I’ve tried to help those I care about. And now I’m trying to do what I can to stop Raime from gaining more power and destroying others. If I don’t stop him, there won’t be anyone else who can.
Do you believe that you alone must stop him?
Jakob turned his attention to the trees and the daneamiin there. Not any longer. They opposed the groeliin. They resisted. They fought off violence in their own peaceful way. I think there is hope for them.
I see that, too. That is why the forest allows their presence.
And the Magi have begun the work of countering the Deshmahne. They don’t attack, not with any sort of brutality. They simply try to understand. I think that is enough for now.
It might be, the nemerahl agreed.
I will go north because I need to understand what Raime does, and how he uses the groeliin.
Such a journey will be dangerous to make alone.
Jakob looked at the massive creature, meeting its golden eyes. You could come with me.
The nemerahl sniffed, and the fur along its sides bristled. You would take a nemerahl hunting in such a way?
I would not take anything. You would have to choose to go.
The nemerahl stood, and Jakob half expected to see it bound away, leaving him standing alone in the clearing, but instead, it brushed up against his side. The nemerahl’s fur was coarse, and when it brushed up against him, he felt the power radiating from within it.
Well? The nemerahl asked.
I’m going to check on my brother first, Jakob said.
I see that. I will accompany you.
Jakob allowed himself a smile. Does this mean we’re bonded?
This means that I will accompany you. Do not presume anything more than that.
You’ll need to remain concealed when we reach Chrysia. I’m not sure how they would respond to seeing a nemerahl among them. Can you hide in the city?
Did you see me in the city?
You were there?
The nemerahl laughed, a sound that came only within Jakob’s mind. Come, the nemerahl said again.
Do I have to shift you with me?
I have no need for that.
With that, Jakob cast another glance back at the forest and shifted to Chrysia.
Epilogue
When Brohmin awakened, he rested on a plush bed. A thick, velvet blanket covered him, and though his body ached, pain working through him, it was nothing quite as bad as he deserved.
Jakob must’ve been able to heal him.
He tried to sit up but found it difficult to do.
“You shouldn’t move, not yet.”
He looked over and saw Salindra sitting on a chair near the end of his bed, watching him. She looked no worse for whatever she’d been through. Her hair was bound behind her head in a length of red silk, and she’d acquired a brightly colored robe, holding it wrapped around her as she leaned forward on the chair.
“How?”
Salindra glanced over her shoulder, and he followed the direction of her gaze, noting a door. He was in a small room, with only a bed and a basin near the wall.
When she turned her attention back to him, she shook her head. “You must have done whatever they asked of you. They won’t let me leave, not yet.”
Brohmin resisted the urge to try to sit up again. Seeing her again, after hearing what they threatened to do to her, filled him with relief. “Were you harmed?”
“I’m not without abilities, Brohmin.”
“I know that, but you were captured by the Deshmahne, and they aren’t without abilities, either.”
She pulled her chair closer to his and reached out to take his hand. Brohmin enjoyed the warmth of her touch, and kept his head back, breathing slowly.
“Jakob came for me.”
Salindra nodded slowly but wasn’t nearly as surprised as Brohmin would have expected. “I suspected something must’ve happened.”
“How did you know?”
“When you were brought back here. You clearly had been through something, but you’d been healed. I didn’t think the Deshmahne would have brought you to the Magi, and it’s unlikely they would come to the south, anyway.”
“Except they did. When I was tracking the Lashiin priests, I came across Selton. The Magi warriors are here.”
Salindra held his hand, not moving. “Why would they have come here?” she asked slowly.
“I don’t know. I didn’t stay with them long enough to discover what brought them to Paliis.” Now that he thought of it, he should have taken that time, except he had been determined to find the child and free Salindra.
“Are they still in the city?”
“I think so.”
“And Jakob?” Salindra asked.
He smiled to himself. “Jakob would have no need to remain in the city. He has the damahne ability to travel wherever he chooses.”
“I’m not familiar with this ability,” Salindra said.
Brohmin shook his head. “I wish… I wish Jakob would have remained so that I could ask questions of him. There is so much that he has to learn about his abilities.”
“If he healed you, then it seems he’s already learned quite a bit about them.”
“He has,” Brohmin said. Walking the fibers was a difficult step toward becoming damahne. Alyta had made certain that Brohmin understood that. Yet, if Jakob could walk the fibers, he would be able to step back and could gain understanding that he otherwise couldn’t have without anyone to teach him.
It was a relief that Jakob would have discovered those things. Having him learn about his damahne abilities, and having him discover that connection was important.
“What did they ask of you?” Salindra asked.
“They wanted me to rescue the child. They blamed me, and I’m not sure if they believe that we had nothing to do with their abduction.”
“What of the Lashiin priests?”
Brohmin took a deep breath. “The Lashiin priests betrayed what they believed in. They intended to use the children, force them to mine teralin—”
Why?
Brohmin still wasn’t sure why the children had to mine the teralin rather than the priests themselves. There had to have been a reason. And it wasn’t the one the Lashiin priest gave about redemption.
He thought he might know one possible reason, at least one that made sense. They intended to force the children to charge of the teralin. There were few with such an ability, and they must have suspected the Deshmahne children capable of doing so.
He breathed out. Perhaps the Deshmahne had not been as altruistic as they made it seem, either. If they wanted the children to negatively charge the teralin, that would explain why they wanted them returned.
“Where are we?” Brohmin asked. “Are we still in the temple?”
Salindra grinned. “The temple? Why would we be there?”
“Because that’s where they took me when we were captured.”
Salindra glanced back to the door. “We’re not in the temple. We’re someplace in the middle of the city. I can hear the trading square in the distance, though we don’t have a window here.”
“They’ve held you trapped near the square?”
“Trapped isn’t quite how I would describe it. They’ve been accommodating, and so far, haven’t made any attempt to harm me. The gods know they even left your sword with you, so they can’t be all that concerned about what might happen.”
Brohmin managed to stand despite Salindra’s protestations. His body ached, screaming with each movement, but he ignored it. Clothes were folded along the wall, and he grabbed them, dressing as quickly as he could, finally belting his sword around his waist.
He started toward the door, and Salindra jumped to her feet. “Brohmin, what do you think you’re doing? You’re barely recovered.”
“I need to know,” he said.
He pulled open the door and saw a narrow wooden hall in front of him. He made his way along the hall, and then down the stairs at the end, before
reaching a small room. Windows lined one wall, and there was a door leading outside. No one was in the room.
They were unguarded.
Salindra’s breath caught. “Where are they?”
“I fulfilled my end of the bargain,” Brohmin said.
“Now what?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I… I worried about you.”
She smiled, taking his hand. “And I worry about you. Why else do you think I watched over you in the forest?”
“I’m not used to it. I’ve lived a long time. It’s been a long time.”
She sighed, looking around the empty room. “Sometimes, I forget who you are.”
“Sometimes?”
“Most of the time, you’re this mysterious man who brought me out of the tavern in the north. Were it not for you, I might have been stuck there. The gods know that if it were not for you, I would never have regained my abilities. It’s easy to remember only what we’ve gone through together, not what you’ve gone through and who you were before I met you.”
Brohmin nodded, turning away. That was what he’d feared. She viewed him differently than the way he knew she should.
Salindra pulled on his hands, turning him toward her. “Then, I remember everything that I’ve learned about you. A man who is nothing like the stories the Magi tell. It intrigues me. We might come from different places, and we might have different understandings of the world, but I know who you are. You’re the reason I’ve come south.”
Brohmin swallowed. “What happens if…” He couldn’t say it. He couldn’t tell her that he felt the growing achiness through his body and the increasing fear that perhaps he was losing his connection to the ahmaean. When that happened, he doubted that his time remaining would be long.
“What happens if anything?” Salindra asked him. “I’ve lived my life cautiously. If nothing else, this—this whole ordeal—has made me realize that perhaps caution is as dangerous as impulsiveness. I would rather know.”
She stepped forward and leaned in, waiting.
Brohmin hesitated only a moment before leaning toward her and wrapping his arms around her, enveloping her mouth with his, kissing her deeply.
Ahmaean swirled from him to her and her to him, creating a connection unlike anything he’d ever experienced before.
For a moment, Brohmin was at peace. He had no idea what the fibers would hold for him, but he would enjoy what he had now.
The Lost Prophecy continues with book 6: The Last Conclave
The final battle builds. The groeliin continue to attack. And Raime seems even more unstoppable than he ever has before.
Back in the Antrilii lands, Isandra searches for answers from Jostephon. The arrival of the summoned Magi means that much will change for her, and she soon learns her purpose in the north is not yet completed. She might be the key to understanding the groeliin and how to finally stop them.
Roelle struggles with the ongoing effects of her poisoning and learning how the Magi warriors can work with the Deshmahne. A discovery tied to the Lashiin priests leads to a deeper mystery that she must solve while learning whether she can still lead.
Jakob searches for Raime, knowing that he won’t abandon his plans. His quest leads him back along the fibers and to a deeper understanding of who he’s meant to be. The key to finding—and stopping—Raime is tied to the groeliin, but just as Jakob thinks he knows what he must do, he finds he’s completely unprepared.
Want to read more about Endric? Soldier Son, Book 1 of The Teralin Sword, out now.
As the second son of the general of the Denraen, Endric wants only to fight, not the commission his father demands of him. When a strange attack in the south leads to the loss of someone close to him, only Endric seems concerned about what happened.
All signs point to an attack on the city, and betrayal by someone deep within the Denraen, but his father no longer trusts his judgment. This forces Endric to make another impulsive decision, one that leads him far from the city on a journey where he discovers how little he knew, and how much more he has to understand. If he can prove himself in time, and with the help of his new allies, he might be able to stop a greater disaster.
About the Author
DK Holmberg currently lives in rural Minnesota where the winter cold and the summer mosquitoes keep him inside and writing. He has two active children who inspire him to keep telling new stories.
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Also by D.K. Holmberg
The Lost Prophecy
The Threat of Madness
The Warrior Mage
Tower of the Gods
Twist of the Fibers
The Lost City
The Last Conclave
The Teralin Sword
Soldier Son
Soldier Sword
Soldier Sworn
The Cloud Warrior Saga
Chased by Fire
Bound by Fire
Changed by Fire
Fortress of Fire
Forged in Fire
Serpent of Fire
Servant of Fire
Born of Fire
Broken of Fire
Light of Fire
Cycle of Fire
The Endless War
Journey of Fire and Night
Darkness Rising
Endless Night
Summoner’s Bond
Seal of Light
The Shadow Accords
Shadow Blessed
Shadow Cursed
Shadow Born
Shadow Lost
Shadow Cross
Shadow Found
The Dark Ability
The Dark Ability
The Heartstone Blade
The Tower of Venass
Blood of the Watcher
The Shadowsteel Forge
The Guild Secret
Rise of the Elder
The Sighted Assassin
The Binders Game
The Forgotten
Assassin’s End
The Lost Garden
Keeper of the Forest
The Desolate Bond
Keeper of Light
The Painter Mage
Shifted Agony
Arcane Mark
Painter For Hire
Stolen Compass
Stone Dragon
The Lost City (The Lost Prophecy Book 5) Page 34