Shadows Within the Flame (The Elder Stones Saga Book 2)

by D. K. Holmberg

  “I don’t know. With the wind, it’s hard to tell.”

  “Do you think there was an accent?”

  Daniel thought about what he’d overheard, but he couldn’t recall detecting an accent. It made it unlikely that there was one. “No.”

  “We’ll have to return to the city and see what we can come up with.”

  “Are you sure it’s anything?”

  “I’m not sure about anything these days. I never would have worried about random smugglers moving throughout Asador before, but after the attempt on the Elder Stone, I can no longer take those things for granted.”

  She reached her hand out to him, and as he went to take it, there was a movement in the distance.

  “Do you see that?”

  Rayen hesitated, looking out into the night. Shadows faded, the night getting lighter, allowing him to See more easily. Had he not been with Rayen, he would have wondered if it was only his imagination, but with her here, he didn’t think it was.

  There were three ships moving out along the water.

  “Do you recognize them?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “I don’t. And that bothers me.”

  “Can you, you know, walk on the shadows and make your way out there?”

  She turned and frowned at him. “Can you just Slide there?”

  “With the ships moving in such a way, it would be difficult, if not impossible. I don’t know if I would end up appearing where I want to or not.”

  She grunted. “A shame. It would be nice to know who’s out there and what they’re after.”

  “Even if I could, I don’t know that it makes sense to suddenly just appear out in the middle of the ocean.”

  “I would go with you. I could mask you.”

  “How important is this to you?”

  “I don’t know, which means it’s probably quite important.”

  Daniel stared out toward the distant ship. If she could reduce the shadows enough for him to see a little more clearly, maybe it wouldn’t be as dangerous for him to attempt to Slide. It would still be dangerous, and it would still be something he didn’t necessarily want to do, but if it would help Rayen, he had to consider it.

  “If you can make it so that I can See a little bit clearer…”

  Her jaw clenched, and a trail of lightness traced away from her, the darkness of night parting on either side as it streaked toward the ship. Daniel took her arm, closed his eyes, and Slid.

  2

  Daniel

  They emerged near the bow of the ship.

  Daniel staggered, nearly falling overboard, but Rayen grabbed him.

  The only thing he was aware of was the firm—almost painful—grip on his arm. She held him tight, darkness swirling around them, keeping them concealed.

  The ship groaned beneath them, rocking with the water and the waves, moving with a regular sort of speed.

  “You did it,” Rayen whispered.

  “Now you’re whispering?”

  “It’s only good sense now. There are others on board.”

  “How many?”

  She tapped on her fingers, before raising her hand and flashing five.

  “Can you handle five people?” he whispered.

  “I don’t intend to handle five people,” she said.

  “What if we need to get information?”

  “This was for scouting purposes only. If it comes down to it, we can certainly sink the ship, but I don’t intend to fight our way through here.”

  Were the situation not so worrisome, he would’ve laughed. There were plenty of times he hadn’t planned on doing anything, but circumstances had forced his hand, and he doubted this would be much different.

  “How do you expect us to hear anything from here?”

  “You are Elvraeth, are you not?”

  He nodded. “You know that I am.”

  “Then you would have some ability with Listening.”

  Daniel shook his head. “I have some, but I’m not a skilled Listener like some.”

  “Then it’s a good thing I have a connection to the shadows.”

  “You can use the shadows to hear better?”

  “It’s difficult, but it’s a trick that Carth taught me long ago. It’s one of the ways we use to spy.”

  Daniel smiled. With the Binders, it seemed as if there were lots of ways they used to spy. Still, he wouldn’t say that to Rayen, not wanting to anger her. There weren’t too many people he feared, but Rayen was among them.

  “Something’s wrong,” a voice said.

  It was muted and had a thready quality to it, but he could hear it.

  “Why? What’s wrong?”

  “There was a flash of light, and now this darkness?”

  Daniel glanced over to Rayen. Whoever was on board the ship had recognized what she had done. She raised a finger to her lips, keeping him silent.

  “It’s night, Bernard. Darkness is part of night.”

  “But not the flash of light.”

  “Not the flash of light, but the darkness.”

  “I think you are overly concerned.”

  “And I think you are not nearly as concerned as you need to be. This is Asador, after all.”

  “Asador is nothing but rumors.”

  Rayen clenched her jaw, and the shadows continued to swirl around them, thicker than they had been before.

  “They’re not from Asador,” he said softly.

  She shook her head. “Apparently not.”

  “Do you recognize their voices?”

  “Not that I can tell,” she said.

  And if she couldn’t tell who they were, was it time for them to return? Sliding back to shore would be easier, but now that he had risked it and was on board the ship, he wanted to remain and get as much information as he could.

  “Search the ship,” Bernard could be heard saying.

  “You can’t be serious,” the other boy said.

  “Why can’t I?” There was a soft thudding, and Daniel worried that footsteps were making their way toward them, but then the thudding stopped. “Something’s not quite right, and I haven’t gotten as far as I have by simply ignoring such oddities. You would be wise to pay attention to them, too.”

  There was another thudding, and then the shadows separated.

  Rayen reached for them, trying to swirl them around her, but she struggled.

  A man stood in front of them. He was short, compact, and barely appeared startled when he realized his group weren’t alone on the ship. He carried a sword that reflected the moonlight.

  “It seems I wasn’t mistaken,” he said softly.

  Daniel reached for his own sword, wishing he had some of Lareth’s ability to push on metals. The idea that he’d want to be anything like Lareth would have amused him once. Now it was a simple matter of fact.

  Thankfully, he’d continued training with the sword, working with Carth and others on improving his skill. His time with the tchalit had given him skill, but nothing like what some of the people with Carth possessed.

  Rayen slipped toward him, gliding on the shadows, and she attempted to swirl them around the man, but he slashed at the shadows with his sword. For a moment, the sword pulsed with light, and it seemed to absorb the shadows into it, glowing brighter as it did.

  “S’al,” she hissed.

  “Someone who understands such things,” Bernard said. He leaned toward her, sweeping with his sword, but Rayen jumped back, deflecting with a pair of knives she suddenly flourished. Daniel managed to get his sword unsheathed and brought it toward the other man, slashing, but the man twisted, blocking his thrust, and turned his attention back to Rayen.

  Bernard recognized that Rayen was the true threat. And she was, but that didn’t mean Daniel couldn’t help.

  The one thing his training had helped with was honing his ability to Slide, using that in a fight. He’d never really used that ability as much as he should have, but he could jump from place to place, and he did so, appearing behin
d the man. He shoved, and the man stumbled. He managed to catch himself quickly, righting himself and spinning around, sweeping out with his sword, parting the shadows Rayen attempted to wrap around his ankles.

  “Interesting. Someone from Elaeavn? Or are you one of them?”

  Daniel hesitated. Did he mean that he wasn’t with the Forgers?

  If he wasn’t, someone like this could be a useful ally. He didn’t want to fight with someone who might be of use to them, especially as there were so few who could be useful against the Forgers. The Binders were, and there were members of the guild to continue to train, but how many actually were available?

  Somebody like this, even if he did have the ability to part the shadows, would be incredibly useful.

  “What are you smuggling?” Rayen asked.

  “Does it matter?” the man asked.

  “It matters,” Rayen said. “Asador is a closed city.”

  “It doesn’t appear to be closed. The harbor is quite wide, and there are a great number of very interested trade partners.”

  He darted forward, and Rayen caught his blade with a pair of knives, pushing off. Sparks erupted where the knives caught his sword.

  Daniel Slid, appearing behind him again, and went low. He kicked, trying to sweep the man’s legs out from under him, but the man jumped, twisting and kicking, catching Daniel on the shoulder.

  He went staggering off to the side and barely managed to catch himself. He slammed into the railing and would have gone overboard, but a streak of shadow wrapped around him and pulled him back.

  He spun, Sliding, and emerged next to the man, bringing his elbow back and trying to catch him in the chest.

  Bernard chopped down on Daniel’s elbow, deflecting the blow.

  “An interesting technique, but something like that is bound to get you killed.”

  Bernard twisted his wrist, and a dagger went toward Daniel’s stomach. He barely managed to Slide away and felt the sting of the blade as it streaked across his skin.

  Rayen charged forward, wrapping shadows around herself. He wasn’t sure at first what she was doing, but then he realized it was a buffer. A shield.

  Bernard slashed at them, but with as much power as she was funneling into the shield, the attack failed, and she was able to continue to push him back.

  Daniel Slid, appearing next to him, and he punched.

  He caught the man on the side, and he doubled over.

  He glanced up at Daniel, a grin streaking across his face.

  Daniel Slid, trying to take a quick survey of the situation and realizing that three others approached. All of them carried the same reflective swords that seemed to glow softly.

  Great Watcher!

  If they were all as skilled fighters as Bernard, then there was no way he and Rayen would be able to overpower them.

  Bernard twisted and caught Rayen with the flat of his hand, sending her flying backward.

  She headed toward the water, but she caught the railing with her shadows and streaked back on board the ship, slipping toward Daniel.

  “Any ideas?” she asked. She sounded far more relaxed than he felt.

  “I thought you might have some. What is that sword? You seemed to recognize it.”

  “I recognized the magic he wields with it, but I didn’t expect to see anyone like that here.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s the same as Carth’s other sort of magic.”

  Carth’s other magic was heat-related, though Daniel didn’t know much about it. There was power to it, something different than what he had with his Great Watcher ability.

  “If they know Carth—”

  “They might know Carth, but they aren’t with Carth.”

  Bernard made his way toward them, each step thudding across the deck.

  “We should get out of here.”

  “I still don’t have the information I need,” Rayen said.

  “You have more than you did before. You recognize that they have Carth’s magic. Isn’t that enough?”

  Rayen pushed off with the shadows, wrapping them around her to create a ring, a barrier that the others couldn’t quite push through.

  “It’s more than we had before,” he repeated.

  Could she really intend to wait around, thinking they might be able to get more information? The longer they remained, the more dangerous it would be for them, especially if these men had some way of carving through Rayen’s magic.

  He Slid, reaching Rayen just as one of the swords slipped through the dark barrier.

  Rayen blocked the attack, bringing her knives up and deflecting the sword.

  Daniel grabbed on to her and started to Slide but found that he couldn’t.

  He glanced over at her. “Are you doing something that anchors us in place?”

  She shook her head quickly.

  He attempted to Slide again, this time with more force than urgency.

  Once again, it didn’t work.

  Great Watcher!

  He spun, turning toward Rayen.

  “I can’t get us out of here,” he said.

  “They’re holding you in place?”

  “Somehow. I’m not exactly sure what they’re doing.”

  Her mouth tensed, and she pulled on the darkness. It swirled around her, growing thicker and thicker, the effort of what she was drawing becoming more intense with each passing moment. The darkness swirled, and he was pushed closer and closer to her, until he finally had his arms practically around her.

  “Rayen?”

  “Be ready,” she said.

  “Ready for what?”

  “Ready for your attempt to Slide.”

  He focused, wanting just to reach the shore, nothing more complicated than that, and shadows exploded away from Rayen.

  The men holding the softly glowing swords stared, the blades cutting through her shadows.

  Rayen said something under her breath—a swear, but not the kind he recognized, not in a language he understood—and she began to gather the shadows again, pulling them toward her.

  “Do you think it’ll work this time?”

  “Probably not,” she said.

  “Then why are you trying it again?”

  “I’m not trying the same thing. I’m trying something different.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “Be ready. When the ship starts to break apart, I want you to be prepared for getting us out of here.”

  “You’re going to break the ship—”

  The wood began to groan, and he stared, realizing that Rayen somehow drew upon the shadows in a way that slammed through the ship, creating a growing crack that spread wider and wider the longer she forced herself upon it.

  As the crack spread, Daniel attempted to Slide again, but again he failed. He tried again and again, each time wanting nothing more than to get them free from here. As the ship began to sink, he felt a shuddering, and then the restraint holding them faded.

  He grabbed on to Rayen and Slid.

  He carried them back to the shore, and from there, he released Rayen. She stretched out with the shadows, swirling them around her, reaching into the darkness. Worry creased the corners of her eyes, but she said nothing, simply staring out at the darkness.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “They shouldn’t have attacked here like this,” she said softly.

  “You said they had some sort of connection like Carth?”

  “They do. And unfortunately, they might be even more powerful than Carth with it.”

  3

  Lucy

  The Slide carried her away from Asador, and Lucy emerged on an unfamiliar landscape, looking down at the ground, worried there would be something she would make a mistake with, but she emerged along the shoreline. Waves crashed far below, and it reminded her somewhat of Elaeavn, though the air was cold, and nothing but a rocky cliff dropped off below.

  “Why here?” she asked Carth, glancing over to the shorter dark-haired woman. With h
er enhanced eyesight, it was easy for Lucy to make out the shadows that streamed around the woman, swirling with incredible power. There was something about Carth that she found intriguing. It was more than just the shadows she controlled; it was also the fire and the heat, something more that she had yet to fully understand.

  “This is a place that I used to frequent,” Carth said.

  “How far to the east are we?”

  “By land? Several weeks. By ship, it’s about a week.”

  If there was one thing Lucy knew, it was that traveling by ship had been Carth’s preferred method prior to her travels with Lucy. “What are you trying to uncover?”

  “The same as before.”

  “The C’than.”

  Carth nodded. “As far as I can tell, Alera acted independently, but there remains the possibility that she did not. And if she did not, then I need to determine how deep the C’than have been infiltrated.”

  “Why does it even matter?” If it were someone else, she would have simply Read them, but her ability to Read Carth was limited. Something about Carth’s abilities protected her, keeping Lucy from breaking through the barriers, and yet Lucy suspected that she could learn quite a bit if she managed to do so.

  “It matters because the C’than have positioned themselves as peacekeepers for many years.”

  “Given the way the Ai’thol were using their attacks, you could argue that they were still acting in that manner.”

  “You could, and yet, that is not the way the C’than have operated.”

  “I need you to tell me more about them.”

  Lucy realized she was more forceful than she probably should be, and when it came to Carth, she needed to be more careful. Ever since her attack and abduction, something about her had changed. Partly it was her willingness to do what she thought was necessary, and partly it was the fact that she no longer had the same limitations as before. She didn’t yet know the extent of her new abilities, but the more she worked with them, the longer she trained with Carth and the Binders, the better control she had over them.

  “The C’than view themselves as keepers of knowledge and power. Over the years, they have kept the understanding of the Elder Stones to themselves.”