The Elder Stones Saga Boxset: Books 1-3

by D. K. Holmberg

  But then, Daniel had almost not managed to pull it out. He had only been able to do so because Rayen had helped.

  “This is all of them?”

  He studied the stones with renewed interest. None of them looked the same as the first, which surprised him. He would’ve expected all the stones to be the same, and the fact that they were all different troubled him.

  “These are the stones we uncovered at the bottom of the sea. There were others, but none of them seemed to be important. I question whether this was a test.”

  “A test?”

  “I think the Ai’thol—or whoever they were—knew you were searching for them.”

  “They were Ai’thol.” Carth only nodded, looking at the stones circling him. “How would they have known?”

  “They know we’re after them.”

  Daniel crouched near the stone nearest him. It was a light shade of brown and quite a bit smaller than the one he had grabbed. It would’ve been so much easier for him to have taken this one from the bottom of the sea. “Are they all hard to Slide with?”

  “Lucy tells me they are quite difficult.”

  “But she managed to do it.”

  “Not without considerable effort.”

  “Does the order matter?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. I’m hoping you can help me determine that.”

  “These are in the order they were discovered?”

  Carth nodded. “Where you’re standing represents the island. As you look at the stone you brought, they should be arranged in a similar fashion. We were quite particular with how we placed them.”

  “Why so far outside of the city?”

  “Without knowing what these stones might do, I didn’t want them too close to Nyaesh.”

  “You didn’t want them too close to the Elder Stone.”

  Carth smiled tightly. “No.”

  “If there’s no way of Sliding to them, then it wouldn’t matter.”

  “It always matters. I can’t know what was intended with the stones, and until we do, I’m unwilling to place them anywhere near something of value. Just because we don’t have the ability to Slide beyond them doesn’t mean that the others don’t. And if they have that ability, it is possible that they would use it to prevent others from getting where they want.”

  “You think they’re plotting to have us bring the stones someplace to study?”

  “I think it’s a possibility.”

  Daniel lifted one of the stones nearest him. It was grayish, and much like the one he had grabbed, it had metal that seemed to work through it, though this was more of a copper color. He moved it and replaced it with the brown one. When he took his place back in the center of the circle, he attempted to Slide.

  He wasn’t able to move.

  “Does it make a difference?” Carth asked.

  Daniel shook his head. “Not that I can tell. I’m not able to Slide anywhere.”

  Carth grabbed one of the stones, lifting it far more easily than he did. She moved several stones, taking them around the circle, replacing them. She nodded to Daniel when she was done.

  He focused, attempting to Slide—and failed.

  It probably didn’t matter which order the stones were placed in. There was something about the stones themselves that made Sliding difficult.

  “If the order doesn’t matter, then why have an assortment of different stones?”

  “I suspect that it’s to defend against people who might have overcome the various restrictions.” She crouched next to one of the stones, running her hand along it. Daniel joined her, looking down at the stone, noting a bluish hue within it.

  “That’s heartstone.”

  She nodded. “I suspect it is. Heartstone is effective to prevent most of your kind from Sliding. Rsiran has proven that it doesn’t work on everyone.”

  “And these others?”

  “The others are all various metals. I am curious which metals they might be, but at the same time, I’m hesitant to bring these samples anywhere of importance.”

  “What if we bring someone here?”

  “And who would you bring here?”

  “Well, probably Rsiran, especially as we know that he has such an ability with metals.”

  “I doubt Rsiran would be able to take the time to work with these.”

  “Haern?”

  “Is he skilled with metals?”

  “I don’t know him well enough to answer.” Probably not, he had to admit. What he knew about Haern suggested he hadn’t spent much time around the forge the way his father had.

  “You know more than you let on.”

  Daniel watched her. “How long have you been able to Read others?”

  Carth tipped her head to the side. “Is that what I can do?”

  “You’re not Reading me?”

  She grunted. “Where you see an ability, I see knowing the way you think. Predicting patterns. Anticipating changes. Understanding irregularity. You can do the same, but you need to continue to practice.”

  “You’ve been around the crystals before.”

  “Several times. The first long enough ago that were it to change me, it would have done so by now.”

  “What was it like?” When she frowned at him, he went on. “The attack back then. Lareth. What was it like?”

  “Why do you care?”

  “My father never cared for Lareth. He blames him for much of what’s changed.”

  “And now you question his opinion?” Daniel nodded. Carth crouched to the ground, lifting a stone, rolling it from hand to hand before setting it back down. “We blamed the Hjan then and thought they served the Ai’thol, and perhaps they did.”

  “You don’t know?”

  “The man who attacked then—Danis—was far too arrogant to have taken orders from anyone. If he did, then it’s possible he believed he was in control. Perhaps Olandar Fahr allowed him to believe that, if only to ensure his compliance.”

  “How well do you know Olandar Fahr?”

  “Not well at all.”

  “But you’ve seen him?”

  “A few times. Had I known then what I know now, I would have made a greater effort to kill him.”

  “Would you have been able to do so?”

  Carth shook her head slowly. “I don’t know.”

  Daniel walked outside of the ring of the stones, attempting to Slide, thankful that he was able to do so. “What happened with Danis?”

  “I held him captive.”

  “You held him, as in you no longer do?”

  “As in he no longer lives.”

  “What happened?”

  “The Ai’thol.”

  “They killed him?”

  “I’m not sure if they were trying to rescue him or whether killing him was the goal, but they came after him. I lost fifteen Binders, women who were incredibly skilled and highly trained. All of them had been guarding Danis, and all of them lost their lives that night.”

  “Are you sure Danis is dead?”

  “Quite sure.”

  “How?”

  “I saw the body.” Carth frowned at him, getting to her feet and looking back down at the ground, studying the stones for a moment before turning her attention back in the direction of Nyaesh. “Are you questioning because you wonder if the Ai’thol were able to disguise their intentions from me?”

  “I just don’t know when it comes to the Ai’thol.”

  “Then you are making progress.”

  “I am?”

  “That was one of my first considerations.”

  “What was?”

  “That they faked his death. I didn’t know how high within the Ai’thol Danis sat. He sat at the head of Venass, then a place of much power, and he led the Hjan. Such a position was one that I believed to be incredibly important. And now, I wonder how much of that was simply another move in a much greater series of plays.”

  “But they didn’t succeed.”

  “I’m not so certain.”

>   “But the crystals were secured by Rsiran—and you.”

  “They were secured, but they were moved. It proved the crystals could be moved. I wonder if perhaps their movement was some part of a grander scheme.”

  Daniel frowned. If it were part of a larger plot, it would have been one that had taken place over decades. Who was able to plan that far out?

  If this Olandar Fahr was that capable, then he was someone to fear.

  “What next?” he asked Carth.

  “Now we try to understand the stones. We must get ahead of what the Ai’thol intend. Only then can we find ourselves safe. Doing so means you must return to Elaeavn for answers.”

  Daniel stared at the collection of stones for a moment. Even if he could Slide one of the stones to his homeland, doing so did pose a risk. Anything of the Ai’thol could be dangerous, and he wasn’t willing to do invite danger to his home, much the same way Carth wasn’t willing to bring the stones into Nyaesh. He thought he understood her reasoning and agreed that it was sound.

  “I think the stone should stay here. I could bring someone here.” Daniel stared at the stones for a moment before looking up at Carth. “That might be the only way.”

  “Who will you ask?”

  He frowned. Rsiran Lareth might be the only person who could help them, though would he trust Daniel enough to come with him?

  “Unfortunately, I think I have to ask Rsiran Lareth.”

  Though he’d helped save the man, he dreaded going to him for help.

  20

  Lucy

  “How is it supposed to help me understand the C’than?” she asked, staring at the empty room. Ras stood in front of her, the flowing robes he wore seeming to glow. Something about him left her with a strange feeling, almost as if he did glow, and the longer she watched him, the more she wondered whether that was some part of his ability or whether there was something else to it.

  For his part, Ras never said. Then again, she should have known better than to expect him to explain himself to her. He stood watching her, and there was almost a hint of amusement in the way he did.

  “Who is to say you were going to understand the C’than by being here?”

  Lucy looked around the inside of the room. It was empty other than her and Ras, though she sensed something here she couldn’t quite see. There were no decorations along the wall, no sculptures, and in the days she’d been in the tower, she hadn’t seen anything that would help her guess who else might be there.

  Lucy turned to face him. “Why am I here otherwise?”

  There was so much more for her to be doing, not the least of which was to work with the women in the village, trying to find some way of keeping them organized, keeping them together. The more she was away from them, the more she felt as if she were overlooking some aspect of care she was supposed to be providing to them. They needed her to help ensure they were safe, and though she could Slide back to them, her time here seemed to prevent her from doing that. Unfortunately, she didn’t feel as if she could give either side short shrift. She had to ensure she was giving both the necessary time, and if she didn’t, then she would fail. In this case, she very much feared failing.

  “Why are you here, Lucy Elvraeth?”

  “I’m here because Carth wanted me to be here,” she said.

  “If that’s the only reason, then you should disappear once again, the same way you have been every day.”

  She looked at him with a neutral expression. “Have I?”

  “Do you think you could Travel without my knowing?”

  Lucy had, but that was beside the point. She had Slid away each day thinking Ras wouldn’t know, but perhaps that had been her mistake.

  “I thought I might be able to,” she said.

  “I understand what you thought, but nothing happens on this island without my knowing.”

  Lucy looked around her but wasn’t shown anything that offered any insight. Inside this room, there was nothing, no way of her knowing anything else around her.

  There had to be something, though.

  The longer she was here, the more certain she was Ras had something in mind for her to learn, and yet she also had it in her mind that she had to work through what it was, and that he would not reveal it to her easily.

  “How much control do you have over the island?”

  “It’s not a matter of control.” Ras turned his back to her.

  “It sounds to me as if it’s a matter of control.”

  He stepped out of the room, turning toward the door. “I think you must reflect upon what you want before you decide what you will do.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It’s time for you to decide how much of the C’than you want to understand.”

  “I came here, didn’t I?”

  “You did, and yet, you aren’t here.”

  Lucy didn’t know how to answer, but it wasn’t that he was wrong. She had been distracted ever since arriving, wanting nothing more than to continue to work with the other women, and now she felt as if she understood what she needed to do with them. Even in that, she wasn’t sure she was giving either side the necessary attention.

  It felt as if she were trying to do too much, and yet how could she not?

  Maybe that was a lesson that Carth wanted her to learn. Perhaps she wanted Lucy to understand what she wanted to do with herself and how she was going to work in the world. It was possible Carth wanted Lucy to ultimately decide to serve the C’than, and yet, more than ever, Lucy didn’t think she could do that. She thought she needed to be a part of what was taking place. Even though she might not be the best equipped for such a conflict, she still felt as if she needed to have some role in it.

  Ras closed the door, and it began to glow.

  As it did, Lucy reached for it, suddenly nervous about his intentions.

  She couldn’t touch the door.

  Her breath caught.

  What was he doing?

  She focused on the door, thinking about what she might need to do. She tried to Slide, but there was no way to get beyond what she detected.

  He had trapped her here.

  She tried again, but once more, her attempt to Slide beyond the door failed.

  What was he doing to her? Why would he hold her here like this?

  Lucy tried to Slide again, focusing on the other side of the door, nothing further than that, but it wasn’t the distance that posed the challenge to her. It was simply Sliding.

  Could she find something to anchor onto?

  When it came to Sliding using her ability to anchor, she thought she could hold on to her awareness of Daniel, and she searched for his thoughts, looking to see if anything about them would help her know where to find him, but there was nothing.

  She tried again, shifting the focus, thinking about where she might uncover him, and once again, there was nothing there.

  It was the first time that trying to connect to Daniel Elvraeth had failed her.

  Not only had Ras separated her from her ability to Slide, but he had removed her ability to reach for someone to anchor to, and in doing so, he had trapped her here, holding her in a way that she hadn’t been imprisoned before.

  She shivered.

  The longer she stayed, the more she would be betraying the women of the village. Depending on how long Ras decided to hold her, it was possible she wouldn’t be able to escape, and if so, she would end up permanently trapped here, unable to reach the people she had promised to help.

  Lucy began to pace.

  All this brought her back to the time when she’d been imprisoned by the Architect, his goal to hold her, to force her to serve him.

  She would not suffer the same fate again.

  She got to choose, didn’t she?

  This wasn’t about Ras; this wasn’t about Carth. This was about Lucy.

  And she was not going to be held in some prison simply because they thought this was the best way for her to learn.

  A
nger continued to build, and she steadied her breathing.

  Her augmentations hadn’t prevented her from reaching thoughts before, and even now, she was certain she would be able to get free of this place.

  Even though Ras had whatever ability he had—something she suspected to be similar to Carth’s—nothing would prevent her from escaping.

  She was determined to get free, and in order to do so, she would have to Slide.

  Or would she?

  He had sealed her in the room and kept her from her abilities, but she hadn’t tried the most obvious thing.

  Making her way over to the door, she paused with her hand in front of it, worried about the heat radiating off it. Yet when she reached for the handle, she found that it was not intolerable.

  Twisting the handle, the door came open.

  Lucy focused, and Daniel’s thoughts came drifting back to her. They were distant, and she listened to them for a moment, knowing she could Slide to him if it were necessary. But she was no longer trapped.

  Then again, had she ever been trapped?

  She stormed through the halls, looking for Ras. She wasn’t going to stay here for long.

  She reached a staircase she knew led down to the main level of the tower, and from there, she would be able to walk out if she wanted. But since she was able to Slide again, she didn’t have to use conventional methods.

  Going up the stairs would take her to the library, where Ras might be, but she wanted to find him more rapidly. He had always prevented her from Reading him, but in her anger, she focused on his mind.

  There were aspects to it she thought she could uncover, and the longer she focused, the more certain she was she could dig into his thoughts. She found him.

  There was amusement within him.

  All of this was a game to him.

  She dug, borrowing his knowledge, and forced her way deeper into his mind.

  If he was going to play a game with her, then she was going to be prepared for the next time. She wasn’t going to allow herself to be trapped by him, nor was she going to allow him to torment her with games like this.

  She had come here to learn, and if it took her Reading Ras in order to learn, then so be it.