Jakob stepped back from this time. So far, he had seen his brother with Raime twice, but there didn’t seem to be anything that his brother knew about Raime that Jakob would not have known on his own. There had to be something else, didn’t there?
He stepped back into the fibers and found the connection between Scottan and Raime once more. When he did, he latched on, sinking into his brother’s timeline, working with an urgency he hadn’t before.
When he retreated to the back of Scottan’s mind this time and saw out through his brother’s eyes, it was a familiar scene and a shocking one. He saw the Urmahne temple in Chrysia. It was as it had been before the Deshmahne destroyed it the first time. Scottan lingered near his father’s quarters, pressing his hand along the wall, sending his ahmaean through it. As he did, Scottan gained an understanding of the structure, and with it, he gained an understanding of how to damage the structure.
There came pressure, and a flickering, and this time, Scottan barely twitched when Raime appeared. “Highest,” he said, bowing his head. “Is this the safest place for you to appear?”
“They will have no idea that I’ve been here. I wanted to check on you.”
“You don’t think that I’ve been faithful?” Scottan asked.
“Far from it. I know that you have been faithful. You have been faithful above so many others. It is time for you to reap your reward.”
“As I told you before, I don’t need an earthly reward.”
“And yet because of your service, you will receive one.”
Raime held out his hand, and Scottan paused before taking it. When he did, he felt the familiar surge of pressure, and they shifted.
When they reappeared, they stood in the northern mountains. Jakob recognized this place and had been here with Brohmin long ago. Rocks spread out around them, and there was a hint of a breeze that carried the familiar scent of the mountains.
“What is this?” Scottan asked Raime.
“This is a place that once was important, though it was long ago. As with many things, time has changed it. Time has reduced the importance of this place. It has reduced the importance of those who once called this home.”
“Why bring me here, then?”
“Because this is now a place of impurity.”
“Impurity?”
Raime nodded. “There was a time when the gods recognized power, and they recognized the strength that they possessed, but something changed. The power of the gods was diluted. It was passed on to those who were unclean, and they use that power for unclean purposes.”
“Who?”
Raime frowned. “The Magi, for one. There are others, though you aren’t ready for that knowledge just yet. In time, I suspect you will develop into a powerful Desh. You will be asked to serve to help cleanse this power. That is our responsibility as Deshmahne.”
“If the gods require it of me, I will serve.”
“The gods do require it.”
Scottan looked around, and wind gusted, coming out of the north with a sharp bite. He didn’t dare question the Highest. In his interactions with the Highest, he had learned that he seemed to know things that he should not, as if he had the gift of prophecy.
“How can I serve?” Scottan asked.
“You have been given power.”
Scottan nodded.
“You have the ability to manipulate it.”
Scottan nodded again.
“Your task will be to pursue those who are unclean. You must find those who intend to defile the purity of that which the gods gave us, and remove as much as you can.”
“How can I remove them if they have power such as they do?”
“You must take it from those who are unworthy. They defile the gods with their impurity. The Deshmahne serve the gods, and we are the rightful owners of the abilities they have unjustly acquired.”
“Where should I begin?”
“Good. You still would like to serve?”
Scottan nodded. As he did, Jakob had a strange sense. There was a voice, and it came distantly in the back of Scottan’s mind. He retreated and realized what it was. He was detecting the first presence of the madness, that of the twisting fibers Raime had enacted.
“Of course, I will serve, Highest.”
Scottan tipped his head, as if listening to something that even Jakob wasn’t aware of. What was it that Scottan heard?
“What of you, Highest? What will you do?”
“I have a different purpose. I rely upon others like you to cleanse these impurities, but I follow my master.”
“Your master? One of the gods speaks to you?”
Raime nodded. “One of the gods does, indeed. And he tells me that I must help purge the impurities. I must help the gods. Because of that, you must help the gods.”
“Of course, Highest. I will serve as you require.”
Raime smiled a thin-lipped smile. “Good. There will come a time when you will be asked to do even more. I can see this. You must be ready.”
“The gods tell you this?” Scottan asked.
Raime flashed another smile. “The gods have told me this. They continue to see the need. Because of that, you will continue to fulfill what is asked of you.”
With a burst of pressure, Raime brought Scottan back to the temple in Chrysia. He held him there for a moment, and Jakob remained focused on Raime. As he did, he detected something unexpected.
There was ahmaean, but not as he had thought there would be. There was a certain signature to it that he recognized.
It was damahne ahmaean.
Jakob retreated and found another nidus within his brother’s strand, lurching forward along it. He felt a growing urgency, trying to understand what his brother had seen, knowing that there had to have been something important there. Could a damahne have helped Raime?
Raime had intended to steal from Alyta, one of the damahne. Why would he do that if he had one working with him?
When he plunged into this timeline, he realized immediately that his brother was having a vision. Multiple strands twisted around, giving Jakob strange and conflicted visions. He hurriedly stepped back, retreating to the fibers and looking forward to the next nidus. When he plunged forward, it was much the same, equally twisted, with no sense of whose strand was dominant.
How would he find which one was most important for his brother?
Maybe he could not.
Jakob retreated, stepping back to the fibers and looking forward for the next nidus. When he found it, he looked along the strand, trying to understand what it was that was important for his brother, but he could not find it. There was too much about it that was off. He detected the presence of his brother’s strand, but there was also the presence of other strands, and as he tried to tease them apart, he only noted them tangling even more.
The madness grew stronger with his brother. As Jakob stepped along the fibers and noted additional niduses, he knew there would be nothing he could do that would keep his brother’s strand distinct from the others.
Jakob retreated, stepping back from the fibers, and away from his brother, retreating back to his body.
Chapter Thirty-Three
When Jakob opened his eyes, Brohmin was watching him. Scottan sat across from him, an amused smile on his face. Anda and Salindra stood on either side of Scottan, as if prepared to attack him were he to attempt something with Jakob. The massive trees towered around them, and the strange fog of ahmaean floated through the clearing.
“Did you enjoy your trip back along my strand?” Scottan asked.
“Who does Raime follow?” Jakob asked.
Scottan grinned. “You saw that, did you? I wasn’t sure whether you would. It took me years before I realized that there had to have been someone else there. I don’t think I really understood until you rescued me. Even now, I’m not sure I saw what I thought I saw.”
Jakob stared at his brother. “You had to have seen Raime’s damahne. He follows someone. Who is it?”
Scottan shook his head. “Do you think he would reveal that to me? I barely made it to the level of Desh. What you ask about is something only the High Desh are granted even a hint of information.”
Jakob needed to know. He knew only one High Desh, and thankfully, the man seemed to serve the gods.
Jakob shifted, appearing in Paliis at the temple. He found the priest bowing in front of the altar, his head pressed to the teralin stone, ahmaean swirling around him. “High Desh. I have need of your knowledge.”
The priest slowly stood, and he turned around so that he could look at Jakob. His eyes widened slightly, but he kept his composure, much as he had the first time Jakob had appeared in the temple.
“Of course, Great One. How may I serve you?”
“The priest you call the Highest. He serves another master.”
The High Desh nodded carefully. “He claimed his master is one of the gods. Now that I have seen the way that he serves, I am no longer certain.”
Jakob couldn’t tell the High Desh that Raime might serve one of the damahne. If he did, it might make the priest question Jakob’s role, and how the High Desh fit in. Instead, he only nodded. “There is another. I need to know who this other was, and what you knew of him.”
The High Desh guided Jakob down the main hall of the temple to a door. Inside was a small, empty room. The walls of pure teralin pressed upon Jakob. It was neutral teralin, and it surprised Jakob since he had not detected it within the temple before.
“He comes here.”
“Who comes there?” Jakob asked.
“The Highest. When in Paliis, he came to this room. This was his prayer room. When he came here, we were not to bother him.”
A prayer room like this would be an ideal location for a damahne to ensure that Raime didn’t overpower him, but it also would limit their ability to shift.
Unless they had some way to circumvent the restrictions of teralin.
He had to believe there was, especially since he had seen how Raime’s connection to teralin was more finely tuned than his connection. What he’d seen with his brother in the old daneamiin city proved they were able to force the teralin to retreat and push against him, resisting his efforts to change the polarity.
“How often did he come here?”
“He came once a month. We began to know when he would come and would ready this room.”
“Did you ever see who else came here?”
The High Desh frowned. “Who else? There would be no others. The Highest came here to pray before the gods.”
There was more to it. Jakob was certain of it, but it was eluding him.
How could he determine what Raime had been doing, and with whom he’d been meeting? Especially now that he suspected Raime was meeting with one of the damahne.
The answer was simple, and it was a wonder he hadn’t thought of it before. It would have to be the same way that he had looked in on his brother.
Jakob pushed on the teralin, shifting the polarity toward the positive. A flash of white surged through the room.
The High Desh gasped.
“I need only a minute,” Jakob said.
The High Desh nodded and stepped free of the room, leaving Jakob alone.
With the shifted polarity of the teralin, he closed his eyes and augmented his ability. As he did, he stepped outside of the fibers and quickly found Raime’s strand. Jakob knew it well, and he traveled back along the strand, searching for another connection that would tell him that there might have been a damahne mingling with Raime, looking at each nidus that he came across. He needed to find it.
He pulled on his ahmaean, drawing the power through him.
As he did, he grew increasingly tired from the effort of the search, but he couldn’t abandon it. He didn’t dare abandon it. Too much relied upon it.
A damahne would have a longer strand within the fibers. He had traveled them enough that he should be able to recognize it.
Just as he began to feel overcome by weakness, it was there.
Jakob hesitated. There was something familiar about that strand. Had he seen it before? It seemed as if he had, but then, he had seen many different damahne. Could it be that it was only his connection to the damahne that made this one seem familiar?
Jakob stepped into the strand.
As he did, he retreated as he always did, and realized why it was familiar, nearly losing control.
Gareth.
How many times had he spoken to Gareth? How many times had he interacted with the damahne, learned from him? How much had he revealed to the damahne, much the way he had revealed himself to Shoren?
Gareth had betrayed him?
Jakob stepped away, returning to himself.
Raime hadn’t been acting alone. He had been guided by one of the damahne all along, and had been attempting to steal from the damahne, but not any damahne. Raime would not have taken from those he deemed pure. He was only interested in those damahne who he felt had impure ahmaean.
That was why he had gone after Alyta.
Could Gareth still live?
Jakob thought he was the last of the damahne, but maybe Alyta had only believed that she had been the last, and therefore, Jakob was the last. Maybe she didn’t know that Gareth had survived far longer than any of the other damahne.
Jakob had to find Gareth if he still lived.
This was now about more than Raime. It was about more than Jakob, though it had always been about more than Jakob. This was about who deserved ahmaean.
He closed his eyes and stepped back along the fibers, stepping into Shoren.
He found Shoren within the Tower, sitting alone, contemplating. It was something Shoren often did, taking time to reflect on what he’d learned, and giving himself a chance to react. When Jakob appeared, Shoren sat up and seemed to recognize it, even though Jakob attempted to sit in the background of Shoren’s mind.
Tell me about Gareth.
You have discovered more of our history.
History? What happened with Gareth?”
Shoren looked at his hands. He took a while before answering. Gareth was one who felt strongly that the Den’eamiin did not deserve to live.
Jakob hadn’t gotten that impression from Gareth when he had gone back and spoken to the damahne, but could he have prevented Jakob from knowing it, much like Shoren prevented Jakob access?
He thought back to his first memories of Gareth and how he had reacted. Hadn’t he mentioned something even then?
Jakob should have recognized it sooner.
If he had, what would have changed?
But he hadn’t known that Gareth and Shoren were contemporaries. Hadn’t Gareth come after Shoren? Then again, the damahne lived so long that it might not matter.
How strongly does Gareth control the fibers?
Gareth is probably my equal. Do you think that he has influenced the fibers?
I think it’s possible that Gareth still lives in my time.
You said you were the last before you awoke the others.
I thought I was, but I’ve learned that Raime has been speaking to one of the damahne. This damahne has guided him and has provided him insight. Not only insight, but likely, Gareth had taught Raime how to manipulate the fibers. That would explain why Raime had grown as skilled with them as he had, even after Jakob had separated Raime from the fibers.
Gareth should not be able to hide himself from you, unless…
How?
He knows the fibers. He could use the power of the fibers to conceal himself, much like the nemerahl use the power of the fibers.
The nemerahl? Would he dare steal from them?
I do not know.
What would he be after?
Shoren seemed to sigh. He would be after a way to purge the ahmaean. Doing so would require an enormous source of ahmaean. He could conceal his presence through it.
There are many such places. The Great Forest. The daneamiin home.
The Old Forest, he realized.
That last had been hidden. The forest itself had used ahmaean to conceal itself. It was one source of power Raime had never found.
And Jakob had used it to hold those who served Raime.
Had he helped him?
Jakob felt a rising panic. I can’t stay here.
Wait—
I don’t know how long I can wait, Shoren. I fear that he already has outmaneuvered me.
There is something you will need, Shoren told him.
As Jakob waited, he felt a barrier lift.
All of Shoren’s memories, all of his understanding and knowledge, poured into Jakob. It came in a torrent, a burst of understanding that surged through Jakob, knowledge that would take lifetimes for him to grasp.
What is this?
I didn’t intend my struggles to carry over to your time. You cannot be ill-equipped to handle them. I offer what assistance I can, and I wish there was more I could do, but…
This will be enough, Jakob said. Until the next time.
May the Maker watch over you, Shoren said.
I pray that he already does.
Jakob stepped back, departing Shoren, and retreating back to the fibers, and back into his time. When he stepped free of the fibers and snapped open his eyes, he felt the teralin of the room beginning to shift back to neutral form.
He shifted, appearing in the heart of the temple, and grabbed the priest. “I need all of the Deshmahne faithful to you,” Jakob said.
“You will have them, Great One.”
“I will send another to you.”
The High Desh only nodded.
Jakob shifted, appearing in the Tower. He shifted to Malaya. “I need your assistance.”
“For what?”
“To end this war.”
“You found him?”
Jakob squeezed his eyes closed. “I found another, the one Raime serves.”
“Why do I get the sense that this doesn’t make you very happy?”
“Because I thought I knew him.”
Her eyes widened. “One of the damahne?”
Jakob nodded. “One of the damahne. One I have spent considerable time speaking to.”
“Shoren?”
Jakob frowned, thinking back to what he knew about Shoren. He had spent considerable time was Shoren, and had Shoren not opened himself so freely to Jakob, he might have feared that Shoren was partly to blame, but in the memories Shoren had given him, Jakob saw a battle between factions of the damahne Council, and how there was one side that argued for maintaining the purity of the damahne race, while another—led by Shoren and Aimielen—argued that any peace maintained by those who possess the damahne abilities was valuable.
The Great Betrayal (The Lost Prophecy Book 8) Page 31