Festival of Mourn (The Dark Sorcerer Book 1)

by D. K. Holmberg

  “Not entirely. Were you surprised that a group of thieves and criminals and whatever else they were didn’t want to help your brother?”

  “There is some loyalty among thieves,” she said.

  Char leaned back in the stool, and nearly tipped off of it, before leaning forward and shaking his head. “There is no loyalty among thieves. That’s why they’re thieves. They’re willing to steal and cheat and—”

  “And each person depends upon the other. Their lives depend upon a willingness to work together. They don’t simply abandon each other when things go wrong.” She shook her head. “Especially not Matthew. He’s worked with my brother for as long as I can remember. He has a particular set of skills Jonathan always valued, and I figured if anybody would know anything about Jonathan, it would be Matthew, but he refused to share anything with me. It was almost as if he were upset.”

  “Maybe he was upset that you came asking him about your brother.”

  Jayna shook her head again. She wasn’t entirely sure. She had given it much thought, enough to recognize that Matthew wouldn’t have abandoned Jonathan in that way, but something had changed between them.

  “Anyway, that’s why I left.”

  “You thought you could do more for your brother outside of the Academy than within it?”

  Jayna looked around the inside of the room. It was a large healing room, with the cabinets and the counter and the bed, a windowless room with the pale white walls that gleamed with the glowing lamps situated on either side. Still, there was something quite confining about it.

  Had she stayed at the Academy, she would’ve done something similar to what Char had done. She would have finally graduated the Academy, but she would’ve continued her training, focusing on one area of magic with a master sorcerer, learning even more about her powers.

  There was value in it. There was a time when that was all she had wanted to do. Not chasing power for the sake of power, though she couldn’t help but feel the appeal of learning more, trying to understand what else she might be able to do with it. That desire had been more about exploring the connection that magic had within the world. There was something so natural about it, something that her brother had never understood.

  As Char had said, her brother had not approved of her use of magic. He had come around much less often once she had joined the Academy, though he still visited once in a while. She had looked forward to those letters, to the occasional communications with her brother. Each time he sent a letter, he included details about the kind of job he intended to take, and which rich target he’d chosen. Up until the last one. It was almost as if she were included in the planning of his jobs, as if Jonathan wanted to bring her along with him.

  Were it not for her entry into the Academy, she might have joined him. Maybe that was why he didn’t like her learning magic. Maybe Jonathan had wanted her to work with him. He claimed that he needed someone smart, someone he could trust, but he never claimed that he needed her.

  “You left.”

  She looked over to Char. There was real hurt in his voice.

  “I couldn’t help him from inside the Academy,” she said.

  “My grandparents came. They wanted to meet you. It was supposed to be a time of celebration. Do you realize I was going to be the first one in my family to graduate from the Academy?”

  “I know, Char.”

  “Given what happened to my parents, I . . .” She reached over, taking his hands, and he stiffened. “You didn’t tell me what was going on either.”

  “I knew what you would think.”

  His gaze drifted down to the ring on her finger. “What is that ring?”

  She took a deep breath. “Something different than we learn in the Academy.”

  “What did you do for it?”

  “I did what I needed.”

  “What you needed. What you needed to do was stay at the Academy. No—what you needed was to tell somebody at the Academy that you needed help. I’m sure there were sorcerers there who could have helped you and your brother. There were other things you could have done. You didn’t have to run off and chase the kind of power you obviously have. Dark magic.”

  Jayna twisted the ring on her finger. It wasn’t dark magic, or had never fully felt like that. Painful, certainly, but that didn’t make the power it granted her dark.

  It was only when trying to contain the dwaring that she had felt the dark energy in the distance around her, the only time she had felt power so different from what she usually summoned. Normally, the power she commanded was like her typical sorcerers’ magic, twisted a little bit through the dragon stone and augmented to make it more powerful.

  “I did what I had to. They wouldn’t help a thief. You and I both know that.”

  “We don’t know that,” he said to her.

  Jayna smiled. Char always believed in the power of the Academy. He believed in the Sorcerers’ Society and the benevolence and oversight they offered, the advisory role they played throughout the land. In the time since she’d left the Academy, Jayna had started to see things a bit differently. It was something she wished she would’ve seen earlier. Of course, had she seen it earlier, she might not have ever gone to the Sorcerers’ Society in the first place, and she might not have chased the power that she had, seeking to learn about everything she had now uncovered. Maybe she never would have learned to hold on to the magic within her. Had she not, she wouldn’t have learned enough to try to help her brother.

  “I know they wouldn’t help a thief. Especially one like Jonathan.”

  “I suppose he does have something of a reputation,” Char said, laughing softly.

  “Something of one?”

  “I don’t know whether to believe the rumors about your brother or not. I mean, I’ve met the guy. He’s interesting, all right, but one of the greatest thieves in all of the kingdom?”

  “I don’t know if he should hear that; it might boost his ego.”

  “I’m sure he’s heard the rumors the same as I have.”

  “Rumors I’m sure Jonathan started,” she said. It was exactly the kind of thing Jonathan would do. He would likely draw those rumors out, encouraging others to spread the tales of his greatness. Not that this one was untrue, though. She suspected that Jonathan was every bit the skilled thief he claimed to be.

  “Maybe he started them,” he said. “But a rumor like that wouldn’t have the legs it did unless it were true.”

  Jayna sighed. “I’m really sorry. I should’ve come to find you before. I knew you were in Nelar the entire time I was here.”

  “About that,” Char said. “How is it you can still feel the linking spell?”

  She shrugged. “I thought you could still feel it as well. I didn’t realize you didn’t detect it.”

  He flicked his gaze to the dragon stone ring. “What happens if you take that off?”

  Jayna pulled the ring off, holding it in her hand. Her finger felt almost empty without it on, though she made a point of not wearing it all the time. There weren’t many people who recognized dragon stone, but there were enough who did and they might realize who—and worse, what—she was.

  “What about now?”

  “There’s something . . .” He shook his head. “I don’t feel it quite the same way. Maybe we didn’t do the linking spell quite right.”

  “You were the one to walk us through it.”

  “Which is why I’m saying that maybe we didn’t do it quite right,” he said.

  Jayna started to laugh. “I think if there were anybody within the Academy who would know how to create a spell and hold it effectively, it would be you, Ferencharran.”

  He wrinkled his nose. “Do you have to use that name?”

  “It’s your full name.”

  “It’s a terrible name,” he muttered.

  Jayna laughed softly. “I only say it because I know how much it drives you crazy.”

  “And I appreciate that about you. I wish I had more to call you.”


  “I’m sorry my name is short and boring.”

  “Maybe short, but never boring.”

  They fell into a comfortable silence. Jayna looked over to the man. He was breathing more slowly and regularly, though he still hadn’t come around. “I should get going. I don’t know what Eva is doing outside.”

  “There’s something interesting about her,” Char said, glancing to the door where Eva had disappeared.

  Jayna frowned. “Interesting?”

  “Well, she is pretty.”

  Jayna just shook her head. “I’ll make sure to pass the word on to Eva that you feel that way.”

  “I’m not sure that you need to do that.”

  “Why not?”

  “She scares me. Just a little bit. Don’t tell her I said that though.”

  Jayna chuckled and got to her feet. When she did, the man fluttered his eyes open, and he looked up at her. He started to sit up, but she pressed a hand on his shoulder.

  “Where am I?” he asked.

  “You’re at the sorcerers’ outpost. My name is Jayna Aguelon.”

  He closed his eyes again. For a moment, Jayna thought he’d passed out again, but then he opened them. “Thank the gods. My name is Topher Brown. I’ve been looking for you.”

  7

  Jayna looked over to Char, and he shook his head. He reached into the cupboard, pulled out a few different enchantments, then carried them over and set them on the bed next to the man before using them. The enchantments glowed softly as they were activated, but nothing more than that. He worked one by one, and when he was done, he looked over to Jayna, then to Topher, and nodded. “It seems like he’s well. There isn’t anything more I can do for him.”

  “We should—”

  Char held his hand up, silencing her. He headed over to the door, leaning his head up against it. “I think Master Agnew is up.”

  Jayna tensed.

  Char let out a long sigh, shaking his head as he did. “Which means that maybe you should go.” He looked over to her. “Since you’re in Nelar, and you know how to find me, how about the two of us meet for ale sometime?”

  Jayna forced a smile. As much as she wanted to spend time with Char, she wasn’t sure it was a good idea, especially given everything he was involved in, and everything that she had been involved in herself. She missed their friendship—how could she not, especially as he had been her first and closest friend after joining the Academy?—but she also understood how different their lives were.

  Char spent his days working with the Academy and Master Agnew, learning more about sorcery, while she spent her days tracking down information about her brother, chasing dark magic, and worrying what would next be required of her as a Toral. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling she had, the desire to spend a little bit more time with him. There was a certain comfort in sitting next to him again, talking to him, and if she were honest with herself, she missed him.

  “I would like that.”

  “I could use a drink,” Topher said.

  Jayna leaned forward, sniffing at him. “It smells like you already had a drink.”

  “I did, but not enough to get quite as sick as I did.”

  “You weren’t just sick,” she said. “You had some sort of dark creature inside of you.”

  She didn’t want to scare him too much, especially since the dwaring had been removed, but she needed to understand a little bit more about what happened, and how he had encountered the dwaring in the first place.

  “You should get going,” Char said. “I really don’t want to have to explain to Master Agnew why I had you and someone else here in the middle of the night without waking him. I’m supposed to run any healings I do past him.”

  “You’re a fully trained sorcerer,” Jayna said.

  “Fully trained or not, I still have restrictions on my magic. You understand that’s how it works. I’ll be restricted until I can prove to him that I am trustworthy to use my magic more openly and freely.”

  “I don’t even know why they would restrict you,” she said. “You are one of the most gifted students to have ever come through the Academy.”

  He shrugged, pulling open the door a crack, and listening again. He pressed it closed, breathing out. “I think it’s still all right. That doesn’t change anything.”

  “Char—”

  Char shook his head. “Just get going. And promise me we will have that drink.”

  “I promise.” Jayna glanced at one of the cabinets. While Char had been working, she’d seen the spellbook resting there. Since leaving the Academy, she hadn’t been able to find one. Given the dwaring they’d taken out of Topher, she might need to use more sorcery. Plus, it was never a bad thing to have access to more knowledge. Since the book belonged to the outpost, it wasn’t like she’d be taking it from Char . . .

  She slipped over to it while Char stood in the doorway, and stuffed the book quickly into her pocket, then looked over to Topher. “Do you think you can walk?”

  “Walk? Why wouldn’t I be able to walk?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe because when you came here in the first place, you were barely able to stand. You certainly were unable to talk.”

  Once she knew he was fully recovered, she would tell him how he had nearly destroyed her home. She might even make him clean it up a little bit. On second thought, no. That involved bringing Topher back to her home. She wanted to be done with him.

  He slid off the edge of the bed and stood for a moment, wobbling slightly before catching himself. He flashed a grin. “See? I’m stronger than you give me credit for.”

  “You sure are. Come along, big guy,” she said.

  Char shot her a look as he pulled the door open. He stepped out into the hall, pulling the door closed for a moment and holding it partially shut until he must have been convinced there wasn’t anyone else there. When he opened it again, he motioned for Jayna to follow.

  She stepped outside into the hall. The lights were a little brighter than they had been before. Maybe that was her imagination, but . . .

  “Do they grow brighter as dawn comes?”

  Char nodded. “That’s how sorcery works, Jayna.”

  “I’m well aware of how it works, but that kind of sorcery would be considerable.” And it would’ve been a great waste of magic in her mind, but impressive, nonetheless. She couldn’t deny that there was some benefit in having the shifting nature of power on display. A power that would grant anyone who came into the outpost a belief in and appreciation of the power of the sorcerers. Not that they really needed anyone to appreciate their power. Most people in the kingdom—and beyond the kingdom, in fact—understood the power of the sorcerers. Most had little reason to question it.

  Jayna followed him along the hall, and when they reached the door, he grabbed her arm for a moment, holding on to it. “Be careful.” Char glanced past her to Topher. “I don’t know what happened to him, but I saw that magic. I don’t understand it, but I know it is significant.”

  “It wasn’t magic,” Jayna said.

  “Fine. It wasn’t magic, but that doesn’t change my point. It’s dangerous. I don’t know that you should get caught up in anything like that.”

  She leaned forward, kissing him on the cheek. “It was really good to see you again, Char.”

  She motioned for Topher to follow, and she stepped out into the street, pulling the door closed behind her. She found Eva near the cart.

  “That took you long enough . . . Oh. He’s awake.”

  “Eva Rekayth, this is Topher Brown.”

  Topher smiled. “Hey there, Eva.”

  Eva glanced over to Jayna, frowning for a moment. “He seems a little bit off. Is that just my feeling, or is he a little bit off?”

  Jayna shrugged. “I don’t know. If I had a dwaring inside of me, I might be a little bit off, too.”

  “What’s a dwaring?” he asked.

  Eva held up the enchantment. “A dwaring is a creature of power that siph
ons power off of others.” She watched Topher. “Perhaps you care to tell us why it was siphoning off of you?”

  “Not just why, but how,” Jayna said, looking over to the Academy outpost before turning to the others. “But not here. We should go someplace else.”

  “You said something about ale. I could take a drink.”

  “It’s nearly morning,” Jayna said.

  “I could use a glass of wine,” Eva said.

  “Really? You too?”

  Eva shrugged. “What can I say? You woke me up before I had a chance to get enough sleep.”

  Jayna sighed. “I suppose we don’t have any food in our place, anyway, and given what he’s gone through, and the magic I had to use, I need food to recover.”

  And they might as well humor Topher a bit. At least until she learned more.

  “We should be careful with this,” Eva said, holding the enchantment. “It’s not exactly stable. Which means—”

  “If the dwaring gets out, it’s going to infect someone else.”

  Eva nodded. “That’s sort of what it means.”

  Just what they needed. A possibly explosive enchantment holding dark magic that they had to hide while avoiding the Sorcerers’ Society—and whoever might be responsible for this.

  At one corner, Jayna thought she saw shadowed movement, and motioned for them to hurry. Eva shot her a look, holding out the enchantment.

  “Someone is responsible for this,” Jayna hissed.

  “Fine, but if it breaks free again, it’s your fault,” she muttered.

  “Let’s find a place that’s not so . . . populated,” Jayna suggested.

  They dragged the cart, and Topher walked alongside them for a little while before he stumbled and Jayna had to force him to take a seat inside. Topher protested, but she ignored it, forcing him to sit and ride.

  “We already dragged your ass through the streets once, and I’d rather have you stay alert this time. I don’t need you to stumble and fall and get even more injured than before.” She saw more shadows moving nearby and tensed a moment until they were gone.

  “You already dragged me through the street?”