The Lost City (The Lost Prophecy Book 5)

by D. K. Holmberg

  They shifted, appearing along the edge of the forest. The trees were thinner here, and the fragrance to the forest was different than it was deeper within the trees and carried none of the sweet aromas of the fruits, none of the flowering scents, leaving only an earthy odor to it. The trees were younger, their trunks not quite as wide at the base, the leaves barely larger than his palm, not even enough to fully block the sun.

  “Is this it?” Jakob asked.

  “This is the edge of the lands we protect. If we find him, it will be here.”

  Jakob looked around, searching for signs of Raime. He found nothing that told him the High Priest had been here.

  Jakob didn’t fear facing Raime, though he knew he should. He had faced him several times in his visions and had faced him along the fibers of time, succeeding in preventing him from reaching the fibers, and from harming others. By stopping Raime there, Jakob had saved his brother. He knew that the man was not unstoppable.

  Yet for him to attack the daneamiin meant that he was not as weakened as Jakob had believed.

  Had he waited too long? Had his delay allowed Raime to regain strength?

  Raime had proven himself resourceful, and he had a thousand years of experience accessing different types of power and could use that experience to quickly restore himself.

  As they shifted, Anda maintained a tight hold on Jakob’s hand, almost as if she feared to let go.

  He looked over to her, sending his connection to the ahmaean at her, and letting it swirl around her, hoping to bring her comfort and reassurance, as she had done for him many times. He didn’t know if his connection to the ahmaean as he used it would offer the same, but he hoped so.

  The ahmaean around here was less than what was found deeper in the daneamiin lands. There was still power, and still that vague translucent energy that swirled around everywhere, but it did not have nearly the same strength as was seen deeper in the forest, or even around the house of the Cala maah. Jakob hadn’t realized that the connection to the ahmaean waned so much away from the center of the daneamiin lands.

  But the connection to the ahmaean was different even in the Great Forest. It was powerful, but the nature of the energy was not the same as what was found within the daneamiin lands.

  That was important somehow, though why was it?

  There had to be something about the differences in the ahmaean that mattered.

  There had to be some reason that Raime continued to go after daneamiin and Magi power, and had required some sort of teralin artifact to attempt to steal from the damahne.

  “Do you detect anything?” she asked.

  Jakob felt nothing but the power of the ahmaean around him.

  As he focused on it, there was a strange surge.

  It was something of a pulsing, but that didn’t make sense.

  “Did you detect that?” he asked Anda.

  “I didn’t detect anything,” she said.

  It came again, this time more clearly.

  Jakob took her hand and shifted, moving toward the slight pulsing.

  It took them farther along the edge of the newer forest. They didn’t leave the forest itself, but traveled to the east, away from the Valley, and not much farther from the daneamiin city.

  “This remains the boundary,” Anda said.

  There had been a definite pulsing here, a shifting within the ahmaean, but why would he detect it here?

  Jakob walked rather than shifting. He moved carefully, studying the translucent haze of energy around everything. Faint streaks of color were worked within it, not nearly as much as what he saw in the daneamiin city, and not as much as what he picked up on within the Great Forest.

  As he walked, he saw a strange discoloration.

  Jakob paused and studied it. The discoloration was little more than a trace, barely anything, but it was there. He leaned forward to study why the ahmaean was different.

  Teralin.

  It was as Aruhn suspected. There was a slender rod of metal shoved into the ground. When Jakob reached for it, darkness separated from one of the nearby trees.

  Anda gasped, and Jakob spun, unsheathing in a fluid movement.

  A massive groeliin stood before him. Markings similar to the Deshmahne tattoos ran along its arms and chest, and dark ahmaean swirled around it.

  How had he missed this creature?

  He had faced a similar creature once before and had survived, but it had been a difficult battle. Then again, that had been before he had come into his abilities in full.

  The creature hissed and swung a slender blade at him.

  Dark teralin. The last groeliin had been unarmed.

  Jakob drew upon his ahmaean, as well as that which filled the forest, and pushed out. He could slow the groeliin and had used that same type of power to slow Raime when he had fought him, but his attempt to do so with this groeliin failed.

  His use of ahmaean slid past the creature, and there was nothing that changed.

  He tried again, this time focusing his ahmaean on pushing through the groeliin, much as he had when he had faced Raime. His energy seeped into the creature, and then back out.

  The markings on the creature’s flesh somehow prevented Jakob from using his power upon him.

  That left few options. None of them good.

  Jakob darted forward, slipping through catahs, slashing at the groeliin. The creature reacted, blocking him with as much skill as any trained swordsman Jakob had never faced.

  But it was larger and stronger. It seemingly pulled upon nearly as much power as Jakob possessed, and through the markings on its flesh, it was able to resist everything that he knew.

  Jakob focused on himself rather than trying to send ahmaean through the groeliin. Focused this way, he pushed on that power, using it in the way that he once had to slow himself and to slow time. His sword Neamiin blazed with energy, and Jakob pushed through it.

  Time slowed.

  The effect was slight, just enough for him to react more quickly.

  Could he use other parts of his abilities as he fought the creature?

  He shifted, appearing behind the groeliin, and slashed, cutting deeply along its back. The groeliin spun, its dark blade nearly connecting with Jakob, but he managed to deflect it and shifted again, this time appearing to the creature’s left. He cut again, slicing through tissue and nearly severing the groeliin’s arm.

  Shifting again, Jakob appeared behind the creature, and slashed at his legs, dropping it to one knee.

  Jakob spun in a fast movement and decapitated the groeliin.

  He released his connection to the ahmaean with a sigh and looked over to Anda. She watched him, a mixture of horror and determination on her face.

  “I don’t know how many of these I will be able to defeat,” Jakob said. Already, he felt tired, wiped from his use of ahmaean, and the effort that had been required to fend off this creature. If there were others, even one or two more might be more than he could withstand.

  The teralin rod piercing the ground came out slowly. Much like the groeliin’s sword, it was made of a dark metal, and markings along its surface reminded him of what the groeliin had upon its flesh.

  He turned to Anda, the teralin rod in hand. It was an uncomfortable sensation that Jakob noted had an unpleasant, sickly texture to it.

  Anda eyed the rod suspiciously. “You shouldn’t be holding that, Jakob Nialsen. That is a dangerous item, and I worry that you holding it will lessen your ability somehow.”

  “How could it lessen my ability?”

  We don’t understand the way that metal works. We have tried, and have known that teralin—particularly in certain configurations—can be dangerous to us. Beyond that, we don’t understand or know.”

  Jakob studied the teralin rod. It had been buried in the ground, and somehow this had been the reason that the ahmaean had shimmered, creating a distinct difference to the energy that existed.

  He glanced over to the fallen groeliin. The creature had been here bu
t hadn’t attacked until Jakob had approached the teralin rod. There seemed to be something about that, some reason that the groeliin had been here to defend it. If there were others, Jakob had to find each of the rods, and would likely have to confront more of the groeliin as he did.

  He focused his attention on the ahmaean. Even without the rod in the ground, there was a flickering to the power. Whatever Raime had done here, his intent to attack, had twisted things and impacted the security of the barrier the daneamiin had created.

  There was another flickering nearby.

  Should he just leave the teralin rod behind? Should he leave the sword from the fallen groeliin?

  If he took either with him, would it make a difference?

  “Is there any way to destroy these?” he asked Anda.

  “There is a way to change the polarity of the metal, but the daneamiin cannot do it.”

  “Can I do it?”

  “I do not know if the damahne have the ability to change the polarity of the metal. If they had, I suspect they would have done so over the years, but they have not.”

  And it was something Jakob didn’t want to attempt without knowing exactly what was involved. When this was over, he could walk back along the fibers and ask Shoren if there was something he could do to prevent the teralin from being used against the daneamiin and against him, but he didn’t risk taking that time now.

  He slid both the sword and the teralin rod underneath the fallen groeliin’s body. He would return, and he would get answers about what else needed to be done to change the polarity, but now wasn’t the time.

  He reached for Anda’s hand and shifted.

  They appeared in another part of the forest, but much like where they had just been. A small flowering shrub grew nearby, and Jakob was drawn to the disrupted energy near it.

  This time before he approached, he looked around, searching for evidence of another groeliin. If there had been one the last time, he had little doubt he would see another. He approached the fragrant bush with his sword unsheathed and saw a subtle rippling of darkness about ten paces behind it.

  Jakob shifted.

  He appeared behind the groeliin and stabbed, not giving the creature a chance to attack.

  It still managed to react, swinging with a violent roar, flailing at him with long, sharp claws, but this one did not have a sword as the other had. Markings along its flesh were much like the last groeliin, and the dark ahmaean swirling around it was also similar. These were powerful creatures. What would happen were they unleashed upon the world?

  When the creature fell, Jakob returned to the flowering shrub where he had detected the teralin rod and removed it as he had the other. This one had a different shape. The last was circular, and this was triangular. On each side there were markings, and each of those markings reminded him of the groeliin—as well as the Deshmahne.

  There had to be a connection.

  “How many of these do you think you can find in remove?” Anda asked.

  “These are what Raime is using to disrupt the barrier. I don’t know how many we’ll have to find, but if we don’t find them all, I fear he will be successful in his attack.”

  Anda closed her eyes, and she did something with her ahmaean that he had never observed her do before. She sent it down and into the ground, pushing it toward the center of the forest, back toward the daneamiin city.

  She stood motionless for a while, holding on to the connection of her ahmaean as it radiated away from her, and then she released it, letting that power return. As she did, her eyes had a haunted expression.

  “They already have attacked,” she said.

  “You should go. You should return to your city and help your people.”

  “I help my people more being here with you,” she said.

  Jakob wasn’t sure that was true. Would she help him here, or would it only put her in more danger? With the groeliin attacking, it was possible that she would be exposed, but maybe he needed to try a different tactic.

  Raime had already placed the rods and had already moved past the barrier the daneamiin placed, and likely had already begun his attack on the daneamiin city. If so, then Jakob needed to abandon his attack on the groeliin and find Raime, and force him away. Once he did that, then he could return and remove the threat of the remaining groeliin as well as the teralin rods.

  Jakob took her hand, and they shifted.

  They emerged on the outskirts of the city. A horde of groeliin swarmed the area, attacking the trees. The daneamiin didn’t move, staying above the fray by remaining within the trees.

  “You have to get them to leave the city,” Jakob said.

  “They will be safe within the trees,” Anda said.

  Jakob motioned to a particularly large groeliin standing at the base of one of the trees. Dark ahmaean radiated from him, and the creature crashed against the tree, the trunk trembling from the force of its assault.

  “They won’t be safe. Not for long. Take them from the city.”

  “Where? Where would be safer than here?”

  “Take them from the forest. Find a new place if needed. I have to find Raime, and I’ll do what I can to push him away. If I’m successful, you can return. If not…”

  “If not, then you’ll die,” Anda said. “I’m not ready to lose you, Jakob Nialsen.”

  “I’m not ready to be lost. The fibers still have much planned for me.”

  Anda watched him for a long moment before taking his hand and sweeping her ahmaean over him. A sense of peace settled over him, but he knew that it would be short-lived. He would have to attack. He would have to be the soldier.

  She flickered away, disappearing up and into one of the trees.

  Jakob unsheathed, Neamiin glowing brightly, and he pushed ahmaean through it as he prepared for his attack.

  Chapter Forty

  He reached the base of the tree and attacked the massive groeliin first. The creature seemed to anticipate him, and spun, swinging an enormous club at Jakob, nearly connecting with his head. Jakob ducked, rolling off to the side, and swept around with his sword, pushing ahmaean out, using it as a weapon as he slowed the groeliin.

  The creature hissed.

  Jakob lunged, launching himself from a crouched position, and cut the groeliin across its leg, toppling it.

  The dark ahmaean radiating from it flickered and faded. He pressed outward again, sending ahmaean into the creature. He sliced quickly with the sword, beheading the creature.

  There were nearly a hundred groeliin within the daneamiin city. Even using his connection to the ahmaean, he didn’t know whether he would be quick enough, or powerful enough to stop them. He needed others who could fight.

  Could he act fast enough to do that?

  As he looked around, preparing to shift where he could reach Roelle and the others, he felt the pressure of dark ahmaean pushing upon him.

  Jakob spun, and a dozen groeliin approached.

  These were no different from the creatures he had faced in Thealon. A shimmery, black fog swirled around them. They had grotesque features, their hairless heads and sharp jaws most prominent, and most of them carried clubs, though a few did carry swords.

  Those were the groeliin he had to be concerned about.

  He pulled upon his connection to the ahmaean, and his mind shifted as he did.

  Jakob darted forward, slashing with Neamiin. He cut down the nearest two groeliin but was then surrounded.

  Again, he pulled on the ahmaean to slow time and allow him to react. He moved through the group of groeliin with violence, cutting them down. They fell quickly, and soon Jakob stood alone, none of the groeliin remaining.

  Others remained in the daneamiin city. He detected their connection and very nearly shifted to attack the next grouping before questioning whether that was the right plan.

  Raime was here. He had to be.

  If he was here, Jakob couldn’t allow himself to be distracted by confronting groeliin after groeliin, and he didn�
�t think he could risk shifting away to get others to help him.

  Was there another way?

  The daneamiin used the forest and had made it their home, and Jakob had seen how they lived within the trees. Was there a way to convince the trees to help?

  The Old Forest had attempted to push him away, and he had seen how powerful it was as it did, using a different connection from what the daneamiin possessed.

  If there was a way, he suspected it was something the daneamiin would have to convince the forest to do. Considering their reluctance to fight, and reluctance to do anything that might lead to violence, he doubted they would be willing to assist, but if they didn’t, their home would fall.

  Jakob searched for Anda. He recognized her by her ahmaean and recognized the way that it radiated from her, connecting to the other daneamiin.

  Jakob shifted and found her standing atop the house of the Cala maah. He shouldn’t have been surprised that she was there. Aruhn was with her, along with many of the other daneamiin who were part of the Cala maah.

  He sensed that Anda was upset, and Aruhn stood in front of her.

  “Can the forest help?” Jakob asked.

  “The forest will not attack,” Aruhn said.

  “Not attack, but can it help restrain the groeliin, and keep them from attacking me?” He looked at the daneamiin, and when he saw that no answer was forthcoming, he sighed with frustration. “You will lose your home if you do nothing.”

  “We will lose ourselves if we do something.”

  “Ask the forest to help. You live with the forest, and it lives with you. You have to be able to use that connection.”

  “If we refuse to leave the forest, asking for help is another option,” Anda said to Aruhn.

  Aruhn turned away from Anda and looked at Jakob. “We will consider.”

  Jakob wasn’t going to be able to force them to make a decision, and couldn’t wait any longer to go after Raime. He was somewhere within the city, but where?

  He closed his eyes, focused his attention and ahmaean within himself, and pressed forward. The effect was weak, much weaker than what he had experience when he had been in the Old Forest, but he was able to look forward along the fibers. From here, he caught glimpses of dozens of strands leading away from him.