The Elder Stones Saga Boxset: Books 1-3

by D. K. Holmberg

  He grinned, opening his eyes and looking up at her. She looked at him so seriously, but the comment was the kind of thing the old Lucy would’ve said. There was a playfulness in it, even if she hadn’t meant it intentionally. “I think I’d have known what to do with you if I’d caught you.”

  “And now?”

  “Now I’d be more concerned about what you’d do to me.”

  Lucy smiled. There was a remnant of the person she once had been buried within that smile, not nearly as much as he wished there was, but then again, he was happy that it remained at all.

  “And what do you fear I might do to you?”

  “I don’t know. Considering that you can do more than any Elvraeth, I don’t really know what you might do.”

  “I wonder how I might stack up next to Rsiran,” she said.

  “Why?”

  “Because I wonder if that’s not the intention.” She set the dart she’d been holding down and continued to roll it between her fingers before looking off to the side. “The Forgers feared Rsiran. And for good reason. He is more powerful than any of the Elvraeth.”

  “Now you are too.”

  “Now I am, and that’s what makes me wonder if that was the intention behind what the Forgers were working on—if they were trying to make it so that they were more powerful, or to see just what the extent of the connection to the metal might be.”

  He hadn’t given it much thought, but it made some sense. But then, it seemed odd to think that the Forgers would want to risk the people of Elaeavn getting any stronger. Why would they risk the possibility that the Elvraeth might develop abilities even more powerful than what they themselves possessed?

  They wouldn’t.

  “We’ve been worried about how to deal with the Forgers, but there’s another threat out there.”

  “These men you faced.”

  “They were able to carve through the shadows Rayen used.”

  “Are you certain?”

  “I was there. I Slid us out to a ship, and they were—”

  “You Slid out to a ship?” He nodded. “On the harbor?”

  “It wasn’t really on the harbor. It was sailing away from the shore.”

  She smiled at him. “And here you like to think you don’t have nearly the same power as me.”

  “You know that I don’t.”

  “Yet I would never have attempted to Slide onto a moving ship.”

  “I only did it because I didn’t have any other choice.”

  “Perhaps, but that’s a level of control I haven’t reached. All your practice with Sliding lately seems to be paying off. You’re much better connected to your ability than you ever were before.”

  That much was true. He did have a greater connection to his ability, and part of that came from the training.

  “Have you ever considered returning?”

  “To Elaeavn?”

  “You promised Lareth that you would return.” And he wasn’t going back without her. He could—and thought he would need to now that he understood what had happened and the role the Elvraeth council had in it—but it wasn’t yet time.

  “I… I don’t know that I can.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t really know where I fit. When I think about going back, I think about who I was and our families and everything I did there, and none of it feels quite right.”

  “You don’t want to see your family?”

  She shook her head. “It’s not about not wanting to see my family. It’s more about not wanting them to see me as I am now. I know that probably doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but with everything that has taken place, I don’t know that I feel quite right, and I certainly don’t know that I feel as if I should return to where I had been, and be pushed back into the place I once had. If I were to return, I would be Lucy. I would be the girl you remember from Elaeavn when you still look at me. A caretaker in the library and nothing more. And I don’t know that I want to be that person.”

  Daniel hadn’t given this much thought, but what she was saying began to sink in. Could it be that she liked the changes?

  She smiled. “It’s not a matter of liking, though I can’t deny that having this capacity to Read has its benefits. It’s a matter of acceptance. I’ve changed, and I have to come to grips with it.”

  “You could return to Elaeavn and allow everybody else the opportunity to come to grips with it.”

  “But is that the best use of these new abilities?” She shrugged, looking down at the dart. “I don’t really know.”

  “What is it about that dart?”

  “I’ve been thinking about Galen.”

  “Really? Isn’t he a little old for you?”

  She jabbed at him, and he grinned. “Galen was exiled from Elaeavn. Rather than giving up, he embraced the change, and he became something else. In some ways, Galen was more powerful because of his exile. The dart reminds me of him, and it helps me find a certain clarity.”

  “Galen became a killer.”

  “Have you ever talked to Carth about the assignments Galen took?”

  “I haven’t exactly had that much time with Carth since we left the city.”

  “You should sometime. There’s a reason she respects Galen so much. It’s the same reason that I think Cael Elvraeth respects him. I doubt that one of the Elvraeth would take too kindly to a mindless assassin.”

  “I never said he was a mindless assassin.”

  “No, but Galen used his skill set to try to create a certain sort of order. Even in Eban, a place that you and I both saw was incredibly dangerous, he used his abilities to try to keep things calm. Had he not, Carth claims that there would have been even more violence.”

  “So he was a killer with a conscience?”

  “More like a man who killed because it was needed, not because he enjoyed it.”

  “Is that going to be you?”

  “I don’t intend to kill anyone,” she said. She set the dart down again, then reached for it, as if she were tempted to grab it again and stare at it a little longer. “But I do think I need to accept what has changed for me, the same way Galen accepted the change that took place for him. I doubt that means I’ll become a killer, but I can find a way to use my changes for the betterment of others.”

  “What about Elaeavn?”

  “What about Elaeavn? We’ve been closed off there. Rsiran has kept us closed off, and I know he thinks it was for the best, but we have lost something as well. Had he only opened us to the rest of the world, perhaps we wouldn’t have had to face the Forgers alone. Maybe had he not closed our borders, creating the barrier around the forest, we might have been able to get help defending ourselves.”

  Daniel had seen what it was like outside of Elaeavn. Within the city there was still a class structure, regardless of how much the people within the city had tried to change it over the years. The Elvraeth still lorded over the greater part of the city, and the guilds and the guildlords ruled outside of the city proper, within the forest. It was a more open sort of division than there once had been. From what he’d heard from those who had been alive back then, the guilds had had power, but they’d been discreet, not wanting to flaunt their power, leaving the Elvraeth to rule more openly. Now they didn’t act so discreetly, but it hadn’t changed things for anyone in any significant way.

  But the outside world wasn’t much better. Did he really want what he’d seen in Asador to extend into Elaeavn? Did he want people who would abduct women, poison them, and force them into a sort of slavery to come into his homeland?

  He didn’t.

  “I just want to prevent the Forgers from hurting others.”

  She watched him, and from the tilt of her head and the slight set to her jaw, he wondered how much she Read of what he had been thinking. Maybe it was nothing more than simply trying to decide what to say, but he had the sense that she had been Reading him.

  “I want the same. I don’t want the Forgers to attack our city and our peo
ple again. I’m willing to do whatever I can to prevent that.”

  “Even if it turns you into a soldier?”

  “It’s not going to turn me into a soldier.”

  “Are you so certain?”

  “I’m not certain about anything anymore. There was a time when I would’ve said I was, but I’m not. And I’m all right with that, too. Much the same way that you have to find your own peace of mind about everything.”

  What would his peace of mind be? He had been staying here, but mostly because of Lucy, and understanding her need for training, the same need he had. The two of them could learn, and the Binders were the right instructors, but the longer they remained, the less likely they would ever be able to return easily to Elaeavn, at least to find any sense of normalcy. Maybe that was the point. There might not be any normalcy in Elaeavn anymore. They had been exposed to the outside world, and now—now they were a part of it.

  “I thought I knew what I needed,” he said.

  He couldn’t take his eyes off her. Lucy was beautiful, perhaps more so now than she had been in Elaeavn. She had a confidence that she had lacked in the city, but maybe it was nothing more than the fact that he could detect the power she wielded. That energy practically radiated from her.

  “If you need to return to Elaeavn, you don’t have to remain in Asador on my behalf. The Binders will continue to work with me, and in time, I suspect I can get a better handle on my new abilities. It’s already much better than it was.”

  “I know it is.” He would have said more, but the words didn’t come out. Was she trying to get rid of him?

  “You do?”

  “If it wasn’t, you would be clutching your head just being within the city.”

  Her eyes took on a distant expression. “I suppose so. When I was with them, they worked with me on mastering my connection to my abilities. Had I stayed with them, I suspect I could have continued to gain control over them.”

  “You can’t be saying you wish you had remained with the Forgers.”

  “Not with them, but they had knowledge. If I had been able to reach even a part of that, I think it would have been incredibly useful.”

  “You do have some of that knowledge. And it is useful.”

  “It’s not the same. And I’m not saying that I want to go back with them. I know who—and what—they are. It’s just that they are able to walk among us, sneaking in and spying, but we don’t have the same access to them.”

  That had to be her recent Binder training speaking. That wasn’t the kind of thing Lucy ever would have said before.

  “What are you suggesting?”

  “I’m not suggesting anything. Not yet, anyway. I need to continue to work and understand what I can do. Each day I seem to learn something more about myself. Eventually, the Binders are going to need to take action against them.”

  “And you want to be a part of it.”

  That was what she was getting at, though he wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about it. Then again, that wasn’t for him to decide, was it?

  “I think I have to be, Daniel. I might be the only one who can.”

  And if she did participate, what choice did he have but to support her? And he would need to try and ensure any action she took was as safe as it could be. He might not have her abilities, but he could do that much for her.

  Only… he wasn’t sure how.

  9

  Daniel

  Daylight drifted over the city of Asador, and with it came the sight of seagulls flying overhead, cawing occasionally. Every so often, they dove, dropping out of sight. They swirled, forming a pattern in the sky, and Daniel couldn’t take his eyes off them. There was something almost rhythmic about the way they moved, a pattern to it that he thought he should understand but didn’t.

  “Are you going to keep staring up at the sky?” Rayen asked.

  He glanced over. “When I was in Elaeavn, I wasn’t nearly as interested in the seagulls. I don’t know why I find them so fascinating here.”

  “Blasted birds. They shit all over everything, practically painting the roofs of some of the buildings.”

  Daniel laughed. “Did one of them get you?”

  “Careful,” Rayen cautioned.

  They navigated through the city, winding from street to street as they made their way toward the university. Rayen seemed convinced that they would find Carth, and after escaping the ship the night before, she had wanted nothing more than to get to her mentor so she could share what had happened to them.

  “What if she’s not there?” he asked.

  “Then she’s not there. She’s been away from the city for long enough that I doubt they’ll know how to send word to her, but if anyone could, it would be the university.”

  “Why the university?”

  “Because she’s tied to a greater part of the world through the university,” she said.

  Daniel kept his gaze on the tall structure in the distance. The university was a sprawling several-story building, carved out of grayish stone, and it rose above much of the rest of the city. In the daylight, it wasn’t imposing as it had been in the night.

  “What is it about the university?”

  “It’s a connection that Carth has.”

  “What sort of connection?”

  Rayen glanced over at him, and the twitching at the corners of her eyes left him wondering if she would answer. “You have known about the Forgers and learned about their masters.”

  “You mean the Ai’thol?”

  Rayen nodded. “The Ai’thol are seekers of power. They have used various strategies over the years to hold on to that power. But they aren’t the only ones who seek knowledge.”

  “Well? The university?”

  “The university has a thirst for knowledge, and some would argue that their thirst for knowledge is nearly as dangerous as that of the Ai’thol.”

  “But not you.”

  “Not me. I understand the other purpose of the university.”

  “What other purpose is that?”

  “They are an arm of the C’than. The C’than seek balance. They seek peace. And they have continued to oppose the Ai’thol for many years.”

  “Do you serve the C’than?”

  “I serve the Binders.”

  “Are they exclusive?”

  “I don’t think they were ever meant to be, but with the role that Carth plays, it’s difficult for the Binders to be a part of anything else.”

  “Why?”

  “Because Carth formed the Binders as a way to counter the influence of the C’than.”

  “Then why are we going to the C’than?”

  “Because Carth also worked with the C’than.”

  Daniel didn’t really understand it, but then, maybe it wasn’t for him to understand. “And you intend to get word to Carthenne through the C’than?”

  “I will try. I’ve tried sending word through the Binders as well, but it will take time.”

  “The C’than won’t take as much time?”

  “It can. It’s unpredictable how long it will take.”

  “If only you had someone among the Binders who could Slide,” Daniel said.

  “It may come to that,” Rayen said.

  “What is your concern with these men we found?”

  “My concern is that we may not be fully capable of stopping them.”

  “Did they worry you?”

  “They should worry you.”

  “Why?”

  “Because they represent another influence, and it becomes difficult to know what’s going to happen when there are more players involved. When it’s just the Forgers, we can begin to predict how people will react, but when you start to add others, especially those with power, it becomes less predictable.”

  “I’m not trying to achieve any predictability,” he said.

  “You might not be, but I would like it. With as much as we are dealing with, it would be beneficial for us to know just what every party is after.”
>
  “And that’s why you want to find Carth.”

  “Carth has a different way of looking at things, and I think that if we are to figure out what these newcomers are interested in, we need her way of looking at it.”

  There was more to it, Daniel was certain, but Rayen didn’t say it. She continued to guide him through the streets, past various shops, many of them with shop owners standing out front, some more animated than others, and all of them trying to encourage them to come inside. They didn’t seem to care that Daniel and Rayen weren’t dressed the same as others within Asador. For that matter, Rayen didn’t seem to care that she wasn’t dressed the same as others within Asador. There was no attempt to blend in, which suggested to Daniel that either she wasn’t concerned about it, or there were so many different people within the city that it simply didn’t matter.

  The latter was more likely the case. He had been in Asador long enough to realize there were plenty of outsiders in the city, enough that his presence wasn’t much of a surprise.

  As they approached the university building in the distance, he stared at it, thinking back to the night of the attack. So much had changed for him that night, so much about himself and what he had known. At that time, it had only been about the Forgers; since then, he had realized that there was so much more.

  And he had realized that those he viewed as powerful weren’t always nearly as invincible as he had believed.

  The gate around the university was locked. Rayen pressed her hand against it, shadows swirling from her, and the lock clicked open.

  As they stepped through the gate, a tingling came across his skin. He was familiar with that tingling, having felt it before; it came from whatever magic they used to block his ability to Slide. It wasn’t heartstone, at least not that he knew, but it was possible they used something like that.

  “What happens if they don’t accept you here?”

  Rayen shook her head. “They know that I work with Carth. They will accept me.”

  “But if they don’t?”

  “If they don’t, then we will continue looking.”

  “Why are you so concerned about the men we found?”