He squeezed her hand again, preparing to have her direct her ahmaean once more, but when he did, he had a sense of the stone starting to move.
Salindra jumped before steadying herself and looking over at him. “Is that…”
Brohmin nodded, staring at the dark emptiness that formed the familiar entrance. “That is the Conclave.”
Chapter Thirty
Roelle stood next to Jakob, feeling an energy pressing off of him. She had never been so attuned to it before, and wasn’t sure if it was because she pressed her manehlin through the teralin sword, or whether the power Jakob possessed had increased. She doubted it was anything else about her, or maybe it was simply the proximity she had to him. Either way, she could feel it, and didn’t know what exactly it meant, but understood there was great power to this man.
“I’ve lost him. He disappeared,” she said to Jakob. They stood in the small room that she had claimed within the city. There were few belongings here. She had a change of clothes, and a few books that she set on the bed, but nothing else.
At least there was a bed. In all the months she’d spent searching for the Antrilii, and then hunting the groeliin, a bed had been the thing she had desired the most. In the time since she had returned to Vasha—and then had come to Paliis—she had enjoyed the comfortable beds she was able to sleep on.
“How did he disappear?”
“He was upset,” Roelle said.
“Upset? What did you say that upset him?”
Roelle shook her head. “I don’t think I said anything. I was trying to work with him, and had offered to continue training with him, but…”
Jakob sighed. “I had thought I could get him help by bringing him here. Somehow, I only placed him in more danger.”
“It’s not your fault, Jakob.” She hesitated before going on. “There was a darkness within him. It wasn’t just me who saw it. Lendra did too. The High Desh thought he was having a crisis of faith, though I’m not sure that was all there was to it.”
Jakob’s brow furrowed, and he said nothing.
Roelle studied her friend’s face, noting now the similarities between it and Scottan’s. How could she have missed the connection before? Someday she would have to ask Jakob why he’d not told her Scottan was his brother. Would she have tried any harder? Would she have been more successful had she understood?
“We tracked him through the city after we lost him,” she said. She pulled out the paper and the teralin pen they had found and held them out to Jakob.
He took them and studied the pen with a strange intensity. As he did, his eyes went distant, and she felt power shifting around the room. For a moment, his eyes fluttered, and then he opened them again and clenched his jaw.
“Where did you find this?”
“It was in a room in a building we were told he’d been seen. He had been hiding, though I’m not sure why, or what he was doing there.”
“And this was found in that place?”
Roelle nodded. “The papers were on a table, and the pen was in a darkened corner of the room. At least I thought it was a pen…”
Whatever it was, it clearly troubled Jakob. It wasn’t a pen, and she couldn’t imagine it being used as a weapon, but she didn’t have any answer for what it was otherwise. She could have asked the High Desh, but she had not. She hadn’t wanted to approach him and hadn’t wanted to question him. She had many questions, but anything she might have for the High Desh seemed fraught with more danger.
“What is it?” she asked.
Jakob held on to the pen with a tight grip. She felt it as power surged, and the color of the pen changed.
Her eyes widened. “What did you do to it?”
“I changed the polarity.”
Roelle had only felt the shifting of power, and nothing more, but it was still impressive. Whatever it was that Jakob had done, whatever connection to power that he had used to change the polarity, she suspected it was significant.
“Why?”
Jakob reached his hand out and waited. She hesitated before placing her hand on his. He gripped her wrist and pushed back her sleeve, and then pressed the pen against her skin.
She tensed but did not withdraw from him. She had to trust that Jakob would not harm her, though she was no longer certain whether that was true. He was her friend, and she didn’t think he would do anything intentionally, but he also was much more powerful than he had been when she had known him—and even then, she hadn’t known him that well.
The tip of the pen pressed against the soft flesh of her forearm. Where it touched, she felt heat.
“Jakob?”
“This is how the Deshmahne transfer power,” Jakob said.
“Jakob?” she said again, this time more forcefully.
He took a deep breath and clenched his jaw once more. “If this was found where you discovered Scottan, then the Deshmahne were involved. There was a transfer of power, much as they have stolen power before.”
“You took him someplace where he is safe?”
“Yes. But I’m no longer certain the others are safe.” Jakob turned to her and held her gaze. “I don’t think our friend the High Desh realizes there might be another faction within his city.”
“You don’t think the Deshmahne responsible?”
“The Deshmahne might be responsible, but I begin to question whether they are unified. When the High Priest attacked us, I thought the Deshmahne all had the same mindset, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. The High Priest acted in a way that was different from the way the High Desh of this city would have acted. He needs to be alerted that there might be someone else within the city who still sides with the High Priest.”
“You got all of that from this pen?”
“I got all of this from the fact that you found this with my brother. It would seem to indicate his powers might have been stolen. Powers he likely wasn’t even aware he had at the time. And if there are those within the city who still side with the High Priest, you will need to help him.”
Roelle stared at the slender rod and wondered whether there was anything she could do. She didn’t see how she could help the Deshmahne root out a divisive faction within their city, but if there was another faction, and if they were attacking, didn’t she need to try?
“What do you intend?” she asked Jakob.
“I need to return and see how much damage my brother might have done.”
With that, there was a flash of power, and he disappeared.
It was disconcerting to see him disappear in such a way, but it also was something that seemed very much godly.
She hurried from the room and made her way toward the temple. She would need to find the High Desh and see what might have happened in the city.
As she left the building, she encountered a pair of Magi, and they joined her.
Alicia simply nodded, while Basth glanced at her, waiting for an answer.
“The Deshmahne need our help,” Roelle said. It was strange for her to say that, and seemed ridiculous to make such a claim, but what else could there be?
Alicia nodded. “I will find the others.”
“Good. When you’ve found them, come join me.”
“Where?”
There was only one place, but having them join her there placed all of them in danger. Were they ready to fight? Was she ready to fight?
“The temple.”
Chapter Thirty-One
The temple towered overhead, and Roelle ignored the pressure that she felt on her. She didn’t understand why she would feel such pressure and didn’t understand whether there was something about the Deshmahne that she detected or whether it was something about the temple itself that she felt, but either way, there was power here. It was a dangerous place to have a confrontation.
By the time she had reached the temple, a dozen other Magi had joined her. Selton was among them.
She was thankful for his presence, and glanced over at him, nodding to him. “Jakob thinks the Des
hmahne are divided.”
“I thought the High Desh ruled in the city.”
Roelle nodded. She had thought the same, but if the High Desh no longer had control over the city, she had to worry what else might be taking place.
“Jakob claims this is meant to transfer power,” she said, withdrawing the slender length of teralin from her pocket. It no longer had the same slick texture to it. There was something else to it, and as she pressed her connection to her manehlin into it, she felt it seeping from the end. Not the same as when she did the same with her sword. How could the metal react differently? Was it only about the shape? Or was there something else about the metal?
“Transfer power?” Selton said, eyeing the teralin. “You mean, like the—”
Roelle nodded. “I mean like the way the Deshmahne transfer power from one to another. Jakob thinks this is what they use.”
“It seems so… small.”
Roelle chuckled. “They do manage to make intricate decorations. How else do you think they can do that unless they have something that has the ability of giving them fine control.”
“Why are we meeting at the temple?”
“Because I need to ask the High Desh if he’s aware of such activity.”
“And why so many of us?” Selton asked, glancing back as another five Magi joined them. They were almost twenty strong now, and as Roelle glanced down the street, she noted more of the Magi joining them. Before long, they would have enough numbers to pose an intimidating presence. If she was wrong, it might create a challenge for her with the High Desh.
“Because I worry that we might be required to fight,” she said.
Selton stared at her. “Is that something that you’re ready for?”
Roelle hoped it wouldn’t come to that. She had come to Paliis to find out more about the Deshmahne, and she had discovered a possible ally with the Deshmahne, but only a subset. The Deshmahne who were more like the priests they had faced in the north lands were not her allies. They sought destruction. The Deshmahne in Paliis and possibly throughout the entirety of the south lands were not like that. They wanted to gain the attention and favor of the gods, but they didn’t to do it in a way that was intended to harm others. They had a stability within the city that surprised Roelle.
“I don’t know that we have any choice but to be ready for it,” she said.
When another five Magi had joined them, she approached the door to the temple.
Two Deshmahne stood on either side, and they glanced at her. She had been to the temple often enough that she was recognized here, but she doubted they would allow her entry.
“I seek access to the High Desh,” she said.
“He is not taking an audience at this time,” the nearest of the Deshmahne said. He had a hoarse voice and was not one that she recognized. Markings ran along his arms and up onto his neck, a sign of much power.
It troubled her that a Deshmahne with that extensive of markings guarded the temple entrance. When she had come here on previous visits, the guards did not carry such markings. Typically, this was a station for lower-ranking Deshmahne. If that had changed, that meant that what she worried about had already taken place.
Should she have waited for Jakob? Should she have asked him for help?
“Perhaps he is not taking an audience, but he will receive us.”
The Deshmahne turned to her, and his hand went to the sword at his side. She noted a haze around him and felt it pushing against her.
His power.
Jakob had used a different term for it than power, but that was what she detected. Why could she see it now?
“Do you think to intimidate me, Mage?”
“I don’t intend to intimidate you, but I do intend to have you acknowledge my presence, and the fact that there are now nearly thirty Magi standing on the temple doorstep.”
“You think that I fear thirty Magi?” A sneer crossed his face, and she saw the muscles in his arms tense. The man standing across from him had reached for his sword, and power pulsed away from him.
They weren’t going to get through this without a confrontation.
Roelle flashed a smile. “No, I suppose you don’t.”
She unsheathed quickly, and before the Deshmahne could react, she slammed the hilt of her sword into the man’s neck, and spun around, bringing the tip of her sword toward the other Deshmahne’s neck, pausing a hair’s breath away from him. “Perhaps you should fear only me.”
The man’s eyes drifted to her sword.
“Open the door.”
She could try to force her way in, but she knew she needed the Deshmahne to open it. Whatever connection they had through their tattoos into the dark energy they possessed, it was the only way into the temple. She didn’t think she could access the temple on her own, and even if she could, she suspected it would require great strength and use of her manehlin, which might weaken her. If they were forced to fight, she wanted to be at her best.
“The High Desh will be most displeased that you forced your way in.”
“I’m not certain that he will. I suspect he might be relieved that I have forced my way in,” she said. “Now. Open the door.”
The Deshmahne glared at her.
She shifted her blade, placing its sharp edge against the skin of his neck, and pressed. It drew a narrow line of blood.
“I can wait until your friend comes around, if that’s what you prefer. I only need one of you.”
The Deshmahne’s glare shifted from her to her sword and back again. “Whatever you think to accomplish will fail, Mage.”
Roelle shrugged. “Perhaps, but I’m willing to try.”
She shoved him toward the door, and he slapped his hand against it. There was a sense of pressure, and the dark haze that surrounded him changed, and the door swung open.
She slammed the hilt of her sword into his neck when it did.
Roelle glanced over to Selton. “Are you ready?” she asked.
“After that? I don’t think we have much choice.”
She smiled. “I don’t think we had much choice to begin with.”
When they entered, it felt as if the temple itself tried to push against her, and the power that existed within its walls resisted her presence. Using her manehlin, she pushed back. She wasn’t certain that it made a difference, but the pressure against her seemed to ease somewhat. It was enough for her to continue into the temple. How much longer would she be able to go without the temple itself fighting her presence? Was there any way for her to get very deep into the temple if it were to oppose them?
She needed to find the High Desh quickly. Would she be able to reach him?
“Push out with you manehlin,” she said to Selton.
“Why?”
She still felt the temple pushing against her, but that sense eased the longer she pushed against it. “You need to resist the temple.”
Selton’s mouth pinched into a frown, and she could see the way his manehlin swirled for a moment as he pushed out with it. It was clearer than what she’d detected from him before.
Why should she see it so clearly now?
“I sense what you did. I didn’t… not at first.” He turned to her. “I thought you were weakened.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that I thought you weren’t strong enough to detect something so… subtle. I wouldn’t have known to do that without you having told me to look for it.”
She had been weakened, but had she recovered so much that she was able to detect it so easily—or was it something else? Could she be connected in such a way that she could pick up on the manehlin of the temple or whatever it was?
Maybe the fact that she’d been here for healing had connected her to the temple. If that was the case, was she in danger of changing? Would she be converted to the Deshmahne, if not in spirit, but in power?
They hurried through the halls, the Magi moving quickly, holding their swords at the ready. They would be ready for any att
ack.
The hall ended, and Roelle paused.
Movement flickered.
She didn’t have any other warning.
Where there had been no one, there was suddenly a pair of Deshmahne. Both carried black blades with the presence of the dark teralin radiating from them.
Roelle dropped into a catah and attacked.
The Magi nearest her followed.
The Deshmahne wouldn’t be skilled enough to take on as many Magi as were here… but they didn’t have to be.
They flickered, disappearing.
Someone screamed.
Roelle spun. The two Deshmahne were now in the middle of the Magi.
How?
They disappeared.
Gods. It was like what Jakob did.
They could appear and then disappear before the Magi were able to react.
Had the Deshmahne outside the temple been able to do something similar? Could she have simply gotten lucky with them? Had they attacked in a similar way, they might never have gotten into the temple in the first place.
The Deshmahne appeared again.
This time, they were near her.
Roelle reached out with her manehlin, connecting to it in such a way that let her push against the Deshmahne. She tried to trap them but wasn’t successful.
The nearest of the Deshmahne sneered at her.
He struck, catching Selton on the arm.
Her friend grunted, and his jaw clenched. He wouldn’t scream, but she could see the way his jaw was set that he was in pain.
The Deshmahne disappeared.
“Against the walls!” she shouted.
The Magi squeezed back against the walls, leaving the hall empty. Roelle remained in the middle of the hall, sword ready.
The Deshmahne flashed back into place.
They hesitated only a moment when they saw the Magi against the walls. Roelle realized that one of the Magi had fallen. Blood splattered across the floor. How many others were injured?
She had to push that thought out of her head. There wasn’t anything she could do to help them—not until she figured out how to neutralize the threat of the Deshmahne.
Using her manehlin, she attacked the nearest Deshmahne.
The Gift of Madness (The Lost Prophecy Book 7) Page 25