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

by D. K. Holmberg

  “Try again. And when you return, then we can see if you can bring someone else with you.”

  Lucy took a deep breath, focusing once again. Where would she go this time? She thought of all the places she had traveled with Carth, all the various C’than strongholds, and while it was tempting for her to go and visit, to see if there was anything she would be able to do, that wasn’t where she went. Instead, she found herself drawn in a different direction. This one brought her away from the ship and guided her someplace that she and Carth had been briefly.

  The jungle loomed in front of her, and Lucy stared at it, trying to get a sense of what might be inside the jungle, what she might be able to uncover if she went there, but there didn’t seem to be anything. The heat and humidity immediately struck her, sweat trickling down her back. She watched the edge of the jungle, searching for signs of movement. They hadn’t had an opportunity to explore it before, partly because Carth had wanted to return to Asador, and partly because they had wanted to continue to investigate whether the C’than posed any real dangers to them. Alera—and whoever had been with her at the university—had acted alone, or at least without the permission of others.

  She stared at the trees, and at the jungle, searching for anything that might explain whether there was a way into the jungle without wandering through it by foot. Lucy wasn’t that skilled a woodsman to be able to travel without difficulty, and she didn’t trust herself not to get lost, but then, it probably didn’t matter. She wouldn’t get lost going by foot. She could always Slide away, return to where she had started.

  Breathing in the scent of the jungle, she was taken by the strangeness of the aromas she noticed. It was so different from anywhere else, and the mist rising up from the forest floor seemed to promise even more strangeness within the forest itself. From here, when she would Slide, the landscape changed, becoming more temperate, warm beaches and sand and crystal-blue water. It was different than the rocky coast she had known in Elaeavn, the same rocky coast she had known in Asador.

  When she had come with Carth, there had been a sense of peace. That sense remained, and she breathed deeply, savoring the jungle, thinking of the sandy shores. She could escape there, relax, and stay. She didn’t have to be a part of any of this. She could be free.

  Wasn’t that what she wanted?

  Then again, what she had wanted was an opportunity to travel, explore the world, to see things she could never imagine in Elaeavn. She’d wanted a chance to see the places she had read about in the books in the Elvraeth library.

  Wasn’t that the better life for her?

  It certainly gave her a very different understanding of the world. She had seen so much, had done far more than she could ever have believed herself capable of doing, and she had come to realize that she was more than she had once believed.

  Lucy started into the forest, letting the mist swirl around her. As she went, she made sure that she still had the ability to detect Daniel’s mind. It was still there, faint, but the urgency of his battling with Rayen at the forefront of his mind made it easy enough for her to track him. Now that she had proven that was the key, she thought she could follow it quite easily.

  The jungle swallowed her.

  The trees were nothing like those she had experienced in Elaeavn. The trees of the Aisl had towering trunks with massive branches that swept overhead, their huge leaves granting shade, blocking out all light. These trees were more enormous, stretching much higher overhead, to the point where the upper branches were barely visible for her. She strained, thinking that she could Slide to the upper branches, but decided against it. Instead, she continued into the jungle, passing enormous vines that dangled between branches. The underbrush was thick, forcing her to twist and step over things, and as she went, she continued to wind through the forest. It would be incredibly difficult to Slide through here. It was almost as if this place had been made to be difficult to Slide through.

  The idea of that intrigued her. Without having any way of maneuvering, she would likely end up stumbling over something in the forest, and if she did, it would be dangerous, potentially fatal if she Slid where she should not.

  Lucy hesitated. She had been gone long enough. With each passing moment, she could tell that her concentration was shifting, and her connection to Daniel Elvraeth was also beginning to shift. She needed to get to him soon, or she worried that she would lose the sense of him altogether.

  And she needed to get back so that she could figure out what Carth wanted from her. There was something the other woman wanted; whether that was merely for Lucy to go with her, to get a sense of the abilities she had to Slide and return to the ship, she didn’t know.

  When it came to Carth, there were often things she didn’t know.

  Lucy’s gaze lingered as she looked around the forest. There was something here, something she thought she should know, and the longer she stared, the more certain of it she was. But if she lingered, she might harm the people who were waiting for her.

  Lucy hurried forward, weaving through the trees and winding around the underbrush until she finally came across a small clearing. She fixed this place in her mind, using it for a return point if she ever had the opportunity to do so.

  Holding on to her connection to Daniel, she Slid.

  When she emerged, she found that he was near the railing of the ship. He stared out over the water, looking into the distance, and she could Read concerned thoughts from him. Within his mind were thoughts of her, his worry about how she had changed, and what that meant for her. A part of her longed to go to him, to reassure him that she was fine, that she was handling this transition as well as could be expected.

  And yet, Carth still needed her.

  More than that, Lucy no longer thought she and Daniel could be anything more than friends, if she had ever thought otherwise. She cared about him—given where they had come from and the fact that she had grown up around him, she didn’t know how she could not care for him—but she couldn’t return to Elaeavn and be that person he remembered, the person he had cared about. Whatever else would happen for her, she was destined to be something else. She could live blaming the Forgers for that, or she could choose to be thankful that she was no longer going to be that same person. Which would it be?

  As strange as it was for her to consider, she didn’t blame the Forgers for what had happened to her. As odd as that had to be for Daniel, she felt as if the Forgers had given her a gift. And it was a gift that she was determined not to waste.

  Then again, it wasn’t even the Forgers who had gifted her. It was the C’than.

  It was easy to forget that it wasn’t the Forgers, easy for her to lose track of the fact that someone else had been responsible for the changes that had been inflicted upon her, but she had spent so much of her life fearing and hating the Forgers that she blamed them for all the things that had happened.

  Maybe it was time for her to blame someone else. Maybe it was time for her to realize that everything that had happened wasn’t necessarily for the worse.

  And maybe it was time for her to better understand the C’than. If they had the ability to do this to her, to grant her these changes, what else could they do?

  As she thought about it, she wondered if perhaps that wasn’t something Carth was trying to show her. Could it be that Carth wanted her to know there was something more? Could that be why Carth had been taking her to the C’than strongholds?

  Smiling to herself, she focused on the quarters below. As she started to Slide, she could feel Daniel beginning to turn toward her. Lucy almost hesitated, almost waited, but she didn’t. She completed the Slide, emerging once again near Carth in her quarters. The other woman looked at her, a question in her eyes, almost as if Carth could Read her, and Lucy only nodded.

  “I think I’m ready.”

  15

  Daniel

  Daniel swung the sword around, blocking the blow coming at him. He kept his opponent in front of him, holding the sword—muc
h longer than what he was accustomed to using in Elaeavn—with two hands as he had been instructed, twisting with his movements, not wanting to be caught off guard again. Each time he moved off to the side, he found himself forced back toward the stern of the ship and into a position he didn’t want to be in. It placed him in a weakened state, and he hated that.

  “Keep your blade up,” Carth instructed off to the side.

  Daniel didn’t know if her words were for him or for Isabel, the Binder he faced. When Carth had suggested sparring, he had been reluctant at first, especially since he didn’t think it was fair for him to face off against a woman, regardless of the fact that she would have had training from Carth and Rayen. Both of them carried blunted swords, the edges dulled by some strange connection to Rayen and Carth’s shadow magic, and he was thankful for that. Had they not, the injuries to his arm would have been much worse.

  Isabel lunged forward, twisting as she did, bringing her blade in a tight circle.

  She was incredibly skilled. As she attacked, he was forced to stay back, but she had positioned herself in such a way that the railing of the deck blocked his movement. Isabel seemed to sense his hesitation, and she grinned at him.

  Great Watcher, but she was skilled.

  She slipped off to the side, a move she had tried before, and he ignored it, twisting and dropping down, sweeping his blade toward her feet. She jumped over it with one foot, but he brought it up, in a movement that would slice through her thigh.

  But she was gone.

  Daniel slammed into the railing, and were it not for some barrier that he couldn’t see, he would’ve tumbled over the edge.

  Isabel reappeared and shoved the long edge of her blade up to his neck.

  Daniel held up his free hand. “I yield.”

  She nodded and turned from him.

  She’d handed her sword over to one of the other Binders, and Daniel stood watching her. Isabel was lithe and had strength that didn’t fit with her figure, and she had moved far faster than he would’ve expected. He still didn’t know what sort of magic she and the others had, though it was not insignificant.

  “You lost track of her,” Carth said as she approached.

  “She wasn’t supposed to use her abilities.”

  “Just because you couldn’t use yours?”

  Daniel nodded.

  Carth grinned. “It doesn’t always work like that.”

  “Wait… you told her she could use her powers?”

  “What sort of power do you think she used on you?”

  Daniel shrugged. “I don’t exactly know. There was something.”

  The way she had simply disappeared, only to reappear, told him that she had used some magic on him. He had sparred with only one other of the Binders, and she didn’t have the same skill set as Isabel. While Daniel hadn’t necessarily handled her, it had been a much more even match. With Isabel, there was nothing even about it. She had overpowered him quite easily.

  “What did we talk about with dicing?” Carth asked.

  “That it won’t always roll the way you think it should.”

  “Exactly. And do you think a fight should be the same or different?”

  “I didn’t think that you would have me sparring so unbalanced.”

  “What is balance but a perception of right and wrong? I would have you be prepared for anything thrown your way.”

  “Is this about the attack in Thyr?”

  “This is about understanding that your abilities have limitations. This is about pushing yourself so that you can be stronger than those limitations. This is about being ready for the possibility that your opponent will not play fair.”

  “Why are you pushing me like this?”

  “Because you travel with me.”

  “That’s the only reason?”

  Carth smiled. “I’ll admit that I should have played a greater role with your people before now, but that’s a mistake I intend to remedy.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you will be needed.”

  “No. Why haven’t you been involved before now? You obviously know Galen and Rsiran.”

  “Partly because Rsiran had promised he would ensure a certain level of competence.”

  “He has done…” Something, he didn’t add. Daniel didn’t really know what Lareth had done to protect their people.

  “And it has not been enough.”

  Daniel sighed, looking over to where Lucy spoke softly with one of the other women. It was Eleanor, a blonde-haired woman with bright blue eyes; Daniel knew nothing about her abilities, other than the fact that she had been chosen by Rayen to travel with them. That suggested she had significant skill, as did all the women who traveled with Rayen.

  “Most people in Elaeavn are like me. Not too many of us have taken the time to understand our abilities.” Not like Lareth, at least. “I never took the time to fully explore all of mine.” He had trained with the sword, but that had been a distraction more than anything else. He had never devoted himself to Sliding the way he should have.

  “Do you think that makes you less worthy?”

  “I’m not sure about worthy, but I do know I should have been doing more than I was before.”

  “And do you think you’re the first person who refused to acknowledge a threat that exists? Do you think you’re the first one who failed to identify that threat when it was in front of them?”

  “No, but—”

  Carth raised her hand, cutting him off. “You aren’t even the first of your kind. And I can’t even make the claim that I have done everything that must be done. Too often, I have overlooked what needs to be done. And in this case, I’m trying to rectify that.”

  “Does trying to fight with me unfairly make it better?”

  “What do you think constitutes fairness?” she asked, arching a brow at him.

  “I don’t know, maybe a fight where I don’t have to confront someone who has their magic while I can’t use my abilities.”

  “What if I told you that Isabel doesn’t have any abilities?”

  “She’s faster than she should be.”

  “I agree.”

  “And stronger than she should be.”

  “Again, I agree.”

  “Then how is she fighting me without her abilities?”

  “She doesn’t have any abilities. She has taken something that has given her a certain level of talent, but naturally, she doesn’t have any abilities.”

  Daniel looked over to where Isabel was sitting and chatting with several of the other Binders. “She doesn’t have any natural abilities?”

  “Would I lie to you about that?”

  “I don’t know what you would lie to me about.”

  Carth chuckled. “Perhaps. Would it help if I told you that I would face you without any of my abilities?”

  “How would I know whether or not you did?”

  “You’d have to trust me.”

  There was an inherent question in that comment, and it was basically Carth asking Daniel whether he trusted her or not. For his part, he didn’t know whether he did. She had worked with them, and she had been instrumental in their surviving what they had, but was she trustworthy?

  “Are you afraid to face me?”

  “With your abilities?” Daniel studied her. She was older than him by at least a decade—probably more—and yet she never seemed like it. “With them, I don’t have any doubt that you would be able to overpower me.”

  “And without them?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Then try it,” she said.

  Daniel only shrugged. He took a step back, holding the sword out in the position the tchalit had taught him. He’d had additional training from her people, and that made it likely she would know everything new he had to throw at her, but then it might not even matter. The fact was that she seemed as if she wanted to prove a point with him.

  Carth unsheathed her sword and smiled at him. “I won’t use my abilities, but why don
’t you try it with yours?”

  “That’s not a fair fight.”

  “Are you certain?”

  “Are you sure that you want me to face you with my abilities?”

  “Are you certain that you want to try to face me in general?”

  He didn’t know whether to accept what she was offering him. Carth was incredibly skilled, and he had seen her fighting, had been with her when they had stormed through the building, managing to rescue Rsiran. When they had done that, she had been using her abilities, but could she have done so without them?

  Without any abilities, he doubted he would be able to pose much of a threat, but with them, it had to be more evenly matched. He could Slide, and with that, he had a very different type of attack. It was the kind of attack Carth and the people with her had tried to train him to best utilize.

  She waited, and he darted forward, attacking.

  She grinned at him as he did, and it left him feeling a little irritated. Was she doing this as a way to embarrass him? It didn’t seem like the kind of thing Carth would do, but again, he had a sense that she was attempting to make a point with him.

  As he Slid forward, slashing with the sword, she blocked. She twisted the blade, switching hands quickly, forcing Daniel to Slide back. He thrust, deciding to use his height and strength to his advantage. One of the things the instructors he’d been working with had harped on him about was that he needed to use his natural strength and speed, advantages that came from the fact that he was of Elaeavn. Against the tchalit, he hadn’t had the same advantage. They all had similar talents.

  Carth blocked, twisting again, and Daniel lunged forward in a Slide. She blocked him and smacked him on the side of his arm.

  He barely held on to his sword. Twisting around, he jabbed with his sword, and she blocked, kicking. He narrowly managed to Slide out of the way, and when he emerged behind her, twisting with his sword, she was ready for it and blocked.

  Daniel Slid again, appearing behind her again, and once more Carth was ready.