The Elder Stones Saga Boxset: Books 1-3

by D. K. Holmberg

  By the time he returned to the ship, something felt off.

  Flames crawled across the Nyaesh riverfront. Had he not been with Lucy and Carth, he might have turned around. With them, he felt some comfort in knowing they would be able to handle whatever happened here.

  Carth surveyed the street. Buildings on either side of it were engulfed in flames, and smoke billowed toward the cloudless sky. The street was empty, and anyone who might have been there had already long since fled. Only the crackling flames greeted them.

  “What happened?” Daniel asked. They hadn’t been gone that long. When they had brought the Elder Stone, there had been no sign of an attack.

  “It seems the C’than have decided to attack.”

  “By destroying the city?” he asked.

  “They’re trying to draw me out.”

  “They think this will draw you out?”

  “They know it will,” Carth said. She stepped forward, and everywhere she went, the flames retreated. After having seen her dealing with the Elder Stone, he wasn’t sure if she would’ve had enough strength. Seeing her do this was impressive. Where the fires had been leaping, drawing into the sky, they disappeared as she walked through the streets. Heat radiated off Carth, mixed with streaks of darkness. It seemed as if anger radiated from her.

  He almost smiled to himself. Did the A’ras and the C’than know what they were getting into?

  “I will finish my assignment,” Lucy said.

  “You need to be careful,” Carth said. “I’m not sure where the A’ras or the C’than will attack next. It’s possible you should have someone with you.”

  Lucy glanced over at him. He had the sense she was attempting to Read him. “I think you’ll need your soldiers. And where I’m going, we have need for speed.”

  Carth met her gaze and nodded.

  “Where is she going?”

  “She is going to search for the C’than.”

  “How does she know where to look?”

  “Because I showed her. The fact that they waited until we were gone suggests they knew I was no longer in the city.”

  Daniel looked around. “Or they knew you’d returned with the Elder Stone.” He still couldn’t believe he had been part of moving an Elder Stone. “But even that doesn’t make sense. Why would they have attacked? They had the A’ras under their control.”

  “It’s possible they knew that control wouldn’t last once the Elder Stone returned. It’s a move I hadn’t considered when I returned the stone.”

  “It’s not a game, Carth,” Daniel said.

  “I understand that it’s not a game. This is my city, regardless of what the A’ras would have you believe. As I have told you, there’s much in the strategy of thinking through Tsatsun. Use it. See what you can come up with, and tell me what this situation reveals to you.”

  Daniel looked around the street as he tried to come up with what had taken place here. If the C’than had attacked, the flame suggested that they were using the A’ras in order to do so, forcing them to attack their own city. That sort of open attack meant the people of the city were no longer safe.

  If the goal was the Elder Stone, then they needed to protect it.

  “Will they know where you brought it?” Daniel asked. He wasn’t even sure where they had brought it. They had Slid away, emerging from some underground place, appearing once again along the shores of Nyaesh.

  “It’s possible they were able to detect it.”

  “Possible?”

  “I don’t know,” Carth said.

  He tried to think through what they needed to do. That was what Carth wanted him to do. Use his mind. Be prepared. Think through the strategy.

  Another explosion drew his attention, and Carth motioned to the Binders nearby. “Secure as much as you can. Find the A’ras. Neutralize them. Don’t kill them.”

  Isabel was the closest of the Binders, and she nodded.

  “There will be other A’ras joining. Hopefully they will assist with this. We need to buy time until the fleet arrives.”

  “I thought you sent the fleet away,” Daniel said.

  Carth turned to him. Shadows swirled around her, seeming to make her stronger. Underneath the shadows, there came a steady sort of glowing. “I sent the fleet to make preparations and to ensure that only those who have the necessary skills to take on the Ai’thol were part of this battle. I hadn’t expected the C’than to be the real challenge.” She took a deep breath, shaking her head. “Either way, not all of my people are equipped for such a fight.”

  “There are others we could go to.”

  “Where?”

  “Elaeavn—”

  Carth grunted, shaking her head. “I’m not sure there’s the time to convince them, nor the need.”

  “There are some who would come,” he said. Even as he said it, he wasn’t sure that was true. Would people from Elaeavn join this fight? This wasn’t against the Forgers. This was against the C’than.

  “You don’t have to go to Elaeavn. The strength you need will come to you.”

  Carth spun, stretching her hand out and drawing heat away. As she did, a pair of figures at the far end of the street came into focus. Daniel blinked, unable to believe his eyes. Lucy grabbed his arm and Slid him.

  “Lareth?” Daniel glanced from Haern and then to Rsiran. How were they here?

  “Lucy. Are you…?”

  Lucy hurried over to Haern, throwing her arms around him. “It is good to see you, but I worry that we won’t have much time. How is it that you’re here?”

  “Daniel Elvraeth. I detected your sword, but I didn’t think it was possible that you would be here,” Haern Lareth said.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “It’s a long story, but we captured a Forger, and from what we can tell, they intend to use the metal that the C’than showed them to draw on the power of the Elder Stone.”

  Daniel’s breath caught. He looked over to Carth. “You think the Ai’thol are here?”

  “We’ve seen no evidence of Ai’thol. Just the C’than.”

  “The C’than are attacking?” Rsiran asked. “I thought the A’ras were strong enough to resist an attack.”

  “They should have been, but I made the mistake of moving the Elder Stone.”

  Rsiran stared at her for a long moment. “You understand the danger in doing so.”

  Carth held his gaze. “I understand the stones more than you can imagine. The board was no longer to my liking.”

  “You simply moved it?” Haern asked.

  “I didn’t simply do anything. You could not imagine the difficulty in moving one of the Elder Stones. Nor in returning it.”

  “You’ve brought it back?” Rsiran Lareth asked.

  “This is not the first time the stone has been moved.”

  “What’s it like?” Haern asked. “Is it like the crystals?”

  “The crystals of your homeland were meant to be handled. Not like the Elder Stones. They were meant to influence. And my moving it was a mistake. Now that it is corrected, we can remove the threat of the C’than and allow the A’ras to return to power.”

  Rsiran watched her, and then he cocked his head to the side. “Are you sure that there are no Ai’thol in the city?”

  “We haven’t uncovered any evidence of the Ai’thol. Just the C’than, though they are using many of the same tricks. Why?” Carth asked.

  Rsiran Lareth’s brow furrowed. “There is lorcith in the city.”

  “There is lorcith in most cities. You realize the metal isn’t nearly as rare as your people once believed.”

  “I’m aware of how rare it is not. I’m also aware of the fact that there was not lorcith here only moments before.”

  Carth spun, shadows and heat suddenly surging off her. “Ai’thol,” she whispered.

  “Could they have planned this?”

  “I have long since given up on thinking I could outmaneuver Olandar Fahr, yet I have a hard time seeing how he would’ve p
lanned this. What would he hope to gain?”

  “Besides the power of the Elder Stone?” Haern Lareth asked. “It’s the metal. And we need to—”

  An explosion thundered nearby, cutting him off.

  Daniel looked over to Lucy. “Can you help Haern?”

  “I don’t need—” Haern started.

  Lucy grabbed him and Slid. It left Rsiran and Daniel staring at each other for a moment. “Are you sure you want to take on Forgers like this?” Rsiran asked.

  “We’re not taking on the Forgers. We’re taking on the Ai’thol.”

  “Do you think they’re different?”

  “The Forgers are only a part of a greater danger,” Daniel said.

  “I had hoped to keep all of you out of this.”

  “And now it’s our turn to try and keep others out of it. We don’t want to be a part of this any more than we need to, but—”

  Another explosion thundered, and Daniel Slid, unsheathing as he went.

  When he emerged, he found Haern pushing knives, sending lorcith streaking toward A’ras. He fought with incredible skill, much more so than when Daniel had seen him fighting before. Lucy simply stood in place, motionless, and it took him a moment to realize what it was she was doing.

  She was attempting to Push.

  The A’ras suddenly stopped fighting.

  Rsiran appeared. “What happened?” he asked.

  “The Ai’thol gave Lucy the means to stop them. I don’t think they intended to, but with her augmented abilities, she doesn’t struggle as she once would have.”

  Rsiran glanced over at Lucy. “You need to be careful with that gift. It’s dangerous, and it can be used in the wrong way.” His jaw clenched briefly. “And don’t you try to Read me.”

  Lucy staggered back. “I…”

  Rsiran shook his head. “Others have tried, but if there’s anything my connection to lorcith and heartstone has given me, it’s an ability to ensure that Readers stay out of my mind. And it prevents others from attempting to Push me. Ask Brusus how it goes every time he tries.”

  “Brusus can do this?”

  “Not nearly as strongly, but he has the ability. And if it works like this,” Rsiran said, waving to the A’ras, who stood motionless, their attacks abandoned, “then you have incredible talent.”

  “And you don’t need to harm them,” Daniel said.

  Rsiran shot him a look.

  “The A’ras have been controlled in a similar way. Whatever the C’than have done to them has taken away their ability to refuse.”

  “The Hjan once did something similar,” Rsiran said.

  “And the C’than studied it, mastering it. All of this is related,” Daniel said. And all of it was part of some larger scheme. It had to be. If Carth was right and the person who led the Ai’thol was a master at gamesmanship, then there would be a greater plan. The Hjan, the Forgers, and the Elder Stones were all somehow tied together. He would have to sit with Carth when all this was done and try to think through it.

  Daniel turned to Lucy. “See what you can do about removing some of these threats, but don’t hurt them if you don’t have to.”

  Lucy studied him for a moment. “You intend to go after the Ai’thol.”

  “I’m going to find out where Carth has gone and help her protect the Elder Stone.”

  They could move it again, but even that didn’t necessarily mean the Ai’thol wouldn’t be able to reacquire it. Somehow they had to find a way of getting the Elder Stone to a place of safety, even if it meant hiding it someplace obvious.

  And where would an obvious hiding place be?

  Not only an obvious hiding place, but someplace where the Ai’thol wouldn’t think to continue their pursuit.

  Daniel looked around him. The line of A’ras were there, and they had been controlled by the Ai’thol, but maybe now that they knew that, there was a possibility they could learn to protect themselves. And if they could, if they could somehow maintain the Elder Stone here, then they could drive away the Ai’thol, convince them that they had moved it somewhere else.

  “I need to find Carth,” he said.

  “Go. I will continue to work with them,” Lucy said, nodding to the A’ras.

  Daniel glanced over to Haern and Rsiran. “I need you to create a diversion for the Forgers.”

  “What sort of diversion?” Rsiran asked.

  “The kind that will make them believe we have moved the Elder Stone. It has to be convincing, and you have to get away.”

  “You don’t think I can be convincing?” Lareth asked.

  Daniel took a deep breath. “It’s not that. The escape is just as important. They need to think you managed to move it.”

  Rsiran started to smile. “Clever.”

  “What is?” Haern asked.

  “Daniel Elvraeth intends to keep the Elder Stone here.” Rsiran’s gaze drifted to the A’ras that were now following Lucy. How much control did she have over them? And was it safe for her to maintain that control? “I imagine the Elder Stone is what grants them their control over the flames?” Rsiran asked.

  “I don’t think it always did, but Carth makes it sound like the A’ras had been losing their abilities, and until she moved the Elder Stone here about five years ago, they were fading. Now they’re not.”

  Rsiran tilted his head. “There is value in having more people opposed to the Ai’thol who have abilities of their own. The Ai’thol would try to control them, but maybe we can find a way of protecting them.”

  “Is there anything that might?” Daniel asked. That was part of his plan, but he wasn’t sure it would work.

  “There might be something of lorcith and heartstone that would work. I can make it when we return to Elaeavn.”

  “It has to be convenient,” Daniel said.

  Rsiran arched a brow at him. “Now you’re telling me how I need to create protections?”

  “I’m just suggesting that if it’s not convenient, the A’ras might not use the protection regardless of what it does.”

  Lareth chuckled. “It’s a valid point. And what I’m thinking of creating is something like a ring. I made bracelets once upon a time that prevented me from being Read, even by the strongest of Readers, so I suspect that with the right concentration, and with the right connection to lorcith—and heartstone—I can come up with something that will work for your plan. Does that satisfy you?”

  Daniel nodded before realizing Rsiran was starting to smile.

  “How do you intend to draw them away?” Haern asked.

  “Well, that’s the part of the plan that requires your father. If anyone else attempted to move the Elder Stone, I suspect the Forgers would realize that something was amiss. Having you here,” he said, nodding to Rsiran, “is far more convincing. Besides, they fear you. If nothing else, it would give them pause.”

  “Regardless of pausing, we need it to be convincing. And if what we’ve discovered is right, we need to act quickly. The Ai’thol are here for a reason.” Lareth looked around. “I suspect they intend to draw off and trap the power from the Elder Stone the same way they’re trying to draw off the power of the Elder Trees in Elaeavn.”

  “Even more reason for us to find Carth,” Daniel said.

  He wasn’t certain it would work, but if they were able to convince the Ai’thol that they had moved the Elder Stone, then confronting them here wouldn’t be nearly as difficult. Some of the Ai’thol would disappear, chasing after it, diminishing their numbers. They didn’t have enough people to battle the Ai’thol, not at this point. Maybe if they had more time, they would come up with the necessary numbers, but for now, until Carth’s fleet managed to make it here, they were heavily outnumbered. Especially with however many A’ras might remain under the V’lar thumb.

  “How do you suggest we find her?” Haern asked.

  Daniel looked along the street, listening for the sounds of the attack. It seemed to come from deeper within the city, and he smiled to himself. “We follow the sound
s of fighting. If I know Carth, that’s where she’s gone.”

  And it would be wherever she had placed the Elder Stone, which seemed to be toward the center of the city. But why? Why would she have placed the Elder Stone there?

  Daniel started to turn when a shimmering appeared.

  One of the Ai’thol stood before them.

  Rsiran dove forward, sliding with a pair of knives in hand, and he jabbed at the man. He struck him in the chest, dropping him to the ground before withdrawing his knives and slipping them back into his pockets.

  The suddenness and the violence of it all surprised Daniel.

  “We can stay here and continue to get attacked, or we can head toward wherever Carth has gone,” Rsiran snapped.

  Daniel could only nod. They followed the sounds of violence, heading deeper into the city. The streets were empty, and every so often, they passed a building charred by flames but no longer burning. Could Carth have done all this? If she had, why hadn’t she asked for any help?

  Unless she hadn’t known where to find them. They had Slid off during the attack, so she wouldn’t have been able to wait for their help, even if she had wanted it.

  They passed a few bodies on the street, all of them Ai’thol based on their dress. It wasn’t until they neared the palace at the center of the city that they found someone else. One of the A’ras.

  As they continued forward, there were more of the A’ras, most of them lying in awkward positions, their bodies broken, bent and seemingly in agony.

  “Did Carth do this?” Haern asked.

  Daniel shook his head. “Carth wanted to help the A’ras, as much as she could. She wouldn’t have done this. This is the C’than,” Daniel said. He felt that with complete certainty. They must have used the A’ras and then decided that they no longer needed them. Or they had used the A’ras as some sort of shield, deflecting other attacks. Either way, the people he saw fallen and broken had died not defending their city as they should, but used by the C’than.

  Fighting near the wall surrounding the palace drew Daniel toward it. He Slid, unmindful of whether Rsiran and Haern would follow. When he emerged, five Ai’thol surrounded Carth.