Shadow Lost (The Shadow Accords Book 4)

by D. K. Holmberg

  The other A’ras turned toward her.

  She pressed outward with the A’ras connection again and pulled on the shadows once more, sending these out through the knife as she attacked. The combination of shadow and flame was too much for the A’ras, but she had other ways of attacking and wasn’t reliant on only that.

  Swinging her leg around, she kicked.

  The combination of her abilities gave her an advantage—she could tell where the A’ras were, and they might not be able to see her.

  A blade whistled toward her and she caught it with her knife, deflecting it.

  Carth rolled, kicking out toward the brightness she saw.

  There was a satisfying grunt.

  She kicked toward the A’ras and caught the person another time, and then another. The attack stopped.

  Where was the third?

  She didn’t see them.

  Carth looked around, but they weren’t nearby.

  That meant they’d gone after the others.

  Carth searched for Dara and saw her as a faint glow.

  She raced toward her. As she did, another form appeared, near enough to Dara that Carth worried for her friend.

  Nearing, she launched herself, not willing to wait any longer.

  Her attack caught the other in the midsection. She heard a soft grunt and flipped around, kicking as she did. The kick missed, but the next one didn’t, connecting somewhere near the head. The A’ras attacker crumpled.

  She slipped toward Dara.

  “Carth?” Dara asked.

  “It’s me.”

  “How are you able to attack?”

  Carth didn’t get the chance to answer.

  Something struck her from behind, sending her staggering forward.

  Carth braced herself as she landed. One of the knives clattered from her hand—the Lashasn knife she’d borrowed from Dara. She scrambled for it when pain bit into her leg.

  Fire shot through her.

  But it was a fire she recognized.

  This was the pain of A’ras that burned in her.

  Carth reached for the connection. She drew through the ring, using the pain burning through her blood, and even drawing through the person who attacked her, somehow using whatever ability he possessed to press outward, and sent a blasting surge of power away from her.

  The A’ras screamed.

  Carth grabbed for the shadows at the same time. There was more of an edge, as if what she’d done had created more of a shadow. Using this, she sliced, cutting into the A’ras attacker.

  The knife bit into flesh and she sent the shadows out into him, releasing them from her. She’d seen the way the shadows would crawl free, the way they would damage a person when they were unleashed. She didn’t want to kill—not the way she’d been willing to do when Felyn had attacked her and she’d used the shadows—but she needed to use the shadows to slow her attacker.

  There was another scream.

  She crawled forward, her hand closing on the knife she’d dropped.

  Someone grabbed her by the arm and pulled her forward. Carth fought, struggling against it, until she was thrown forward. As she did, she passed through the barrier and was once more in the hall.

  Carth looked up and saw Samis following her through the door.

  Had the others gotten free? Had they succeeded?

  Huddled near the wall, she saw the six from Reshian. Lindy watched her with wide eyes. Dara stood near them, but a step away, as if she didn’t want to get too close to them.

  “Rel, you have to go,” Samis said.

  She looked up at him.

  “I’ll do what I can to buy you some time, but you need to leave.”

  “Not yet.”

  “What?”

  “If they’re responsible for calling the blood priests, I will draw them out.”

  “You can’t do that, Rel.”

  “If I want a real peace, I don’t have a choice.”

  She staggered forward, the pain in her leg returning, and grabbed Dara as she motioned to the Reshian to follow before heading up the stairs.

  28

  Carth started into the hall and back up the stairs. They didn’t see anyone, and Carth felt nervous. Why weren’t there more of the A’ras here?

  The answer came when they reached outside the palace. A dozen A’ras were arranged outside, waiting for her. She recognized half of them and had been friendly with Erin, the woman who stood in the center with her sword unsheathed. Did Erin now lead the A’ras?

  Had she betrayed the accords?

  She had blamed the Hjan, but maybe it wasn’t the Hjan at all. Could the A’ras be the reason the accords failed? They should want the accords. It prevented fighting with the Reshian, and allowed them to have peace. Why abandon that?

  A’ras power flowed around her, practically crackling in the air.

  Carth touched the hilt of her knife. She hadn’t wanted to believe the A’ras would intentionally attempt to violate the accords, but what other answer was there? Wasn’t that the reason Samis had tried keeping her away?

  “You don’t have to attack,” she said. “You never had to attack. The Reshian were not a threat.”

  “The Reshian attacked Nyaesh,” Erin said.

  “They didn’t. They attacked the Hjan, but even if they did, the A’ras agreed to the accords the same as the Reshian.”

  “The accords. That has done nothing to stop the Reshian from attacking,” Erin said. “The masters chose to do nothing, but we will see the threat ended.”

  “By destroying people who agreed to peace?” She took a step toward Erin.

  “We have done nothing.”

  “No. You let the blood priests destroy the Reshian.”

  “We have not violated the accords,” Erin said. “The Reshian have.”

  “Because the remaining Reshian blame Lashasn.”

  “They were never trustworthy.”

  “They were never given a chance.” That bothered her more than anything. “I will see that the fighting stops.”

  Erin laughed. “No one will believe you. You ran from the city, nothing more than a Reshian spy.”

  Carth sighed. The longer they stayed here, the more they risked others coming from behind and attacking. “I was no spy. I use the same flame as you.” To prove it, she pulled on the A’ras magic, drawing from the flame, letting it fill her. “Would a Reshian spy be able to use the A’ras magic?”

  “Yes.”

  She wasn’t going to convince her, and maybe she didn’t need to. All she needed to care about right now was getting the Reshian out of the city and back on the ship. Then she could find a way to stop the next attack. And the next.

  But was that even the answer? They needed peace. Real peace.

  To do so would require fighting. Strange that it often did.

  “You have betrayed the A’ras coordinating with the blood priests,” Carth said.

  “We have coordinated with nothing—”

  “The rest of the A’ras will know, even if they do not now.” Others of the A’ras had appeared. They stood behind Erin, watching. Could she convince them? Somehow, she would have to, especially if she were to get their help. “Not all of you seek violence.”

  Erin narrowed her eyes. “What do you think you can do?”

  “I won’t have to do anything. The A’ras will find the appropriate justice.” She turned, preparing to fight. “Those of you who want peace, know that there are some among you who want otherwise. They have partnered with a violent magic to attack the Reshian, which only made them think the A’ras attacked.”

  That perception would make it so the Reshian would believe the A’ras attacked, and the A’ras could claim innocence while defending themselves. It was a dangerous game, and one that left her with only a few moves.

  “I have uncovered the truth. I am the reason the accords were established. I will not allow them to fall.”

  She had not wanted the recognition, but if it would bring a lasting pe
ace, she would force them to acknowledge her role in establishing peace.

  All around her, the A’ras watched. Listening.

  Some would be convinced. Not all wanted to fight.

  The A’ras nearest her approached. They were skilled—she could detect that in the way they used the power of the flame—and if she weren’t careful, some of the children of Isahl would suffer.

  That was unacceptable.

  The alternative was fighting, but that forced her away from the move she wanted to make.

  Was there an alternative?

  She felt a pulsing of flame. Invar.

  Would he act?

  He had remained reluctant, but now that he knew what had happened, how the others had intended for an attack, how could he not act?

  “Dara,” Carth started, motioning toward her friend, “you need to focus your attention on the wall we came through. Do you remember it?”

  “The wall?”

  Carth drew on the strength of the S’al, letting it fill her in ways that it never had when she’d lived here. As it did, she unleashed it.

  Dara followed suit.

  The magic streaked away. When it hit the wall, it exploded.

  Shadows leached in.

  Andin gasped.

  “Don’t hurt them,” she said softly, using the shadows to shield her voice. “We need only to escape.”

  The others of Reshian sank into the shadows, practically disappearing. Only Andin strode forward. He surged out with his attack, a powerful strike of the shadow born. Three of the nearest A’ras fell before his shadows, caught in a writhing tangle of them.

  “Andin!” she shouted.

  He strode forward and sent another attack. Three more of the A’ras fell.

  He continued to hold on to the connection to the shadows, but this time when he unleashed, the remaining A’ras were ready.

  Flames met his attack.

  Erin darted forward, sword unsheathed.

  Carth lunged, catching the sword with only her knife and pushing it back. “Dara! Take them to the ship!”

  She couldn’t tell if her friend listened.

  Hating that she had to attack, Carth ran toward the Andin. Using mostly her shadows, she suppressed his attack, preventing him from striking the A’ras again. If he continued to fight, they would lose the tenuous peace they’d managed to hold.

  Andin fell back from her.

  She needed to incapacitate him so that he didn’t continue to fight. She didn’t want to hurt him, but then, she didn’t want to get stuck in the middle of the A’ras and him fighting either.

  How would Ras attack?

  She thought about what he had done, and the way that he’d shed her attack when she’d used the shadows. Was there anything in that she could learn and take from?

  He had used his connection to the Lashasn magic.

  Carth collected it, drawing it through the ring, and breathed it out.

  Light surged.

  It flowed over Andin.

  She felt him attempt to press through the shimmering power she’d released, but he failed.

  Carth pulled on her Lashasn connection again, this time she breathed it out with even more force. The power flowed out from her and struck him again, clinging to him.

  A’ras power built behind her.

  She spun and drew the shadows around her, collecting them in such a way that she shielded both her and Andin. It did nothing to attack the A’ras, but it should buy them time.

  Grabbing Andin, she pulled him along with her and made her way toward the destroyed wall. “What were you thinking?” she demanded.

  “Me? They took us off the ship and brought us to that… that place. There was nothingness there. I couldn’t reach the shadows. It was like they had been burned off of me.”

  “That was a mistake,” Carth said. “Don’t make another by fighting when another solution would work better.”

  They reached the wall. Carth took in the effect of both her and Dara’s attack. The wall had caved here, leaving a huge gaping hole in the wall. Behind her, she heard the sound of fighting, but didn’t dare wait to see if Invar had managed to gain control of the A’ras as she hoped. Waiting any longer would prevent them from reaching the ship. And she had to know what was going on.

  “Go!” she said. “Get back on the ship.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’m going to keep you from doing anything stupid.”

  She waited for him to take off, and when he had, she turned back toward the A’ras. Standing near the remnants of the wall, she drew the shadows around her, pulling from where the wall overlooked the rest of the yard. Standing here allowed her to ignore the separation the wall created, and the magic infused into the wall, and let her reach beyond the A’ras connection that segregated the shadows.

  Then she pushed them away from her.

  They rolled, something like a fog.

  A’ras magic surged, and Carth could feel the individual efforts drawing on it and pushed the shadows against them, suppressing their ability. If any of them managed to reach the A’ras flame, they would be able to push against the shadows.

  It held.

  She didn’t want to harm them. She might need them, especially if her plan should work. And she needed them to know the Reshian—those who could use the shadows—would not harm them.

  She pushed outward, slowing them.

  Flame exploded. Power came from near the tower.

  Others of the A’ras came.

  There were dozens of them, power building, leaving Carth’s skin burning.

  Invar led them, meeting her gaze as he approached. Power exploded from him, almost as much as she could summon.

  The others of the A’ras turned to him.

  She needed Invar. Without him, the next part of her plan would not work.

  His voice boomed, clearing the heat. “Enough!” he roared. He was an A’ras Master, finally claiming his position.

  Carth smiled to herself.

  This was not a fight she needed to participate in. Invar would see the A’ras fell back into line. It surprised her that it took so long for him to do so.

  Holding tightly to the shadows, she stepped through the wall and raced through the streets.

  When she reached River Road, she hurried to the ship. The others had just gotten aboard, and she jumped from the dock onto the ship, using the shadows to power her as she did.

  “Time to go, Guya,” she said, “but only into the river.”

  He looked over to her as if unsurprised that she would appear on the deck of the ship without any other warning. “I’ve got her untied, now just need to get her underway.”

  Carth focused on the water, and the darkness beneath the docks. Using this, she pulled on these shadows, rippling them against the hull and sliding the ship out into the water.

  Andin reached her and seemed to realize what she was doing. He added his own touch to it, and together, they pushed the ship out from the dock and into the sea.

  Carth held on to the shadows, protecting the ship now, no longer attempting to push it out into the water, but not bothering to hide her abilities. Rather, she wanted to demonstrate them. That was the next part of her plan.

  Andin watched her, his jaw clenched.

  Carth began to detect the distinct sense of pressure against her shadow ability. She glanced to Andin, noting the way his eyes went wide, and knew that he detected it as well. It was too soon, but then, if the A’ras had been working with the blood priests, they would have alerted them, wouldn’t they?

  “You’ve sensed this before?” she asked. The last time she’d felt this pressure had been with the blood priests, but they hadn’t gotten close enough for Andin to detect them.

  “This is Lashasn.”

  “Not Lashasn. This is the blood priests.”

  His eyes widened. “I know what you’ve said about them. They’ll kill us. Take our blood for their power. And you want to bring them here?”

&
nbsp; Carth closed her eyes as she stepped to the railing. She let her sense of the shadows drift away from her and took his hand and had him stand with her at the railing. “For you to remain safe—and for peace to hold—I will need your help.”

  “Let’s sail from here. Let the A’ras deal with them.”

  Carth knew they wouldn’t come after the A’ras. They would chase the shadow blessed. They would continue to do so until they captured them and stole the magic they possessed. And then they would use this in their horrible ceremony. She was determined to stop them for good. She was determined to see peace hold.

  “We need to draw them here.”

  Andin stared at her, his eyes like saucers. “Why? Why would you try to bring them in? You know what they want and why they want us.”

  Carth leaned on the edge of the ship. “Drawing them in is only the next move.”

  “And you need me?”

  “I need shadow strength. They have to know we’re here.”

  “And when they do?”

  “Then you’ll have to trust me.”

  Andin frowned, but slowly he nodded. That was good. Carth would need him to agree to what she planned. Invar and the A’ras would have to help, but this required shadow power. She needed Andin to help demonstrate it, to draw the blood priests.

  “How can you protect us if they come?” Andin asked.

  “That’s the hard part,” Carth said.

  “Why?”

  “You’ll have to return to the prison of light buried beneath the palace.”

  29

  Carth stood at the helm of the ship, gripping the wheel, feeling like an imposter as she took control of Guya’s vessel. She was not alone on the Goth Spald; Alison, Samis, and Invar traveled with her. Dara remained with the shadow blessed. She could protect them in a way that took a certain sacrifice from them, and she had agreed to work with Lindy and Andin to do so. If they were attacked by the blood priests, Lindy and Andin’s abilities would be negated, but Dara’s would not. She offered them some protection. The A’ras would provide the remaining protection.

  Alison stood next to Carth, her slight frame belying the strength Carth knew existed within her. She was her oldest friend, but that friendship had changed. She no longer knew what to make of their connection, if one remained, just as she no longer knew what to make of the friendship she had once had with Samis. He stood on the raised section near the stern, staring out over the sea, his eyes flickering, as if uncertain.