The Gift of Madness (The Lost Prophecy Book 7)

by D. K. Holmberg

  That would be more than what they could manage—unless he was incredibly quick.

  They would need surprise on their side.

  If I do this, it puts you at risk.

  If you don’t do this, what could happen to the others?

  What’s happened to you in the time since your capture?

  Jakob barely had to ask. The memories of it surged through the connection that he now had with Paden. He detected the brutality of it, and the pain, a constant sort of torture. They attempted to steal the ahmaean from the damahne and had failed so far, but in time, he would not be surprised if they managed to be successful.

  You have suffered.

  They will continue to suffer if you don’t do anything.

  Most likely.

  Do what you must, Paden said.

  Jakob turned to Malaya. “This attack will put us in even more danger. I think there are three groeliin on the other side.”

  “How many of the others are in there?”

  “At least two.” There had been a half-dozen damahne who had been taken initially. Where were the others? Would they find them, or would they find something worse—nothing but the bodies of those who had been captured?

  “We need to do this,” Malaya said.

  “I do.”

  “We do, but how?”

  “We have to surprise them. Together, we were able to overcome two of the groeliin, but I don’t know if we will be as successful when it comes to facing three. We can try. We have to try.”

  “I’m with you.”

  He took a deep breath, and they shifted.

  He attacked the first groeliin he saw, stabbing into the creature’s belly, spilling blood across the room. Jakob didn’t allow himself to feel remorse for any of these creatures. He had no choice at this point.

  Malaya was there with him. Together, they turned and confronted another groeliin. This time, the creature wasn’t surprised and brought its sword around, but Jakob and Malaya both shifted, spinning around it, moving from place to place so quickly that the groeliin wasn’t able to latch onto either of them. It was as if she knew exactly what he needed from her.

  This groeliin fell, and they spun, looking for the remaining groeliin.

  There were three still remaining.

  He had thought there were only three total, but he had miscalculated.

  One of them stood behind two chairs, and the chairs were back to back, with a dark length of teralin stretching between them. Another piece of teralin pierced the sides of the captured damahne, curved around and jammed into their belly, connecting the two of them.

  Malaya gasped.

  It was enough of a break that the groeliin both attacked.

  Jakob lunged toward the groeliin behind the chairs, shifting with his sword outstretched.

  That groeliin shifted and reappeared behind Jakob.

  He spun, bringing the sword around, and caught the groeliin on the arm. Blood spurted from the severed arm. Jakob took a step but slipped.

  He fell and swung his arm around, catching the groeliin on the leg, slicing off its foot.

  The creature fell, trapping Jakob beneath it.

  He tried to push, but the creature was too heavy.

  The groeliin thrashed, dying, but Jakob—Paden—was trapped.

  Go. Help the others, Paden said.

  I can’t leave you like this.

  If you help them, you can help me. You need to do this. They suffer more than I did.

  Jakob didn’t even know how Malaya was managing, but there was only one way he could help the two who were still trapped.

  He stepped outside of the fibers.

  As quickly as he could, he connected to Adam, the stronger of the two in the chairs. He sent a streamer of ahmaean and then severed it. Jakob waited and realized the ahmaean returned to him.

  Not Adam then.

  Would it work with Willow?

  He sent his ahmaean and severed it much as he had tried with Adam. It stayed.

  Jakob surged into her mind, and asserted control, unmindful of what he might do to her. He had no choice but to take complete control. As he did, he sent his ahmaean through the teralin bindings and changed their polarity. As he attempted to shift, he still couldn’t.

  The bar of teralin that pierced Willow’s side prevented him.

  Could he change that polarity?

  Jakob focused his attention on it, all too aware of the noise and chaos and violence taking place around him.

  The bar that pierced Willow’s side was more difficult to change, and he was forced to pour all of his energy, and all of his awareness, into it.

  Slowly—far too slowly—the polarity changed.

  Jakob shifted, freeing Willow.

  He—Willow—hurried to where Paden was trapped and rolled the groeliin off of him.

  Paden didn’t move.

  Jakob grabbed the sword and turned, realizing that a single groeliin remained.

  Where was Malaya?

  The groeliin hissed at him, and a dark streamer of ahmaean swirled toward him.

  He pushed against it, using his own connection to ahmaean, and everything that Willow possessed, rebelling against the groeliin. The creature hissed again.

  Jakob shifted and jabbed with the sword.

  The groeliin anticipated his move and blocked him.

  Jakob shifted, again and again and again, each time striking with his sword until finally one connected.

  He shifted again, spinning, and decapitated the groeliin.

  He stood, panting, looking around the room. No other groeliin moved. They had all been stopped.

  How many had been lost?

  Two bodies lay along one wall, and Jakob hurried to them, recognizing both of the fallen damahne. Tern and Odish. Blood encrusted along both sides of their bodies, and neither of them breathed.

  He stood and turned, looking for Malaya. He saw movement from beneath one of the fallen groeliin, and he helped push the body off and found Malaya. She grunted as she helped throw the rest of the weight off of her.

  “Willow? Or is this Jakob?”

  “Jakob. For now.”

  “What of Paden?”

  Jakob motioned to where the man lay. He was injured, crushed under the groeliin. They needed to get him help. But first, they needed to free Adam.

  He couldn’t awaken the ahmaean within Adam, but could he change the polarity enough that he could still use Adam as a host to shift away?

  He pushed on the teralin, and it flashed with a faint white light as it changed to the positive polarity.

  “Take them to safety.”

  “How?”

  “You can take others with you when you shift. Go to the Tower of the Gods. I will meet you there.”

  Malaya’s eyes widened only slightly before she nodded. “How?”

  “You should have knowledge from what I shared with you. Can you remember?”

  She closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them, she nodded. She took Willow’s hand, and Jakob stepped out, returning briefly to the fibers before sending himself into Adam. As he surveyed Adam’s form, Willow and Malaya disappeared.

  Jakob remained in control and shifted.

  It was difficult in Adam’s form, but he managed to do it. He grabbed Paden, and they shifted, returning to the Tower.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  The teralin mine radiated heat. Isandra had never spent much time in the mines while living in Vasha and was surprised to see how extensive they were. The cavern had been carved out of the mountain, and massive tunnels that stretched for leagues zigzagged throughout the entirety of the mountain.

  “I had not realized the Magi were so diligent about mining teralin,” Jassan said.

  “This was from a time before I served on the Council,” Isandra said. “We haven’t mined teralin here for well over a generation.”

  “What changed?” Jassan asked.

  “The Deshmahne changed the mining of teralin in Vasha,” Endric
said.

  The general stood at the mouth of a massive chamber. Rows of shelves lined the walls, and there were areas on the shelves that were less dusty than others, which told her items had once been stored here, though she saw nothing but empty shelves now. What would have been kept within the teralin mines? Was that why the Deshmahne had attacked?

  “I hadn’t realized you were a part of that attack before,” Isandra said.

  Endric looked over to her. “That was from a long time ago.”

  “What happened?”

  Endric’s brow furrowed. “There was a man who thought to get revenge from the Deshmahne. He used the Denraen to exact his revenge.”

  “How would he be able to use the Denraen to get revenge on the Deshmahne? I thought the Denraen had left the Deshmahne mostly alone.” She shouldn’t have been quite so direct but had the Denraen countered the Deshmahne sooner, they might not have become the threat they now were. They might not have destroyed so much. Many would not have needed to suffer.

  Endric nodded slowly. “The Deshmahne have been smart over the years. They have taken their time and built their power gradually, knowing that doing so too aggressively would draw the attention of the Denraen. The man who betrayed us attempted to draw them into a confrontation.”

  “Attempted?” Isandra thought she should understand this more than she did, but there had not been much discussion about the attack from that time. She knew the Council of Elders had been aware of it, and that they had responded in a way that had prevented any greater danger. It still surprised her that Endric had been such a significant part of it.

  “Attempted. The Deshmahne were thwarted. The betrayer was eventually captured, and the Denraen have continued to serve on the side of peace.”

  He made a circuit of the chamber, glancing at the walls before turning back to her. A question seemed to linger in his eyes, though it went unasked.

  “Was that when your wife was lost?” she asked.

  Endric sighed. “Not then. She served a pivotal role during that time. Without her, we never would have learned where the betrayer had gone, and it’s possible that he would have gained control of the Denraen and used that control to battle the Deshmahne decades ago.”

  “Would that have been so wrong?” Isandra asked. She could imagine a time when stopping the Deshmahne before they reached their full power would have been beneficial. How much destruction could have been stopped had they acted sooner?

  “There are times when I think that the Denraen have not been nearly as aggressive as we have needed to be,” Endric said. “I think of the Deshmahne. We have taken upon ourselves the belief that maintaining peace is more important than finding a long-term solution.” He looked to Jassan, and his mouth tightened. “There are times when I wonder if we should have been more like the Antrilii. The Antrilii have hunted the groeliin, and have been proactive in their pursuit. What would have happened had the Denraen done something similar? Could we have eliminated the threat before it became so widespread?”

  “Even our attempt has failed, Endric.” Jassan ran his hand along the wall, his brow furrowed in concentration. Isandra recognized that expression. There was something that troubled him, and she wondered what it might be. “I think that Isandra’s plan is perhaps better. She has found a way to salvage the groeliin. Perhaps a similar attempt should be made with the Deshmahne.”

  “There are others who seek something similar with the Deshmahne. I can only hope they are successful because if they aren’t, we will be forced to confront them once more.”

  Isandra frowned at Endric. This was the first she’d heard of it. Could the Deshmahne be saved? Jostephon certainly didn’t seem as if he could be saved. He had sought power and had wanted nothing more than to use that power for him to rule. “Who’s looking for the Deshmahne?”

  Endric smiled. “Your Magi warriors.”

  Jassan laughed, a deep and hearty sound. “This would be Roelle?”

  Endric nodded. “They were brought to the south lands and given the task to find a way to stabilize the connection to the Deshmahne.”

  “There’s no stabilizing the Deshmahne. I’ve seen them, and I’ve seen—”

  “You’ve seen the same as what the Antrilii have seen for years when fighting the groeliin. How was your experience with the Deshmahne, and the destruction they’ve imposed, any different from what the Antrilii have experienced with the groeliin?” Endric took a few steps toward her, and a hint of a smile crossed his face. “If the groeliin can be salvaged, certainly the Deshmahne have a similar chance.”

  It was possible. Isandra knew that it had to be possible, as she had certainly seen the darkness within the groeliin and had managed to find a way to counter that. Was there something similar that could be done with the Deshmahne?

  “Does Roelle intend to turn them into allies, or does she think to destroy them?” she asked.

  “I imagine that, considering who did the asking, the request was for her to find a way to work with them rather than attempt to destroy them. But destroying the Deshmahne might be easier.”

  Isandra doubted that. How could destroying the Deshmahne—especially with as powerful as they had proven to be—be easier than trying to turn them?

  “Why are we here, Endric?” Isandra asked.

  It seemed an odd location for the general to bring her. When they reached the city, Endric had waved the others on to the palace, and had requested that Isandra—and Jassan—come with him as he entered a locked entrance to the teralin mines. The moment she had first entered the mines, she’d felt a familiarity that reminded her of what she’d experienced while hunting for the groeliin breeding grounds.

  “We’re here because this is where much of your people’s history began.”

  Isandra frowned. “It didn’t begin here. We settled atop the mountain.”

  Endric shook his head. “That’s always been the misperception. Your Council has long believed the Founders settled atop Vasha and used the earliest Magi abilities to change the surface of the mountain itself, drawing the palace up out of the rock of the mountain itself.”

  “You’re saying that didn’t happen?” Isandra—like every Mage trained within Vasha—could recite the names of the Founders, and she could recall the way the Founders were said to have built the city. Records from those earliest days were sparse, but what records they did have told of a dark time, when it had taken all of the Magi working together, the earliest Founders, those first with abilities, to lay the groundwork for the people that would guide the Urmahne.

  Then again, those lessons had been inaccurate.

  She had been led to believe the Founders were the only—and first—with Magi abilities. If the Antrilii also possessed the same abilities, the Founders could not have been as exclusive as they had believed.

  “What was it about the mines?” she asked. “It must have been teralin. That had to have been the reason the city was founded here.”

  “As far as we know, teralin was the reason most cities were founded at that time. Long ago, men recognized the power of teralin. In its neutral form, there is a certain quality to it that prevents those you know as gods from traveling there.”

  She started to laugh but realized that he was serious. “Why would the Magi want to exclude the gods from their city?”

  Endric motioned for her to follow and she did. Jassan walked alongside her, having been silent for the most part. Was it conversation about the gods that troubled him? Or was it more about the fact that they were within the teralin mines and so close to Vasha? Was there something about the city that bothered him?

  They followed the tunnels until they reached stairs set into the rock. Endric took them up, and there was a simple door that seemed made entirely of teralin. He pressed his hand upon the door, and she was aware of when he sent a surge of power through it.

  She should not be so in tune with another using his abilities, but it was quite clear what Endric had done. There was no question he used his power.<
br />
  The door opened with a soft hiss, and he stepped through it. “Only Isandra should follow from here,” Endric said from the doorway.

  Isandra glanced to Jassan when he grabbed her arm. “This troubles me,” Jassan said.

  “The fact that Endric is leading me through the teralin mines?”

  Jassan looked past her and into the darkness where Endric had disappeared. He shook his head. “Not that. We’ve traveled enough through the mountains not to fear the darkness and the metal, but it’s what Endric has said that troubles me.”

  “What is it?”

  “He said ‘the beings you know of as gods.’”

  Isandra hadn’t made the connection, but Endric had made such a reference.

  What more did Endric know? What more did Isandra need to know so that she could be equipped to understand her purpose? Was this why he had brought her here? Did he think to convert her to some new way of thinking? If that was what he wanted, how was it any different from what the Deshmahne did?

  “Has he ever tried to mislead us before?”

  Jassan shook his head. “Not mislead, but Endric has kept secrets. I had not expected them to be quite such secrets.”

  She held her husband’s hand and squeezed.

  Isandra stared at the darkness into Endric had disappeared, and noted that she felt a steady pulsing of power. It seemed to be drawing her forward, and she glanced at Jassan, but he didn’t seem to recognize it. Was it only she who did? If so, why? Why should she recognize that power? And was it something that Endric had done? Where was he leading her?

  There was only one way for her to know.

  She took a deep breath and passed through the door. A tingling sense washed over her, and her breath caught as she passed through.

  On the other side, she realized that something had changed.

  Her connection to her abilities had faded.

  It was gone completely, as if it never had existed.

  She gasped, and turned and started toward the door.

  Endric moved so that he blocked her way. “No, Isandra. This is a place of your ancestors.”

  “This is a place that separates me from my connection to my abilities.”