He looked to the heavy oak shelving. Faded stain looked as if it had once been dark. Some places were streaked as if moisture had damaged it. The books on the shelf drew his attention for a moment, but he looked away from them. There would be nothing in the books that would help him get Amia out of the archives.
As he turned, he wondered why the archivist would have led them here in the first place. If he knew Amia shaped him, did he bring her here to test whether she could shape, or was there another reason?
But what reason would he have for trapping her here?
He looked up at her again, worry streaking through his mind. “Is it a shaper?”
Amia frowned and tilted her head as her eyes briefly lost focus. “I think so.” She looked over at him. “I can’t tell so near the university.”
Tan swallowed. Now the anxiety coursing through him was his own. “Can you tell what kind of shaper?”
She shrugged, fingers going to her temples and rubbing there for a moment as she shook her head.
Tan closed his eyes, straining to listen to everything around him, sensing as his father had long ago taught him to do. Amia might not be able to determine what kind of shaper came with the archivist, but could he?
Awareness of the earth filled him with the sensing. Tan had a sense of the age of the stone and the earth around him, a memory of what had once lived here. The bones of the archives were old, possibly older than the city. They felt everything differently than what Tan was accustomed to sensing in Galen. There was a sense of permanence, and anything that didn’t fit with that permanence came as an abrasion.
He pushed beyond the walls of the room, stretching his sensing all around him. At first, he didn’t think he would find anything, only more sense of the earth, the sense of him violating its space.
The person made their way down. Through his sensing, Tan couldn’t tell how far away they were. Something reverberated deep in his mind, back where the sense of the draasin abided.
A fire shaper.
He blinked, releasing the sensing.
Amia looked at him. “What is it? What did you sense?”
Fire shapers existed elsewhere within the university, though they were rarer than other shapers. But with the recent explosion and what Tan had gone through with Amia already, he feared a different reason for his presence.
“A fire shaper,” he said softly.
Amia nodded, already reaching the same conclusion Tan had come to.
Protect me.
The words rang in his head.
“We don’t know where the artifact is anymore. Roine took it to the king,” Amia said.
“Maybe they think you can find it again.”
Amia shook her head. “I followed the shaping made by the key. Without that, I have no more connection to the artifact than you.”
Tan had no intention of remaining where they were when the shaper reached them. Even without her urging, he would do whatever he could to get her to safety.
But where was safe? If the university was compromised, where else could she go and remain undetected?
Tan looked around, again trying to find a way out of the room. Other than the door—now hidden so he couldn’t even see it—there was no other way out. He had nothing with him to protect them; he’d stopped wearing his hunting knife when he’d arrived at the university. His unstrung bow hung uselessly back in the room.
Could he shape a way from here?
He could sense the stone of the archives, could feel it. Was there any way to use what he sensed to draw on the stone?
But even if he could, where would they go?
Through the door led to the archivist and the shaper. Beyond the stone was only more dirt and earth, enough to practically bury them.
Tan looked toward the shelving again. If a shaping were to work, could he lead them up?
Protect me!
“They’re nearly here,” Amia whispered.
He had to try.
Tan hurried to the shelf and climbed to the top. Once there, he crouched, his head nearly brushing the ceiling. He touched the stone with the flat of his hand, letting his eyes close. As he did, he breathed slowly, steadily, simply sensing the stone.
Like the rest of the archives, the stone of the ceiling had been here for ages.
Tan breathed.
What did he do when he spoke to the nymid? To the draasin?
Tan thought about how he spoke to the ancient elementals, considered the way it felt when he spoke to them. It was different than speaking aloud and used a part of himself that felt deeper and more ancient.
Could he use that same sense?
Tan pushed out what he wanted, letting it press into the stone.
Fatigue washed over him as it did when speaking to the nymid and the draasin.
And then his hand sunk into the stone.
Amia gasped.
Tan blinked open his eyes.
Amia had climbed up the shelf and crouched next to him. “What did you do?” she whispered.
Tan looked up. His hand pressed into a hole in the stone where it seemed to have slid away, leaving nothing but darkness in its place. The hole was wide enough for one person to fit through.
“Go!” he urged, grabbing Amia and pushing her up and through the hole in the ceiling.
She reached up and touched the stone but jerked her hand back quickly. “It’s hot.”
Tan touched the stone. Not hot, but warm, as if warmed by bright sunlight. “We need to hurry.”
As he spoke, he heard a soft click. The fire shaper reached the door.
Amia glanced back and then grabbed onto the stone, reaching through it. Then she pulled herself up, disappearing into blackness on the other side.
The door opened behind them.
If he lingered too long, a fire shaping might keep him from joining Amia.
Tan grabbed the sides of the stone and pulled through as the air in the room suddenly became much hotter.
Flames chased him through the hole in the stone, briefly licking at his boots. Once through, he rolled to the side. Light from the flames revealed a small, narrow room, much like the one below it. Another series of shelves lined the floor. Somehow, the hole he’d shaped managed to fit between the shelves.
Maybe the Great Mother watched over him after all.
Amia had already reached the door and pulled it open. She peered out and down, waving her hand toward Tan to follow.
He stood and wiped his hands on his pants. He started forward and stumbled, falling into the nearest shelf. The whole thing wobbled and books dropped around him. Tan caught one with a dark red leather cover. With surprise, he recognized the symbol on the cover and slipped it into his pocket. He could look at it later if they managed to escape.
A shout came from below.
“Tan?” She shot him a look and he nodded.
Amia raced into the hall outside the door and he followed her.
On the stairs, they paused long enough to see a woman with red eyes the color of flames staring at them. A dark smile peeled her lips back, reminding Tan all too much of Fur.
Amia cried out. Protect me!
The voice sounded loud in his mind.
She had tripped over one of the steps and jerked back, her hand blistered where she touched the stone.
Tan grabbed her, scooping her up into his arms as he ran up the stairs. “See if you can slow her,” he said. His voice came out breathlessly.
Her shaping built sharply.
When it was released, her shaping washed past him as it directed toward the fire shaper. Some of the intent carried through the shaped bond between them, as if he could hear it in his mind.
Stop.
Tan almost faltered.
The fire shaper did not slow.
Heat built in the air around them, dry and painful. His skin prickled and his mouth burned. Tan felt the same pain as when the Incendin hounds had treed him, back before he’d ever seen Amia.
Protect me.
/> He staggered up the steps, carrying Amia. The door into the main portion of the archives was too far away. They wouldn’t make it in time. The fire shaper would catch them. After that, he had no idea what would happen.
Another step. The heat around him became unbearable. Sweat dripped down his brow, quickly evaporating as it did. The steps became hot, burning through his thin boots. Amia weighed heavily in his arms.
Tan had to do something. If only he could shape, but whatever he’d done to the stone left him feeling weakened. Even carrying Amia up the stairs was nearly more than he could manage.
Amia sensed his weakness and looked at him. “Leave me. Go find Roine and come back for me.”
As she said it, different words echoed in his head. Protect me!
Tan could not ignore the demand.
Pressure built in his head, pounding through his skull. He staggered, nearly dropping Amia. And then a gust of wind whipped down the stairs. The wind seemed to split around him, parting so as not to blow him over. Behind him, the shaper screamed. The wind quickly silenced her.
Tan ran.
With Amia in his arms, the last few stairs seemed nearly impossible. Had he not been conditioned from years spent wandering the mountainous woods around Nor, he would have dropped her. As they reached the door, he found it closed and locked. With a scream, he slammed into the wood with his shoulder. It splintered open and they fell through.
Amia dropped from his arms. She grabbed his hand and pulled, dragging him through the archives. Tan followed, almost too fatigued to walk.
The younger archivist—the one who had been friendliest to him—looked over at them from behind a row of shelves. He started toward them, but Tan ignored him, concentrating on hurrying from the archives.
Somehow, they reached the outside. A fading sun dipped toward the horizon. The sky was swirls of orange and red where it disappeared, but otherwise no clouds drifted. The air felt cool and swirled around his pants.
Throngs of people moved through the street. Amia hurried toward them, quickly disappearing. Tan allowed himself a moment to feel relief, but persistent fear gnawed at the back of his mind. Where could she be safe?
CHAPTER 11
A Daughter’s Duty
“Where are you leading me?” Tan asked. The farther they got from the archives, the more his strength returned. Fatigue still worked through him, but he didn’t have the same sense of exhaustion as before.
She shook her head. “We need to get to safety.”
“I thought we were safe in Ethea. That’s why Roine brought us here.”
She paused and met his eyes. “You might be safe in the city, but Mother made it clear I wasn’t allowed to use my ability while we were here. I think the university Masters knew we were spirit sensers, but she didn’t want to taunt them with shaping.”
Tan remembered Roine’s reaction when Amia confirmed her shaping ability. Scholars suspected the Aeta of having shapers but had never proven it. With Amia, they had proof. Now, not only Roine knew about her ability to shape, but the king did as well. It still didn’t make any sense. Why would the archivist lock them in the archives? And why would he send a fire shaper after them?
And, perhaps more important, how had he resisted her shaping?
“That wasn’t a university shaper,” Tan said. “I recognized the shaping. I’ve felt it before. It was the same as when the hounds had me treed.”
He took a deep breath and nodded toward a long stone bench along the side of the road. Amia walked him to it and he sat, resting with his head on his hands. With all the people moving around them, they were safe for now. How long would it be until the archivist found them again? How long until the Incendin shaper reached them?
And then what? Would they be able to hide from him in Ethea?
They needed to find Roine. He might be distracted with whatever the king had him doing, but he had to know what happened.
Tan looked around. With a throng of people filling the street, they wouldn’t be able to reach the palace very quickly. And when they did, would he find Roine or had he disappeared on another mission for the king?
That left him feeling very alone. He had gone into the library searching for answers—to find something on the draasin that might help him understand the connection he shared with them. How had he spoken to them so easily when he could only speak to the nymid near the water?
Amia remained silent as they sat, leaving him lost in his thoughts. After a while, Tan pulled the book he had stuffed into his jacket and looked at the dark red leather cover.
“Where did you find that?” Amia asked, her eyes widening briefly.
“In the room we climbed to. After I—”
He hesitated. It seemed strange to admit that he’d shaped, but what other explanation was there? And had that been him with the wind blowing up the stairs? That had happened the last time he felt the same heat as well. Roine seemed convinced that Tan had shaped wind before and that his shaping had saved Amia from falling. Could he have done the same again?
Could he only shape when Amia was in danger?
Amia sat next to him, staring at her reddened hands. After a moment, she stopped and rubbed at her temples. “The book. It’s about the draasin.”
Tan recognized the symbol on the cover. Now all he needed was to understand the ancient language and he might be able to read it. “I grabbed it before we left. Maybe that will be of use.”
Amia smiled and touched his hand. “The draasin have already proven their worth when they helped us escape Fur. Had it not been for them…”
Fur would have captured them. And then…well, he didn’t know why they wanted Amia. Was it simply for the artifact or was there something more?
He watched her, but her face remained unreadable. The shaped bond between them didn’t tell him anything more, but he felt as if she kept something from him.
“What now?” he asked.
She took his hand and met his eyes. “Now?” A hint of sadness that he didn’t understand came across her face. She sighed. “Come. I’ll show you.”
They found the Aeta circling a small square to the east of the university. Without Amia guiding him, Tan wouldn’t have found it. Ethea was a massive city, sprawling out from two separate foci. The university and the palace—separated by several miles, but visible across the entire city—each had a bubble of activity surrounding them. Roine had put them up in a part of the city partway between the university and the palace, easy distance to both.
As they walked, the city changed. The sun had fallen behind the horizon and lights flickered in most windows. Lanterns hung on posts along the street, casting bright light. A cool breeze billowed from the west, not nearly as powerful as home for Tan. The air stunk of the city, a mixture of sweat and ash and refuse piled near homes. More than anything, the stink of the city made him long for home.
Throngs of people filled the streets, all dressed so differently as to make it seem intentional. Most people moved in the same direction as Tan and Amia. Ethea drew from all over the kingdoms and beyond; traders came from Doma and Chenir, and some from as far as the Xsa Isles, a series of islands off the coast of Doma. Those from the Isles were easiest to recognize. Tan passed a couple from the Isles and couldn’t help but stare as he did. The men wore their hair as long as the women and both kept it tightly braided. Tattoos marked the left side of the men’s face and the right of the women’s. Both had deeply tanned skin.
Amia offered him a smile when he turned away.
“Have you ever visited there?” he asked.
She shook her head. “The Aeta are wanderers, not sailors. But if you ever visit Doma, you’d see more than island folk.”
“More?”
“Across the Natalin Sea. Par and Zulas and—”
“Beyond the sea?”
Amia laughed softly. The farther they got from the archives, the more they both relaxed. In spite of that, a certain tension tugged at him through the bond.
“The w
orld is bigger than just the kingdoms, Tan.”
He noticed a pair of men walking toward him, one with a large hoop in his ear and his head shaved, the other with bright orange hair and pale skin. Both wore brightly colored clothes styled differently than anything he’d ever seen. Neither seemed uncomfortable. No one else bothered to look at them; it was as if only Tan found them strange. He started to ask Amia about them, but didn’t have the chance.
They turned another street and he saw the Aeta.
Before meeting Amia, Tan had only seen the Aeta a few times in his life. Each time they visited Nor, a celebration ensued. The Aeta brought their wagons into the heart of the Nor, circling the square. Music and dancers went along with nearly a week of trading. Most treated the visit as something akin to a festival. The Aeta welcomed it, often joining in the revelry, mixing their music with local sounds, unfazed by the delay in trading.
The last visit had been different. Lord Lind required the Aeta to camp on the outskirts of Nor, separating them from the village. Tan understood now they wouldn’t have stayed long anyway, not with the hounds chasing them, but that hadn’t changed his disappointment at the time.
The Aeta here generated much the same atmosphere as he remembered. Brightly colored wagons ringed a square. Lights from dozens of lanterns lit the street, casting everything in a warm glow. People from every direction made their way to the wagons, creating a crowd they struggled to push through. Music drifted from the square, the sounds of flutes and harps and other, stranger instruments floated about the voices of the people. A high voice sang, the sound little more than a melody from where they stood.
Tan smiled and looked over at Amia. The smile faded as he saw the look on her face. Concern mixed with the anxiety he felt through their bond. Tan took her hand, squeezing it, but she didn’t squeeze back. “Aren’t you happy to see your people?”
She kept her eyes fixed straight ahead. “I only learned of them earlier today. I hadn’t thought I’d see them so soon. I hadn’t thought about what I would do, not after what happened…”
“We don’t have to come here,” Tan said. “We can find Roine—”
Bound by Fire (The Cloud Warrior Saga Book 2) Page 10