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

by D. K. Holmberg

  “It’s not a matter of influence. It is not a matter of being able to overpower them. What concerns me is that someone has discovered something they should not, and I suspect they think to use it against the Ai’thol.”

  Alana laughed, a dark sound. “Should we be offended by that? Let others throw themselves at the Ai’thol. It only delays them, and it buys us time.”

  “If they have taken one of the Elder Stones, they will have weakened our position. The Ai’thol will know how to reach it, and they will know what to do when they manage to secure it. I have no doubt that Olandar Fahr will find some way of obtaining it if it has been moved.”

  “That’s why you’re here. You came to see if it’s been moved?”

  “I came to see what I could discover,” Carth said.

  “Why us?”

  “Because I need people I can trust.”

  “What if we can’t trust you?” Alana asked.

  “That’s fair,” Carth said. “But I would hope that the years we spent together would allow you to still trust me.”

  “Those years were a long time ago, Carth.”

  “They were, and I understand that quite a bit has changed in that time, and yet here you are, still sailing the way I taught you, still exploring, and still keeping the fleet together.”

  Fleet? Daniel had seen only two ships, but as he stared out into the water, he realized that there were more. In the distance, two other ships approached, and then, to the south, there were three more.

  How many ships did Carth have at her disposal? How many of the ships would side with them? And how many would turn around at the first sign of problems?

  “What choice did I have? When you abandoned us, I could do nothing other than keep the fleet together.”

  “You’ve done well,” Carth said. “You’ve done everything I imagine you would be able to do. And now I’m going to have to ask you to do even more.”

  “What if we refuse?”

  “I would never try to overpower your command, Alana.”

  “Your coming here subverts my command,” Alana said.

  “And you know that is not my intention. At the same time, I need your help.”

  Moments of silence passed before Alana nodded. “What is it that you need?”

  “I need an escort into Nyaesh.”

  “Why Nyaesh?”

  “Because the city is more dangerous now than when I was there before. We could pass through, but for what I need, I fear that a significant presence might be beneficial.”

  “How significant?” Alana asked.

  “Significant enough that the fleet might help.”

  Alana stared at Carth for a moment. “How much danger will this put us into?”

  “If everything goes as I plan, perhaps not that much danger.”

  “Perhaps?”

  “Only if it goes as planned.”

  Alana pressed her lips together, frowning deeply, and then she nodded. “The fleet is yours, Carth. It’s always been yours.”

  “It’s not always been mine, but I thank you.”

  Alana jumped back onto her ship and started barking out commands. Lines were untied, the ships separated, and Daniel marveled at how quickly everything happened. The women were all incredibly skilled, and the ships peeled off, separating from theirs.

  “That went far smoother than I was expecting,” Daniel said.

  “There’s something Carth isn’t revealing,” Lucy said.

  “Is that something you can see in her posture?”

  “No,” she said, her frown deepening. “I Read it, but why would she have wanted me to have Read it?”

  “What makes you think she wanted you to Read it?”

  “Because she didn’t hide it from me.”

  Daniel stared at Carth as she returned to the helm, grabbing the wheel. Everything Carth did had a purpose, but what was her purpose in this? “You think she’s trying to use us in some way?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t get that sense, and what I was able to gather from her was little more than a flash.”

  “What was that flash?” Daniel asked.

  “It was of a great, bright light. Heat surrounded us. It was warm and painful, but comforting at the same time. I’ve never known anything like it, and I have a sense that Carth doesn’t want us to find it, but at the same time, it seems as if she thinks we need to.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  Lucy shook her head. “It doesn’t make any sense, which is why I wonder why she revealed it to us.”

  One of the other Binders shouted something, and Lucy turned before heading off toward them. Daniel remained where he was for a moment, debating what he would do before deciding to go and speak with Carth. If there was something she was after, he would try to figure out what it was. And if she wasn’t trying to keep it from them, there had to be a reason for that, too.

  “So you have a fleet?”

  “I didn’t always have a fleet,” Carth said. “I’ve found that having access to the seas provides some benefits. Not all of us can Slide, and traveling in a more traditional manner doesn’t raise the same questions.” Carth stared straight ahead.

  “All of these women are Binders?”

  “All of these women have worked with me for many years,” she said.

  “I get the sense that they are displeased you disappeared for a time.”

  Carth glanced over at him. “How would your friends feel if they believed you dead, only to have you return from the grave?”

  “I suppose they would be both pleased and upset.”

  “And how would they feel if this wasn’t the first time you had felt the need to disguise yourself in such a way?”

  “You pretended to be dead before?”

  “There are answers that can only come from absence,” Carth said.

  “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “The Ai’thol fear me. Well, as much as they can fear anyone. I’m not entirely sure that they truly fear anything, so perhaps respect would be a better way of phrasing it.”

  “What about Rsiran?”

  “I think they respect Rsiran Lareth as well, though for a different reason. And it’s possible that they fear him, certainly more than they would fear me.”

  “Why?”

  “Because Rsiran has shown them ruthlessness. It matches what the Ai’thol have shown over the years, so I think they recognize a kindred spirit. They worry that Rsiran would do the same things they would do. And they fear just what that might involve.”

  “What is this about an Elder Stone?”

  “When you and Rayen shared with me what you faced, I realized something was off.”

  “And you didn’t want to share that before now?”

  “Would it have mattered?”

  “We are here with you.”

  “And yet, you and your friend are the only two who can simply leave. You aren’t stuck here, Daniel Elvraeth. The moment you decide this isn’t the journey you want to be a part of, the moment you decide that you want to escape, you can. All it takes is for you to imagine where you’d like to go.”

  “There are limits.”

  “Only within your mind.”

  “I don’t believe that. Distances matter.”

  “Again, only because you let them.”

  “You don’t Slide.”

  “And yet I’ve held the Wisdom Stone.”

  Daniel frowned. “You retained that knowledge?”

  “Not all of it, but while I held the Wisdom Stone, I understood what it took to Slide. I can’t anymore, but I remember that feeling. There was a certain sense of ease in knowing you could simply escape the moment things changed. I imagine that when you have that ability stripped from you, you feel the same as the rest of us do all the time.”

  “You intend to take us to Nyaesh?”

  “If we can. It’s possible that it won’t be safe for us to reach it.”

  “But you have a fleet.” There were at least
eight ships, though Daniel suspected there could be twice as many that he didn’t even see. They wouldn’t have any reason to fear with that many ships.

  “We have a fleet, but we also have people that I don’t want to sacrifice, not on a task like this. Besides, the fleet is merely a diversion.”

  “A diversion?”

  “You really should play Tsatsun with me.”

  “I still don’t understand why that would benefit me.”

  “Only because you haven’t played.”

  “What would it help me with?”

  “The fleet will serve as one move. In this case, I’m preparing for the possibility of a dozen other moves that would cascade from that. The presence of the fleet will raise attention within Nyaesh, and it will motivate their fleets to mobilize. Once the Nyaesh fleet is mobilized, many of the A’ras will go with them, wanting to protect the borders. Doing so will instigate a more pronounced response within the city itself. And it’s that pronounced response that we need.”

  “You want to raise the alert within the city? I don’t understand why that is beneficial.”

  “Consider the fleet merely a distraction. When your homeland was attacked twenty years ago, what did you experience?”

  “The city was attacked, but the forest was the target.”

  “Very good. The attack on the city was a distraction. A diversion. It was merely a way of drawing Lareth away, knowing he was the most dangerous one to the others.”

  “Then what’s the point of the attack on the trees this time?”

  Carth studied him, a smile parting her lips. “That’s the kind of question you should have been asking all along.”

  “We have been asking it.”

  “Have you been asking what other purpose they might have?”

  “I haven’t been in the city in a long time. I haven’t spent any time there to consider what other purpose they might have, but if they used the attack on Elaeavn as a diversion for what they were after in the forest, what purpose would they have in attacking the forest this time?”

  “Think about what’s happened since they attacked.”

  “We went after them.”

  “No. You went after Lareth.”

  “We went after Lareth. And rescued him. But if we hadn’t, the C’than intended to trade him to the Forgers.”

  Carth’s eyes narrowed. “Not the C’than. One of the C’than. Do not make the mistake of conflating the misdeeds of one person with the desires of all the C’than.”

  “Fine. One of the C’than intended to trade Lareth, but that doesn’t change the fact that we rescued him.”

  “And what do you think he’s done?”

  Daniel didn’t have to think too much about what Rsiran would do. He would have fortified the protections around the city. He would have tried to save the Elder Trees if he could. And they would have begun to prepare.

  “And think about what the Forgers might be able to do with that,” Carth said.

  “You think they want Lareth back in the city?”

  “I think there is a benefit to him being there, at least for whatever purpose the Ai’thol have for him. Lareth is bright enough that he has likely considered it too.”

  “If he’s considered it, then does it matter?”

  Carth shook her head. “There are times when you are forced to make certain moves. They might not be the moves you would like to make, or that would be your strongest play, but when facing a skilled opponent, you may not have any choice. It’s like that with Lareth. Regardless of what else he might want to do, I doubt that he has much choice in the matter. He has to play this out. If he doesn’t, he runs the risk of exposing your home, Elaeavn, to a danger that he would be unable to protect it from.”

  “How does that have anything to do with where we’re going?”

  “I’m using the same strategy,” Carth said.

  “You intend to force Nyaesh to make a certain move?” Daniel didn’t completely understand, but the more he heard Carth talk, the more he realized she truly did have a way of planning that he couldn’t completely fathom.

  “I intend to force the A’ras to take action, but whether that action will result in the outcome that I anticipate remains to be seen. I’m willing to attempt to force it in one direction, and if it works, then we will achieve what we need. If it fails, then we will be thankful that we have you and your friends with us.”

  “Because of our ability to Slide.”

  Carth nodded. “The people of Nyaesh have faced others with the ability to Slide. The Hjan were often descended from your people.”

  “I’ve heard that.”

  “I’m sure you have. Several of them were powerful, augmented as they were by the arcane knowledge acquired by Venass over the years. We struggled when we faced them.”

  “How long were you here?”

  “I lived in Nyaesh for longer than I lived in any other place. It was home,” Carth said.

  “Why didn’t you stay?”

  “Because I was forced away. The Hjan made a similar move, but ultimately, it was the wrong one.”

  “Why?”

  “Because by forcing me to take action, they opened themselves up to failure. They made an enemy out of me. And I’m not the kind of person that anyone wants as an enemy.”

  Daniel watched Carth as she continued to steer them. Shadows swirled from her, stretching out into the water, pushing the ship forward. It wasn’t only their ship that she pushed; though he couldn’t see the connections between the shadows and the two ships on either side of them, the fact that they kept pace suggested Carth was using her ability on them as well.

  “You still haven’t forgiven them for what they did all those years ago,” he said.

  Carth didn’t look over at him.

  “What was it? What did they do to you?”

  “They took my family,” Carth said softly.

  “How long ago was it?”

  “Long enough,” Carth said.

  “Long enough for what?”

  “Long enough that I should have moved past it.”

  “Should have?”

  Carth nodded. “I’m trying,” she said. “And it doesn’t get any easier.”

  “Why keep fighting?”

  “Because there aren’t too many who can.”

  17

  Ryn

  Ryn followed Olandar Fahr to the temple. Her feet rang on the smooth marble, the only sound as she trailed after him. He was silent, his footsteps somehow not making the same noise as hers. He made his way quickly through the temple, ignoring all branchings off the main hall, and reached a wide stairway that led up.

  Everything here smelled different. There was a hint of spice to the air, though it seemed as if it were to cover up something else. Moving through the hallway, she detected other odors, of food—breads and meats and other savory aromas—and a hint of smoke. Those were both familiar and different, foods she had never tried before, though in the time she’d been traveling with Olandar Fahr, she had grown accustomed to sampling different foods.

  She hadn’t been able to figure out why Olandar Fahr brought her here. Something troubled him, though he hadn’t spoken of it. Ever since he had returned from his traveling, wherever he had gone, she had found him in something of a mood. It was the kind of thing that she didn’t push. She didn’t want to anger him, and besides, it might be that he was quiet for her benefit. There was something about the temple that resonated with her. It was power, but it was also a place of peace and comfort.

  Could this be another lesson he wanted her to learn?

  In the days since they had visited the volcano—and the strange room with the tiled floor and ceilings—she had thought quite a bit about what he wanted of her. He had said only that it was for her to watch, to observe, and report back to him what she witnessed. There was more to it than that, though she didn’t know what other expectations he might have for her. For his part, Olandar Fahr had made a point of not telling her what more he wan
ted from her.

  This city and this temple were places she’d never visited before. With Olandar Fahr’s ability to travel, he could visit anywhere, anytime, and he did so rapidly, in little more than the blink of an eye, and then returned. When he was gone, he rarely stayed away for very long, choosing to remain with her. And when he didn’t bring her along with him, he always left her in places like this, places of safety. This temple, or another, or another.

  At the top of the stairs, he continued forward. A door opened, and a round man wearing a deep navy-colored robe stepped out. A long necklace hung around his neck, and a pendant on the end of it reflected the light. There were shapes about that pendant that felt significant, familiar, though she wasn’t quite sure why that would be.

  The man bobbed his balding head, looking at Olandar Fahr. “Great One. You have blessed us with your return.”

  “I have. I have someone that I would like you to meet.”

  She studied Olandar Fahr for a moment. Was it a coincidence that this man would refer to him as Great One? Maybe there was something more to it, or perhaps this was what Olandar Fahr had wanted her to see. Maybe he wanted her to know that others viewed him in such a way.

  “This is Ryn Valeron.”

  “What is her role, Great One?”

  Olandar Fahr studied her for a moment. “It has yet to be determined. I have been observing her to decide.”

  There was something about the way he said this that struck her as strange. Why would he have to observe her to decide what role she would play? And why would she have to play any role?

  “She is welcome, of course.”

  “I didn’t realize that it was open for discussion.”

  The man bowed his head again. “Of course, Great One. I’m sorry that I’m implied otherwise. It’s just that—”

  “I expect you to allow her to feel welcome while I take care of a few things,” he said.

  “Certainly. Is there anything we should do on your behalf?”

  “Is there anything you think I need to have done?”

  “It’s not that. It’s more that—”

  “I would have you treat her as you would any disciple.”