Seal of Light (The Endless War Book 5)

by D. K. Holmberg

  Reghal. What is next? We have to hold the seal!

  The lizard licked her leg. What comes next is for me to complete, Little Light. You must remain bright, even as I do this.

  Fear started eating at her stomach. Do what?

  Hold your light, Reghal cautioned.

  Hold it for what? she asked.

  Reghal didn’t answer.

  He pressed against her leg again and then licked her. His body began glowing, first softly, and then with increasing intensity, so bright that she couldn’t look at him.

  Hold your light.

  Reghal’s voice echoed in her mind, and she held the pattern. Ciara continued her circle, slowly working around the tower. As she did, she realized Reghal was no longer behind her.

  Reghal?

  The lizard didn’t answer.

  She continued her circuit of the tower. The pattern burned in her mind, and she knew what needed to be done. There wasn’t much left. As she reached the end point of the pattern, the last loop, she stopped.

  Light poured from her skin and trailed across the ground following the pattern that she’d made. It eased toward the tower, rising slowly in something like a shimmery wall. She held the barrier in place, but something was needed to hold it indefinitely.

  Reghal?

  Hold your light.

  The answer came distantly, but she saw where Reghal had disappeared to, the edge he now stood along. The lizard pushed on the tower, rubbing his head along it, and made a slow circuit of the tower. As he did, the light bleeding from his body began to fade.

  Reghal?

  He appeared at her side once more, now faded from what he had been. Lessened.

  He twisted and backed against the wall, and met her eyes. Little Light.

  Reghal.

  Light surged from him again.

  The pattern held and she stumbled back.

  When she managed to catch herself, Reghal was gone. And Ciara understood: this time, Reghal was the seal.

  48

  Ciara

  Some within the college question the role of spirit. Spirit is understanding and knowledge, but I suspect it is more than that. Spirit is the light in the darkness.

  —Lren Atunal, Cardinal of the College of Scholars

  Everything felt empty around her. No charge sizzled in the air. No shapings seemed to echo around her. Even the connection to the elementals had fallen silent.

  For Ciara, that was the worst.

  Reghal was gone. Only the mournful sound of the draasin remained. Ciara wanted to cry out with them, to join the sorrow, but there was nothing that she could say that would share her grief.

  The lizard had sacrificed himself, choosing to form the seal, a barrier that held back the darkness that the Khalan had unleashed. Ciara should have known that it would take something significant to hold the seal, and a part of her had wondered if she might have to be a part of it, but that hadn’t been the case. It had been Reghal.

  He had saved her so many times, and now he had saved everyone.

  “Ciara?”

  She turned slowly and saw Jasn Volth making his way toward her. Dried blood caked his arms and neck, and dirt stained his face, but he lived. At least there was that.

  “Jasn. He’s gone. Reghal is gone.”

  It seemed fitting to share his name now that he was dead. The elementals were protective of them otherwise, but in death, he deserved celebration for his sacrifice. It had to mean something.

  Jasn pulled him into his arms, and she let him. Tears came then, filling her eyes, and she sobbed. She didn’t know how long she cried, but Jasn didn’t move, standing strong for her, holding her, not saying anything, seeming to know that there was nothing that he could say that would make what happened to Reghal better.

  Ciara took a deep breath and stepped back.

  “It holds,” Jasn said.

  “That was his sacrifice. There had to be something to hold the seal, like my j’na at the other tower, or the pattern that I placed in Atenas. For this place, with the power that flowed here, it required a stronger seal.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “He… he has been with me for so long that I don’t know what I’ll do without him.”

  “My friend is gone, too. He’s the reason I left my village all those years ago, and he’s the reason that I finally came from Rens. And now he’s sacrificed himself. Without him, we wouldn’t have defeated Nolan, the shaper consumed by Tenebeth.”

  Ciara took Jasn’s hand. Losing Reghal hurt, but she wasn’t the only one suffering. She had to remember that.

  Jasn looked at the tower, then around the field. Ciara followed his gaze and noted all the dead. “We all have to find answers,” he said to her. “We have to find what we will do now. We have to work together.”

  She formed a slow summons in her mind, finding her light. It came, and she released it, uncertain anymore if it was a summons or a shaping. As she did, she felt the reverberations of shadow against it. “We aren’t done yet. We still have to contain Tenebeth.”

  Jasn turned to her.

  “We’ve stopped those who seek to free the darkness, but now we have to gather what remains,” she said. She didn’t know how they would, but the battle with Tenebeth wouldn’t be over until they did.

  “Eldridge thought he might have some way,” Jasn said.

  Ciara wondered if the scholar had survived the fight. If he had, and if he really knew of some way to suppress Tenebeth, they might succeed.

  She saw him with Cheneth, but it was another man with him who caught her eye.

  Shade.

  As she ran forward, Jasn tried catching her arm. She ignored the questions that he asked. Ciara formed a summons as she ran, ready to slam it into Shade. When she approached, Cheneth stepped in front of her.

  “Move aside,” she said.

  “Ciara—”

  “This is the man who attempted to turn me. He tried to use the shadows on me. Were it not for… were it not for…” She couldn’t say Reghal’s name, not with Shade so close. She swallowed the angry lump in her throat. “He almost succeeded,” she said.

  “I know, Ciara, but we need him.”

  “Need? What of the others he nearly turned? Sinsa and Doln? What of them?”

  Cheneth touched her arm and a wave a relaxation coursed through her.

  She knew he shaped her, but the shaping reminded her of what Reghal had done before sacrificing himself. His last words echoed again in her mind. Hold your light.

  Would Reghal have wanted her to attack Shade? The Khalan were defeated. There was nothing that Shade would be able to do to her now.

  And he might be able to help.

  That was what Cheneth intended.

  “You want to use him, don’t you? You want him to summon the shadows.”

  Cheneth glanced at Jasn and then Eldridge before nodding. “I think that he can. If we gather them, there is something that Eldridge possesses that might work. But we’ll need your help.”

  Ciara released the summoning that she’d called. That wasn’t what Reghal wanted of her. That would not be her holding her light. That would be revenge only. And if Shade could help them summon the shadows, and they could trap them and hold Tenebeth within, she could finally rest and return home. Wherever that was.

  49

  Alena

  Spirit is creation.

  —Lren Atunal, Cardinal of the College of Scholars

  As the battle wound down, Alena looked at the ground from her perch atop the hatchling. The draasin was much larger than he’d been even before starting on their journey across the ocean as if he had prepared for the battle by rapidly growing. She didn’t understand how it was possible, and his answer that he “fed on fire” made no sense to her.

  But he had been instrumental in success. With the draasin, they had managed to snap at the Khalan attempting to summon from below, and protected somehow by the shaping that Jasn had placed over her and the draasin.

  She didn�
��t understand it, but there was much that she didn’t understand.

  A few scattered Khalan remained, but not so many that the other shapers of Ter and the Hyaln that Cheneth had managed to call had trouble dealing with.

  Across the rolling hillside leading up to the tower, so many had fallen. Not only the Khalan, but of Ter and the Hyaln, and even a few Wise with their draasin.

  All for what?

  She patted the hatchling and leaped to the ground, leaving him to circle and watch over her. When she reached the ground, she found Cheneth standing next to one of the Khalan. Another woman was there, and Alena gasped as she realized that it was Issa.

  “You live,” she said.

  Issa nodded. “I am sorry that I had to deceive you. All of you. I thought it was necessary. I thought that Hyaln knew what was necessary.”

  Alena didn’t know what to say to her. She had thought that her training had led to Issa’s death. And then she had thought that Issa had been turned by Tenebeth. Seeing her here, and knowing what they all had gone through… Alena couldn’t hate the woman.

  What did Volth think? He must have learned that Issa—his Katya—lived.

  But she had seen the way that he looked at Ciara and had seen the way the two of them had embraced in Atenas before they started toward Valahs. Either he knew and had decided that he had moved on, or he hadn’t known.

  Alena turned her attention to the tower. Ciara stood there, a glowing light surrounding it, containing the darkness within. Strangely, Alena felt sadness within her, a mournfulness that she didn’t understand. Overhead, the draasin roared at the same time.

  What is it?

  The draasin didn’t answer, but she sensed something had been lost.

  And seeing all those who had died here today, she realized that much had been lost. Would they be able to recover from this? Was there ever a way to come back from it?

  Maybe that was not what was to be. She had changed, Volth had changed. Even the warriors of Atenas had changed, now aware that there was more to shaping than they had ever known. They would learn, they would grow, but they would never be the same.

  “This isn’t over, is it?” she asked aloud.

  Cheneth shook his head. He appeared younger than the last time that she’d seen him, but maybe that was because he didn’t wear his glasses. “The Khalan have fallen, but Tenebeth is not yet contained.”

  Shadows still hung over the island in places, but even they began to dissipate. “Not contained. That means that he will come back? Like what he did with Thenas?”

  Cheneth sighed. “Perhaps.”

  “And Nolan?” she asked. They hadn’t defeated him, and if Nolan appeared… there wasn’t going to be much they would be able to do to stop him.

  “Nolan is defeated,” Cheneth said.

  “How? When he attacked us in Atenas, I think he’d already accomplished what he wanted. How could he be defeated?”

  “A sacrifice,” Cheneth said. His gaze focused on a man making his way toward them, walking slowly, almost limping, but the closer he came, the more the limp disappeared.

  “What kind of sacrifice?”

  “One made for a friend, I think,” Cheneth answered.

  Jasn reached them. His eyes were darkened hollows, shot with red and streaked with blood and dirt. He sheathed his sword and let out a shuddering breath. “Where is Ciara?” he asked.

  Cheneth nodded toward the tower.

  Jasn turned and took to the air on a strange shaping of water.

  “What must we do to stop Tenebeth?” Alena asked. “How will this be over for good?”

  “I don’t think this will ever truly be ended. Tenebeth represents the darkness, the nothingness. We have suppressed part of it now, and we might even manage to suppress all that escaped, but it will come again. All that we can do is prepare and provide instructions to future generations who might face it again.”

  Eldridge landed next to Cheneth and tipped his head.

  “Do you have it?” Cheneth asked.

  Eldridge nodded. “I think I do, but these markings… they are beyond my skill.”

  Eldridge opened a book and showed it to Cheneth. “We need a rune master for these, but none answered the summons. We can take it to Hyaln, but we will lose the advantage. So much remains here that if we can summon it and confine it…”

  “There might be someone who can help,” Issa said.

  Cheneth looked at her. “You? You are Enlightened, not a rune master.”

  “Not me, but when he was in Hyaln, Jasn demonstrated a particular talent with the runes. With everything, really.”

  Cheneth caught Eldridge’s eyes. “We will need someone able to summon it,” Cheneth said. He turned to the Khalan. The man had remained silent while they had spoken. “Will you do this, Shade? Will you help secure this danger before it can claim any others?”

  The Khalan looked at each of them. Alena wondered why he would help, and why Cheneth would trust him, as he finally nodded.

  50

  Jasn

  Will they ever learn the role of the college in this plan? Many have tried to remain neutral, but there is no neutrality. Some chose to help those of the light, and a few chose to aid the darkness. As in many things, there must be balance.

  —Lren Atunal, Cardinal of the College of Scholars

  Following the markings in Eldridge’s book reminded Jasn of working with the rune masters in Hyaln. The patterns found within the scholar’s book were more complicated in some ways than any that Hyaln possessed, but Jasn had a knack for runes. It hadn’t taken long to figure out in which order to place them, and which would be essential to hold the darkness. Now, if it worked.

  “You’re sure this will work?” he asked Lauren. He ran his hands along the massive block, but the size had been important. Often with runes, the size of the canvas used was important. The shape as well, but Jasn didn’t know if the shape was as critical this time.

  The woman had been skittish since Jasn appeared, almost forcing herself to keep her eyes off the fields with the dead. “This has worked with other elementals.”

  He frowned. “This isn’t an elemental we’re trying to capture.”

  “Darkness and light are the oldest of the elementals,” Eldridge said. “You have seen it yourself.”

  He glanced to the man Shade, the Khalan Jasn now knew had been responsible for trapping Ciara and holding her as he tried to turn her… but he had also trained her. Without Shade, so much of what Ciara had accomplished would have failed.

  “Can you summon it here?” he asked Shade.

  The Khalan stared at the block intently. “How is it that you know of this?” he asked Eldridge.

  “The College of Scholars is older than any really know. We collect knowledge,” he said.

  “What is the point of knowledge without power?” Shade asked.

  “Why do you think that knowledge itself isn’t power?” Eldridge asked. “Can you summon it here?”

  Shade began moving his fingers, and the power that built from him grated against Jasn. It was the same power that he’d felt when the Khalan had attacked every time before.

  He readied a shaping, wrapping himself in water and spirit as he had when he’d fought alongside Lachen. He still couldn’t believe that his friend was gone and that Lachen had given himself up to stop Nolan. But Lachen was the commander. In some ways, it made sense that he was the one to have been successful.

  Jasn looked at Ciara, who was making a steady circle around them. She didn’t make any movements to indicate that she performed a summons, but he had learned that with her, they weren’t necessary.

  “You should step behind Ciara,” he whispered to Eldridge.

  The scholar frowned, and looked from Jasn to Shade and then to Ciara. With a nod, he pushed Lauren back, crossing over the invisible line of whatever summons Ciara called.

  “You will stay?” Shade asked.

  “I don’t fear the shadows.”

  Shade tipped hi
s head as he studied Jasn. “I can see that we made a mistake in dismissing Atenas for so long. You control much power, don’t you?”

  “I’ve studied with Atenas, with Cheneth, and with Hyaln, but it is what I’ve learned from the elementals that has taught me the most.”

  Shade watched him a moment more before continuing his summons.

  Slowly, the darkness began to swirl.

  Ciara continued her steady path around the outside of what Shade summoned.

  “This will not call all of the darkness,” Shade said.

  “I don’t think Cheneth expects you to. Not here. There will be other places you must summon, but this will be a start.”

  As Shade continued, the darkness swirled within the confines of Ciara’s barrier. Shade continued his summons, and the darkness crept up his arm. He gasped.

  “This is not…”

  Jasn shaped spirit and sent it through Shade.

  He hadn’t used a shaping like that before and mixed a hint of water with it, not enough to heal as he had with others, but enough that he could try to wash away the effect of the darkness trying to crawl into Shade. If it gained control, Jasn would have no choice but to destroy him, and they needed him for other summons.

  The spirit shaping pressed the darkness away, clearing it from Shade.

  The Khalan sucked in a sharp breath.

  “Keep going,” Jasn urged.

  “It seeks to control me!”

  “Because it is Tenebeth.”

  Shade shook his head, his eyes wide. “It has never done that before.”

  “Because you used it, drawing it to freedom. It must know what we plan and thinks to use you to prevent it. You need to fight it.”

  Shade continued summoning. “You must hold your spirit shaping within me. I felt the shadows retreat when you did.”

  That made sense. Jasn had felt something similar, but hadn’t known if that was what it had been. At Shade’s urging, he added spirit and water, holding the shaping within the man. As he did, a strange connection formed between the two of them. He recognized how Shade wanted to call to the shadows, but how he feared it as well. The man wanted power, but he’d seen something—Nolan, Jasn realized—that scared him.