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

by D. K. Holmberg

  And at any moment, Galen might throw a knife at him.

  He paused, pressing his back up against the nearby trunk. The bark this high up in the forest was smooth. The pungent aroma of the leaves cloyed in his nostrils, and he ignored it, focusing instead on his footing. Even that, he tried not to focus on too much. There was no point in spending too much time fixated on where he stood. If he did, he might slip and fall anyway.

  Instead, he needed to focus on where he would go next and be prepared for the possibility that he would need to disappear. That meant jumping. Dropping. Perhaps falling.

  He’d already fallen once, and even though he had walked along these branches for his entire life, prowling through them like this was different. It required skills that didn’t come quite as naturally.

  Movement above him caught his attention, and Haern threw himself off to the side, curling around one of the trunks, keeping a tight grip on it. He squished his back up against the trunk, watching for any other movement.

  With his Sight, he thought he should be able to detect the movement in the trees, but Galen would be tricky, and he still hadn’t discovered whether Galen had asked others to help him. It was possible that it wasn’t only Galen he had to worry about. If there were others he needed to watch out for, then he had to keep track of them.

  It was part of the lesson Galen wanted him to learn. He had to be prepared for more than just the person he stalked, and though he knew to follow Galen, he also knew that others might be out there.

  There came another flicker of movement. It was on a branch below him.

  He kept himself pressed up against the trunk. Any movement would draw attention, and he wanted to be careful that he didn’t draw any attention to himself until he knew what he was dealing with.

  Haern grabbed one of the darts. It was tipped with a small amount of lorcith, barely a sliver, but after practicing with it for as long as he had, he had discovered that he could control it nearly as well as he could a knife made of lorcith. And a sliver gave him hope that the Forgers wouldn’t detect it until it was too late.

  But then, as Galen had suggested, he also needed to be prepared for the possibility that they would adapt. They often adapted to every assault thrown their way. That might be why his father was so effective against them. With his breadth of skills, it was difficult for them to fully anticipate to what he could do. Maybe the fact that he had finally been captured meant they had at last discovered a way to counter everything his father could throw at them.

  Haern stepped around the trunk.

  Three people were scattered all around him.

  Who had Galen recruited to help him with training?

  Haern didn’t know much about Galen’s life within Elaeavn. He had encountered the man only a few times within the palace before traveling with him, and other than his connection to Cael Elvraeth, Haern didn’t really know much about him.

  He’d been there for twenty years, long enough that he would have some connections to others within the palace. More likely than not, the three people dressed in dark green cloaks standing on the branches were from the palace. He recognized one of them—a palace guard, one of the tchalit. Since the attack, they had served a less important role, though they still viewed themselves as being just as significant as before.

  Haern pushed out with his connection to the lorcith, sending one dart toward the nearest man. He angled it, bringing the dart in a different direction rather than coming directly at him. If he could make it seem as if he weren’t standing where he was, he might draw the attention of the others, pulling them in a different way.

  The dart pierced the man.

  It was loaded with a mild sedative. It would make him sleepy but wouldn’t knock him out completely. Galen hadn’t wanted anyone to get harmed here, though training in the treetops had risks regardless.

  The man sank down to the ground and made a motion to his left.

  Haern smiled to himself. His ruse had worked. The man had believed that Haern was somewhere else.

  The other two started off, and Haern pushed out with another dart, sending it streaking toward the nearest of them, then, at the last moment, he curled around, catching the farther of the two on the shoulder. He blinked as he looked down, noticing the dart, and collapsed, pointing off in a different direction.

  The final man paused. He was the tchalit, and it seemed as if his training had helped him realize everything Haern had done so far was little more than a distraction.

  He scanned the treetops, looking all around, and just as his attention turned toward Haern, he sent another dart at the man.

  He didn’t bother to disguise it this time. He pushed with as much force as he could, wanting the dart to reach the man before he could react. He dropped, and the dart sank into his scalp.

  The man cried out, and Haern raced forward, trying to catch him before he fell.

  When he reached the tchalit soldier, he realized his mistake.

  Something sharp pressed up against his side.

  “You revealed yourself too quickly,” Galen said.

  Haern looked down to see a knife pressed against him. “I didn’t want him to fall during the training.”

  “You have to be careful with your compassion.”

  “My compassion is what separates me from the Forgers.”

  “Is it? Don’t you think they have compassion for their kind? Don’t you think the Forgers would do whatever it took to help their own?”

  He had seen the Forgers working together, wanting to make sure they were safe. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe it wasn’t about compassion. It was about the intensity of what he was willing to do.

  “You made a mistake, too.”

  Galen frowned at him. “Oh, did I?”

  Haern pulled on one of the darts, tearing it free from the tchalit and piercing Galen with it. His hand slipped, only a little, but enough that Haern was able to twist off to the side, reaching for the dagger.

  “Good. You didn’t abandon the attack when you thought yourself defeated. I’ve seen too many people give up, as if they were willing to accept whatever fate dealt them.”

  “Even when that meant they would die?”

  “Even then. Too often they simply abandon everything they’ve learned.”

  “Did my father?”

  “Your father wouldn’t be alive if he did.”

  Galen released him, letting the knife go and stepping back. Haern made his way over to check on the others, pausing briefly at each man before moving onward. When he was done, Galen made his way back to him. “Skill wise, you’re ready,” Galen said. “You can always get better, and we can keep training, but there comes a time when we have to move on to what’s next.”

  “I still don’t know nearly enough about poisons and how to use them.”

  “You know enough. And I think that you can continue to learn more.”

  “When will we leave to go after the Forgers?”

  “We?”

  “I didn’t think you would let me do it myself.”

  “Haern, I left the city for this purpose once before. I can’t keep abandoning my responsibilities and Elaeavn, and I can’t keep abandoning Cael.”

  “Could she come with us?”

  “Cael has responsibilities within the city.”

  “Others can’t fulfill those responsibilities?”

  “There are others who could take on a greater role, and Cael has served the council for a long time, long enough that she should be granted an opportunity to step away. But knowing my wife, and knowing of recent events, I know that she has no interest in stepping aside.”

  “We need to figure out what the Forgers plan—”

  “You aren’t ready for that alone. You need help that I can’t offer.” Galen watched him. “You do have a friend who might be of help.”

  “Lucy hasn’t returned since she left us.”

  “Maybe she hasn’t because there hasn’t been a reason, but now there is.”

  “I
don’t have an easy way of reaching her.”

  “You live in a city full of people who can Slide. You have a father who has an ability greater than anyone else. And you don’t think there’s an easy way of reaching her?”

  “I’m not sure asking my father is the right strategy when it comes to this.”

  “You might disagree about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it, but he sees the value in it. He won’t admit it, but I can tell that he recognizes that much. There’s no way that he couldn’t, after facing the Forgers for as long as he has.”

  Would his father help?

  It would provide an opportunity, but if his father were to help, then Haern could simply ask him. He wouldn’t need to go to Lucy.

  But then, if his father came with them, leaving the city, it would leave too much exposed. They couldn’t do that.

  “Why don’t we continue to train?” Haern asked.

  “I need to return. I’ve been gone long enough and often enough that I don’t feel it’s fair to Cael to remain away from her.”

  “I could go with you.”

  Galen cocked his head to the side, grinning. “I doubt Cael would appreciate that.”

  “Because I’m Rsiran’s son?”

  “Because there are times when a husband needs to be with his wife.”

  Haern flushed and smiled. “When do you plan to return?”

  “If you intend to leave soon, then I will help make sure that you’re ready. You shouldn’t go until you’ve had a chance to fully prepare.”

  What would it take for him to be as prepared as Galen thought he needed to be? Would it be more sparring? Haern hadn’t minded the searching through the trees. There had been something almost peaceful about it. But it hadn’t really prepared him.

  He began to feel as if he were wasting time with each day they remained here. The Forgers were out there. They were planning. They would attack. And he had to be ready.

  More than that, though, he felt he needed to figure out whether there even was a way of saving the Elder Trees. And if there wasn’t, then they needed to prepare for the possibility that the trees might need to be destroyed.

  From here, he could feel the pull of the lorcith from the trees. It was subtle, but enough that he didn’t have to strain to detect it. The rods his father had placed pushed the sense of lorcith up along the entire trunk of the tree, leaving them with power pulsing off them.

  “If you know of anyone in the palace who could Slide me to find Lucy, I would appreciate it.”

  “You don’t want to ask that of your father?”

  Haern sighed. “I could ask, but then he would need to leave the city.”

  “You fear for him?”

  “I fear for Elaeavn. If he leaves, whatever protection he’s offered would be lost.” And though it wasn’t clear just how much protection his father had offered, it had to be some. The Forgers hadn’t been able to fully penetrate the protections. They’d managed a single attack, but if Haern knew anything about his father, he knew he would have stayed focused on trying to find a way to keep out the Forgers.

  Galen frowned. “There might be a person who could help.”

  “In the palace?” Other than Daniel and Lucy, he didn’t know how many other people in the palace had the ability to Slide. Most of them came and joined the guilds when they discovered that ability, even if they were well connected within Elaeavn. There was a way of learning what it meant to Slide that they wouldn’t get within the city. They needed to come to the guilds for that education.

  “There have always been some among the Elvraeth who have the ability to Slide.”

  “Lucy told me they don’t like it when the Elvraeth Slide.”

  “They might not, but after the last twenty years, they need to get over the old issues. We’ve seen how useful Sliding can be, especially with the attacks. Some try to hide it, though they shouldn’t.”

  Haern thought he understood. Galen intended to convince someone who might not want to share their ability with the world to reveal that they could Slide.

  That was one of the worst things that could happen, even now. When his father had been young, Sliding had been essentially forbidden. He had been forced to hide it. It had taken a long time for people to accept that Sliding was a gift and not some sort of dangerous or dark ability, and there were still those who adhered to the old ways of thinking.

  “Who is it?”

  “I will approach them first.”

  Haern sighed. “If you’re going to approach them, it might be helpful if I go with you.”

  “Why is that?”

  “I’ve found that those with the ability to Slide respond to my father. They want to be like him.”

  “This person would not.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Galen’s mouth quirked in a slight smile. “Completely.”

  “Then I definitely want to go.”

  “Even if they don’t—and won’t—care about your father?”

  “That’s even more reason for me to go.”

  Galen shrugged and motioned for Haern to follow. They started along the upper branches, making their way toward the heart of the Aisl. From there, they could climb back down to the forest floor.

  As they made their way through the trees, a flicker of movement caught Haern’s attention. He paused, reaching for Galen, but he wasn’t fast enough.

  Something streaked through and slammed into Galen’s shoulder.

  Haern lunged for him, wanting to catch him before the man fell, but Galen moved too quickly, dropping as he’d been struck. For the briefest moment, Haern wondered if this was part of Galen’s game, but seeing the blood pooling around the wound and watching Galen fall quickly to the ground below took that suspicion away.

  Where had the attack come from?

  It was within the trees, but where?

  Haern looked around. There wasn’t any good sign of where it had been, other than the brief flash of movement he’d noticed. That could be nothing.

  Another flicker of movement came from above him.

  Had he not been searching, he wasn’t sure he would have noticed it.

  It came with a shimmer, a swirl of colors that told him whoever was coming traveled by Sliding.

  Haern dropped to the branch, clinging to it.

  Something whistled through the air and shot directly over where he’d just been standing.

  He let out a shaky breath. He needed to get down to the ground and check on Galen, but if he did so without caution, he might get struck the same way.

  When he noticed a rustling of leaves, he pushed on a dart in his pocket.

  Most of the poison might have been spent, but he hoped enough remained that he could use it against whoever had attacked him.

  The dart whistled through the air, and Haern didn’t wait to see if it struck. He didn’t feel anything pushing against him, so if it was a Forger, it would have to be one who had not yet noticed he had a sliver of lorcith within the dart he could utilize.

  Even that sliver might not be enough.

  Haern crawled slowly, craning his neck as he searched around the trees, looking for any sign of additional movement.

  Nothing came.

  He paused, looking over the branch, and saw Galen lying motionless on the forest floor. Blood pooled around his wound, and a glint of metal caught his attention, piercing his shoulder.

  Great Watcher! It was a Forger, and that was the same type of weapon that had struck Lucy. Would Galen be equally injured? Could anything be done for him?

  Worse, the one person who might be able to help might be disinclined after everything they’d gone through.

  Haern glanced around before reaching the main part of the tree and wrapping his arms around it.

  As he did, a branch swayed overhead, and he pushed on a dart, pulling it from his pocket and sending it toward the swaying branch.

  This time, he did feel resistance against the dart.

  It was soft, subtle, and
it might not be anything significant. For all he knew, the pressure he felt on the dart wasn’t even real.

  No. It had to be real. The Forger must have noticed that he had lorcith within the dart.

  He slid down the trunk, unmindful of the skin scraping off his hands and legs. He slowed himself, grabbing on more tightly from time to time to keep himself from dropping directly to the ground, never wishing he had the ability to Slide the way he did right now. If he could Slide, not only could he grab Galen and get him to safety, but he might be better able to attack.

  Sliding.

  That was what he needed to watch for.

  The Forgers would rely upon it, using that to move rather than any other sort of stealth. When he had faced the Forgers before, he had seen just how much they depended upon their ability to Slide, and he thought he could observe the shimmering that came before they Slid—along with the strange striations of color when they emerged.

  Haern paused for a moment, searching around for any sign of Sliding, but there was none.

  He could wait, but if he didn’t move quickly, then Galen would suffer.

  Searching one more time for any sign of shimmering, he raced toward the fallen man. He kept himself low, his back hunched over, and when he reached him, he found Galen still breathing, though shallowly.

  He grabbed onto Galen and pulled, yanking him.

  He was heavy, and in Haern’s anxiety, he managed to drag him, but didn’t know how long he’d be able to do so.

  A shimmering came from above him.

  Haern stumbled toward the nearest tree, pushing one of his knives as he did and sending it streaking toward the Forger.

  Unsurprisingly, the knife veered off, and Haern redirected it, pushing at the same time on another knife, sending it at him in a way that would distract his attention. It was possible the Forger had the ability to split his focus, but if he hadn’t trained at that, maybe Haern didn’t need to worry about his sliver of lorcith within the dart.

  He pushed on the third knife.

  Prior to chasing after his father, he had never attempted to split his focus on lorcith in so many different ways, and even now it was difficult. But he didn’t need to have exquisite skill with this. All he needed to do was send the knife at the Forger.