Servant of Fire (The Cloud Warrior Saga Book 7)

by D. K. Holmberg

  Tan glanced at Wallyn, now crouched in front of the pool where the nymid swam. One arm touched the water, twirling through it, and he lowered his head down toward the surface, inhaling deeply. “I’m not the only connection. Not anymore, at least,” Tan said.

  Cianna could reach the draasin. Ferran could reach golud. Others within the kingdoms would learn to speak to the elementals. They would have to, or too much would be lost.

  Roine squeezed his arm, and he seemed like he wanted to say something more but didn’t. Finally, he let go of Tan. “I should be going with you.”

  “We can’t risk your coming,” Tan said.

  “I hate that. I should be with her. I shouldn’t have allowed her to go on her own.”

  “Would you have been able to stop her?”

  “No. That doesn’t change the fact that I should have tried. This role—this title—chafes at times.” Roine inhaled deeply. His jaw clenched and he touched the sword hanging from his side, briefly gripping the hilt. “Promise me that you’ll bring her back safely,” he said.

  “I will bring back my mother,” Tan said, leaving Roine standing in the tunnel with Wallyn still crouched in front of the pool of nymid.

  15

  Fading from the Hunt

  The draasin den felt cooler than the last time Tan had been there. Asboel lay with his head down, his tail curled up and around him, and his chest expanding slowly with each breath. The hatchling, Asgar, lay in front of his father, larger than the last time Tan had seen him, nearly as large now as Enya. There was a fetid odor within the den, and Tan wondered whether it came from the recent hunt or from something else.

  Asgar turned as Tan opened the door to the den, making a point of closing it securely behind him and sealing it with a shaping of fire and spirit. Wallyn was still down in the tunnels, and Tan didn’t want to risk him accidentally coming upon the draasin. While he didn’t necessarily hide the fact that he’d given the draasin permission to use the tunnels as their den, he also didn’t want to risk word spreading about it. Too many might grow frightened.

  Asboel? Tan asked, reaching through the bond to connect to his friend. The sense of him was distant, as if the injury Tan had sustained had weakened the connection.

  Asboel didn’t move.

  Tan started toward him, but Asgar moved to block him, stepping in front of Tan and keeping him from reaching the other draasin. What is it? Tan asked Asgar through the fire bond.

  He is unwell.

  Asgar’s voice sounded deeper than when Tan had last spoken to him, coming through the fire bond more easily. There was still a hint of youthfulness to it, but now he’d taken on more of a confident air than he had before.

  Tan reached for Asboel again, straining through the fire bond and the spirit bond between them. As he did, he sensed the slumbering draasin and realized where the odor in the den had come from. The wound to his wing that kaas had inflicted was worse than Tan had realized. It festered, and even with fire burning within him, Asboel was unable to heal from it completely.

  How had he missed the extent of the injury? Had Asboel really managed to keep it from him so completely?

  Let me see to him, Tan demanded through the fire bond.

  Asgar snuffed and a streamer of flame and steam shot from his nostrils, striking harmlessly at Tan. The younger draasin pawed at the ground and shook his head at Tan, who stood his ground, arms crossed over his chest as he waited.

  Then Asgar stepped off to the side, giving Tan a chance to make his way to Asboel. When Asgar moved, the stink from the wound filled Tan’s nostrils. He had to cover his mouth to keep from gagging, and he forced himself to look at the injury. It had been his fault that Asboel had been there, and his fault that the draasin was injured.

  Asboel’s eyes opened and he let out a soft breath of warm air. Maelen, you can be so foolish at times.

  Is it foolish to wish you wouldn’t have come to help?

  Do you think that you could have restrained me? Asboel stretched out his legs, which moved weakly. Kaas roamed because of the draasin. The Mother assigned us the task of removing him. In that, I failed her.

  You didn’t fail. You helped me.

  Yes. Now he sits within the fire bond. Perhaps the Mother knows best after all. Asboel lowered his head again, resting it on the stone. Soon enough I will sit among her again, and then I can ask.

  Tan swallowed. After everything that Asboel had been through, for him to be injured by another elemental seemed a cruel twist of fate. Isn’t there anything that can be done? The nymid had healed him; why couldn’t they help heal Asboel?

  The nymid serve water, not fire.

  They healed me.

  Because you sit within water. Not as much as with fire, but enough that it matters.

  Can Fire heal you?

  Asboel snorted something like a sneeze. Fire burns regardless of me, Maelen. You should know that by now. His gaze turned to Asgar, who crouched, watching Tan. The younger draasin sat mostly on his hind legs, and his head brushed the top of the den, the long, thick spikes atop his head now scraping at the stone much as Asboel’s did. Fire will not stop burning simply because I no longer do. When my fire snuffs out, another will be kindled. That is how it always has been.

  Asboel—

  Do not mourn what is inevitable for us all, Maelen. Each of us rejoins the Mother. Soon it will be my turn.

  Tan swallowed the lump that formed in his throat. I would like to have hunted with you one more time.

  As would I, Maelen. Yet I have watched the hunt through your eyes. You have grown much stronger than when I first met you.

  I hope that I have been worthy of the bond.

  You have served fire better than any shaper who has lived. The Mother chose well for the bond.

  I wish that I could have been stronger. Had I known how to restore kaas to fire sooner, you would not have suffered.

  And had your ancestors not have forced the others to help, I might not have survived to hunt alongside you. The Mother saw what must be done. I accept her terms, as must you.

  Tan rested his hand on Asboel’s side, feeling the smooth scale that was so much cooler than it had ever been before. What would happen when he lost Asboel? It wasn’t his ability to shape, or his bonded connection to the elemental that he cared about. It was losing his friend that hurt the most.

  You are strong, Maelen. You will survive this, as you have survived the hunt so far. And the hunt remains. You must finish the task that the Mother has asked of you.

  What the Mother has asked. Tan wasn’t sure what that was. Did that mean returning the elementals to Chenir as the nymid suggested, or was there more? Even if he managed to do that, would they be able to keep Par-shon out?

  And if I can’t?

  Asboel shifted his head so that he could fix Tan with a golden-eyed stare. You will.

  I made a mistake in the last hunt. I nearly died.

  But you did not.

  I need to return for my mother. The Par-shon bonded have her. They might already have separated her from the wind elemental. I need to stop them.

  The nymid have seen that you will not go unarmed.

  Tan glanced down and saw the slight glow to the nymid armor that coated him. I asked for their aid. They protected me once before.

  And did so willingly.

  Tan hesitated and heard Asboel’s clucking sort of laughter distantly in his mind.

  Ask your question, Maelen.

  Tan forced a smile. With the connection, likely Asboel knew the question without Tan needing to ask. How much longer do you have?

  Asboel let out a huff of steam. If the Mother allows it, long enough to watch you complete the hunt.

  Tan rested his hand on Asboel’s side, feeling the heat from the great draasin’s side. He hated the change, and what it meant for his friend. Once, he had been terrified of Asboel, scared of the connection between them. Now, he was terrified that he would lose it.

  * * *

  The wind
blowing around him was cool and crisp, biting at his flesh. Tan was aware of it as a distant sense, one that left him not uncomfortable at the presence of cold ara. Amia stood next to him, both of them surveying the field where Par-shon had once attacked the Aeta.

  “I could come with you,” she suggested.

  Tan breathed out softly, wishing that were true. For so long, he’d had Amia at his side, the two of them fighting against impossible odds. This time was different. He still wasn’t certain that he knew how he’d manage to reach his mother, not without shapers to help. Roine couldn’t risk the kingdoms’ shapers going with him, and there were no others that Tan dared to ask.

  “Your place is with your people,” he answered.

  She glanced over her shoulder toward the walls of Ethea rising up in the distance. “They are your people too.”

  He smiled. The bond between them had been formalized, but neither of them truly needed it to prove what the other meant. “They are mine, too,” Tan agreed.

  “What if you can’t reach her?”

  “Then I will accept that the Great Mother did not intend for me to reach her. I do not believe that, though.”

  Amia rested a hand on his arm, holding it as they stood there. “You won’t take another with you this time?” She didn’t say Cianna’s name, but she didn’t need to.

  “Roine asked that I not.”

  “That didn’t stop you when you went to Doma.”

  “This is different.”

  Amia pulled on him. “How? You went to Doma for Elle and you’re going into Chenir for your mother. How is this different?”

  Tan sighed. “Maybe it’s not different. Maybe I only want it to be different.”

  “I know that she’s the only family you have remaining—”

  “Not the only family,” Tan said.

  Amia arched a brow. “You have her and Elle—”

  “And you.”

  Amia smiled and lovingly touched his face. “I would do no different if I could,” she said. “I’m not saying that you shouldn’t go, only that I wish that I could go with you.”

  “I almost didn’t make it out the last time. I wouldn’t have you risk that with me,” he said.

  “And you will risk it?” Amia asked. “What if you don’t make it back? How will I know?”

  “You’ll always know.”

  Amia sighed. “And if I don’t? What happens then?”

  “Then you will support the People. You will be First Mother.”

  “That’s not what I want anymore,” Amia said. Her voice caught as she said it.

  Tan felt much the same way. Once, the idea of becoming a warrior would have seemed an impossible dream, but now that he was a warrior, now that he could speak with the elementals, all that he wanted was peace. Since discovering his abilities, he’d known nothing but fighting and constant struggles to stay alive. All that he wanted, really, was a chance to simply be with Amia. With every passing day, that seemed less and less likely.

  “If we make it through this,” Tan began, “maybe then we can have time to ourselves.”

  “Or maybe Roine will find something else that you need to do,” Amia said softly. “I’m not sure his Athan will ever have real peace.”

  “Then I will have to let someone else serve as Athan,” Tan said. “The title doesn’t suit me that well anyway.”

  “I think it fits better than you realize,” she said with a laugh.

  Tan pulled her into a tight embrace and they stood for a moment with the wind blowing around them, the heavy, earthen scent of rain lingering in it. “Why did you want me to come here with you?” he asked.

  “For a request,” she said. “With your pull with the king regent—”

  “I think you have the same pull.”

  She smiled and shook her head. “Not the same, and you know it. But with your pull, I was hoping that you could see if Roine would mind if the People remain here.”

  “I think we know his answer. They have already set up outside the walls,” he said. The wagons were only a few miles from here, set in the wide circle they had again established. “Do some of the families want to resume their travels?”

  “Some do. Not all, though. Those who want to move on have been convinced of the dangers by the others. I think that in time, that might not be enough. These are people who are accustomed to wandering, to traveling. And now they stay in the same place. Most have adjusted well enough, but there are some who still struggle. They remember what it was like when they were able to travel through places like Vatten and Galen, or even all the way to Doma and Chenir. They remember the challenges of the road, but also the rhythmic way the wagons felt as they slowly lumbered on, the steady creak of the wheels, and the sweat of the horses. The life they have now is not the one that most wanted. But there is safety here, and that is what matters. That’s what I would ask of Roine.”

  Amia eyed the flat clearing. This was where the Aeta had gathered when summoned by the First Mother before her passing, the area where the Aeta had been attacked when Par-shon sought to claim spirit shapers to force the draasin bond. This was where Tan and Amia had begun to be pulled apart.

  “And that was the only reason you wanted me out here?” Tan asked.

  Amia smiled playfully. “Well, maybe not the only reason,” she said and kissed him. For a moment, Tan was able to forget everything that he had to do. For that moment, he was able to find peace.

  16

  Return to Chenir

  The edge of the kingdoms flowed into Chenir, the steady swells of mountains rising out of the flat plains of Ter. To the east, Tan could make out the start of Galen, the sweeping slopes of the Gholund Mountains rising high into the sky, leaving the hint of the white-capped peaks that were visible through dark clouds. The ancient nation of Ter spread out to the west, mostly flat and covered with simple grasslands. The wide Bristal River flowed out of the Gholund Mountains and created the border between Chenir and the kingdoms, running out into the sea near Vatten.

  Tan hovered above the border, listening for the residual effect of the barrier. As Roine had promised, it had been abandoned. Once, Tan would have sensed the barrier as a vibrating and tingling sense across his skin as he traveled between the kingdoms. When the barrier had first fallen, he had felt it as a residual sense, one that barely registered. Over time, as Roine had rebuilt the barrier using the remaining shapers, Tan had gradually begun to notice it once more. Now, he barely sensed anything. Only the border’s presence told Tan where he should listen.

  All around him, he sensed the presence of the elementals. When he crossed into Chenir, he expected that sensation to change, especially as the shapers of Chenir used their unique summoning to draw the elementals to them and used that summons to create powerful shapings. How had the kingdoms never known of Chenir’s ability with the elementals? How many years had they been partners, trading openly, with none of the kingdoms’s shapers ever learning the tricks of Chenir’s?

  Now that summoning technique placed Tan in danger. If he could convince their Supreme Leader to release the elementals, he might be able to reach his mother. Tan could use the power of the elementals as he rescued her, drawing strength from them. Had the elementals still existed in Chenir, he might have found a way to save his mother rather than nearly dying.

  Honl appeared to him, sweeping in on a dark cloud and a warm breath of wind. He stepped out from the cloud with more form than before. Each time, he managed to create features, drawing a sharp nose and thin lips. Deep hollows for his eyes made his face look weary. He even had gradations of color where before there had been none.

  “You will return here, Tan?”

  Tan focused on what he could sense on the other side of the border. Chenir spread out from him, a vast and mysterious sense. “I have no choice.”

  “Did you not teach me that there’s always a choice? Is this the choice the Mother would have of you?”

  “I need to help the elementals,” he said.

 
; Honl actually appeared to smile. “That’s not the entire reason you go.”

  Tan sniffed. “No. I can’t leave her behind. She’s family.”

  Honl stepped toward him, the wispy smoke form trailing slightly with each step, as if he struggled to maintain his form. Heat radiated from him. “You continue to think so narrowly, Tan.”

  “Narrowly? I’ve lost my father and my entire village.”

  “It seems to me that you have gained more than you’ve lost.”

  Tan couldn’t argue with that. “Are you here to tell me I shouldn’t go?”

  Honl tipped his head to the side and raised his hand, almost as if to scratch it. “I don’t think I am intended to convince you of one decision or another, only to counsel you.”

  Tan laughed softly. “Is that your purpose now?”

  Honl’s smoke shape shimmered a moment. “I have not determined my purpose. There are no others quite like me.”

  “No, Honl. I think that you are now unique among the elementals.” Honl had bonded to Tan to seek understanding, but what he’d gained was something much different than Tan suspected the elemental intended. “Is that where you’ve been? Have you been searching for your purpose?”

  “I have been searching for understanding. I think that my purpose will come as I further my understanding.”

  “And what have you learned?”

  “That you aren’t entirely correct, Tan. There are other unique elementals.”

  Tan’s breath caught. He thought of the Utu Tonah and what he knew the leader of Par-shon attempted with the elementals. If he could force them to bond, and then force the crossings, how long until he happened upon something even worse than kaas? Hadn’t that elemental been bad enough? Without his ability to reach the fire bond, Tan would not have been able to stop kaas. He didn’t think that he could do the same with another elemental, one that didn’t use fire. What if there were a forced crossing between air and earth? Tan would have no way to assist the created elemental.