Chased By Fire (Book 1)

by D. K. Holmberg

  Roine shook his head without pausing to consider the question. “I doubt it. I drew them off.” His voice was barely more than the sound of the breeze yet Tan heard it clearly.

  Tan stared at the dark stranger for a long moment, thankful that at least Cobin and Bal would reach safety. “The liscinend—” he began, but was cut off.

  “Not here,” Roine whispered, motioning for Tan to lead.

  Tan nodded, questions crawling through his tired mind, yet he left them unasked and led Roine toward the rock cluster, sensing his way back to the shelter in the fading darkness. Roine said nothing, leading the horses forward. A slight limp slowed him.

  Roine nodded upon reaching the rocks, as if giving approval for their shelter. Tan walked him into the crevasse where Amia waited. She sat up quickly as he entered and her gaze flickered nervously to Roine before turning to Tan. A question burned in her dark eyes.

  Roine turned upon entering and looked at Tan. “This is it? She was the only captive?”

  “There were others.”

  Roine exhaled slowly. “What happened?”

  “I crept into the town after you and Cobin had ridden off. Only a few men remained. Something happened to the south and even they ran off. The cage held six Aeta—”

  “Six?” Roine interrupted, looking over to Amia and considering her for a moment.

  Tan nodded.

  “None from Nor?”

  Tan closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to suppress the surge of emotion that threatened him again. “There was one from Nor. Lins Alles, the lord’s son who attacked me,” Tan answered. “He said he worked with the Incendin.” Tan paused and took a deep breath. “There were no others from Nor, though.”

  Roine watched Tan and reached toward him, as if thinking to reassure him, but Amia was there first and placed a soft hand on his shoulder.

  “That’s how they came across, then. They needed someone on this side of the barrier to help. I should have expected that.”

  “He said they promised him power.”

  Roine shook his head. “He’ll never see it. That’s not the Incendin way.” He sighed. “You said there were others? How did only you two escape?”

  “After I opened the pen, Lins ran and we headed toward the stream. I thought we could follow it out of Velminth and use the water as a way of masking our scent from the hounds.”

  Roine nodded. “That might have worked.”

  “We never made it to the stream. One of the lisincend caught us.”

  Roine frowned. “You were attacked by a lisincend? How did you survive?”

  “The Mother helped,” Tan answered, then shivered as the memory of the burning Aeta flashed through his mind. “She distracted the lisincend.”

  “The Mother?” Roine asked as he nodded thoughtfully. “I suppose she would try. What did she say?”

  “She mentioned someone named Fur. The lisincend seemed to fear or respect Fur. That didn’t stop it from killing the other Aeta. It was only because of a sudden storm that we escaped.” Tan looked at Amia whose expression looked withdrawn as she relived the experience. “Otherwise we would have suffered the same fate.”

  Roine looked at Amia for a long moment, staring at her with calculating eyes. The pressure in the air slowly built and Tan felt his ears pop as it quickly disappeared. “Fur?” Roine finally said and Tan nodded. Roine let out a long sigh. “That…is unfortunate.”

  “Who’s Fur?”

  Roine motioned Tan to sit. They were cramped now, the small space that had been cozy with just he and Amia was now crowded with another person and two horses. Tan was forced to press close to Amia.

  “Fur leads the lisincend,” Roine said as they settled. “As much as any can truly lead them. Some think he was the first.”

  “First what?” Tan asked.

  “Lisincend. So little is truly known about the lisincend. Some think they are immortal, others are not as sure. One thing we know is that Fur has always led the lisincend. And Fur serves the Incendin throne in his own way.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The lisincend don’t always serve the king as he would wish. From what I know, they’ve long been felt to have their own agenda, but Fur manages to lead them, to bend them to his will, and it is his will to serve the throne. That makes their chasing of the Aeta especially worrisome.”

  Amia stared at Roine and said nothing, but now her eyes widened and as an understanding passed through them. Tan looked from her to Roine.

  “You think Incendin king sent the lisincend after the Aeta.”

  Roine nodded slowly. “I do.” He hesitated. “I knew Incendin wanted the same artifact, but the Aeta…that means they know something.” He roughly scrubbed a hand through his hair, fatigue and agitation plain upon his face. “This artifact…it is powerful. Power enough to destroy the barrier. Enough to defeat our shapers.”

  “What is it?”

  Roine sighed. “An ancient item, infused with power by some of the earliest warrior shapers.”

  Tan frowned. “How has it never been found?”

  “Because it’s more complicated than that.” He reached into his bag and set a golden box in front of Tan, the same box he’d seen before. “This was also shaped by the ancient warriors, infused with all the elements.” He looked at Amia. She turned away, unwilling to meet his gaze. “It serves as a compass, guiding the bearer toward the artifact.”

  Tan looked at the box. It was shaped with five sides as he had seen before and seemed made of solid gold. There were carvings in the surface and along the sides—he saw leaves and trees and moon and stars—made with incredible detail. Small etchings of vaguely familiar figures were made in each corner. At the center was a raised circle with a five-pointed star, each point of the star pointing toward one of the corners of the box.

  “What is it?”

  “The box is simply a vessel.” He ran his fingers along its carved surface. “Though a vessel of its own type of power. This power is directed to finding the artifact. Was,” he corrected.

  “‘Was’?”

  “Scholars think the artifact was intentionally lost and the box was made to help find the it.” He paused, considering his words. “They were designed as a set, like a lock and key, but the shaping is imperfect. I can no longer make it work.”

  Had Roine just admitted that he was a shaper? If that was the case, why hadn’t he attacked the lisincend? “I don’t understand.”

  “The shapers who made this had power unequaled in centuries. They were trained as no shaper has been trained in nearly four centuries, working with the elementals to craft their shapings. Those shapers could callupon power unlike anything seen since.” Roine looked down at the box. “So I must believe the shaping was correct and that I’m not using it correctly. And sometime during the run from Velminth, it took damage.”

  “How do you know?”

  “This is what guided me toward Galen. Toward Velminth. Always pointing up. Only…now it no longer points toward anything.”

  “Can you fix it?” Tan asked.

  Roine eyed the box for long moments. “I wouldn’t know how to begin.”

  Tan frowned. “What kind of shaper are you, Roine?”

  “I have some talent,” he admitted.

  Roine only smiled in answer, saying nothing as he took the golden box from Tan’s hands and placed it back with his saddlebags. Then he turned and stared openly at Amia. She looked away. The small voice again sang out in his head, like a quiet whisper, yet a command nonetheless.

  Protect me.

  “How will you find the artifact now? If this device, your key, is broken, how do you expect to find it?”

  “When I discovered the device was no longer working, I thought the search would be over. Now I’m no longer certain.”

  “Why?”

  Roine turned to Amia. “I think she can help.”

  Amia looked up, a defiance burning in her eyes. Her hands clenched tightly at her sides, gripping the brig
htly colored pants she wore. “You’re mistaken,” she answered softly. A hint of strength had returned to her words.

  “Am I?” Roine asked.

  Amia nodded once, relaxing a hand and bringing to her still damp hair, smoothing it as she pulled it back from her face before crossing her arms over her chest. “You are.”

  “What is this?” Tan demanded, sliding a step closer to Amia. Whatever was happening between them, Tan was not about to let Roine threaten Amia. After everything she’d experienced, he couldn’t shake her request to keep her safe, even if it meant keeping her from Roine.

  Roine flicked his gaze to Tan and there was a sense of pressure, almost a weight, which came with it. Tan felt a slow buildup of pressure, could almost hear it, before it whispered away and Roine took a small step back.

  “What do you know of the Aeta, Tan?” Roine asked.

  Tan turned to look at Amia. The question was nearly the same as the one posed by her earlier, but this time the tone was darker. He decided to answer Roine much the same as he’d answered Amia. “Memories from my childhood. Warnings from my mother to be courteous to them and welcome their arrival. Why?”

  Roine chuckled. “She would have warned that. The Aeta are a wandering people. Traders whose visits are welcomed into towns throughout the kingdoms and beyond.”

  Tan understood more since speaking with Amia. “The accords.”

  Roine turned to Amia. “She shared that?” Tan nodded, not understanding the significance. “Yes. The accords grant the Aeta free travel and have long been honored. Did she tell you why the accords were needed?”

  Amia wouldn’t meet his gaze. Tan shook his head. “She did not.”

  “I’m not surprised,” Roine continued. “The Aeta aren’t proud of the reasons behind the accords.”

  “Why?”

  “The Aeta are sensers.”

  “So?” Tan was a senser. And his father before him. “The kingdoms have many sensers. Many shapers, even.” He thought of his mother and how little he knew of her before she’d come to Nor. Now he would never know more about her.

  Roine looked at Amia. “They aren’t sensers like we have in the kingdoms. They can’t sense earth, wind, fire, or water.”

  Tan frowned again. “Aren’t those the only elements we can sense?”

  “You’ve known the Aeta as skilled traders.” Tan nodded. “I’m sure you’ve seen some who feared them for that very reason.”

  Tan thought back to Lord Lind’s reaction to the Aeta. “Some.”

  “Have you ever wondered why?”

  Tan looked at Amia. She didn’t meet his gaze but didn’t turn away. “Why?”

  Roine took a deep breath and waited for Amia to answer. When she didn’t, he shook his head. “The Aeta are sensers of spirit.”

  “Spirit?”

  Roine laughed. “I understand why your mother wanted you to come to Ethea. Most scholars think the ancient elementals endowed the earliest shapers with aspects of their abilities. Back then, we had shapers of fire, of earth, of wind, and water. But also spirit. For the most part, spirit has been lost.” His eyes lingered on Amia. “But not the Aeta. Many are born sensers of spirit. When the Aeta first left their lands, there were initially welcomed. The Aeta lived peacefully yet apart from their new neighbors. Still, some were allowed to travel among the Aeta and came to know them, noticing that they always had the upper hand in trading. Over time, suspicion grew. Rumors. Some who didn’t understand named the Aeta evil.”

  Amia’s face had tightened. “So we left our new settlement,” she continued quietly, “and have wandered since.”

  Roine nodded. “The accords have provided a sort of protection since then. Protection from the Aeta and protection for the Aeta.”

  “What does this have to do with why you think Amia can help?”

  Roine looked to the Aeta for long moments without speaking. Amia said nothing as well, biting her lip and her clenched fists. “There have long been rumors that some among the Aeta are more than sensers. Rumors of shapers.”

  Tan frowned again and looked from Roine to Amia. As he did, a realization came to him of the words that had imprinted into his mind, a quiet call for help that had stayed with him.

  Protect me.

  With the command, he knew what Roine said was true.

  Amia was a shaper.

  CHAPTER 21

  The Journey Explained

  Amia finally met his gaze. Her dark eyes gave away nothing. Tan felt his heart race when she looked at him. Could she have used him? Had she shaped him from the very beginning, from their first meeting? Was that why he had reacted to her the way that he had?

  Had she used him?

  But he didn’t think so. Would it have mattered anyway? He’d gone willingly into Velminth. What did it matter if she shaped a command for him to get her to safety?

  They shared a look and she nodded, an acknowledgement to him only. At least Tan now understood more of what had happened in Velminth and why Lins Alles had left so quickly. Amia must have worked a shaping on him.

  Had she tried it on the lisincend? Is that why it became so angry?

  “I must know,” Roine began quietly, breaking the heavy silence that had grown among them. “Are you a shaper?”

  Amia was silent for a long time, long enough that Tan didn’t think she’d answer at all, but finally she turned to them and looked from Tan, meeting his eyes and holding the gaze, to Roine. “The Aeta have many feelers,” she started. “What you would call a senser. This fact has never been hidden. All of the Mothers have been and still remain skilled feelers.”

  Roine blinked, taken aback by Amia’s honesty. “Are there feelers among the men of the Aeta as well?”

  “Some,” she said with a nod, “though they aren’t as common as women.”

  “That’s why your women lead.”

  Amia laughed softly. “That’s only a part of it. But true enough.” She paused again, considering her words carefully as if deciding how much to tell. “There are others, born rarely, once or twice to a generation. They are powerful feelers, able to not only sense the emotions of others, but influence them as well, direct them. We say they’re kissed by the Great Mother, infused with her spirit, able to use it to help her people. Once found, these women—they are always women—are raised to lead the Aeta.”

  “These are the shapers?” Roine asked.

  Amia nodded.

  He leaned forward. “And were you kissed by the Great Mother?”

  A cloud seemed to pass over her face before she nodded. “I am.”

  “They exist,” he said to himself. “All this time we thought we’d lost spirit shaping.” He looked at Amia. “How have the Aeta kept this secret?”

  Amia frowned. “It’s not a secret to the Aeta.”

  “No? How have you maintained secrecy outside the Aeta?”

  “Some things can only be taught to one of the Aeta,” she answered. “There is one truth I have seen on our travels. Every culture has secrets.”

  “Some are larger than others,” Roine said.

  Amia met Roine’s eyes. “Already I’ve shared more than is right. I would not if not for the son of Zephra. The Mother had great respect for her.” She turned to Tan. “Your mother was well known to the Aeta, though we knew her as Zephra. She stayed with my people for a time. All who knew her had great respect for her.”

  “Before recently, I’d never heard my mother called by that name.” Tan looked at Roine. “The first was when she named you Theondar.”

  “And you recognized the name Theondar?” Roine asked.

  Tan nodded. “Many would, I think.”

  “I think you’d be surprised.”

  Tan frowned, remembering how his father always used to speak of Theondar. “But he’s one of the greatest warriors!”

  “Perhaps he is. Or was,” Roine agreed.

  “So why would my mother call you by his name?”

  “Because it was mine, once.”

  Tan sh
ouldn’t have been surprised. Athan to the king, speaking with his voice. More than that, he came to Galen—alone—on a mission for the king. And only one of the warriors could face both hounds and the lisincend without becoming incapacitated by fear.

  “You’re a warrior?” Tan asked. How much could have gone better had Roine admitted that to them? How much could they have done differently? “Why do you need me to reach the mountain pass?”

  “There have been no known warriors in the kingdoms for decades,” he answered. “Those who had remained became targets, hunted by the Incendin and other enemies of the kingdoms until only a few were left. Theondar the warrior is no more. And Roine is no warrior.”

  Tan frowned. “But you still serve the king?”

  Roine nodded. “As Athan. Not as a warrior.”

  Tan leaned back. Roine was Theondar. His mother was Zephra, a powerful wind shaper. And Amia the Aeta could shape spirit. More than ever, he felt lost, worse than he ever felt after learning of his father.

  “What do I have to do with your search?” Amia asked. She watched Tan as she spoke, probably sensing the struggle raging through him.

  “At first I wasn’t certain. I hadn’t considered the Aeta. It wasn’t until I met Tan and he told me about Aeta chased from Incendin that I considered the possibility. Then I heard of the hounds and I feared I wasn’t the first to think of it.” He looked from Tan to Amia. “I think a senser of such strength could find the artifact. Such strength would doubtlessly make them a shaper. That’s why they pursued you.”

  “It don’t think it’ll work.”

  Roine tilted his head. “I’m not certain it will, either. But this device,” he said, pointing toward his saddlebags, “was shaped by those who wield the elementals. All of them.”

  Amia shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

  “Let me try explaining it differently. A shaping carries a certain signature,” he began, “something that can be felt and detected by those who know how and where to look. If you are skilled enough—or strong enough—you can trace the shaping, follow it, either along its course or back to the shaper.”

  Amia began to nod a little. “I think I understand.”