The Elder Stones Saga Boxset: Books 1-3

by D. K. Holmberg

  “And the sword?”

  He nodded. “The sword as well. It allows me to use it in a way that grants me a certain power over it.”

  “And you can use that to fly?”

  “I know it doesn’t make a lot of sense, but…”

  “It makes about as much sense as the hounds.”

  “What were those men?”

  “They weren’t men. At least, not any longer. Perhaps they once were, but they were used in such a way that something about them changed. They became less.”

  “I don’t know. It seemed almost as if they became more.”

  “And yet they lost themselves. Rally controlled them, which meant we weren’t able to go anywhere or do anything. Anytime we tried, he sent the hounds after us.”

  Haern’s gaze drifted to her cheek. Elise nodded.

  “He never struck us himself. He always let the hounds do it. He viewed it as a reward for their service.”

  They fell into a quiet, and Haern took a seat, staring across the river. The landscape had changed, more rolling hills than there had been before, with the occasional copse of trees. It was times like this that he wished he had spent more time outside of the city, allowing him the opportunity to know where he was and how to find the nearest village. He could use his remaining coins, travel that way, but doing so would force him to abandon Elise and the girls.

  “I’d like to get across the river,” Elise said.

  “Why?”

  “The hounds.”

  “What about the hounds?”

  “They can’t be killed.”

  “Anything can be killed.”

  “Unless they’re already dead.”

  Haern got to his feet, looking across the river. “They won’t be able to cross this?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s possible, but anything that makes it more difficult for them to follow us is worthwhile.”

  Haern looked across the river. It was wide here, wider than most rivers he’d encountered, and the only way across would involve him using his connection to lorcith. Either that or heading along the shore until they found a bridge, and that wasn’t a guarantee. They could wander for quite some time before coming across anything that could be used to cross.

  “When you’re ready, I’ll help get you and the others across.”

  “By flying?” Elise had a hint of a smile when she said it, and he chuckled. It was the first time she had shown any emotion other than fear or irritation.

  “You’re going to have to let them know I don’t mean to harm them.”

  “Maybe take the older ones first. That way they can be there for the younger ones, and I can stay on this side with some of the younger ones until you are finished.”

  Haern nodded. “Whenever you’re ready.”

  Elise took a deep breath before sweeping her gaze around her. When she was done, she got to her feet, heading toward the other girls. She said something quietly, and one of the older girls looked at Haern before turning her attention back to Elise, shaking her head.

  Approaching slowly, Haern held out his hand. “Let me show you what she’s talking about.” He should have known that it would be unwise to just attempt to carry them across without having a demonstration. With everything they’d been through, it wouldn’t be surprising for them to be afraid—terrified, even—of him approaching like that.

  Haern dropped the coin on the ground and then pushed.

  He hovered in the air and used the connection to the coin to travel across the water. When he landed on the far side, he turned and looked over at them. Dropping another coin, he pushed again, coming to land on the far side.

  “As I told you, he can fly.”

  “I can’t…” Haern shook his head. “I can carry one or two at a time. If it’ll make you feel better, I can take two to begin with so that you’re not over there by yourself.”

  Two of the young women stepped forward, and Haern nodded. He slipped his arm around each woman’s waist, and they grabbed on to him. He pushed, carrying them across the river, landing with a little bit more force than he intended. One of the women laughed as they came to land, stumbling forward. Haern pushed off, landing on the other side again. He made several trips, each one easier than the last. When he finally had everybody other than Elise on the other side, he turned, ready to push when he saw movement in the distance.

  Haern frowned, staring until he realized what it was that he saw.

  The hounds.

  He pushed quickly and landed next to Elise.

  “You make it look so easy. It’s almost as if you were born to do it. I could—”

  “There’s no time. We need to cross the river.”

  “Why?”

  Haern pointed, motioning toward the oncoming hounds. They were moving rapidly, and he grabbed Elise before she had a chance to say anything and pushed off, hovering in the air just as the hounds jumped. They nearly reached him, but Haern pushed them across the river. When he was there, he pulled on the coin.

  The hounds stood on the far shore, their bodies grotesque and twisted, somehow stitched back together. For a moment, he wondered if perhaps he had been mistaken and hadn’t killed Rally as he had believed. There would’ve been no way for him to survive having his throat ripped out like that, but how was it possible these hounds still lived?

  “How are they still here?” Elise asked.

  “I’ve never seen magic like it.”

  “Hopefully the river…”

  As they watched, both hounds took a step forward into the water.

  “Run,” Haern said.

  “What about you?”

  “I intend to stop them again.”

  “We don’t want to go without you.”

  He looked at the other girls. If he failed and the hounds managed to reach them, what would happen to them? Would the hounds try to bring them back to Rally’s body, or would something worse happen?

  “You need to get moving. I’ll slow them. I managed to stop them once.”

  Hopefully he could do it again, and now that he had an idea about the technique involved, he hoped that he could tear through them, ripping them apart, but a part of him worried that it wouldn’t work.

  Elise looked at him for a moment before turning and shepherding the girls forward. They started running, heading north, and he couldn’t imagine how tired they were after everything they’d been through. They had to be exhausted, and yet despite that, they took off at a rapid pace.

  Haern pushed off, hovering, waiting for the hounds to appear.

  Neither of them emerged from the water.

  Could the water have dragged them downstream?

  He turned, glancing toward the girls as they disappeared, when a loud splash caught his attention.

  Haern barely had a chance to push himself higher into the air, scarcely avoiding one of the hounds grabbing him by the foot.

  He unsheathed his sword, sending it spinning at the nearest hound, trying to catch the man in the leg. As it spun, the hound lunged for the blade, and Haern adjusted the direction of the spin, managing to get the blade spiraling up and through one of the hounds. The blade carved the creature in half, but he worried even that wouldn’t be enough. He adjusted, cutting it into fourths, feeling more than a hint of disgust at needing to do so.

  Holding himself steady in the air like this was tiring, and he worried he wouldn’t be able to manage for much longer.

  The other hound jumped.

  Haern didn’t have a chance to react in time. The hound crashed into him, somehow reaching him where he was suspended thirty feet in the air, tearing at him, and Haern flicked the coin at the hound and pushed. It separated them, sending the hound tumbling, and Haern flicked another coin behind him, pushing off to hold himself into the air. As he twisted into position, he pulled on the sword, sending it at the falling hound, carving through the creature. With another push, the blade cut off his head, and Haern dropped to the ground.

  Even headless, the hou
nd continued to try to move toward him.

  He needed to destroy these creatures, but what would it take? Fire might work, but he didn’t have any way of starting a fire easily.

  What if he picked up the hounds and dropped them into the river? It might be enough to wash them downstream, separate the parts and hopefully keep them from joining again.

  He stood off to the side, controlling the sword, sending it slicing through the creatures. He chopped them into chunks as small as he could stomach and then started kicking the remains into the river, not wanting to pick them up. Even doing that disgusted him. With each plop into the river, it splashed, and he feared that he wasn’t doing enough.

  He forced himself to continue. When he was done, there was no sign of blood as there should be. Whatever had been done to the men, turning them into these creatures had drained them of all blood.

  What sort of horrible magic was that?

  It had to be the Ai’thol, but why?

  He scanned the ground, looking for any coins he might have left, and pulled on lorcith, dragging it toward him.

  When he was done, he watched the river for a moment, his gaze drifting across to the other side, looking for any sign of movement.

  There was none.

  Finally he turned, heading across land, racing toward the women.

  It didn’t take him long to catch up to them. Elise looked at him, a question in her eyes.

  “I hope they don’t follow us, but…”

  “You don’t know,” she whispered.

  Haern shook his head. “If I had some way of starting a fire, I think I would’ve burned the remains, but I didn’t want to linger too long.”

  “You could have buried them.”

  “They went into the river. Hopefully it’s fast-moving enough that it will carry the different parts away.”

  Elise glanced over her shoulder, her gaze going toward the distant river, before turning back to him. “If we reach the city, then we won’t have to worry about it.”

  Hopefully that was the case. Haern had never seen magic like the hounds and had no idea how they were able to continue to attack. How many other creatures like that existed? If the Ai’thol had developed that sort of power, they wouldn’t stand a chance. Worse, if some slaver like Rally had managed to acquire two, how hard could it be for others to find?

  None of them said anything as they continued across the rolling hills. Eventually, day began to fade, the sun setting, shadows rolling across the ground. They still hadn’t come across even a small village, no place that they could stay, and Haern wasn’t eager to spend another night on the road, but by the time the sun set fully, he realized they wouldn’t have much choice.

  They made their way toward a copse of trees that would provide some shelter, and the girls began to fall asleep quickly. Haern paced, looking around the camp. Other than him, Elise was the only one who didn’t drop right to sleep.

  He joined her at the edge of the trees, looking out into the night. “You can rest. I’ll keep watch.”

  “You shouldn’t have to do that. This isn’t your fight.”

  “Not at first, but it is now.”

  They were silent for a while before Elise turned to him. “I was wrong about you. I didn’t think you would help.”

  “I couldn’t leave you like that.”

  “What happens if we don’t make it to this city where you think we can get help?”

  “We’ll make it. It might take longer than we want, but we will find something.”

  “And if we don’t?”

  “I’m not going to abandon you, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  Relief swept across her face. “We’re going to need to find food.”

  “When was the last time any of them had anything to eat?”

  “He didn’t feed us often. Most of the time, he gave us water, but even that wasn’t enough.”

  Haern marveled at the fact that they were able to keep such a steady pace regardless of their hunger and thirst. “I wish I had more to offer.”

  Elise reached into her pocket and pulled out the pouch full of coins. “We aren’t entirely helpless.”

  “I don’t think that you’ve ever been entirely helpless. Most people would have given up when faced with what you did, but you fought through it.”

  “I didn’t fight.”

  Haern looked at her eye, nodding slightly. “That would say otherwise.”

  “That wasn’t fighting. That was trying to stay alive.”

  “Isn’t that the same thing?”

  Elise fell silent, and he joined her in looking out into the night. There was a part of him that feared the hounds would somehow come after them, but if it had taken the better part of twelve hours for them to restore themselves and catch up, they hopefully had a little more time, and that was if the river hadn’t swept them downstream.

  “Tell me about your home,” Haern said.

  “What’s there to know?”

  “How did you end up with him?”

  “He came to my village. He said he was a merchant, and with the wagons, how were we to believe otherwise? He set up outside of the village and traded a few things, but not much.”

  “You didn’t question him then?”

  “We’ve had merchants like that come through my village before. We aren’t on a major thoroughfare, and most who come through do so out of chance rather than intentionally. It’s not often that we find someone who has much of value to trade, so when he arrived, we thought it was more of the same.”

  “When did you realize otherwise?”

  “When he snuck into the village in the middle of the night. He grabbed three of us.”

  “Which of the others were from your village?” When she didn’t answer, he breathed out heavily. “He already sold them, didn’t he?”

  “They were younger, and he said they were more valuable.”

  “Why?”

  “Those who buy the girls like them younger. They feel they can train you.”

  “The people I’m going to bring you to don’t look too kindly upon that sort of thing. You’ll be safe.”

  “Safe,” she said softly. She pulled her knees into her chest, wrapping her arms around them. Her eyes drifted closed, and Haern watched her for a moment. He didn’t have a good sense of how old she was, but she couldn’t be that much younger than him. Despite that, there was something much more world-weary about her. How long had she been a captive?

  How long had any of them been captives?

  He wandered through the trees, glancing at the girls. They were of all ages, some of them so small that it left his blood boiling with rage. None of them looked well fed, and most wore tattered clothing, though as he looked at them—really looked at them—he realized that much of their clothing seemed to come from various different styles. Which way would Rally have been heading?

  Seeing as how Elise said she came from the south, he suspected they were moving north. If so, were there others he needed to worry about? He thought the Binders would have prevented such things from occurring in these lands, but maybe there were limitations to what the Binders could do.

  Once he found them, he would ensure Elise and the others were safe.

  Haern paced. He was tired—exhausted, even—but he couldn’t sleep. Even if he wanted to, he doubted his mind would shut down, racing with everything they had encountered.

  If Galen had survived—something that he was no longer certain had occurred—he might have already returned to Elaeavn. What would Galen think? Would he believe that something had happened to Haern? Would he send others out of the city, Sliding and trying to find him, or would he wait, knowing that Haern would be coming by foot—or by lorcith jumps?

  In order to keep himself awake, Haern continued to pace, wandering around the small clump of trees. Other than the buzzing of insects, his footsteps were the only sounds in the night.

  Morning came slowly, but it came. Thankfully there had been no return of the ho
unds, and as the girls and Elise awoke, starting their trek north, Haern began to hope they might be able to stay ahead of them, if they were going to return at all.

  He didn’t push nearly as hard as he had the day before, and as they made their way, he felt his eyes drift closed with each step, and he didn’t bother to keep them open. Somehow he managed to continue onward, and every so often, he would feel a hand on his arm guiding him. He would flutter open his eyes, see Elise making sure that he stayed with them, and then he would stumble onward, half awake.

  By the time evening came, he dropped to the ground, barely able to go on. Elise crouched next to him. “Sleep. We’ll keep watch over you.”

  “What if the hounds—”

  “If they come, I’ll wake you, but you won’t be any good to us if you can’t stay awake.”

  Haern was asleep in moments, and when he awoke, it was the middle of the night. All the girls were asleep other than Elise. He joined her where she crouched near a stream. “Thank you for letting me sleep.”

  “You needed it. I was afraid we are going to have to carry you half of the day.”

  “Has there been any sign of the hounds?”

  “Nothing. I think you were successful.”

  “Has there been any sign of any cities?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Eventually, we’ll run into a road and we can follow that into one of the cities.”

  “And what if we don’t?”

  “We will.” He glanced over at her, the question he’d been wondering about after their conversation the night before coming back to him. “How long were you captive?”

  She turned away from him, staring off into the distance. “I lost track.”

  “How long do you think you were captive?”

  “A long time,” she said softly.

  “I can help arrange transportation to get you back home.”

  “I don’t know that there is a return home for me. I don’t know if any of these girls can return home.”

  “Why not?”

  “We traveled a long way.”

  “And I told you that my people have a way of transporting themselves. Once we get you to safety, I can return to my home and see if someone can help.”