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

by D. K. Holmberg

  “This is a trap.”

  “Very good.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s needed.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  In the distance, a low curved structure came into view. It was made of lorcith, but not only lorcith. There was heartstone—the swirls of blue giving it away—along with a few other metals, each of them with a different coloration, enough so that he did not detect the sense of lorcith in the same way as he normally would. The lorcith involved in building the structure was incredible.

  It had to be made of a single slab of lorcith, and heavy enough that it would have required significant energy to move here. He couldn’t imagine anyone other than his father being able to do so. Mixing the metals into it would have taken either a huge forge or his father’s ability to push and pull on lorcith. No one else had that ability.

  Could he do that? Though he’d never had much interest in forging metals, if he could use his connection to lorcith, maybe he’d be able to push and pull on it in such a way that would allow him to change it, and perhaps even mix alloys in the same manner as his father.

  “You’ve got a prison here.”

  “Something like that.”

  “How long have you had it?”

  “It’s been here for a while. We haven’t needed it, but I wanted to have it in the chance that we did require it.”

  “Who’s inside?” There had to be someone; otherwise, his father wouldn’t have shown him.

  “I wouldn’t have brought you here if I didn’t have to,” his father said.

  “Why?”

  “Because I don’t want you to be caught up in this any more than you already are, but you are involved, and your involvement may be necessary. It’s time for you to know what’s here.”

  Whatever it was had to be important, especially as he believed that his father wouldn’t have involved him were there any other choice.

  As he approached the building, Haern was aware of the pressure from lorcith. It was an odd, unpleasant sense, much different than what he normally detected from the metal, and he suspected it had to do with whatever alloy his father had created.

  “Can you Slide here?”

  “I can Slide near here, but even I can’t penetrate this far.”

  “That’s why we walked.”

  “That’s part of it.”

  Haern made a circle around the building, the uncomfortable sensation continuing to build. He hated it. It was an odd thing to be aware of, but the sense of lorcith was more than just uncomfortable. It was unpleasant too, and the longer he felt it, the more he wanted to be away from it.

  “It does more than prevent Sliding.”

  “Very good.”

  “What is it?”

  “It’s a deterrent.”

  “A deterrent?” Haern asked, arching a brow at his father.

  “For those who would attempt to reach it.”

  “It’s more than that.”

  “It is, but without having a connection to the Forger metal, you won’t be able to fully understand it.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s painful.”

  “Torture?” He looked away from the metal, turning his attention to his father. “That’s what this is? After everything you said about Galen, you’re doing the same thing.”

  “I realize how it might appear.”

  “It appears just like that, Father. You’re tormenting Forgers, and… wait. You have a Forger.”

  “Because of you, Haern. When you pulled yourself into the clearing, you crashed into the Forger who attacked you and knocked him out. In doing so, you gave us an opportunity.”

  Haern stiffened, turning his attention to the cell. It was the same kind of prison his father himself had recently been in, one that was designed to prevent anyone from Sliding free, so it surprised Haern that his father would be willing to construct something like that.

  But if they had the Forger, they might be able to find answers.

  “Who is he?”

  “He’s been out since his capture, so we haven’t been able to determine anything about him. Neither has Cael Elvraeth.”

  That was more important. If she couldn’t Read the Forger, then there might not be any way of determining what he was after.

  “I thought we could question him together.”

  “You would have me here rather than one of the guild members?”

  “I trust you, Haern. You were willing to risk quite a bit coming after me, and you managed to do what few would have.”

  “I don’t know how much of that was me and how much of it was Carth.”

  “You showed wisdom in choosing your allies.”

  Haern looked around the forest. Trees arched over, practically drawn toward the strange cell made of lorcith alloy. “Why the change of heart?”

  His father grunted. “Your mother had a few words with me.”

  Haern began to smile. His mother could be difficult, hard, even. She could be stubborn. But she was fiercely loyal, and he was happy to know that his father still listened to her advice. “What sort of questions do you intend to ask?”

  “The kind that he will have to answer.”

  There was a small seam along one wall, and his father pressed his hand on it, closing his eyes for a moment, his jaw clenched in concentration, until there was a soft click. He pulled on what turned out to be a door, and it opened outward. Rsiran nodded to him, and Haern stepped inside, letting his eyes adjust slowly to the faint light.

  Slats constructed in the top of the cell allowed some sunlight to filter into it. He had thought this would be the entirety of the structure, but there was an inner ring. It reminded him of the cell they had found his father within. This one was a little different. Rather than simple bars, they were strange and spiraling shapes, and comprised of more than just lorcith.

  Within the inner ring—on the other side of the bars—sat the Forger. He was awake, his wrists and ankles shackled, and his eyes were closed.

  “Have you come to finally release me?” the man asked, blinking open his eyes and turning toward Haern. He stared at him for a moment before flicking his gaze past him and to Rsiran. “I see.”

  “Your attack failed,” Rsiran said. He paced around the space between the cell and the outer wall. Every so often, he paused, tipping his head to the side, and touched the bars before moving on. Haern thought it was strange at first, until he realized his father must be detecting changes to the cell—changes the prisoner must’ve made. “And you will remain here as long as I see fit to hold you,” Rsiran said.

  “You won’t be able to hold me. You aren’t capable of doing anything,” the Forger said.

  “Take your time. Listen to the lorcith. Realize that it responds to me, and me alone. You may have some control over it, but the alloy I have placed around you will not respond to another.”

  Haern tried to listen to the lorcith, wondering if it would react to him. He detected nothing. It was simply absent. There was a sense of lorcith, but nothing more than that. His father was right. Whatever he’d done to the metal had attuned it in such a way that he was the only one who would be able to do anything with it.

  His father continued to make a circle of the cell before finally stopping next to Haern. “I take it from your lack of attempt that you already tried this. You will find the cuffs work much the same way.”

  “You would steal our knowledge to confine me?”

  “Steal? No. You’re mistaken. I use nothing more than what the lorcith tells me.”

  The Forger jerked on his chains, startling Haern, but his father stood unfazed.

  “Resist all you want, but you feel it, I suspect. That pressure will be your constant companion. It’s going to build and build, growing ever more unpleasant the longer you’re here.”

  “It’s not in you to torture,” the Forger said.

  His father gripped the bars of the cell and leaned close. “Isn’t it? I was captured twelve years ag
o. You held me for weeks. Tormented me daily. I resisted. Each passing day showed me how to escape. Each passing day taught me what I needed to know to fight. And each passing day helped to build my resolve.”

  Haern looked to his father. He hadn’t realized that he’d been captured twelve years ago. There were stretches where his father would disappear, but Haern had thought that normal, simply the way his father operated when dealing with the Forgers. He never would’ve guessed that his father had been captured before. He’d thought the first time had been when he had been brought to Asador. Maybe his father wasn’t nearly as helpless as Haern had believed.

  It might explain why his mother hadn’t been nearly as agitated as Haern had been.

  But then, the Forgers had never attacked them in Elaeavn like that.

  “You should have been brought to him.”

  “Yes. Tell me about him.”

  The Forger sneered at his father. “You can’t begin to understand how much he knows.”

  “I think I can. I managed to capture you.”

  “You didn’t capture me. He did,” he said, nodding toward Haern.

  “He did. And considering how little training he has received, that should trouble you.”

  The Forger turned his attention to Haern and jerked on the chains. “You won’t hold me.”

  “I won’t?” His father stepped back and closed his eyes for a moment, and the metal parted around him, leaving a narrow space for Rsiran to step through.

  When he did, the metal returned to its previous shape. He leaned toward the man, touching the cuffs. The Forger screamed.

  “Do you feel it constrict against your wrists? Do you feel it against your ankles? The lorcith obeys me. It listens to me. It recognizes how you have bastardized the power stored within it. You have angered the Great Watcher.”

  The Forger grinned up at Haern’s father. “The Great Watcher? Do you think I fear the Great Watcher? We have acquired the power of the Elder Stones. Soon we will have others that even Rel won’t be able to keep us from. We don’t fear your particular magic.”

  His father remained silent, but Haern stepped forward, putting himself up against the bars of the cell. “You might have acquired other Elder Stones, but you still recognize the power of the crystals. It’s the reason the Ai’thol have pursued them.”

  “You think you understand, but you have been controlled by those who know so little… so very little.” He watched Haern, a twisted smile working across his face. “You have managed to learn more than him in a shorter period of time,” he said, nodding to Rsiran.

  His father took a step back, and with a tip of his head toward the bars, they peeled apart, allowing his father to step outside. Once he was out, he relaxed whatever control he had over the metal, and they reverted to their original position.

  Haern again tried connecting to the lorcith within the bars, but he couldn’t. Would the Forger be able to? His father believed that he had him trapped, but what if it was only an illusion? The Forgers had proven themselves capable before, and this one might simply be pretending, biding his time.

  “You will answer. We’ll know why you’re here,” his father said.

  “You know why I’m here.”

  “No. I know why you want us to believe you’re here, but not why you have really come. The answers will come. The longer you sit here, the more inclined you’ll be to share them. I have little doubt that you will eventually come around.”

  Haern hadn’t seen this kind of seething anger in his father before; while he knew his father hated the Forgers, he simply hadn’t expected this level of vitriol.

  Rsiran motioned for him to follow him, and they headed back out.

  “What was that about?” he asked his father.

  “Trying to get information,” Rsiran said.

  “Not just that, but the rest of it. Were you really captured for weeks twelve years ago?”

  His father looked over at him. “I’ve faced the Forgers for a long time, son. In that time, they have captured me many times, and each time they do, I fear that I won’t return. Each time they do, they learn something more about me. They learn my capabilities. They learn my limitations. Each time they capture me, I fear that they will succeed. And each time, I’ve never managed to get closer to him.”

  “Who is he?”

  His father turned his attention to the lorcith jail. “He is someone of great power. A scholar, but more than that. He’s the man who controls the Forgers—and through them, the Ai’thol. For this to end, he’s the man we must stop.”

  29

  Lucy

  The ship hit a particularly violent wave, and Lucy struggled to maintain her footing. As she did, she had to wonder if perhaps she was more tired than she had realized. Taking a seat in the chair alongside Carth’s bed, she rested, leaning forward on her elbows, looking around the room. Carth watched her, a curious expression on her face.

  “I don’t understand why you want to keep this from them,” Lucy said, looking at the other woman. Carth had her dark hair pulled back, and she wore a waxed jacket and pants, the kind that shed water quickly when they were out on the deck. A slender blade sheathed at her side offered a promise of violence. Many of the other women had attempted to teach Lucy, trying to work with her, but Lucy didn’t have the necessary skill. As much as she’d tried to improve, she simply had not. “If this is all about you pursuing the C’than, shouldn’t they know about it?”

  Lucy didn’t know if there was any benefit in her getting a better understanding of the C’than and what Carth wanted from her, though she had to believe there was something she could learn. More than ever, now that she had made the connection between the C’than, she realized that she needed to understand what they were capable of doing and how that might impact her. There was something for her to learn, even if it was the kind of thing that Carth might want to keep from her.

  “Because we are dealing with things that need to be kept relatively quiet. It’s more than just the C’than. Many of the Binders are aware of the role of the C’than, but they don’t understand much more than that. If they knew that some among the C’than were involved in the attack, it would erode their trust in them.”

  “And you want that trust to remain.”

  “Until I have reason otherwise, I think it needs to remain.”

  Lucy still didn’t really understand Carth’s insistence that they continue to work with the C’than. They had not uncovered anything in their journeys, and though they had traveled extensively up and down the coast, nothing had suggested to either Carth or Lucy that the C’than were compromised. Then again, Lucy hadn’t seen much of the C’than. She had gone with Carth, and at most of the strongholds, Lucy had been denied access, just as she had at the very first one. Because Lucy wasn’t one of them, she had never been permitted inside the strongholds, forced to remain outside while Carth went and had her questions answered.

  “When do you want to leave?”

  “Soon,” Carth said.

  The one thing Lucy didn’t know was how long they would be gone. Depending upon how far they went and how long they were gone, her ability to return them might be altered. When she had gone on her test journeys, she hadn’t been gone for very long, and she had maintained her connection to Daniel Elvraeth on the chance that she might need to find some way to transport her back. What would happen if she lost that ability?

  Would they end up stranded because of her? Carth was needed, and regardless of what they were up to, she couldn’t shake the idea that there were very distinct things Carth needed to accomplish, and Lucy had a role in helping her do so.

  “Are you certain that you’re ready?”

  Lucy frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

  “It doesn’t seem as if you want to train,” Carth said.

  “I’ve told you already that I’m no soldier.”

  “You would rather lead?” Carth shifted around a game board she kept on board the ship. The pieces didn’t move with
out Carth moving them, and Lucy suspected there were magnets in the pieces and the game board to ensure that they didn’t fall. It would be the only way to have game pieces like that on board a ship that rocked as much as this one did. “Even when you lead, you need to have some understanding of the techniques involved in fighting. It doesn’t mean that you have to be a fighter, only that you have to understand fighting.”

  “I don’t even want to lead,” Lucy said.

  Carth cocked her head to the side, studying her. “What would you prefer to do?”

  Lucy shrugged. “I know you suggested that I try to find my strengths, and I’m trying to do that, but I don’t know that my strengths include fighting.”

  “What are your strengths?”

  Having been back to Elaeavn, she couldn’t shake the idea that her strengths were tied to what she had done there. And was that so bad? She had been training to be a caretaker in the library, and despite everything she had ever said, there was nothing about that which she disliked. She enjoyed the time in the library, and it was the reason she had headed back there when she had visited the palace. The library was as much home to her as anyplace else within the palace. “I don’t know.”

  “You have considerable talent,” Carth said. “With your abilities, the types of things you can do are almost endless.”

  Lucy took a deep breath, looking around the small room. Carth had her own quarters, and it was for reasons like this that she did. Partly it was because this was Carth’s ship, but partly it was because Carth needed the privacy in order to travel off the ship.

  “The more I learn about these abilities, the more I question exactly what I want to use them for.”

  “I’m not asking you to use them in a way that you would detest.”

  Lucy smiled. “I know you’re not.”

  “Do you feel that this is something you can’t do?”

  Lucy studied the game board, noting the way Carth had the pieces arranged. She had never taken much time to consider the game board before, partly because she had no interest in learning the game. There was something about this game that Carth considered incredibly important, and she had shown Lucy before, though in Lucy’s mind, nothing about it would be useful for what she needed to do. Perhaps that was a mistake. Carth knew many things, and if she viewed the board as something important, some method for her to better understand strategy, then perhaps Lucy should take that into consideration rather than dismissing it.