Twist of the Fibers (The Lost Prophecy Book 4)

by D. K. Holmberg

  “He could have been stopped before he gained any real power,” Jakob said.

  “He could have, had the Conclave been willing to do anything to stop him. That would have required more violence than what the Conclave was willing to do.”

  Jakob thought back to his vision with Gareth, and the way the damahne had seemed offended by the idea of violence. It was understandable knowing their position, that they would have been unwilling to do anything to counter him.

  Instead, they had allowed him to gain strength. They had allowed Raime to become powerful. As they have allowed the groeliin to grow powerful.

  “Have any gone after him once they discovered the depths of his deception?”

  “Over the years, many have gone after him. The title of the Hunter was created to chase Raime.”

  “Brohmin is meant to find Raime?”

  “That is the purpose of his gift,” Novan said. “I imagine that with your travels, you discovered that Brohmin is far more capable than he should otherwise be.”

  “Brohmin told me that he was gifted by the damahne for his service to the Conclave.”

  “Brohmin was a gifted Uniter.”

  “Did you know him then?”

  Novan frowned. “Jakob. Brohmin is over five hundred years old. There are few who can claim such age.”

  “I didn’t know. With your connection to the ahmaean, I didn’t know how old you were.”

  Novan shifted in his seat. “Be that as it may, even the oldest Mage is no more than a hundred and fifty years old.”

  Was that Novan’s way of admitting that he was descended from the Magi? Then again, Novan could have been given a gift much like Brohmin, had he served the Conclave equally well. Brohmin had similar energy around him as Novan, though Novan’s did resemble the Magi more than what Brohmin’s did.

  “How is it that no Hunter has ever stopped him?”

  “As you know, Raime has gained powers he should not have gained.”

  “Yes, he has stolen it from Magi and daneamiin.”

  “And possibly from the groeliin as well.”

  “Is that why his ahmaean is so dark?”

  “I suspect that his is dark because he has stolen it, rather than because of the groeliin.”

  “What the groeliin possess is dark as well,” Jakob said.

  “I don’t know. I haven’t spent much time studying the groeliin. Doing so would put me in too much danger.”

  “You have ahmaean, Novan. You would be able to see them.”

  “Seeing them and knowing how to defeat them are different things. I think you have experienced that, haven’t you?”

  Jakob nodded slowly. “I’ve seen what it takes to face the groeliin.”

  “Yes. I’m afraid my staff may slow them, but stopping them requires a different sort of force.”

  “You could learn the sword,” he said.

  “Oh, I have. It’s just that it is not my strength.”

  Novan clasped his hands together and leaned forward on the table. He watched Jakob for a moment. “You haven’t shared all of what you saw in your vision.”

  Jakob thought about what he’d seen. It was more than what he’d learned from Gareth, and more than what he had understood of seeing the Antrilii. There was what he learned of reaching backward, the possibility that he might be able to reach for a glimpse along the fibers. He didn’t know if he could do it quite as well as what he needed, but he thought that he had gained some understanding of it. If he focused on his ahmaean, and turned it inward, he might be able to walk backward along the fibers. Hopefully, doing so wouldn’t take him too completely.

  Then, there was something he had seen when he was returning. There had been darkness.

  As he thought about it, hadn’t there been darkness with his other visions as well?

  “Novan, can the fibers be injured?”

  “Injured?”

  “It’s something I saw when I was returning from the last vision. For the first time, I felt as if I was aware of the return. As I came back, something went wrong. I started to spin out of control.”

  “Possibly because you have never done so.”

  “But I have. I’ve walked along the fibers. Perhaps not intentionally, but I have done it.”

  “What did you see?”

  “There seemed to be a scar, or some damage, along the fibers. It reminded me of what I felt when I was around the groeliin—or Raime.”

  Novan pinched his chin in thought. “It’s possible that you only see a blip of their power. Perhaps it bled through into the fibers.”

  “It’s strange. It was about that time that I was pushed off of my return, and appeared again into another vision.”

  That one had been emotionally painful. Jakob didn’t want to relive it, and didn’t want to think too much about what he had seen. In that vision, he had nearly died.

  “I suppose it’s possible that there was damage with something that Raime did. I’m not able to peer along the fibers.”

  “There are others who can,” Jakob said.

  “The damahne are gone. There are none who remain other than yourself who can look back along the fibers.”

  “That’s not entirely true. The daneamiin can look back.”

  “Their connection is different from yours.”

  “In the Cala maah, I was pushed back along the fibers. I had a vision there.”

  “As I said, their connection is different. I don’t claim an understanding of it.”

  “I don’t, either, but I think this might be the only way I can understand what needs to be done.”

  “Why do you think anything needs to be done?”

  He wasn’t certain, but he had a suspicion that if the fibers were damaged, if there was some taint along them, that would explain the madness. Maybe he could help his brother in a different way. Maybe he could help more than just his brother.

  Jakob stood, and held his hand out to Novan. “I am traveling to the Unknown Lands. Would you like to join me?”

  A smile crossed Novan’s face, and he reached for his staff, tapping on the ground. “Of course.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  The house of the Cala maah rose in front of Jakob and Novan. Ahmaean swirled around everything in the daneamiin lands, but most strongly around the house of the Cala maah. The Unknown Lands were rife with it, the trees practically glowing from ahmaean, and Jakob stood for a moment, soaking it in.

  Daneamiin crept along hidden pathways in the trees, and a few crossed the small courtyard in front of the Cala maah, one pausing in front of them.

  Jakob recognized Aruhn when he appeared. He wore a flowing white robe, and his hairless head wrinkled in a wide smile when he saw Jakob. He glanced at Novan, tipping his head in a nod.

  “Your return warms me, Jakob Nialsen. You are welcome among us, Novan Antharin.”

  Jakob glanced over to Novan. In saying that, Aruhn admitted that Novan had never been here before.

  Had he made a mistake in bringing him? Novan knew of Aruhn, but it seemed he had not been to these lands before.

  “My return warms me as well.”

  Aruhn stepped back, and ahmaean swirled from him, touching Jakob briefly before retreating. “Anda tells me that you have begun to understand your purpose.”

  “She made it safely back?” Jakob asked.

  “You returned her safely to our lands,” Aruhn said. “Though I think she would have preferred to remain with you.”

  Jakob smiled inwardly. He would have liked it if Anda had remained with him as well. “As I struggle to understand who I am—and what I am—I thought I could use some guidance from the daneamiin.”

  Aruhn bowed his head. “Of course, Jakob Nialsen. Whatever we can offer to help you become what the fibers intend for you, we offer.”

  Jakob had thought about what he would ask, and how he would ask it, and realized he needed to simply say it. “Within the Cala maah, when you look back along the fibers, have you ever seen damage to the fibers?
Have you ever seen anything that would indicate that they have been tainted?”

  Aruhn considered Jakob for a moment, and then glanced to Novan. “Novan Antharin, I would introduce you to Chollin om’Daysma sen’Johmi,” he said as Chollin approached.

  Jakob looked over to Chollin and smiled at him. He hadn’t seen him in quite a while, but he had been the first of the daneamiin to welcome him.

  Chollin dipped his head in a quick nod. “Your return warms me, Jakob Nialsen. You are welcome among us, Novan Antharin.”

  Chollin took Novan’s hand and guided him toward the trees. Novan barely looked back, more focused on following the daneamiin, interested in where he might take him.

  Aruhn nodded once more to Jakob. “Come with me, Jakob Nialsen. I will see if I can answer the questions that you have.”

  Aruhn started toward the Cala maah, and Jakob glanced back, looking to Novan, but he’d already disappeared, fading from sight.

  Jakob turned back and trailed Aruhn as he went into the Cala maah. The last time Jakob had been here, he had felt overwhelmed by the sights around him, and had barely been able to keep his thoughts straight. Everything had felt as if it were too much. Even now, knowing what he did, and having gone through what he had, it felt as though he was only glimpsing a little bit of what took place around him. There was much he still didn’t know, and he was hopeful that he’d get some answers from Aruhn, but the daneamiin had been enigmatic when he was here before.

  Aruhn led him in a different direction than when Jakob had been here before. They circled around a pathway that he had not seen before, taking him up rather than down. Light flashed through branches overhead, and Jakob saw the swirling pattern of ahmaean around him, and wondered what would happen were he to attempt to pull on it, to draw the ahmaean to him. Likely it would weaken the Cala maah, and he didn’t want to do that.

  “Where are you taking me, Aruhn?”

  The tall daneamiin glanced back at him and offered a flash of a smile. “Jakob Nialsen, you came to the Cala maah looking for answers. I will do what I can to provide them, but you must trust that the daneamiin wish to facilitate that with you.”

  They continued through the house of the Cala maah and worked in a spiral, twisting around the outer edge of the dome that could be seen from the outside. Ahmaean infused the walls, filling it with a translucent sort of power. That power pressed upon Jakob, and he thought about when he’d used the ahmaean in the heart of the Great Forest, drawing upon it so that he could save Anda.

  Other memories drifted to him, as well, one from a vision, and he struggled with what that might mean that he should have a memory from the vision with Gareth, and how the damahne had wanted to torment the daneamiin. Had he known how much power the daneamiin possessed? Was that the reason the damahne were concerned?

  There had to be some reason that the damahne did not want the daneamiin to exist.

  Was there concern about dilution of power?

  Jakob couldn’t imagine why, but perhaps answers could be found if he could walk along the fibers. Maybe he would be able to understand better. And maybe then he could understand the disagreement between those ancient damahne and the daneamiin.

  The path around the inside of the tree continued to spiral, and as they went up and up, Jakob saw growing light filtering through the branches. There was an increase to the energy as well, as if the Cala maah focused it, drawing it upward.

  “Aruhn?”

  “A little farther, Jakob Nialsen.”

  They continued along the path until Aruhn brought him to a stair built into the branches that led upward. Jakob followed him until they reached the outside of the house of the Cala maah. From here, Jakob could see daneamiin making their way around the branches, each of them with dense ahmaean around them. Aruhn made his way to the peak of the house of the Cala maah, and turned, facing Jakob.

  “From here, we can see all the land occupied by my people,” Aruhn said. “Few are allowed here, and none outside of the daneamiin.”

  “Then why me?” Jakob asked.

  “We have welcomed many damahne to these lands over the years,” Aruhn said. “None has ever noticed that the fibers have been darkened.”

  “The daneamiin knew?”

  “Not all of the people. Most have been protected from the darkening. Were they to know, they would see that there are sections of the fibers that are tainted. A scar exists, protecting them, but the scars are not as strong as the fibers once were.”

  “What caused the scars?”

  “The Cala maah believe the scars were caused by the same creatures you have faced, Jakob Nialsen.”

  “The groeliin?”

  “The groeliin.”

  “Aruhn, I have learned that the daneamiin and the Magi are both descended from the damahne. Are the groeliin as well?”

  “All things with ahmaean are descended from the same source.”

  “Then that means the groeliin have the same connection?”

  “The connection they have is different. You have noticed that it is tainted. The scars along the fibers are times when the taint has worsened. Over time, it will get worse. The groeliin—and the one who leads them—will grow stronger. Eventually, the destruction will be complete.”

  “What happens then?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “But you suspect.”

  “The Cala maah suspect that the fibers will fail. Time will turn over, and everything that should be—all that was creation—will fail.”

  Jakob looked around the forest, noting the trees, noting the ahmaean. What would such destruction be like? Was that what Raime saw from him?

  “The seal remains, Jakob Nialsen. I can see from your face that you fear what will happen when the seal fails.”

  “When?”

  Aruhn smiled sadly. “The path along the fibers only leads in a few directions. We have never had much ability in tracking the fibers, in looking into the future, but those who can—and have—have seen nothing but darkness.”

  “But Alyta saw—”

  “Alyta was unique. She had a gift for looking along the fibers.”

  “Like Shoren?” Jakob remembered that from his vision, and remembered how Aimielen had commented on Shoren’s ability to track along the fibers, to glimpse the possibilities. She hadn’t felt it was hopeless, though perhaps it was. Perhaps everything that they hoped to do, everything that he thought he might be able to accomplish, was hopeless.

  Jakob pushed away the thought. Such hopelessness and despair only came when surrounded by the Deshmahne. They were not his thoughts, and more than that, they didn’t belong in the same place as the daneamiin.

  “There has to be something that can be done.”

  “It is the scars, Jakob Nialsen. It is possible that there is something that can be done, but none yet live who understand the fibers well enough to repair them. The damage has been done gradually over hundreds of years, and there is little that can be done to restore it.” Aruhn patted him on the shoulder. “In time, everything will fail. We must hope the Maker will rebuild. I wish there were different news, but that is what has been seen. We would prefer it to be otherwise, but we accept what cannot be changed.”

  “But it can be changed. Anda thought that her path was going to end with her entering the Tower, but I pushed her back, I kept her safe.” Could he repair the scars along the fibers?

  Aruhn shook his head. “There are many possible futures, which is why you were able to save Anda, but in all, darkness is seen at the end of the path. There is nothing that can be done to prevent it and every attempt only delays it.”

  “How long has this been known?”

  Aruhn stared at the trees around him, taking in the beauty of the forest. He stood with his hands clasped behind him, his back slightly stooped, and his shoulders pinched in a way that told Jakob that he seemed to have abandoned the hope that they would be able to repair the fibers.

  And maybe it truly wasn’t possible. If the damage w
as bad enough—and since Jakob knew so little about both himself and what he could do—it was possible that nothing could be done.

  “Can you help me learn to control my movement along the fibers?” Jakob asked.

  “It is a simple thing, Jakob Nialsen. You look back, you focus on what you need, and the fibers carry you there. That is how you have traveled without any control.”

  “That’s it? I don’t have to somehow control where I’m going?”

  “With the fibers, control is nothing but an illusion. There is some control over where you go, and how you get there, but even in the house of the Cala maah, there is no control. We guide you, push you back, and allow you to have the visions that are necessary, but there is no control over which visions you will have. The only consistency is that they are important.”

  “What of others who had greater control over the fibers? What of Shoren?”

  If he were able to borrow knowledge from Shoren, he could get a greater understanding of what was needed. He had gone back, and had witnessed the world through Shoren’s eyes, but he hadn’t been aware of what he was doing at the time. He didn’t think Shoren was aware of him there, either.

  “Shoren had much understanding. It is why my people still sing of him.”

  “Did he step back and occupy his ancestors?” Jakob felt troubled by that, and by what he’d learned of the other damahne and how they glimpsed the fibers. His connection was so different from theirs.

  “I cannot answer what the damahne were capable of doing.” Aruhn’s ahmaean stretched away from him, briefly touching Jakob’s. “You should rest, Jakob Nialsen. There is much that we can teach you, but unfortunately what you came to learn is simply not possible. We can help you prepare, and might be able to guide you as you continue to attempt to stop Raime.”

  That had been what he thought was needed, but even if he succeeded, he would still fail. “Stopping Raime won’t change the fibers, will it?”

  “It will not. Stopping Raime would be a part of it, though. Perhaps if you stop him, the rest can be delayed.” Aruhn lifted his hands, palms up, and his shoulders quivered slightly, something like a shrug. “I do not claim the same control over the fibers as the damahne. What I am capable of doing—what all of the daneamiin are capable of doing—is less than what a damahne can do.” He stepped away from the center of the peak of the house of the Cala maah and patted Jakob on the shoulder. “Perhaps you will gain a different understanding of the fibers.”