Born of Fire (The Cloud Warrior Saga Book 8)

by D. K. Holmberg

  Today was no different. Tan had been back in Par-shon for the last week, and each day he spent trying to study the connection to the elementals that he detected in the hidden panels. Whatever the Utu Tonah had done to hide or shield the connection, there was much more to it that Par-shon possessed, almost a connection as deep as that which the kingdoms possessed. If only he could understand.

  The elementals were no help to him. Tan tried reaching out to them, but they had few answers when they did respond to his summons. There was the faint and distant sense of saa, and the faded sense of the earth elemental that flowed through the tower—likely noln, from what he had learned from the boy—but he didn’t have the same connection to the elementals who were strongest here. A part of Tan considered simply returning to the kingdoms, but that wouldn’t help him understand what took place here in Par-shon any better than what he currently knew. Besides that, it was a source of pride to Tan that he was the only person who could understand the elementals, and returning to the kingdoms, basically running away from the challenge, made him feel as if he had failed.

  So instead, he searched.

  Tan hated that he did it alone. He should have Amia with him, or one of the elementals, but Asgar watched from above the tower and Honl was someplace distant and far removed. The nymid had rarely bothered to remain involved. And Kota? Tan tried not to abuse his relationship with her any more than he needed to, even if she and the rest of the hounds had no problem with it.

  When he opened the next door, he let out a long sigh. He had tried finding something, anything, that would help him understand not only the connection that Par-shon once had with the elementals but also but also the existing connections.

  What he needed was to find the Mistress of Bonds, but she wanted nothing to do with him. She might answer his questions, but she had no interest in actually helping. Elanne had made that clear the last time that he had seen her. Tan wished that he could ask the Mistress of Souls, but Marin was much like Elanne.

  Tan recognized that it was his fault neither of them wished to work with him. He didn’t understand the connection that Par-shon had with the elementals, but had he taken the time to question, to try and understand, he might have had less of an issue, but he had come to Par-shon thinking that he had all the answers. Hadn’t that been the same way that he had approached Incendin? And just like in Incendin, Tan didn’t know what he was doing.

  What he wouldn’t give for the elementals to help, but there had been no assistance from them, either. Saa had given the advice that it could, which had guided him back to the fact that he knew nothing about Par-shon.

  He needed to know where the previous Utu Tonah had come from. If he could trace him back to his own lands, it was possible that Tan could understand the expectations

  Tan turned his attention to the Utu Tonah’s home. Everything about the building was ornate. From the incredibly detailed artwork that adorned the path leading to the home to the trim around the doors. The Utu Tonah had appreciated the fancier side of things.

  Tan didn’t care for that nearly as much. He hadn’t done anything to remove it, but he didn’t need the decorative trim or the heavy carving like the prior Utu Tonah had. The rooms were all equally ornate, though Tan found one, a smaller room that had nothing more than a desk and a few strange books, that he thought might be from the Utu Tonah prior to the one Tan had unseated

  Tan took a seat behind the desk and pulled the books in front of him. He had a distinct sense of the fact that the previous Utu Tonah had once sat here and had once had these same books in front of him. The man might have been many things, but Tan hadn’t had the sense that he was ignorant. Rather, he suspected that he was intelligent and driven by power and the might of his office.

  He flipped through the pages. All were written in Ishthin, but in a longhand and difficult-to-read form. He wished for a moment that he had Honl’s ability to simply absorb the knowledge from the books placed in front of him. Had he been able to, he wouldn’t need to try to struggle through these books.

  As he began to puzzle through the pages, he realized something: these were written by the prior Utu Tonah. This wasn’t some book that he had used for research; this was a journal of sorts, a record.

  Tan slowed as he began to puzzle through the pages. Not only a record but a comment about the bonds that he had taken. The first pages were more descriptive, detailing the effects of adding the bonds and the way that he suddenly had access to more shaping strength as he forced them. The descriptions were written in a clinical way, with such a distance to them and no regard for the elementals.

  Had Tan not known what kind of person the Utu Tonah was before, he did now.

  Still, there was something compelling about reading these pages. Not insight into the mind of the man, but Tan gathered a sense of purpose, though he didn’t understand what purpose the Utu Tonah would have in forcing as many bonds as he had.

  Tan glanced up for a moment. The book should probably be destroyed. He didn’t want others to see the way the Utu Tonah described absorbing even more power. What would happen if another saw this and chose to attempt the same?

  He sighed. He needed to understand the Utu Tonah. Needed to know if there had been a reason for what he did. Maybe there would be something within these pages that would explain why he had come to Par-shon.

  Tan’s vision had blurred from staring at the pages of Ishthin for the last few hours. He had discovered nothing new while reading through it, at least nothing that might help him understand the former Utu Tonah.

  The farther he read in the journal, the clearer it became that the Utu Tonah had started down the path of bonding with a purpose. Tan still didn’t understand what that purpose had been, and now doubted that the answer would be found in these pages, but the purpose that had driven him to begin with changed over time and became about gathering power. That much was clear.

  Toward the end of the journal was the most recent section that the Utu Tonah had written. There he spoke of obtaining the draasin bond and claimed it would bring him into something he called Unity. There were a few references to this state, but nothing with enough clarity for Tan to understand what he hoped to gain, other than power.

  He made his way to the room he shared with Amia and found her sitting by the hearth. She looked up and smiled as he entered, though it was a troubled smile and the corners of her eyes held the edge of a frown.

  “I didn’t want to distract you,” she said.

  Tan took a seat next to her and stared at the fire. As usual, saa flickered within the flames. Through the fire bond, he could almost hear the connection, but saa chose not to speak to him. “I’m not certain what I’m supposed to be doing here,” he admitted. “I came to try to enforce a rule that I’m not sure the people of Par-shon need.”

  Amia folded her hands in her lap. “They need guidance, Tan. That’s why you returned.”

  “But what kind of guidance? They weren’t always ruled by the Utu Tonah. This place,” he said, sweeping his hand around him, “was built for an invader.” He held out the journal that he’d discovered, and Amia took it with a frown. “I couldn’t find any sort of archive like we have in the kingdoms, but I found this.”

  “What is it?”

  “A record written by him.” Tan sighed. “He didn’t begin his journey the same way he ended it. It wasn’t always about power for him. Not from the start, at least.”

  “You saw what he became.”

  “That’s what he became, but I don’t know what he was before then.” He tapped the book. “Look at his earliest entries. He speaks of the bonds in a way that is calculating, but not with animosity. He sought the power of the elementals for a reason, but one that wasn’t clearly about power.”

  That had been the most troubling for Tan. If the Utu Tonah had not simply sought power, what else could there have been? Did it have anything to do with the darkness that Honl described?

  He wished Honl would have remained behind rather
than venturing off to… wherever he went. Far enough that the connection was faded and Tan had to strain to even sense him. Had Honl remained, he might have been of assistance.

  Maybe Honl could even help him understand the dynamics within Par-shon. Tan struggled there almost more than anything else.

  “Why are you doing this?” Amia asked him. “What’s with your desire to understand the Utu Tonah?”

  When Tan turned to her, she gave his hands a reassuring squeeze. There was a strength to her that he didn’t possess. It was only part of the reason he cared so much for her.

  “I made a mistake with Incendin once,” Tan started carefully. Amia might agree with him most of the time, but she had distinct feelings about the lisincend after what they had done to her family. He understood how she felt, and struggled with it at times as well, but had he only understood the reason that the lisincend attacked, how much would have been different?

  Was it the same with the Utu Tonah?

  Tan wondered if he should have taken the time to understand him better, to learn why he abused the elementals as he did. If he had, maybe they could have avoided the attack.

  “Sometimes there is darkness for no reason,” Amia said softly. “I know that you want to explain why, but there might not be a why. The world is full of people who don’t think as you do, Tan. Most struggle to even consider the needs of the elementals, even to realize that they exist, yet you not only understand that they live among us, you speak to them and try to understand them. What you do is powerful, and it’s why you are so well equipped to lead.”

  He sighed. “I don’t know that I’m equipped for anything. I don’t understand the people of Par-shon, I don’t know how to forge trust, both for them with me, and for me to be able to trust them. Without that, I don’t think there’s anything I can do.”

  She patted his hand. “There are ways to rule until you create that trust.”

  “Not that will have a lasting benefit,” Tan said. “I don’t want to be Utu Tonah. And until I can be comfortable that whoever takes my place will rule in a way that doesn’t abuse the elementals here…”

  He trailed off. It wasn’t only Par-shon that he had to worry about, was it? Within the kingdoms, he had fought against something similar, and there he had done it without authority. He might have been named Athan, but that meant nothing compared to the level of authority he possessed with his current title.

  How had he managed to sway the people of the kingdoms?

  It hadn’t been about convincing each individual person. Rather, he had worked with Roine and his mother, Cianna, and Ferran. Shapers who had taken the lessons of the elementals and begun to understand them. All had started with the conversation with the elementals.

  Could the same be said here? Was that the mission that he would have to achieve?

  The council wanted nothing to do with him. They wanted him gone from Par-shon and hated the fact that he would change things. But maybe he had approached it in the wrong way.

  “You’re not the only one given power and authority you don’t want,” Amia said.

  Tan held her hand and turned back to the fire, thinking through what he could do.

  He might want to understand what had motivated the Utu Tonah, but that was in the past. The presence was a new challenge and one where shaping would not solve the problem. Shaping might actually have caused more problems for him.

  Settling back in his chair, he began to think through how he could reach those on the council. What he intended might be difficult, but he had an advantage and the only one where shaping might help. With spirit, he could understand the moods and the attitudes of those he tried to reach. Tan wouldn’t force spirit on them; doing so felt too much like what Althem had done. But he could use it to help him understand the differences, and wasn’t that the lesson he had taken from Incendin?

  Only, he didn’t know how he would get through to certain people. There were enough of the Par-shon leaders that he struggled to understand, but Elanne in particular worried him. How would he get through to her, when her entire role was to encourage the forced bonds?

  9

  Kota’s Hunt

  The air had a bitter hot scent to it, one that once would have put Tan on edge, a scent that reminded him of Incendin and the heat and dangers found in those lands, dangers he no longer felt the same about. Now, the scent only helped him realize that he needed to search more closely.

  “You don’t sense anything, do you?” Amia asked.

  She leaned back against a tree, watching him with amusement, her deep blue eyes catching the light of the sun almost as much as the wide circle of gold around her neck. She crossed her arms over her chest, covering the brightly striped jacket she wore, the only other sign of her Aeta heritage.

  Tan tried using earth and spirit but came up empty.

  “You still haven’t answered,” Amia said.

  Tan rubbed his hands together in frustration. “Because I can’t. There’s something here. I know there is. But I can’t pick up on what it might be.”

  Perhaps I was wrong about you.

  Tan looked over to see Kota, the massive earth and fire elemental, come bounding to a stop. Asgar had brought her to Par-shon to help with the other reason that he’d come to Par-shon. He needed to understand what other elementals the Utu Tonah had created. When he’d discovered the journal, Tan had hoped that he would find answers, but there was nothing about the elementals.

  What if that hadn’t been the Utu Tonah’s domain?

  But there wasn’t any sign of someone who was Master of Elementals that Tan had discovered unless he had missed something. It was possible that he had; that was part of the reason that he remained, needing to learn if Par-shon would repeat the same behaviors now that the Utu Tonah was gone, or if they would attempt something else.

  Yet, seeing Kota, he realized that not all crossings had the same negative outcome. Once, he had called her kind hounds, but that label didn’t fit. They were creatures created by the ancient shapers for reasons Tan still hadn’t discovered, but twisted by the creation, much like the great serpent of fire, kaas.

  Using the fire bond, Tan had realigned the hounds with fire, and they had changed. Most had grown larger as if the twisted connection to fire had stunted them. But more than size, the keen intellect had changed. Kota might be the best example, but she was not the only one.

  You are too insensitive, she went on.

  Amia laughed. Tan shot her a look, but she only shrugged. She could often hear the elemental as well as him. It wasn’t the same with each of the elementals, though she could hear Asgar when he allowed it. But Kota she always heard clearly.

  What have you found?

  Kota pointed with her nose. To the south. If you were any real hunter, you wouldn’t need for me to guide you.

  Tan touched his sword. I can show you a hunter.

  I have witnessed you with that weapon. I think I am still safe.

  Amia laughed again, and this time, Tan could only shake his head. Even with the resistance that they’d faced so far in Par-shon, it was good to have her at peace, especially as being here delayed the celebration they both wanted.

  More than Amia, Kota had changed. Since the Par-shon defeat, his bonded had become more self-assured. Considering how long the hounds had been twisted by fire, and the effort that it had required of Tan to pull them from that, he was pleased that they would be able to know anything other than suffering. Now, were he to let her, Kota would be his constant companion, closer to him in some ways than Asboel ever had been, though the draasin had always been merely a thought away.

  “Do you sense anything now?” Amia asked.

  Tan shifted his focus to the south, stretching with awareness of each of the elements, adding spirit as well. Spirit wasn’t necessary but usually felt right, and this time was no different.

  But he still sensed nothing.

  Are you certain?

  Kota turned deep black eyes on him. You should hav
e learned that you do not need to question me.

  Tan approached Kota and ran a hand along her rough fur. Take me there?

  Like the draasin says, I am no horse.

  With that, Kota bounded off, leaving Tan with Amia, suppressing his laughter.

  “What would you have done had she allowed you to ride?” Amia asked.

  “I think I might fall over from shock,” he said and pulled her against him as if he needed her strength to keep from pitching onto the ground. Instead, he pulled them into the air until they drifted on a shaping of wind mixed with fire.

  Tan tracked Kota as she raced across the countryside. The land had changed since he had defeated the former Utu Tonah. Life had returned to places where it had been lost, much like life had begun to return in Chenir after Par-shon had been defeated and the shapers of Chenir were allowed to return, drawing the elementals with them.

  When he reached Kota, he found her sitting, staring at the horizon. Her body was completely still, but he recognized the tension within her.

  Much as he once had been able to do with Asboel, Tan reached through the bond and watched through her sight. Something was out there that had her attention.

  Do you see it, Maelen?

  Not on my own.

  Her ears flicked, the only part of her that moved. In the distance. Earth and wind. I cannot tell more than that.

  He knew of no elemental that was a combination of earth and wind. But now that Tan knew what he was looking for, he had a better chance of seeing what Kota saw. Other than Honl, none of the wind elementals had any form. Even before Tan had rescued Honl from kaas, the elementals had nothing more than a translucency to him. Tan had been able to make out some of his shape, but nothing like it was now.

  Earth, on the other hand, was different. Kota and the hounds were elemental crossings, but of earth and fire. In that way, they were much like kaas, only kaas was predominantly of fire while the hounds were predominantly of earth.