Alison tipped her head, the frown parting her mouth giving him the answer he already knew. None outside the Magi had been to the library in the palace. It was a protected place, a place where the Magi scholars had long kept their greatest secrets.
“I think you know the answer to that, Eldest.”
“Would you like to see it?”
Her breath held, and he felt a moment of hope. It seemed that he had her attention, now could he get her to trust him.
“What do you intend to demand of me in return?”
“Nothing other than an open mind.”
Alison studied him for a moment. What did she see when she looked at him? Finally, she nodded.
Alriyn let out a breath. He wasn’t certain what she was going to decide, and having her agree eased his mind. If he could build that trust, if he could restore a connection with the university—or simply establish one, as Alison was correct that the Magi and the university had never really had much of a relationship—he hoped to leverage what he knew, and what the university scholars knew, not only about their studies, but about where Jostephon gone.
“I would like to see Vasha united,” Alriyn said.
“I would like that as well. Now. Prove to me that you intend to show me your library.”
Alriyn stood and held out his hand to help Alison rise. As she did, he said, “All I ask is that you keep an open mind. If you agree to do that, then we can work through the rest.”
As they reached the door to his office, Alison smiled. “You don’t need me to promise an open mind. I’m a scholar. I’ve always had an open mind.”
Chapter Twelve
“Have you ever seen anything like this before?” Alriyn asked Alison.
They stood in front of one of the several dozen cots where the fallen Magi lay. Many were still unconscious, the Magi unable to fully recover following the attack. This cot held Lawern, a middle-aged Mage, one with middling ability, and one who never would have progressed very far beyond where he already had. He had served as a librarian, much like Efrain had been. And much like him, Lawern had a matching brand, one that encircled his ankles, practically burning them. Unlike Efrain, Alriyn hadn’t managed to stabilize Lawern.
The branding was cold to the touch, and power leaked away from him. Alriyn was determined to understand what happened to the Magi, and hoped that Alison—or someone at the university—would have some knowledge or insights.
“The pattern. Does it have any significance?”
Alriyn shook his head. “We haven’t been able to determine. All we know is that this brand”—Alriyn debated how much to share, knowing that putting this knowledge out into the world put the Magi at risk—“reduces the Mage in some ways.”
“How does it reduce them?”
“This is how the Deshmahne stole power.”
“All of them? That doesn’t seem like what we know of them.”
“How much have you learned about the Deshmahne?”
She shot him a withering look. “We have never abandoned our studies. When the Deshmahne made their first appearance, we were determined to understand more about them. Many scholars went and trained with the Deshmahne, searching for understanding.”
“What did you find?”
“Unfortunately, not nearly as much as we thought. The Deshmahne seemed to know what we were after. Most of the scholars who went to them were sent away, though some were offered an opportunity to train as soldiers.”
“Soldiers? I thought they were all priests.”
“No. There are different levels of service within the Deshmahne. The highest—those you would refer to as the priests—are simply known as the Desh. They hold an honored position within the Deshmahne ranks, but they aren’t the only level. There are common soldiers. They are gifted with something, abilities that are similar to the Desh, but not nearly as powerful.”
“Did any of your scholars accept the offer?”
She met his gaze. “They wouldn’t be scholars if they didn’t attempt to study, Eldest.”
Alriyn didn’t know how he felt about the scholars offering themselves to the Deshmahne simply to understand. It felt wrong to do so, but then, he needed to know what the university had discovered about them so that he could track down Jostephon, and so that he could understand what it would take to defeat them.
“So Jostephon may be one of the Desh?”
Alison placed her hands around Lawern’s ankles, tracing the brands with her fingertips. Her lips moved, almost as if she was talking to herself, leaving Alriyn to wonder what she was saying. After a few moments, she looked up, meeting Alriyn’s eyes again. “He already had power, so it was a small leap for him to do something else that would gain additional power. I imagine the Desh would have welcomed him gladly.”
“What was that you were doing?”
“Nothing. Just trying to understand.”
He waited, thinking that she might offer more than she did, but nothing came. “What did your scholars learn from the soldiers?”
“That they serve willingly. Most appreciate the power they’ve been given, and are thankful for it. They see it as a way of reaching the gods. They see the Deshmahne as fulfilling a promise.”
“What kind of promise is that? They bastardize the gifts of the gods…”
Was that even true? Did Alriyn even believe that anymore, especially after what he’d been told by Endric and Novan?
He was no longer certain what he believed, but he now knew there were more powers in the world than he had understood, and that the Magi had made many mistakes by abandoning their role in the world.
“The Deshmahne promise that following them will lead to power. That the power they gain will be a way to reach the gods. And that reaching the gods should be their ultimate goal. That is the kind of promise that the Deshmahne make. It is one they backed up.”
Alriyn shook his head. “Had we paid attention…”
“It’s not only the Magi who made this mistake. Your Denraen have mistakenly allowed them to gain power. We’ve counseled Endric over the years to pursue them, but—”
He looked up. “You counseled Endric?”
“Of course, we have. Endric has long sought all the information he could find to make a decision. Normally, he makes well-reasoned ones. In this case, he was reserved. The only reason I can think behind that is what happened to his brother many years ago.”
“His brother? What happened to his brother?”
“His brother was killed by Deshmahne during an attack. It was the same attack when the city was breached the first time. Your mentor was involved at that time.”
Alriyn watched Alison, trying to come up with what to say. She shouldn’t have known about the attack on the city all those years ago. Then again, she shouldn’t have known about Tresten, either. He hadn’t realized that Endric had lost his brother because of the Deshmahne. It would’ve made him either more aggressive when it came to them, and possibly more knowledgeable. Maybe he’d been afraid.
That didn’t fit with the Endric he knew.
There had to be a different reason he didn’t follow the advice of the scholars. Learning that reason would not be an easy task. Endric was never one to volunteer information.
“You still haven’t told me about your scholars and what happened when they studied with the Deshmahne.”
Alison’s face clouded. She frowned at Alriyn. “No. Because our experience with the Desh has shown us that they are more violent than we had anticipated. We lost several of our scholars who had done nothing other than attempt to learn from them.”
“Lost?”
“Several remained with the Deshmahne. Others were simply not heard from again.”
“So you know nothing about what it takes to become a soldier within the Deshmahne. You know nothing about the Desh.”
“No. We know only that they are dangerous. They are highly suspicious of any outsiders. And they are persuasive. They would have to be for my scholars to have converted.”
She took a deep breath, looking around the room converted into a hospital, and Alriyn followed the direction of her gaze. Candles with incense burning were scattered throughout. A few of the Magi with significant healing ability had set up here and had done everything they could to try to help those with the branding. Unfortunately, there was little that could be done for most of them.
“What do you think has happened?” Alriyn asked. “You have to have some idea.”
“Some idea. We have seen that they are willing to use animals in a form of sacrifice. I suspect that is what they used to gain power for their soldiers.”
“But the priests?”
“They use a different sort of power. The priests seem to all require—”
“The Magi.”
Alison nodded. “Or some similar power.”
How much did Alison know about other powers? Her comment made it seem like she knew something more than what she’d said, but he doubted that she would be willing to elaborate. She had been very closemouthed about what she knew. He might have demonstrated a willingness to work with her, and a willingness to work with the university, but it had not yet been fully reciprocated. He understood, and understood that it would take time for them to gain that trust, but they didn’t have the time needed.
“Teralin was used in some way.”
Alison frowned. “Are you certain?”
“It had to be. I observed how they used strangely dark teralin-forged swords. The color of the swords was similar to the tattoos the Deshmahne have.”
“That… would be troubling,” Alison said.
“Why?”
“Teralin is unique. There is something about the metal that requires a particular influence to it. Some of the ancient scholars called it a polarity. Others have called it charging. That power has been lost for generations. None have known how to influence the teralin for many years.”
How did Novan seem to know then? It was clear the historian understood more about teralin than Alison. And he suspected Tresten had known about it as well.
More questions for Endric, when the man returned to the city.
“I was hopeful you would know something that could help these Magi.”
Alison stared at the branding on Lawern’s leg. Her face pulled in a troubled expression, and she touched the back of her neck. Muscles twitched in her cheeks. “There might be something we can do to help. I’m not entirely certain whether it will work, but…”
“What is it?”
“It would require finding someone able to use teralin.”
“Why using teralin?”
“We have several different examples of various polarities of teralin, but we have none able to use it. If we can discover something about it, it’s possible that you can use that to help your people.”
“What sort of items of teralin do you have?” he asked, thinking about Novan and his staff. There was definitely something about the staff, a power that Novan had with it. Alriyn wondered if he could find something similar. Possessing an item like that, one that would allow him to draw the manehlin and hold that within it, would give him an advantage, especially if he faced the Deshmahne again. He had little doubt that Jostephon would return with more power than he had the previous time. The next time, Alriyn intended to be prepared, and intended to know everything he could about how to face Jostephon so that none of his people would be harmed. The next time, he would see the Magi were ready.
“There are a variety of teralin-forged items. There was a time when it was found frequently throughout the city. Your people prized it for decoration.”
“Decoration only. That was all it was.” And even that had mostly been removed from the city. There were a few remnants, such as the teralin-forged fences that surrounded the third terrace, as well as multiple sculptures that lined the garden. Other than that, there were other items made from teralin, but Alriyn had never paid much mind to them.
Perhaps that had been a mistake.
What had they missed out on by not paying attention to teralin and what it could do? The city sat upon a massive reservoir of the ore; now that he understood how it could be used, now that he understood how powerful teralin was, he wondered if that had been intentional.
Likely, it was.
“Perhaps only decoration to you. Others of us recognize that there is more to it than mere decoration. We might not be able to use it, but we understand that there are some who can.”
Wasn’t that what Alriyn had done? When the city had been attacked, when he had used Novan’s staff, hadn’t he somehow forced part of himself through the teralin, allowing him to store more manehlin than he would otherwise have been able to?
He considered Alison for a moment. As he did, he looked for signs of the strange energy that he’d been able to see around others since he’d forced his mind open. It had swirled around Endric and Novan, and even around the Magi, though that was less unexpected than with the other two men. It seemed a way for him to know whether there was a power to the person he was with. Alison possessed no such swirling energy.
Maybe that was the key.
What if the person using the teralin had to have Mageborn ability? What if it required someone gifted by the gods?
He already had begun to wonder whether Novan was similarly gifted by the gods. The man had talents; that much was clear. And there was no questioning the fact that he had helped them during the attack, fighting off the Deshmahne with much more skill than Alriyn had managed. But if he had the same abilities, why hadn’t he engaged the Deshmahne using them?
Unless he had.
But, he had left Jostephon to Alriyn. Why was that? Had he feared the Eldest? Or was it something simpler? Did he intend for Alriyn to learn about what he could do, and intend for him to begin to force his mind open, so that he could reach for power that he otherwise had not?
So many questions that he wished the historian was still here to answer. When Novan had first come to the city, Alriyn had wanted nothing more than for him to leave, and now that he was gone, Alriyn wished only that he had more time with him.
“You’ve been silent, Eldest.”
“Only because I think that I’ve known someone who could use teralin.”
“If you’ve met someone who can use teralin, they would have been incredibly capable. That sort of knowledge has been lost for… many years. We don’t even possess a record of it in the university.”
Alriyn smiled to himself. That wasn’t surprising that the university wouldn’t have a record, but the historians did. The Guild had long held secrets that others did not. Their journals were renowned for the observations the historians made, the record that they kept of the history of the world. The historians were the most capable documentarians of events, something even the Magi had not been able to replicate. Even that was not their greatest gift. Their greatest gift was the observations they made in their private journals, observations that were almost never shared outside of the Guild.
Was that how Novan had maintained his understanding of teralin? Had there been something in one of the historians’ journals that had revealed how to use it?
How then was it that Alriyn hadn’t needed a journal to figure out how to use it?
“The person I knew was incredibly capable. Perhaps much more capable than I ever gave him credit for.”
“Who was it?”
“The historian. A man by the name of—”
A slow smile began to spread across her face. “Don’t tell me this was Novan.”
“From the way you say that, it seems you have some experience with him.”
“We have more than a little experience with Novan. He’s no longer welcome at the university after he broke in the last time.”
Alriyn laughed.
Alison shot him a hard glare, more emotion than she had demonstrated before. “You don’t need to be so amused.”
“We’ve also had our own difficulties with Novan in the past. He was asked not to return to Vas
ha.”
“Really?”
“When he came with Endric, we allowed him because of the attack. I’m not sure I would have allowed him otherwise. In hindsight, I’m glad that I did.”
“What happened?”
Alriyn stared at the cot, thinking of the attack. Flashes of it still came to him in his dreams. He hated that they did, hated that he saw the violence of the bloodshed and his Magi dying, but they had survived. They had managed to defeat Jostephon and the Deshmahne. He had defeated them.
“I’m not sure it matters. All that really matters is that he provided the key to helping us understand the attack. Without him, we wouldn’t have survived.”
“Without Novan, we would have maintained better control over the contents of our library,” Alison said.
“Then we’re more similar than we realized.” Alriyn started pacing, thinking through what he’d seen and what role Novan had in it. He was a historian, but he had to be something else as well, didn’t he? A Mage, or perhaps even more. Hadn’t Novan commented that there were beings of power? Could he be one of them?
The idea once would have been impossible to even fathom, but the more that Alriyn thought about it, the more that he began to see that it might be the answer. What if Novan was one of those ancient beings of power? He had claimed that the goddess that Alriyn had seen was the last, but maybe he was trying to hide his presence. That would explain why Novan hadn’t involved himself in the fight with Jostephon.
“Perhaps we are,” Alison said. “What did Novan do with teralin that convinced you of his ability to use it?”
“During the attack, he helped me see that teralin had some use. I don’t think any of the Magi knew—at least not recently.”
“Did he show you how to do it?”
“Somewhat.” Alriyn wished he had the teralin-forged sword that he now kept in his office. With that, he thought he could test whether there was any way to use teralin to help the Magi. If they could find some way of reversing what the Deshmahne had done, then the Magi could find healing, and they might be able to recover. For his ultimate plan—that which involved the Magi venturing out and serving as advisors, getting involved in the politics of the world—to work, he would need for there to be enough Magi to serve. That meant all the Magi would need to play a role, even those who would otherwise never have amounted to anything more than middling Magi.
Twist of the Fibers (The Lost Prophecy Book 4) Page 10