. She didn’t want to be out in the streets any longer than necessary, and didn’t want to give the sorcerers or the Society any more reason to come after her.

  The farther she went, the more she felt as if she were drawn into the central part of the city.

  When she had first started following the linking spell, it had taken her on something of a meandering course. That was partially because of her uncertainty about whether she was truly following the spell, but the farther she went, the more certain she felt she was following it the way she intended. It began to blaze within her mind—at first with a little softness, then with increasing vibrancy so that she grew completely aware of the linking spell and how it pulled her.

  She slowed, moving carefully and cautiously along the street as she looked into the distance, holding on to the energy she could feel from within it. There was something there, though Jayna wasn’t entirely sure how to latch on to it. She needed to focus on that power a little more than she had with Char; with him, it was more about the deep-seated power that linked them together since their earliest days in the Academy. What she had placed on Rosal was much less potent, and much less impressive.

  It had to be. Had she placed it more aggressively, the linking spell would’ve bound them together indefinitely, and Jayna certainly didn’t want to do that. She had no reason to stay bound to him, nothing other than a desire to know how to find him within Nelar. She already had herself bound up with Char, and she didn’t need to end up tied up with another—especially not a dular who had obviously gotten involved in some dangerous type of magic.