Broken of Fire (The Cloud Warrior Saga Book 9)

by D. K. Holmberg

  “Sani, I presume?” When she nodded, he asked, “What sort of guidance?”

  “There are places of power,” Assan began, sounding as if he lectured to students in the university, “places were the elementals gather. This should be one of them.”

  Did he mean a place of convergence? There was such a place in Ethea, and in the mountains of Galen, but he had long suspected that such places had more to do with where they were situated within the land. It was the reason the place of convergence within the mountains had shifted, drawn away when the ancient shapers had pulled the rest of the kingdoms from the water. That had given Ethea greater importance. Tan suspected that was the reason the kingdoms had always been so flush with shapers.

  But why would there be such a place here?

  Another question came to him, one that was tied to what had happened to him in Par. If this had been a place of convergence, had that shifted when Ethea rose from the water?

  Tan turned to Sani. If she thought this should be a place of convergence, then she likely knew something more than him. “What does he mean that this should be such a place?”

  She didn’t look up, only continued to work with the logs, pushing them around the fire.

  “You know of such places?” Assan asked.

  “You mean convergences? Yes, I know of them.”

  Assan smiled widely and patted the book. “Yes, convergences. Such a strange name for what they are, but it is the only one in our tongue that really fits, isn’t it? In ancient Ishthin, they had another term for them, one that in some ways is more fitting.” Assan shrugged. “I digress. You don’t like care about such things, Athan.”

  “You might be surprised what I care about,” he said.

  Assan’s mouth pulled into a tight smile. “Perhaps you are right. You are connected to the First Mother. I have never heard of such a thing, but then, there hasn’t been anyone like you in some time, has there?”

  Tan only offered a placating smile. “Why here, Assan?”

  “Why? Because this was all once part of Vathansa, of course.”

  Vathansa. Tan hadn’t heard that term before, but then, he still hadn’t taken the time that he wished he had to fully understand the ancient shapers. After learning about how they misused and mistreated the elementals, his interest in understanding them had waned. But then he’d discovered Par, and the way that their ancestors had created a record and used that as a way to help protect the draasin. There was respect for the elementals there.

  “Explain Vathansa to me,” Tan said.

  Assan glanced over to Sani, and she nodded once.

  Tan thought that Assan had been the one to lead this expedition, but what if he’d misread? Could it be that Sani was the one who guided?

  Assan turned back to Tan, and a forced smile crossed his face. “Yes, Vathansa. A place lost many years ago, so long ago that most have forgotten about it. Honestly, had it not been for…” He shook his head, and his smiled faltered. “Anyway, had I not discovered this,” he said, hopping from the stool and making his way to a trunk.

  He flipped open the lid and rifled around inside for a moment before pulling out a roll of parchment nearly as long as his arm. He waved Tan over and unrolled it, setting the book on one end to hold it open. “Do you see here?” he asked, pointing toward the bottom.

  It was a map, but so old that much of the ink had faded. The parchment itself had started to crack, and he sensed a water and earth shaping within it, used to fortify the page. Someone had taken the time to restore it as much as they could, and the shaping that had been used—what residual that Tan could sense—was a skilled one.

  “Rens,” he said.

  Assan looked up and considered Tan for a moment. “You know of Rens?”

  “Nara and Incendin were once a part of Rens. The split happened hundreds of years ago, but Incendin still wishes to unite ancient Rens.” Or they had, until recently. He didn’t know if Incendin would still pursue reunification, but given what Tan had done, and how he had brought the lisincend and the hounds back into fire, he hoped they would be given a little more time before those old squabbles returned. Incendin and the kingdoms had worked together. That had to mean something.

  “Correct.”

  “And this,” Tan said, pointing to the map, “would be Doma.” At that time, Doma had been much larger than it was today, jutting much farther out into the water. Over time, land that once had been Doma had been lost to the sea.

  “Domajt,” Assan said, using a strange lilt to the word. “Over time, they shortened it. Or the kingdoms shortened it. Now it’s known as Doma.”

  Tan hadn’t known. Did Elle?

  “What is the purpose of this, Assan?” he asked. It couldn’t be that the archivist simply wanted to provide Tan with a geography lesson.

  “You asked for understanding, Athan. I am trying to provide you with what I can.” He smiled and pointed to the northernmost part of the map.

  The ink here must not have been easy to restore because this portion of the map was even more difficult to make out. Tan thought that he saw a series of shapes, something like what he would expect to have been islands. “These islands?” he asked.

  Assan nodded. “Vathansa. When the ancients did… whatever that they did… the islands were pulled together and became what we know today as Vatten.”

  Tan frowned as he studied the map. He had known that the ancients had reclaimed much of the western part of the kingdoms from the sea. That was part of the reason that water flowed deep beneath Ethea, even though it was separated from the ocean by leagues of land. That connection, and that water, had allowed Ethea to become a place of convergence, a place of power where the elementals came together.

  And if the place of convergence had shifted from the Gholund Mountains, why couldn’t there have been another place of convergence in old Vathansa?

  “You think Vathansa had a place of convergence of its own?”

  “We are in the heart of Vathansa,” Assan said, tapping on the map. “What would have been the largest island of hundreds. Most were pulled together, drawn from the sea to join the rest of the kingdoms, but some of the islands remain just off the coast. Others were lost, sunk or covered by water as those ancient people changed the face of the land.”

  Tan couldn’t imagine how they had reshaped the surface of the land. No, that wasn’t quite true. He could imagine, and had held the power needed for something like that, but he couldn’t imagine believing that such a thing was necessary, or right. How many had lost homes because of such a shaping? How many had lost their lives because of the shaping?

  Such arrogance. He couldn’t imagine believing that they knew so much, that they had to shift the balance of power in the world. That was what they would have done, especially if they had intended to move the places of convergences.

  “So you think to find the ancient place of convergence?”

  Assan tapped a long finger on the map. “That is what we will find here. I am certain of it.”

  Tan thought about what he knew about places of convergence. The one in the mountains had remained, even after Ethea had shifted the power, but then, hadn’t it been held in place? That had to have something to do with why it remained. But why would they think there were dormant elementals here? Why would the journal that Assan possessed reference such dormancy? The elementals would simply have departed, not been trapped and hibernate in some way.

  “I can see that you do not believe,” Assan said.

  “I don’t disagree that there are places of convergence. And I don’t disagree that such places can move over time. I have seen it myself. But I have a connection to the elementals and cannot fathom why they would go dormant as this”—he tapped on the book—“describes.”

  Assan smiled broadly. “And that is what we are here to discover! Think of it, Athan. We have spent so much time fighting and trying to keep the kingdoms safe that we have ignored learning, and studying, and trying to understand the world around us!�
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  Tan couldn’t disagree with him. He had felt much the same way—and still did. So much effort had been spent by kingdoms’ shapers on trying to fortify the barrier and find a way to keep Incendin out that few had the time to study and try to understand the elementals.

  Why, then, did it trouble Tan so much that Assan and Sani wanted to learn? Why did it bother him that there might be dormant elementals? What didn’t he know about the elementals?

  Assan watched him as if waiting for an answer or approval.

  Tan didn’t know what to say, but he couldn’t think of any reason why Assan shouldn’t continue to search, especially if they might find something that would help him understand the elementals better. And wasn’t that what Tan wanted?

  It still didn’t change the uneasy sensation he had, or the anxious gnawing in the pit of his stomach that he had as he looked from Assan over to Sani, who still made no attempt to meet his eyes.

  6

  A NEW PERSPECTIVE

  Tan’s shaping took him high above Vatten, high enough that he soared above clouds drizzling a fine mist to the ground. Wind whipped around him, tossing his cloak violently, but he ignored it. Something that Assan had said troubled him.

  Could there still be islands scattered around Vatten, a remnant of Vathansa? He knew little of the current geography in this part of the kingdoms, but given his shaping ability, that was something that he could rectify. The ancient geography presented a different sort of challenge, one that he hoped the lower level archives would be able to answer. Tan wondered if there was more that he missed. And if there was, what it might mean.

  Up here, the green land below faded to almost nothing. The wispy clouds filtered his ability to see clearly, and far below, he caught sight of vast expanses of blue. Occasional white caps from cresting waves marred the pure blue sheet. He searched for other land, shaping water in such a way that it would magnify his vision, again missing the draasin sight that he’d been able to access when bound to Asboel. Through this shaping, he finally caught sight of a few small islands. Dozens of them were scattered off the shore. How many were populated, and how many simply were ancient remnants of what had once been Vathansa?

  You would hunt, Maelen?

  Asgar pressed into his awareness, and Tan detected that he flew nearby. He wouldn’t put it past the draasin to have followed him. Since Asboel’s death, Asgar had taken on a particular interest in Tan, almost as if he owed it to his father to watch over him. But then, maybe the connection was simpler than that. Tan had been the one to name Asgar. With the naming, there was bound to be a unique bond formed between them.

  I would understand these lands, he said.

  Asgar neared and Tan shaped to him on a bolt of lightning, crashing down onto Asgar’s back. He could maintain a shaping, but there really was nothing quite like soaring with the draasin to really survey the land below.

  What would you understand? These are places to hunt.

  They have not always been the same, Tan said. There have been changes over time, and that is what I would understand.

  The Mother changes much. Think of all that has changed in the time that you have known me. Much has changed.

  Tan smiled at the thought as Asgar banked and soared out over the water. Tan used his connection to the fire bond and wondered if he might be able to borrow from Asgar’s sight. When he used to borrow from Asboel, there had been much he had been able to see. Looking at the world the way that the draasin did, through shades of red, orange, and yellow, provided a unique perspective.

  Asgar seemed to recognize what Tan wanted and allowed him to reach through and watch the land below.

  What he saw as a deep spread of blue from the ocean when he looked upon it with his own eyes came through the draasin sight as a deep maroon. Waves appeared a lighter shade, almost violet, with ripples of deeper orange that moved through. Occasionally, he would see flashes of darker color that Tan suspected were fish or other larger creatures.

  I could show them to you, Asgar suggested.

  You would swim?

  Asgar chuckled. You may not enjoy it quite as much as you do the hunt.

  With that, Asgar dove, streaking toward the water. The cool wind sent mist spraying from his back that Tan now knew to be the masyn elemental. Elle had bonded masyn, and Tan had learned that he could use the power of masyn as well, even if he could not speak to it quite as well as Elle did.

  They struck the water above one of the surges of color.

  Tan held his breath and clung to Asgar, shaping a bubble of air around himself as they dove. Asgar grabbed at the fish and spun, flapping his great wings against the water as they crashed free and took to the air. An enormous fish hung from his jaws, thrashing for freedom until Asgar bit twice and swallowed.

  Thanks for that, Tan said.

  You should know that water does not slow the draasin.

  I never would have expected water to slow the draasin, Tan said. I’ve known you and your father well enough to know that little slows you.

  Asgar chuckled again. The reminder is useful. I would also show you that the draasin can hunt in water as well, not only land.

  Tan patted Asgar on his sides, appreciative of the reminder. There were many things that he didn’t know, not only about where the draasin could hunt, but about the world of the elementals. For him to succeed, for him to help protect the hatchlings and help them thrive, he would have to learn. Was that the lesson that Asgar would show him?

  They continued north, leaving sight of land. Far below, Tan saw a few other islands, some larger than others, and many with signs of life. He would need to find a map, or ask Roine about how many of these islands belonged to the kingdoms. Maybe none, or Roine would likely have needed help to protect them when Par-shon had attacked, but if they did not belong to the kingdoms, then were they independent lands, like the Xsa Isles, or ancient Vathansa?

  Asgar turned and moved east. The air turned colder, biting through Tan’s cloak, but had nothing on the heat radiating from the draasin’s back or the fire that burned within Tan through the fire bond.

  Where do we go? Tan asked.

  You wanted to learn about these lands. You know only a portion of the land, Maelen. There are many places you have not seen. Many places man has not seen.

  Tan settled in, enjoying the flight. Riding with the draasin was a peaceful experience. He enjoyed the heat from the draasin’s body, the wind playing off his wings, and even the mist that sprayed off him. All of it reminded Tan of Asboel, only different. With Asboel, there was the bond, the connection between them that had given both a greater understanding. With Asgar, he had no direct bond, but the connection to the fire bond joined them in some ways.

  Would you choose to bond? Tan asked after a while.

  Eventually. Father believed the bond beneficial for both bonded.

  Tan smiled. There had been a time when Asboel had believed the bond only benefited the shaper. It had taken time for him to understand the benefits that he gained from it as well.

  What of you, Maelen?

  I have bonded fire differently.

  The fire bond is not the same. You are connected to earth, yet bound to the hound. You share a connection to water, but bond the nymid. And wind, though much has changed with that one.

  Thinking of Honl sent Tan questing for the connection. Where had Honl gone? He had no limitations on where he could travel, and took whatever form he chose, and now that he had solidified his strange connection to spirit, he spoke as if he were no different than any other man. In some ways, Tan had lost that bond as well, though he still could sense Honl deep within his mind. Honl could still grant strength, but at what cost? Tan would not ask that of him, not when he suspected that Honl still searched to understand himself. Tan only wished that Honl would be around to help him understand what he needed to do.

  Fire is different for me, he said to Asgar.

  Only because you choose it to be. Each of the elements can be the same. I d
o not connect to water, but how can the bond not be the same? Water is life, much as fire is life, and air, and earth.

  Tan laughed. Do you know that you’re the first elemental to acknowledge that the other elementals might also be important for life?

  Maybe it is the time I spend with you. Sashari thinks I should hunt more. Sister isn’t curious enough for me, not with what she has been through. But I find you intriguing, Maelen. They continued making their way north, Asgar flying as fast as Tan had ever traveled with one of the draasin. Besides, how can I deny what the Mother has made clear through you? I was there when each of the elementals joined together, when the bond of your lands surged, creating a connection to the Mother. There can be no questioning after such an experience.

  The bond of each land had been the only way that he’d been able to defeat the Utu Tonah. When he thought about what they had done, and how they had stopped him, Tan sometimes couldn’t believe that they had succeeded. The Utu Tonah had possessed so many bonds, and connected to so many elementals, that he should have been able to draw as much power as Tan had managed to secure, but there was something about the freedom in the bond, in the choice, that he had overlooked.

  There can be no questioning, Tan agreed. The only questions that remained for him were about what he needed to do now that he’d stopped the Utu Tonah. And now that he had secured Par. There were draasin to hatch, but even that seemed insignificant.

  Tan had wanted peace. That had been all that he had wanted from the moment he first encountered the lisincend and, with Amia, faced them, but now that he had found peace, he discovered that he searched for something else. Or maybe that he simply didn’t know how to be at peace. Had their experiences changed him so much?

  In the distance, there was a massive swell of white. Snow or ice loomed enormous. Mixed within was a pressure, a presence, and he sat more upright upon Asgar. The presence was shaped. And not just shaped, but there was something about the shaping that was familiar, as if he’d seen it before.