She lives. Udilm healed her.
The draasin snorted. You sound surprised, Maelen.
How is it I can speak to both draasin and udilm?
Asboel snorted. You ask the wrong question.
Tan shook his head. Speaking this way tired him. He had gotten much more practice than when he first learned to do it, but it still tired him. Amia suspected it a form of shaping, though Tan could not understand how that could be. He had no control over shaping, not like he did with speaking to the elementals, though he had no idea how he managed to speak to them.
What is the right question? Can I speak to golud and ara?
I cannot say.
The udilm called you the Eldest.
Asboel snorted, seeming amused. Perhaps now I am.
You were not always?
You have much to learn, Maelen.
Asboel fell silent and Tan closed his eyes, letting the wind blow past him. His heart fluttered from the terrifying speed, but there was an exhilarating sense of freedom found soaring through the air that he’d never experienced.
He didn’t know where the draasin carried him, though now that Elle was better, he wasn’t sure it mattered. They had a task for him, but he still had no idea how to accomplish what was asked. How could he reach the youngest? And if he did, how would he be able to help?
How would Twisted Fire coerce her?
He asked the question without really meaning to do so, but as he did, he thought he knew.
Had Amia not shaped the draasin? Had she not coerced them?
The shaping of the Daughter, Tan began, feeling along the connection he had to Asboel, does it hurt?
The draasin snorted a burst of fire. Steam rose around his face, blowing over Tan but not burning.
It is… restrictive.
Would you hunt man if it were not in place?
Tan couldn’t tell. From his conversation with the draasin, it seemed too intelligent to risk attacking shapers, but Roine spoke of warriors hunting the draasin out of fear. Would the draasin retaliate?
The draasin did not fully answer. We hunt to eat.
Tan sighed. If Amia could shape the draasin to prevent them from attacking man, could another spirit shaper do the same? Could that be what happened to the youngest of the draasin?
Who, other than the Aeta, could shape spirit?
He could come up with only one answer. The archivists.
But if she had been shaped, what could Tan do? Even were he able to communicate to the young draasin—and nothing he’d seen told him that would be possible, especially as he hadn’t spoken to any other draasin but Asboel—would there be anything he could do to remove a shaping?
No, but there was someone who could.
If only he could find her.
CHAPTER 24
Finding the Aeta
Asboel circled high overhead, spiraling above the kingdoms.
Tan’s skin tingled when they crossed back over the barrier. He recognized it this time as they did, the sense like plunging into a cold bath, not nearly as uncomfortable as diving into the ocean had been. Mountains rose around him and he recognized them as well, leaving him feeling a hint of longing for his home as they passed over Galen. If only he could return home, trail through the mountains as he once had done, carefree except for whatever chores his mother asked from him.
But he had no home, not any longer. Even if he did, hadn’t he seen too much to return to such a simple lifestyle? Could he really even go back to that time, knowing what he did? He thought of what he had been through—learning of the nymid and the draasin, of meeting Amia and learning of the artifact—and realized he could not. Nor may have been his home, but even were it still around, he had outgrown it.
And with that realization, he understood why his parents had returned to Nor in the first place. They were shapers who served the kingdoms. If they served as a part of the barrier—if they kept the kingdoms safe in any way—wouldn’t he have done the same? And his father… he’d answered the king’s call, gone to protect the kingdoms from Incendin. As an earth shaper, he would have known better than most what he risked were he not to go.
Tan felt foolish for the anger he’d felt for so long. Anger at the king for sending his father off to war with Incendin. Anger with his mother for trying to coax him into going to Ethea to study at the university. And anger at Incendin for destroying his home and everyone he’d known. Strange how it took Incendin attacking to set him free to learn what he might be capable of.
He sighed, sensing for Amia as they flew.
The connection to her was there, but faint. At this distance, he couldn’t speak to her, regardless of how hard he tried. It felt much like when he tried speaking to the draasin while in the water or when he tried speaking to Elle once he was back atop Asboel.
Finding Amia was the only way he knew to try and help the draasin.
Asboel continued to circle. They moved out of Galen and across the center of the kingdoms. Somewhere down below would be Ethea. Asboel could tell his difficulty and circled back to the north, moving away from Ethea.
She was still somewhere in the kingdoms, that much he felt to be true.
Tan drifted as they flew. The effort of trying to find Amia drained him nearly as much as speaking to the udilm. And once he found Amia, the real work would begin. They would have to find the youngest of the draasin, learn what Incendin wanted with the elemental, and then try to undo whatever shaping they had worked upon her.
But it all depended on finding Amia.
As he drifted, the connection grew.
It started quietly and then built, slowly rising in his mind, flowing like the sense of the udilm. Tan’s eyes flicked open and he looked down. Where would the Aeta have traveled?
Beneath them, the landscape had changed from lush grass back to mountainous peaks and thick forest. Asboel took him back to Galen.
We have passed this way once.
The great elemental snorted and continued onward.
As he did, Tan realized the draasin used the connection within his mind to track Amia, somehow pulling along it to search for her. He dropped, tipping his wings toward the ground so they angled downward, diving toward the treetops. Galen, but no part of Galen he knew.
Asboel must have sensed something through Tan telling him where to find Amia, but why would the Aeta come to Galen… and why would Amia have returned here? After what she’d been through, Tan wouldn’t expect her to willingly venture so close to Incendin.
It seemed unlikely, but he couldn’t deny the strengthening connection.
He sat upright, one hand gripping a heated spike, the other pressed behind him as he leaned down and over to peer beneath Asboel. He saw no sign of an Aeta caravan, though he might not through the trees of the forest.
Amia!
Tan pressed out with as much strength as he could muster.
Asboel snorted.
Had he heard?
After struggling to connect to the udilm, he had realized that speaking to the draasin was different than speaking to the nymid. And speaking to nymid was different than to udilm, though they were both elementals of water. He didn’t know how he spoke to Amia, though he thought the shaped connection made it possible. But how had he spoken to Elle?
Amia!
He repeated her name, pushing a sense of him and the draasin through the connection. It faltered at the back of his mind, a flickering presence he could almost reach.
The sense grew stronger.
Tan grabbed onto it, pushing himself into it as he called for Amia.
And then, faintly, he heard a reply.
Tan?
He sensed concern and, strangely, relief.
Where are you?
Overhead.
There was confusion and then a sense of agitation. You shouldn’t come for me. Tell Roine to return you to Ethea. The Aeta… it’s not safe here.
Not safe?
I’m not with Roine.
Then how… NO!<
br />
Tan sat upright on Asboel. The word had come through like a command, a snap of a shaping. It burst in his ears, piercing through his mind before washing over him and fading, disappearing into nothing.
Amia had tried to shape him. And failed.
Tan shifted, looking to Asboel. Can you find them?
The draasin swung his head. I see movement. Many small carriages.
Tan saw as if through Asboel’s eyes. The image looked twisted and blurred, tinged with reds and oranges his eyes would never see, but the wagons were Aeta wagons. They were stopped, spread out in a circle around an open area visible through the trees. Asboel saw the wagons with incredible detail, enough so that Tan could make out the Aeta standing alongside the wagons, but not enough for him to see Amia.
But why had she tried shaping him? Why hadn’t she wanted him to come?
Something is wrong.
Asboel snorted. You finally sense that, do you, Little Warrior?
What is it?
There was another spurt of flame from Asboel’s nostrils and a sound much like a frustrated sigh. It is like Twisted Fire but different.
The lisincend are here?
More than simply Twisted Fire.
What else?
Feel for yourself, Maelen. There is fire nearby. I feel it burning, powerful and bright. But it is dark. Twisted. I have only sensed its like one other time.
He could not sense the lisincend, but he did not have the same sensitivity to fire as Asboel. But if the lisincend were here, and if what Asboel suspected was true, they would find the youngest of the draasin.
Which meant Amia and the Aeta were in danger.
The lisincend are near!
Tan sent the message to Amia with urgency and fear. If she didn’t know about the lisincend, then she needed to know. And if she did and thought to protect him, he would let her know that he did not fear them.
You should not have come.
The voice that came was not Amia.
It sounded harsh and dark and rough with violent anger.
Asboel must have heard it too. He banked, turning to the side, flapping his massive wings in the wind.
As he did, Tan realized why.
Flames lanced toward Asboel, striking him in the stomach and disappearing.
Fire did not hurt the draasin, but a deep rumbling roar erupted from its mouth.
Another finger of flame struck at him and then another. Each pierced his stomach and faded, none reaching Tan.
Asboel twisted, rolling in the air, flicking his massive tail.
As he did, Tan saw what attacked.
A line of shapers stood atop a nearby peak. One faced Asboel with hands outstretched. Fire arced from his hands toward the draasin.
Next to the fire shaper were two others. They were smaller, thin, and reminded Tan of his—
They are wind shapers!
Asboel grunted. With a flick of his tail, he shot up into the sky, wings beating quickly as he searched for altitude.
Gusts of wind swirled, throwing them from side to side. Tan clung to the spike rising from Asboel’s back, holding tightly as the draasin spun in the sky, wings and tail struggling to regain control in the wind.
Flames shot from his mouth.
For a moment, they steadied.
The sky darkened suddenly. Thunder rumbled across the sky. Rain sleeted down, piercing his flesh.
Asboel roared.
There were too many shapers.
With a dawning horror, he realized it might not be Incendin attacking the draasin. This might be the kingdom’s shapers. Which meant Roine was here. That was why Amia had wanted Roine to take him away, but why? What would she have feared?
Asboel?
The draasin flipped, straining against the wind and rain. His tail snapped behind him, attempting to keep them steady, but the overwhelming power of the wind and rain was too much.
Asboel began to lose altitude.
If they reached the ground, Tan suspected the earth shapers would be next. After what he’d seen of how the archives withstood the flames in Ethea, he didn’t want to risk earth shapers reaching Asboel.
But what could he do?
He sensed Asboel’s frustration. Mixed with it was a deeper emotion. Panic.
Asboel did not want to be captured again. The time spent trapped within the ice made him all too aware of what might happen were he recaptured.
Tan closed his eyes and let out a steady breath. If he could only control the wind… shape it as Roine thought he’d shaped it once before…
Tan pushed out a request, a thought shaped much like how he spoke to the draasin and udilm, asking for the wind to calm.
The wind died suddenly, as if the air held its breath.
Asboel roared furiously. In the moment the wind stopped, he pounded at the air, driving them into the sky, pushing against the thunder and rain.
Tan tried another shaping, this time asking for the skies to clear.
The rain slowed to a trickle. Dark clouds split to the side, giving a brief glimpse of the sun.
In that moment, Tan thought they might succeed, that whatever weak skill he might have at shaping might be enough. And for that moment, he felt pleased.
And then something struck with terrible force and they fell from the sky.
CHAPTER 25
A Fall and a Surprise
Asboel clawed as they spiraled toward the ground. His massive head dipped and twisted, rotating so the thick spines on his back pointed toward whatever attacked. The clouds thickened again, turning the sky black. Rain pelted them with thousands of tiny needles. Tan cowered between the spines on Asboel’s back but still felt exposed.
The great elemental turned, twisting his head. As he did, Tan caught sight of what attacked them.
The youngest.
She was larger than he remembered. Her eyes glittered a hazy green. Teeth snapped at Asboel’s head. Claws raked his sides, severing a few of his spines, barely missing Tan as they did. Spines like those on Asboel’s back steamed where the rain struck, creating mist around her.
In spite of the ferocity of her attack, Asboel did not fight back.
Why don’t you fight?
Tan pressed the thought at Asboel as they spiraled toward the ground. Trees reached for them, massive trunks stabbing at the sky like spikes visible through a growing layer of fog.
Asboel responded by pressing an image into Tan’s mind.
He saw rocks not unlike those they had found in Incendin. He had a sense of the hot sun beating down. A trio of eggs nestled atop the stones. A draasin curled around them, long tail lashed protectively. One of the eggs cracked and a long snout pressed out.
The youngest. His youngest.
Asboel could not harm his child.
What of the others?
Asboel snorted and fire leaped from his mouth. The Mother took the others. She is all that remains.
And Tan understood why Asboel would not attack.
This was the reason Asboel had brought him here, the reason the draasin worked with him, expecting that Tan could do something to save the youngest, but without Amia, there wasn’t anything he could do.
Was there?
Hadn’t he heard another voice in his head? Had the youngest spoken to him?
Tan focused on the sense of the draasin. He felt the vague sense of something else, dark and angry. How to know if it was the youngest?
He reached for her, pulling through the connection as he had with Asboel. Please…
The attack intensified. Had she heard him?
Claws raked toward his face, nearly striking him and throwing him from Asboel’s back.
Tan pushed harder, straining through the connection she had created.
Stop!
He sent the command with all the energy he could summon. Pain and pressure snapped behind his ears, splitting through his head. His vision blurred for a moment before clearing.
The youngest dropped away.
A
nd then Asboel grunted and plunged toward the ground.
Tan gripped the spines on Asboel’s back. His legs flew off the draasin, floating in the air as they fell. The treetops raced toward them. Another moment and Asboel would crash into the trees, carrying Tan with him.
The draasin might survive, but Tan had no expectation of surviving a fall like that.
Asboel!
The draasin grunted.
What is it? Tan asked.
I cannot move.
Fly! Tan demanded. Pain exploded in his head.
Asboel roared. Flames shot from his mouth, streaking toward the trees. Wings beat at the sky. His long, barbed tail snapped from side to side.
And then they climbed back into the sky.
Tan settled back into place atop the draasin. What happened?
Asboel turned and looked back at Tan. His golden eyes blinked slowly. You happened, Maelen.
Tan frowned. I don’t understand.
You commanded stop and I could no longer fly.
Tan blinked slowly. I didn’t command anything. I tried to get the youngest to stop attacking you. I couldn’t think of anything else to do.
You placed, the draasin paused and Tan had the sense of him searching through Tan for the right word, a shaping.
What kind of shaping would command the draasin to fall from the sky?
Tan could think of only one.
A spirit shaping might work, but only from a powerful spirit shaper. He couldn’t perform a spirit shaping, but he knew someone with strength enough to shape the draasin.
But how would Amia have shaped them?
Where is the youngest now?
She has fallen.
Tan’s breath caught. Fallen?
The draasin snorted, the sound rumbling through it. She lives but does not move.
Whatever else happened, at least the youngest had not been hurt, at least not badly. Tan would take solace in the knowledge.
What now?
Asboel snorted. Now you free her.
Tan shook his head. Without Amia, what Asboel wanted was beyond his ability. I must find the Daughter.
Asboel snorted again. She has found us.
With that, he dove toward the ground, this time with more control. His wings folded enough to settle them between a pair of massive pine trees rising atop a crest. As they landed, Tan jumped from Asboel’s back, happy to be on the ground again.
Bound by Fire (The Cloud Warrior Saga Book 2) Page 19