Shadow Lost (The Shadow Accords Book 4)

by D. K. Holmberg

  Carth understood his uncertainty; she had taken him away from what he knew, even if only briefly. She had taken him away from the A’ras and brought them into a fight that he had nothing to do with. If this went well, he could return and she wouldn’t ask anything more of him.

  If it went well.

  Invar remained statuesque, standing with his hands tucked in the sleeves of his cloak. He looked regal in some ways. He was one of the few within the A’ras who could reach the true power of the flame, descended from Lashasn, much like Carth and Dara. There were secrets to him, she suspected, but he had not seen fit to answer them.

  “Do you think we can catch these… what do you call them?... blood priests?” Alison asked.

  Carth hung on to the shadows, pushing out from her. Bait. They were on a ship, so it made sense that they would go fishing. She wanted to draw the blood priests to her.

  With the rest of the shadow blessed safe within the strange prison buried beneath the palace of Nyaesh, the blood priests wouldn’t be able to detect the use of the shadows. Lindy and Andin had gone reluctantly when Carth had explained her plan. Dara had seen what she intended. She had been willing to stand with them, to use her connection to the S’al to press back the oppression caused by the light prison, and keep the remaining youth of Ih-lash safe.

  “I don’t intend to catch them. I intend to bring them to me.” She stared into the growing night. It was fitting for her to attack now, and they would be more likely to draw the blood priests to them. “Let them attack. Let them see what the A’ras can do.”

  Alison shook her head and nodded towards Invar. “You’re using the A’ras, the same way you didn’t want to be used yourself.”

  Carth fixed Alison with a hard-eyed gaze. Had she not once been betrayed by the A’ras, she might feel differently about using them. But now they were a piece on a game board, no different than they had been when she used them to negotiate for peace. This time, she didn’t think there could be peace. She didn’t intend for there to be any treaties signed, as she didn’t think the blood priests would abide by such treaties. She intended to eradicate their threat. That was the only way to keep the remaining shadow blessed safe.

  “They attacked because of the A’ras. If the A’ras work with Isahl, then we can prove that peace should still hold.”

  “That is all?”

  “They are as much a threat to the A’ras as they are to the Reshian.”

  Carth left Alison and made her way towards Invar. He had come to assist, but he had come reluctantly. He was tied to the city in ways that Carth was not, but he was also tied to the descendants of Lashasn in the same ways she was. “You haven’t said much.”

  Invar turned his attention to her. He had a heavy gaze, one that had once intimidated her, but now there was a quiet introspection about the man. He had shown himself willing to help her even when it might cost him. Then again, that had come at a time when the other masters had thought him growing incompetent. They had thought to depose him and had been willing to work with the Hjan even knowing they had attacked the A’ras.

  He sighed. “I worry what it means that we seek to destroy rather than create.”

  Carth thought of the destruction she had seen. Those villages empty along the coast, villages she now knew had been destroyed, the bodies bled out and drained in the brutal ceremony the blood priest used to build their magic. Entire ships painted with the blood of their victims. There could be no peace.

  “I pray that you never fully understand.”

  Invar considered her with a gaze that carried a certain sadness to it. “You have changed, Ms. Rel. You were so tentative and yet bold at the same time. Now you are calculating. I suspect that is the effect of your time with Ras?”

  Calculating. She wanted to be calculating, but there were times when she didn’t think she thought nearly as far ahead as she needed to. She’d been surprised by these blood priests, taken aback by the power of their blood magic, taken aback by the brutality—something that was different even than what she had seen with the Hjan. How could such brutality exist?

  It should not. It would not.

  As she held on to the shadows, clutching them furiously, expending all her strength to hold on to them, she felt pressure build around her. This was a familiar sense. She recognized it as an attack, coming from the blood priests.

  She nodded to Invar. “They come.”

  “I’m not certain our preparations will be enough.”

  Carth let out a deep breath. “They will have to be. Had you managed to maintain control…”

  “I was trying to hold the A’ras together.”

  “By letting them tear apart peace?”

  Invar sighed. “There was only so much I could do. I had hoped getting word to the C’than would have allowed them to take action.”

  The C’than. At least now she understood Ras’s move. He had wanted her to go to Isahl and then come to Nyaesh.

  “Damn you, Ras,” she whispered.

  Invar watched her as she moved to the bow so that she could focus on the sense of the blood priests pressing on her shadows. She needed to detect what they did, needed to know where they were. She had placed other lives in danger to protect the lives of the shadow blessed.

  Carth nodded to Invar. “You have some way of communicating to the others along the shore?”

  Invar nodded.

  Carth clenched her jaw. Would he keep from her how he did this?

  “Make sure they are ready,” Carth said.

  Invar closed his eyes and Carth detected a whisper of the flame from him, something with a specific signature. She followed it, noting how it trailed back towards the shore, touching several distinct places as it did.

  This was the connection.

  Carth smiled to herself with relief. Invar hadn’t kept his ability from her, but he expected her to recognize what he did.

  Power built against the shadows, slowly collapsing upon her. This was nothing like what she had experienced upon the sea twice before.

  How many of the blood priests came?

  She feared what they would be able to do when they did come. Most of all, she feared what would happen to those of the A’ras if they were unprepared.

  But… she didn’t need to fear. The A’ras were dangerous. They were swordsmen. They were practitioners of magic. They could craft the flame. All those abilities made them a deadly foe for the blood priests. It was why they had never ventured up the river, why they had never ventured towards Nyaesh.

  Carth began to withdraw the shadows. The first ship came into view.

  The hull was painted a deep red with sails to match. She pointed. “That’s their blood magic,” she said softly.

  His eyes tightened as he frowned deeply, studying the ship. He pressed out with a gentle probe using the flame. Carth hadn’t realized how attuned she had become to the flame, having only practiced with Dara and not with any others powered the same as her. She followed how Invar traced his connection along the hull, trailing it up towards the sails. Then he withdrew. “The A’ras used them?”

  Carth nodded.

  “So reckless.”

  “That is the blood of their victims. That is the blood of countless villagers dead along the shores.”

  Invar closed his eyes once more and sent another pulse of flame, stretching it away from him. When it retreated once more, his eyes snapped open, an ashen expression coming across his face. “There are others still trapped on that ship.”

  Carth had feared that. “They kept others alive the first time we met them as well.”

  “You intend to save them.” It was a statement rather than a question.

  Carth nodded. That was the biggest reason she needed the help of the A’ras. She could fight the blood priests; she thought she could destroy their ships. But could she do so and rescue those still trapped within? That was what she needed to do.

  Invar turned his attention back to Alison and Samis. “I will convince them. They will
fight with you.” He rested his hand on her arm. Her skin tingled where he touched her. “Ms. Rel, this is the right thing to do.”

  Carth knew that it was, but Invar’s reassurance uplifted her somewhat.

  “How do you intend to attack?”

  “They came for the descendants of Ih. I think it’s time they fear the descendants of Lashasn.”

  30

  Carth swam towards the blood priests’ ship. The current was heavy but heading in this direction, so she swam with it as opposed to against it. She didn’t fear the water, not as so many did. When she reached the hull of the ship, she placed her hand just above the surface. There was a strange pulsing power that emanated from the ship. The blood priest magic.

  Taking a deep breath, she pressed power through her hand, through the ring, and into the hull of the ship.

  The magic resisted, but she used the power of the flame as opposed to the shadows. This was more powerful than what the blood priests were capable of withstanding. A small hole gradually appeared. She burned it with increasing force, creating an opening. When it was wide enough, Carth crawled inside.

  She held her hand open and used the power of the flame to keep her ring lit, letting it glow and create enough light to see. She didn’t dare use the shadows, fearing that they would draw the attention of the blood priests. It was possible they knew she was here already, and if they did, her plan to save those on the ship would fail, and she’d be forced to destroy them. That was her final plan.

  Once inside, she crawled forward. She didn’t have to search long to find the captives. The power of the flame magic practically showed her where to find them. Well over a dozen remained within the hull of the ship, but how many more had been lost?

  She reached a closed door and burned her way through. The faces inside cowered away from her.

  Carth raised a finger to her lips and motioned for them to follow. “Come with me and I will get you free.”

  She pointed in the direction of the opening in the hull. The women—they were all women, she noted—followed her. Most had dirty faces and frightened eyes that looked as if they didn’t dare to hope. She couldn’t imagine the horrors they must’ve experienced.

  Carth helped them to the edge of the ship. “Swim. There are others who will help you from here.”

  The first woman hesitated, but Carth nodded, trying to reassure her. She climbed down from the ship and into the water with barely a splash. Others followed, one after another.

  When the ship was empty, Carth returned to the holding area and placed an A’ras knife into the center of the room. She backed away and reached the door when she felt a dark presence against her.

  Carth spun and saw a blood priest watching her.

  He had wide eyes and pale skin, much like the rest of them she had seen. Maroon stained his cheeks and his neck, a dark color so deep it appeared permanent.

  How many times had he painted his face? She didn’t let herself think about what he would have done to take on such darkness.

  He didn’t speak as he attacked.

  Carth didn’t give him a chance to reach her. She jumped back, sliding on the shadows, now wanting to draw the attention of the blood priest. When she reached the opening she’d created, she jumped into the water. She shifted her focus from the shadows to the flame, pressing through the knife she’d left within the holding area, using it as a focus.

  She wanted nothing more than violence and explosion.

  Heat built rapidly from her, coming from deep within her. It burned through her skin, and burned through her blood.

  The ship exploded.

  Carth swam, reaching one of the other women. She helped them until they reached the Goth Spald, where the A’ras helped them on board.

  Invar watched her. “What now, Ms. Rel?” he asked.

  There were seven ships left, but would they be strong enough to stop them? Would they be able to slow the blood priests?

  What choice did they have?

  “One down.”

  Fire erupted in the sky.

  The blood priests seemed to recognize they were under attack. Their ships attempted to turn, but Lashasn power held on to them. Carth had rescued two more shiploads of women. Only women. It troubled her that the men were gone. Why would they have the women? How many were Reshian?

  Those would be questions for later.

  The two she had attacked after the first had been smaller ships. Their holds only carried five or six people, but they were painted the same blood red as the others. Invar had led the attack on others, his explosions much more controlled than hers.

  Carth now detected two ships remaining, and they pressed upon her shadow awareness more strongly than the others. She feared what she would find when she reached them. How many of the blood priests would be on board a ship like that?

  The timing was important now.

  If she waited too long, the ships would turn and escape. Already she could feel them trying to pull away from the Lashasn attack.

  Invar led the attack on one while she went for the other, this one much larger than any of the others. When she reached the ship, she realized they were nearly side by side. Invar had already created a hole in the hull of the ship. Carth acted quickly, using the power of her S’al magic to burn through the ship. When she climbed inside, the bitter stink of the blood priests attacked her first.

  A horrific scene met her eyes. Blood was spattered all over the inside of the ship. Bodies were strewn about, most looking as if they had been trying to crawl away as they were attacked. A dozen blood priests stood before her, all with fresh, sticky blood coating their bodies.

  Anger rose within her.

  How could they do something like this? How could they use people in such a casual way?

  She no longer suppressed the shadows, pressing them out from her.

  As she did, there was something of an answer, pulsing against her.

  Had Andin made a mistake and left the holding room?

  It would be dangerous if true.

  And it would mean she had to act faster.

  None of the blood priests spoke as they arranged themselves around her. Power rippled beneath their skin, but they didn’t transform as the others she had seen had done.

  Carth pulled the only weapon she had remaining. It was her shadow knife, the one she had found near her mother after she had been killed. This was the knife that helped with controlling the shadows. This was the knife she suspected was her father’s but had never confirmed it. It would not help her hone her connection to the flame, but it was all she had.

  One of the blood priests smiled, as if detecting her hesitation.

  Carth played out the different options in her mind.

  There were only a few moves that might succeed here. Her intent had been to rescue the girls from the ship, but that was no longer possible. Now… now her goal was to destroy the blood priests so they could harm no one else and prevent the violence the cabal within the A’ras intended for the Reshian. As she played this out, she realized there might be no other option for her other than to sacrifice herself.

  Doing so would stop the blood priests.

  Invar had seen what she was willing to do to maintain the accords. Hopefully Andin and the others of Isahl would understand as well. If they didn’t, peace would fall. Everything she’d fought for would fail.

  All she wanted was peace.

  What move could she make?

  The game played out in her mind. This was the only option.

  She slammed the knife into the ship. She would use the focus of the S’al magic and press it through her mother’s ring, use that to grant her increased strength. She might not have a knife that could help focus her magic, but she had her mother’s ring.

  The blood priests closed on her. She felt them converging, felt the way they pressed against her connection to the shadows.

  Carth began building power.

  The priest reached for her.

  Carth puls
ed all the Lashasn magic into the ring and through the knife. Unwittingly, she added that of the shadows as well.

  They fused, creating a combination of power, of the magic she possessed, creating something more.

  Something similar had happened in the past, and just as before, she had no control over it. Power burned with dark intensity. Carth pressed out through the knife, through the ring, and it exploded from her.

  She sank to her knees. Wetness caught her legs and it took a moment to realize that she was in the water.

  She opened her eyes. A ship came toward her. It wasn’t a blood priest ship—or the A’ras.

  Reshian.

  Carth looked up to see the captain watching her. There were others on the deck, and all were armed with a strange sort of flaming arrows.

  “Father?”

  A rope dropped toward her and she reached for it, looking around as she did.

  The moon hung overhead, bright and staring at her as if smiling. She turned, but nothing of the ship she’d destroyed remained. Nearby, the other ship, the one Invar had attacked, slowly sank as well. A raft carrying nearly three dozen people drifted away.

  Carth finally allowed herself to smile.

  31

  “The peace will hold.”

  Carth considered her father. “That’s all you have to say to me?”

  “That is what you wanted, isn’t it?”

  She stood on the deck of his ship, exhausted. Invar was nearby but said nothing. The A’ras had found—and ended—the blood priests.

  The remnants of Isahl had been brought aboard and were getting examined for any injuries, but there were none. Andin watched her, his dark eyes suspicious even of the Reshian. Would that ever fade? Lindy said nothing, but she remained close to Carth, as if she didn’t intend to leave her alone.

  “That is what I wanted.”

  “We will work together to remove the remaining threat,” her father said.