There were other times when the enchantment hadn’t worked quite right lately. It hadn’t worked near the smoke creatures, and it hadn’t even worked in the sorcerer’s lair. Something had to be shielding it.
“He’s going to come,” Jessica said, sweeping out of the kitchen and handing him a mug.
Gavin looked over to her. “I’m sure he’s going to come, but it’s just…” He stared at the entrance, one hand resting on the hilt of the El’aras dagger.
Gaspar had others who needed his protection now. Gavin understood that.
He paced and glanced over at Wrenlow, who sat quietly, still not looking up at him. Gavin took a deep breath, headed over toward the hearth, and sat next to him.
“I don’t like this,” Wrenlow said without looking over to him.
“I don’t either.”
“Not the attack. What I’m feeling.”
“And how is that?” Gavin looked to the door. How long would Gaspar take?
“Do you know what it was like before we came to Yoran?” Wrenlow asked.
Gavin shrugged. “I remember. We traveled quite a bit, and we never were completely safe.”
“Not completely, but safe enough. And I was useful. At least, I felt like I was. I don’t know whether or not I really was useful to you.”
“Is that what this is about? You’re questioning whether I find value in what you offer?”
“Well, ever since coming here, I don’t know if I am useful,” Wrenlow said. “Most of the time when I think that I can help, you disappear, or you go silent or you ask somebody else to come along with you. You have been training me, but even that isn’t going to be enough. I’m trying to improve. Really, I am. I’ve been taking the lessons that you have been giving me as seriously as I can. It’s just… I’m not you, Gavin.”
Gavin breathed out slowly. He knew that, and he had been pushing Wrenlow, wanting to get him to improve, knowing that he needed to learn to fight, especially if he would stay around Gavin with everything that Gavin dealt with. But Wrenlow was right. He wasn’t Gavin. He could not be.
“I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“Nothing is going to happen to me. It certainly won’t if you continue to feel like you need to protect me,” Wrenlow said.
“Is that a bad thing?” Gavin asked.
“I can be of more assistance than you think.”
“I know you can.”
Wrenlow smiled at Gavin and then shook his head. “No, I don’t know that you do. I shouldn’t even be upset. And I guess I’m not. Not really. It’s just that I want to be valuable to you. I want what I do to matter.”
“You do matter. And not just to Olivia.” Gavin flashed a grin, which Wrenlow ignored.
When they had traveled before, Wrenlow’s role was much more important, especially as they tried to get established in different locations. He had a way with finding sources and acquiring information, and he could use that to help them build the network they needed rapidly. Ever since coming to Yoran, with Gavin operating out of the Dragon, Wrenlow hadn’t needed to do that.
He’d trained, trying to understand different fighting techniques, working with Gavin, but there was only so much that he could learn at this point in his life. Gavin had trained from near infancy to acquire his skill. There was a limit to what Wrenlow could accomplish.
“Maybe we need to find another position for you,” Gavin said.
“What else do you think I can do? You’ve got other people who have better connections than I do throughout the city.”
“I don’t know,” Gavin admitted. “But I’m willing to work on it.”
Wrenlow leaned forward. “Maybe that’s what I need.”
Gavin watched his friend. And he was a friend. “I will do everything I can to help make sure you have something rewarding.”
Wrenlow watched him and then glanced toward the door. “He’s here.”
Gavin got to his feet, looking over to the door. Gaspar came in. The old thief was dressed better than the last time Gavin had seen him. It felt like ages ago, rather than only a few days. His eyes darted around, almost as if he were looking for a trap. Could Gaspar really think that Gavin would try to trap him? Of course, given the way things had ended between them the last time, it was possible Gaspar would.
“You needed to pull me away for this?” Gaspar asked, sweeping his gaze around the Dragon.
“We need information,” Gavin said. “We’ve been dealing with the Fates, and I’m concerned about what they are doing now.” He filled Gaspar in about everything that had happened since he’d last seen him, including about the smoke creatures and how the constables were attacked. “Somehow, it’s related, but…”
“But you don’t know why?” Gaspar asked.
“I don’t know why. I thought they were after something, but after killing the Captain, he went to the lair, so now I’m beginning to suspect it’s tied to the Triad. Even with that, I don’t know why the Fates would’ve waited until now.”
That was the part of all this that troubled Gavin. He simply did not have the answer. And there had to be an answer.
Why now?
Could it be tied to something Gavin had done? Maybe attacking the Mistress of Vines had drawn the Fates’ attention. Maybe it was Cyran, and his use of magic, or whoever he had apprenticed to. Or perhaps it was even one of the jobs he had forced Gavin to take under false pretenses.
Gaspar sighed. “I’ve been trying to settle the enchanters.”
“That’s where you’ve been?” Jessica asked.
He frowned at her. “Now I have you asking me for accountability?”
“I was just worried.”
Gaspar grunted. “So are Desarra and Olivia. As soon as they heard the Fates might have come to the city, they started to be concerned. I tried to talk them into leaving, but—”
“There isn’t any place they can go that they could avoid the Fates,” Gavin said.
“That is what they said, as well. Which is why… I suppose that doesn’t matter right now. We figure out what they’re after, then we can get them to leave.”
“I don’t know if it’s going to work like that. This is a city that has rejected sorcery. If the Fates have decided to pay attention to the city again, I don’t know if we will be able to prevent that. If they do, the enchanters will…” Gavin realized he didn’t even know what would happen.
“They know what it will be like,” Gaspar said, his voice soft.
They faced each other a moment. “I learned all about the Triad,” Gavin said. “And I think the Fates are here because of what happened in the past.” Gavin didn’t have the answers, but he felt as if he was on the right track with it. Somehow, there was something the Fate—or worse, the Fates—was after, and he had to figure that out before others were hurt. “Regardless of what we think, the Fate is here, and is attacking. And we need to do whatever we can to protect the city.”
Gaspar grunted. “We? Suddenly you’re one of the constables?”
There was more to the question. Both knew it.
Gavin didn’t know what he felt about Yoran, but he wasn’t about to let sorcery overwhelm the city. There were too many people here he cared about.
“I think the constables are more than they’re letting on,” Gavin said.
He watched Gaspar as he said it. If he was right, then Davel wouldn’t be the only constable who had some connection to the enchanters. It might not be as strong as some, but he believed there was a connection there.
Gaspar looked back at him, saying nothing.
“Anyway, there are some strange smoke creatures that have attacked in the city. I don’t really know anything about them, only that they’re tied to magic in some way. There’s a way of containing them,” Gavin said, pulling one of the enchantments out of his pocket. He tested it to make sure he wasn’t trapped by it, and it seemed as if it wouldn’t hold him. Whether or not that was intentional, Gavin didn’t know. “These can contain them, but we
don’t really know whether to be concerned about them spreading through the city.”
“We?” Gaspar asked.
“Davel Chan and I.”
Gaspar snorted. “This is incredibly amusing. Given the kind of work you enjoy, I thought you would be the one who would rail against the constables. Not that it’s any different for me, but now you’re working with them?”
“I know about the constables,” Gavin said softly.
Gaspar frowned at him. “What exactly do you think you know?”
“I was with Davel when he used the jade egg. I understand what’s involved in creating the enchantments.”
“Then you know what they stole from the enchanters.”
“I’m not so sure they stole anything,” Gavin said.
Gaspar glared at him. “After everything you went through and what you’ve seen of how the constables will attack, you’re questioning whether they’ve stolen the power from the enchanters they betrayed?”
“Did the constables betray them, or did the enchanters decide they wanted power for themselves? I’m not so sure Davel needs the jade egg for enchantments,” Gavin said.
Gaspar stiffened. “What was that?”
“You heard me. And I suspect he’s not the only one of the constables who wouldn’t need the jade egg to summon the kind of power they do.” Gavin forced a smile. “Did you know that the constables can place enchantments?”
Gaspar narrowed his eyes. “What are you getting at?”
“I’m sure you’ll work it out eventually. Don’t you like to tell me how slow my mind is? I got there.”
Gaspar turned back to the door, one hand resting on it. He didn’t leave. “It doesn’t work like that.”
“Maybe not, but the Fate is here. The smoke creatures seem to target those with magic. Which means—”
“You think they’re coming for the enchanters.”
“I don’t know if they’re coming for them or only willing to release power.” He still didn’t feel like he’d pieced things together quite right. “The Fate is after something. I don’t know what it is, but he needed something from the Captain and then went to the lair.”
“Unless he was only getting revenge,” Wrenlow said.
Gavin looked over. “Why would you say that?”
“If the Fates are angry about what happened, maybe he’s getting revenge. Kill the Captain who had been a part of pushing the sorcerers out and then going after the constables. You said you saw some of them attacked.”
Gavin had. The constables had been a part of the war all those years ago. Could it really be connected to something that had happened decades ago?
“Which would put the enchanters in danger,” Gaspar said.
“That’s my concern. When they attack somebody with more power, they can cause more damage than if they attack somebody who has none. When I was at the barracks, several of the constables were knocked unconscious, but they came back around. There was one, though, that the smoke creature seemed to have taken a liking to,” Gavin said. “It seemed as if the smoke creature latched onto her. I don’t really know what it was, only that it seemed to be…”
Gavin thought back to what he had seen and realized something. It wasn’t just that the smoke creature latched onto the constable. It had seemed to be pulling energy from him.
Until they had placed the enchantment upon him, the smoke creature was drawing that power, almost as if it were feeding on him. Could that be it? Why would the sorcerers have released something like that in the city? Unless they had some way of controlling them.
“It seemed to be what?” Gaspar asked.
“I don’t know if the smoke creature was feeding on the constable or whether it was simply trying to harm him, but it only stopped when we contained it.”
If the Fate had come for revenge, that would be a brutal way of doing it.
Use magic to feed off those who had it and couldn’t defend against it.
The very thing someone like the Fate he’d met would do.
“There’s still the issue of the Fate wanting something,” Wrenlow said. “You told me that he believed you had something. And the Captain didn’t want him to take one of his enchantments.”
“We haven’t been able to determine what he took,” Gaspar said. “We’ve looked, but…” He shrugged.
“There’s more to it,” Gavin said. “There has to be.”
It all came back to the Triad—to something more than that.
Something had called the Fates to the city.
He just had to figure out what it was.
“While we figure this out, we need help creating protections,” Gavin said.
“What sort of protections?”
Gavin reached into his pocket, pulled out another enchantment, and tossed it to Gaspar.
Gaspar caught it and held it up, examining it for a moment. “What does it do?”
“It repels magical attacks.”
“You would just give this to me?”
“I don’t know how many attacks it will repel,” Gavin said. “From what I’ve been told, there’s a limit to what these enchantments will permit. With this, you’ll have some protection, but it might be limited.”
“Limited how?”
“How many attacks you can repel. I’ve already seen that this will withstand a smoke creature attack, but I had better luck with it than Davel did. So it does protect, but it isn’t perfect.”
“That’s all you want them to do? You want the enchanters to make more of these?”
“No,” Gavin said, though that wasn’t a bad idea. Having them create more enchantments like that might be better than trying to use the jade egg. But he didn’t know if the enchantments made by the jade egg were more valuable than those that were made by an enchanter.
The only way to truly place a solid protection might be by getting a sorcerer involved. What sorcerer would go against the Fates?
“Then let’s get this over with,” Gaspar said.
Gavin appreciated that Gaspar didn’t want to linger, though he wasn’t surprised. If the enchanters were in danger, he’d do what he needed to protect them.
Before leaving, he tapped on the enchantment in his ear. “Can you hear me?”
“I can hear you for now,” Wrenlow said.
“Stay alert. I might need your help.”
“You said that before.”
Gavin turned to Jessica. “Keep the Dragon locked.”
She shook her head. “Don’t worry about me. You said it yourself—the constables are keeping watch. Go with Gaspar. I’ll keep an eye on him,” she said, looking over at Wrenlow.
Wrenlow had turned his attention back to the book in front of him.
He followed Gaspar out of the tavern and along the street. “Where’s Imogen? She could be useful in all of this.”
Gaspar shot him a stern look. “She offered to protect Desarra and Olivia. Did you think I would leave them unprotected?”
“Olivia could make enchantments.”
“No enchanter would be able to overpower any sorcerer.” Gaspar sighed. “You weren’t in the city during the war, and you wouldn’t have seen that. For those of us who were, we know just what it was like and what the sorcerers can do to those who don’t have their power.” They stopped at an intersecting street, heading toward the west, and not where Gavin had anticipated. “How many constables do you have watching the Dragon?” Gaspar asked.
“I don’t have any watching it.”
“You’re just going to leave it unprotected?” Gaspar paused, turning and staring at the tavern.
“I’m not the one who commands the constables.”
“You can really be a pain in the ass,” Gaspar said.
Gavin pointed to two constables on the rooftop and two along the street. “There are four watching the Dragon. There might be more, but those are the ones obvious to me.”
Gaspar furrowed his brow as he studied them. “Good.”
“How many do you think
there are?”
“Well, if you’re seeing four, then there are probably another four you can’t see, which is at least a reasonable starting point.”
They turned, heading back along the street. Gavin trailed after Gaspar, starting to think he knew where they were heading.
“The Captain’s?” he asked. Gaspar nodded. “Why did they move there?”
“Because it was safer. With the Captain gone, they figured they’d take over a larger building. Gives them a little more freedom. Besides,” he said, glancing back at Gavin, “with everything the Captain took from them over the years, they figure he owed them.”
If they were there, maybe Zella would be able to find the necklace that had started all of this for Gavin.
Gavin watched for signs of the smoke creatures and glowing of the El’aras dagger but didn’t see anything. He left the enchantment for speed and strength on, though now that he knew it might fade over time, he wondered if he should save it for when he needed it. He had no idea if he was borrowing from that energy even while walking through the streets. Maybe he should have asked Davel for another enchantment that would work similarly.
They veered off down a narrow side street not far from the Captain’s fortress lined by tall bells trees. Gavin made a point of keeping away from them, though Gaspar didn’t seem to care—which likely meant he had an enchantment that protected him. The street would lead them to the back side of the yard, not the direct approach Gavin had taken when he’d come. Gaspar slowed, and he motioned for Gavin to follow him.
A nagging doubt troubled him. He had to figure out why the Fate would use the smoke creatures. Hopefully, the enchanters—and Zella in particular—would have that knowledge.
They neared the wall surrounding the fortress when a cool sensation washed across his skin. He paused.
“Keep going,” Gaspar said.
“I felt something.”
“Of course you did. It’s designed for you to feel something.”
The Chain Breaker: Books 1-3 Page 73