by Jasmine Walt
He Who is Tan.
The thought tickled at the back of his mind, making a soft connection, but Tan heard the words clearly.
Nymid. Can you help? Twisted Fire follows, and we cannot cross the river.
Tan was aware of conflicting thought. Nymid anger and repulsion of the lisincend was mixed with curiosity.
Twisted Fire must not have the Daughter. Or He Who is Tan. There was a pause, as if the nymid considered. What can we do?
Tan pictured the river as it entered the lake in his mind, sending that forward as a thought. We must cross. And we must slow Twisted Fire.
The Source, the nymid said.
There was a long pause and Tan thought they had broken off communication. Finally a response came.
We will help.
Tan opened his eyes. The water near the river began to glow with the distinct light of the nymid. Could Amia see it as well? She watched Tan with a curious expression, not turning or following his gaze. The water began to part, peeling back, slowly receding to reveal a sandy path.
You may cross.
“Roine!” he shouted, but needn't have.
Roine appeared behind Tan, looking at the water with a mixture of surprise and awe.
“We should hurry,” Tan said. “I don’t know how long this will last.”
Roine only nodded as he started across, staring at the watery edges that rippled to each side of the pathway. “The nymid?”
“Yes.”
“You were able to call them from shore?”
“Yes.”
Roine looked back then, pausing as he passed through the strange path and stared at Tan for a moment before shaking his head and hurrying through. The water was wide, over five hundred paces here, and when they reached where the other shore had been, the water simply slid back into place as if it had never been disturbed.
Move forward now, the nymid said.
After they had moved a little away from where the river met the lake, the river surged, growing wider, deeper.
Thank you.
Do not thank. Purge Twisted Fire.
Tan nodded. When the Daughter is safe.
The nymid seemed to smile but said nothing more. Their answer was in the widely flowing river now flowing rapidly into the lake, turbulent and frothy.
Roine stared at the water, his face unreadable, before turning to Tan. “It looks like you bought us some time.”
Amia smiled at him, her mouth and eyes tight. She turned to the water and spoke aloud. “Thank you.”
Do not thank.
Tan was sure he was the only one to hear the nymid’s response.
28
A Greater Elemental
The angry roar let them know when Fur reached the river, now far behind them. A loud and angry hiss followed the cry of frustration. The lisincend tried to heat the water, to blast its way through the barrier.
“Do you think it will work?” Tan asked.
Roine shook his head. “Too much water in that river, especially after what the nymid did.”
“How far do you think Fur will have to go to cross?”
Roine shrugged. His shoulders sagged, though somewhat less since they had passed through the nymid path, and his limp was barely noticeable. “Not sure. Depends on how wide the river is farther upstream. We probably bought half a day.”
Tan and Amia shared a glance, neither speaking much. They walked quickly, mostly silently, along the lake, coming across several smaller streams but each passable. The lake was a spider web of the small streams, all coming out of the upper mountains and all leading to the huge lake in the valley.
“What is this place?” Tan asked as they crossed another of the small waterways.
“I’ve been trying to understand that since finding you. With the nymid’s presence and control of the river, I think I understand. Truthfully, I never expected to see a place like this in person.” He looked at Tan. “The scholars would call this a place of convergence. I’ve known they exist…just never thought to see one. They’re rare. Focused energy, natural strength, and rich in the elementals.” Roine looked at the water as he spoke. “It’s also why I struggled finding you. These natural convergences mask themselves, protecting the power they store, protecting their guardians. That makes the nymid’s help all the more surprising. It also tells me that these nymid are more powerful than I’d thought.”
“And there are other places like this?”
“There are, though they can’t be mapped. Any attempt to try always fails. No one has ever understood why.”
Amia smiled. “Perhaps the elementals that guard them are even stronger than you think.”
“Perhaps,” Roine agreed.
“And this…convergence…is tied to your artifact?” Tan asked.
“It would explain why the artifact can’t be found without the compass. Why it’s so difficult to trace. And provide protection for the artifact, as well.”
Amia closed her eyes and tracked her shaping. “Still along the lakeshore,” she said. “Beyond the lake…I can’t tell clearly.”
Roine continued forward, saying little as the day progressed. They stopped briefly to eat a lunch of fruits gathered from some of the nearby trees before continuing. They passed many more small streams. The water grew colder with each one they passed.
The far edge of the lake loomed nearby when Tan saw the first evidence of ice upon the lake. The water was calmer here, and had grown much colder, but even then he hadn’t expected to see ice forming on the surface. When crossing the streams, Tan started to hope they could jump them, no longer wanting to wade through icy water. Some of the smaller feeder streams were completely frozen over.
“This shouldn’t be,” Tan finally said. “We’re too low for this much cold. Even the mountain doesn’t have snow until much higher on the peak.”
Roine took a hesitant step out on the ice of the lake. It groaned and creaked under his weight, but held. He backed off the ice, stepping back upon the cool shore, and looked down the lakeshore. “Not much further.”
With each step, the ice thickened. They no longer had to wade through even the widest of streams, able to simply walk across. Ice stretched across the lake all the way to the far shore, faintly visible in the distance. Ahead, the rocky mountain jutted up, pointing toward the sky like a finger as it framed the lake. A few trees dotted the slope, but for the most part it was too steep to support their growth.
As night neared, they would be forced into a decision. Would they camp along the edge of the lake, hoping they had enough distance between them and the lisincend, or did they press on, into the night, exhausted?
Amia suddenly veered out onto the ice.
At first Tan simply watched her go, figuring curiosity drove her forward, but she continued out onto the ice, venturing farther and farther from shore. She didn’t look back to see if anyone followed.
“Amia?” he called after her.
She did not answer, did not look back.
Tan started after her, his first steps hesitant. The ice groaned with his weight at first and he froze, listening for any sound that it was not tolerating him. Nothing came.
“Amia!” he called again, taking another hesitant step forward.
Finally she looked over at him. Her eyes were drawn and her brow furrowed in an expression of concern. She turned and continued onto the ice, heading toward the center of the lake.
With as warm as the rest of the lake had been, how stable could the ice be that far out in the lake? He ran toward her.
Tan was perhaps twenty paces from shore when he heard Roine yell. “We don’t have time for diversions!”
Tan shook his head. “Amia—”
Roine followed them onto the ice and paused.
“What is it, Roine?”
Roine looked up, though pointed down at his feet, toward the ice. “This ice is shaped,” he said, puzzled. He strode forward, quickly catching Tan.
“What do you mean it’s shaped? Recently?”
Ro
ine shook his head. “I have never seen anything quite like this,” he said. “This is subtle and powerful. Not until I had stepped out onto the ice could I feel the difference.” He looked at Tan. “And it’s immense. Old.”
“How can you tell how old it is?”
“Shapings carry certain qualities, textures, that reveal much about the shaping itself. If skilled, you can learn the identity of the shaper, how many shapers were involved, the age of the shaping, or more. Sometimes much more. Something like this has so many layers I can’t sense them all.” He shook his head. “This is amazing.”
They hurried to Amia. She had stopped near the center of the frozen part of the lake and stared down, looking toward the ice, as if trying to peer through its thick surface. Her eyes closed and her face relaxed. Tan felt the building pressure behind his ears of a shaping. Long moments passed before the pressure finally eased.
“There’s something beneath the ice,” she said. Her voice shook slightly and her eyes still had a bit of a faraway look to them.
Roine frowned, looking down at the ice and closing his eyes. He opened them moments later and shook his head. “I sense nothing.”
“You could not,” Amia agreed.
“Then what is it?” Roine asked.
“Some being. I don’t know.”
“Nymid?” Roine asked.
She shook her head. “I don’t know what the nymid feel like,” she answered, casting a quick glance at Tan, “but this is too large to be nymid.”
“Large? How can you tell?” Roine asked.
“Whatever is down there is immense. Intelligent. They overpower any other sensing I try to do.”
Roine froze. “They?”
She nodded. “At least three.”
“And you can no longer sense the artifact?”
She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I’ve been feeling distracted for a while. At first I didn’t know why.” She looked down at the ice. “Then I began feeling them.” She shook her head. “I can’t feel the trail of my shaping anymore. Not while they’re here.”
“What are they?” Tan asked.
Amia looked at him. “I can’t tell.” Anguish crossed her face. “There are some of my people skilled at speaking without words, but that’s not my gift. They’re in pain. And they suffer.” She looked from Tan to Roine. “We must release them.”
“There’s no time to release them now,” Roine said. “The lisincend near. Much longer and they might reach the artifact first. After we find it, we can return. Then we can see what we can do to free them.”
Amia shook her head. “You said convergences are difficult to find. You think we’ll find this place again?”
“Amia—” Roine begged.
Her eyes went wide and her breathing quickened. “I can’t feel anything else now. Whatever is down there keeps me from feeling anything else.” She looked at Tan. “Not even you.”
Roine took a step back and ran his hand through his hair. “We don’t even know what these creatures are,” Roine said, trying to placate her. “And I can’t begin to imagine what would be required to release them from this ice.”
“They suffer,” Amia said. “And they know they suffer.”
While Amia and Roine continued to argue, Tan closed his eyes, setting his feet apart, and straightened his back. He gathered up an effort of will, focusing his attention and clearing his mind as much as possible.
Nymid! He sent the thought as loudly as he could.
They were far from where they had last seen the nymid, far from the warm waters, and he wasn’t sure this would even work. Tan staggered slightly under the energy of sending the thought, but ignored it as he strained for their answer.
Instead of the soft voice of the nymid, something else entered his mind, immense and looming, and carried with it a sense of pain.
Tan bit back a cry as he gained awareness of this other. In a panic, he tried pushing it away from him.
Who disturbs?
The thought was loud and grating and felt as if it tore open parts of his mind as he strained to listen. Nothing like the gentle nymid presence.
Tan frowned. Who is this?
You called the nymid.
You are not the nymid. Of that, he was certain.
Do you speak for the nymid?
I do not. I seek the nymid to learn of the creatures frozen under the surface of their lake.
There came a grating, almost a clawing, at his mind, as this other presence settled into Tan’s thoughts, digging in and holding firm.
What do you know of the capture?
I know nothing.
Tan opened himself up enough so that the creature could sense his honesty. This had not been necessary with the nymid. They had projected only peace and there was no threat to them, but with this creature, Tan felt his mind in danger if he didn’t communicate correctly.
What are you?
I am draasin. We must be freed.
“Draasin?” Tan said aloud, startled. The word rolled off his tongue strangely. The presence in his mind receded a little but was still there. Tan tried to create a barrier, a wall of sorts, to protect his mind, and was uncertain whether he was successful.
Roine turned to him sharply, biting off whatever he had been about to say to Amia, and stared at Tan. “Where did you hear that word?”
“What?”
“You spoke of the draasin. Few know of them.” He watched Tan for a moment. “They were ancient elemental creatures and lived long ago. The last was hunted and killed well over a thousand years ago.”
Tan looked down at the ice. He was certain the creature called itself a draasin. “They were killed?”
“The draasin were wild, savage, and intelligent. Hunters, unafraid of anything. From what is known, there was nothing quite as fearsome as a draasin.” Roine stared at Tan with a deep intensity. “The university keeps the archive referencing draasin restricted. Only a few today even know of them.” He looked at Tan. “Your mother wouldn’t have known of them, and if she had, she certainly wouldn’t have said anything to you. So where did you hear it?”
The hard presence lingered in his mind. Pain stabbed behind his eyes. The creature was aware of his thoughts and through the agony it let Tan feel from it, he sensed a cruel amusement as well. “These creatures are draasin.” He pressed a finger between his eyes to reduce the pain.
“They suffer,” Amia repeated. Tan nodded, able to feel only a fragment of the draasin’s agony. “They must be freed.”
“How do you know?”
He hesitated answering. “I…I can speak to them. I tried reaching the nymid. They should know what lies imprisoned in their waters. The draasin answered.”
“The ability to speak to even one of the elementals is a rare trait,” he began slowly. “The draasin are elementals, as well—fire elementals. And unlike the nymid, they are one of the four great elementals. Powerful. Dangerous. And thought lost. And you can speak to them.”
29
End to a Shaping
Inside Tan’s head came a sudden hard laughter.
Free us!
He felt a flexing within his head. Pressure built and was followed by a sharp pain in his mind, like that of claws raking his brain. Tan grabbed his head and closed his eyes.
I will try. But you must…release…my…mind!
Tan sent a surge of pressure toward the sensation in his head and the draasin released its grip with sudden surprise. The pain in his head eased.
There came the sense of laughter, not nearly as hard and tinged with the agony the draasin endured.
Small. Yet you are fierce. A note of respect entered the thought as well. You must free us.
There was less of a demand this time and the draasin allowed Tan to feel more of its pain, near-eternities of suffering, waiting, frozen in the lake, trapped.
Tan dropped his hands from his head and opened his eyes, knowing what must be done. Their suffering must end. “We must release them.”
Roine shook his head, rubbing his hand through his hair in annoyance. “You know we don’t have the time. And I don’t have the strength. Anything we do now lets the lisincend get closer.”
“I can’t help if they continue to suffer. All I feel is their pain.”
The draasin waited, hurting, yearning to be free once more. Tan didn’t know what would happen to him if they were unable to help them. Would they release his mind or destroy it?
“Roine,” Tan said, turning to him. Honesty would be the only way to sway Roine. “This creature, the draasin, has a hold of my mind. If we do nothing…”
“Tan,” Roine whispered. “You don’t understand what you ask.” His face had taken on a pained expression, nervous. There was a hint of fear to his eyes, as well. “The records we have about the draasin are terrifying, even within the university. It is well they’ve been lost to time. Even one draasin would be fearsome. You tell me there are three?”
Roine turned his back on them and took a step away.
Amia looked at Tan, anxious, before staring into the ice again. Tan felt building pressure and knew Amia was preparing a shaping, though could not fathom what she would shape. The pressure built to a nearly unbearable level, sending pain through Tan’s skull, piercing through his ears until he felt they would burst.
Then there was another voice in his head.
Amia spoke, a command, and he heard her though she directed the words at the draasin. He suspected the link he shared with the draasin enabled him to hear her, to feel the power of her shaping—for it was a shaping.
“You will bring harm to no human,” she commanded.
The words, echoing in Tan’s mind, hummed with her energy. Tan didn’t know if the shaping would hold the draasin or not, but he felt the effort she used in the compulsion. There was great power being spent on this one shaping.
“You will hunt no human. You will find your food elsewhere.”
Then Amia staggered, falling forward, barely staying upright long enough for Tan to lunge under her and scoop her up before she fell upon the ice.
She looked up at him weakly. “Will it work?”