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

by D. K. Holmberg

  “Is this a game that I should learn?” she asked Carth.

  Carth watched her for a long moment. “I have taught many over the years, but most don’t really have the necessary interest in understanding.”

  “Why do they need to have your specific interest?”

  “Because the game itself is difficult to play. In order to become skilled, you have to dedicate yourself to it.”

  “What about you? Did you dedicate yourself to it?”

  “There was a time when I focused far more on this game than I probably should have. It consumed me, and everything I did was tied up in a perception of the game itself.” She smiled. “I’ve changed a bit since then. We all have.”

  “What about this man?”

  “He still views everything as a game, and if I’m right, that will be his downfall.”

  “What if you’re wrong?”

  “That might be my downfall,” Carth said softly. She lifted one of the pieces, holding it in her hand before setting it back down. “My mentor once told me that we could learn much from playing. There was a time when I believed that. There was a time when everything I understood about strategy came from this game, but it misses one element.”

  “What element is that?”

  “Motivation.” Carth set the piece back down. “You can understand the various moves someone can make, and you can understand the strategy behind them, but to truly be an effective player, you have to be able to read your opponent, which means that you have to know what motivates them. When it comes to Olandar Fahr, I know what motivates him. He seeks power, and everything he does is in the service of acquiring more power. That’s why it’s easy enough for us to know that we have to defend the Elder Stones, or at least find where he’s going next to prevent him from reaching one of the Elder Stones. The protections I have placed around them have limited his access, preventing him from getting to some of the stones, though I suspect not all. Yet even that doesn’t tell me everything about Olandar Fahr. I don’t fully know what motivates him when it comes down to understanding his next move. Much like he doesn’t always understand what motivates me, though I suspect that I am far easier for him to read than he is for me.”

  “My father always enjoyed games,” Lucy said, staring at the board. It was nothing like the kind of games her father had favored. Those were played on a different style of board, one that was more triangular in shape, and that seemed to have a considerable element of chance to it. She had a sense that the game Carth played was not about chance at all but about skill, and given what she knew about Carth, she suspected that the other woman had considerable skill. “He used to play them with Daniel’s father. They would spend hours playing games. Usually, they talked about the business of the council, and I suspect they took that opportunity to make decisions.”

  “Did your father ever tell you why he played games?”

  “I imagine it was to pass the time.”

  “Perhaps. Yet, depending on the nature of the players and the skill involved in the game, anyone who sits upon the council would be able to learn about others by playing a game. You can understand someone’s temperament and begin to gauge how they might react to various attacks. Then again, it might only have been a game.” Carth smiled, sliding a piece forward. “I’ve been trying to teach Daniel this game.”

  “You have?”

  “He has a calculating mind.”

  “I think that’s from how his father raised him. Everything was strategy to him.” When Daniel did allow himself to think back to Elaeavn and his family, those thoughts crept in, louder than many of the others. It was those kinds of thoughts that told her he both respected and resented his father, emotions that she understood quite well. And from what she had been able to Read of Daniel, he was calculating. At least, he had been. Ever since chasing her, going outside of Elaeavn with her, he had been acting more on emotion than with his analytical mind. He had allowed his affection for her and his belief that there would eventually be something more between them to cloud his judgment.

  “There are times when he loses focus,” Carth said, watching her.

  “I know what you are saying,” she said.

  “Do you?”

  “Either you’re Reading me, or you don’t need to.”

  Carth smiled. “I am not from Elaeavn.”

  “No, but from what I understand, you were there during the last attack.”

  “I was.”

  “Which means that you were around the sacred crystals.”

  Carth nodded again. “I was.”

  “And if you were around them, it’s possible that you were changed by them.”

  “I suppose that is possible.”

  “Would you like me to believe that you weren’t changed?”

  “You can believe whatever you want,” Carth said.

  “You’re not going to admit to me that you can Read me?”

  Carth smiled. “Have I given you any sense that I can Read you?”

  “You seem to know things that you should not.”

  “Consider it the power of observation,” Carth said. She moved another piece on the board. “If I make this move, and if my opponent understands what this implies, they will react in a specific way. If they don’t, or if they are trying to feign their strategy, to make me believe that they don’t, then they will react another way. Regardless of how they react, I come away with information. The longer I play, the more I can watch someone react to one move after another, the easier it is for me to predict how they will react the next time. After a while, I get a sense for what drives them.”

  “You’re saying that you have been watching me like I was playing a game with you.”

  “As I said, I used to treat everything as if it were a game. I no longer do.”

  Lucy stared at Carth, thinking there had to be something to what the woman was telling her, but she couldn’t determine what it might be. Perhaps it really was as simple as her trying to follow the things that Lucy would do, to prepare for any maneuver that she might make, or perhaps she had gained the ability to Read while in Elaeavn. Either way, it mattered little.

  “I will talk with Daniel.”

  “I think that’s for the best.”

  Carth stood, holding out her hand, waiting for Lucy. “When you’re ready.”

  Lucy could only nod. “Where are we going now?”

  “There is a place that I would like to visit, but you have not been there.”

  “I won’t be able to find it, then.”

  “I wonder if perhaps a different approach might be effective. In this case, if you were to Read me, to know what I knew about this place, do you think you would be able to Slide us there?”

  Lucy frowned. It was possible. She knew enough about Sliding to know that part of it came from simply the knowledge of a location, having seen it or knowing where to find it. Part of it came from a need to avoid dangers when Sliding.

  “It might work,” she said.

  “Might. Then there is some danger to it.”

  “Probably not as much as there would’ve been before.” When Carth arched a brow, Lucy told her about needing to move in order to Slide when she had first learned. “That’s no longer necessary for me.”

  “Which means that you don’t fear getting trapped someplace.”

  “The only danger would be if I emerged within a wall or some sort of cave or something along those lines. If that were to happen, I don’t know that we would survive it.”

  “Then you must ensure that we don’t emerge in such a fashion.”

  “Are you sure that you’re willing to let me Read you?”

  “You really have the sense that I’ve been keeping things from you?”

  Lucy smiled at her. “Yes.”

  “Don’t worry. I can allow you to Read as much as you need in order to make this effective.”

  It was the kind of thing she would have believed difficult were anyone else to say it, but this was Carth, and Lucy did believe tha
t she was capable of it.

  As she opened herself up to Reading Carth, a hint of knowledge drifted out. At first, it came slowly, little more than an image. The longer it was there, the clearer it became. There was a city, surrounded by a mountain, and Carth had a sense of warmth.

  Lucy held that image in her mind, and she Slid.

  The Slide came more slowly than she was accustomed to, but as it drifted to her, she was pulled toward this distant place, and when they emerged, she blinked her eyes open to see a gray sky. The hill swept up above them, leading toward an elevated city with a mountain in the background, much like the image she’d had from Carth.

  “I can’t believe that worked,” she said.

  “You didn’t think you’d be able to Slide us here?”

  “I’ve never Slid anywhere I haven’t been before. Where is this?”

  Carth stared up at the hillside, her gaze lingering on a particularly tall prominence of rock. As Lucy studied the city in the distance, she realized that it had been abandoned. There was no sense of life around the city. It was large, spreading out around the central tower, a low rock wall rising around the perimeter. An occasional crow flew overhead, cawing loudly, the only sound to break the silence.

  “We are in a place far to the north,” Carth said softly.

  “Why here?”

  “This was once a place of my people.”

  “Aren’t we sailing toward your people?”

  “Partly, and yet this is something different.” Carth pulled her gaze away, and she looked all around her. The landscape here was rocky, bleak, and Lucy realized it was cold, though she hadn’t noticed that until she started to focus on it. Perhaps she had been distracted by surprise that she had managed to Slide here in the first place. The mountain behind the city rose high above the clouds, disappearing, but not before the hint of snow creeping along its side became visible.

  “I remember coming here when I was much younger,” Carth said. “This was one of the stops my parents made as they brought me to where they thought they would be safe.”

  “Thought?”

  Carth nodded slowly. “Unfortunately, there was no safety for them. They were lost.”

  “How old were you?”

  Carth took a deep breath, slowly turning in place. “Twelve, I think. It was difficult when I was young, but I began to realize that I had talents. I suspect my parents were preparing me to embrace those talents, and they were lost before I had the opportunity to fully understand them. I still wonder what would’ve happened had they lived. How much would I have learned? I don’t think about it as much as I once did, but every so often, I’m reminded of how there seems to be a guiding hand that leads us where we need to go.”

  “The Seers tell us that the future isn’t written.”

  “Perhaps it’s not written, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t possibilities that would guide us on particular paths. In the case of who I am and what I’ve become, it seems as if every step I’ve taken has led me to this point.”

  “You could say that about anyone,” Lucy said. When Carth turned to her, she shrugged. “What if it’s not so much destiny as it is you becoming the product of your experiences?”

  “And what makes my experiences unique?”

  “I don’t know. You’ve kept those to yourself.”

  “You would prefer I open myself up so that you could Read me?”

  “It would make it easier for me to know.”

  “And what would you like to know?”

  “Whether there is anything we need to worry about with you.”

  “You don’t trust me?”

  “Do you trust me?” Lucy asked.

  “More now than I did when I first met you.”

  “That was when I was under control of the Forgers.”

  “And still you fought.”

  Lucy met her gaze for a moment before turning away and looking toward the empty city. “You haven’t told me why you wanted to come here.”

  “We’ve been investigating the C’than. This is another stronghold, though it was lost long ago.”

  “How was it lost?”

  “It wasn’t overrun by the Ai’thol, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  Lucy didn’t know what she should be worried about. When it came to the C’than, she didn’t really know what they were doing. Carth had some purpose in bringing her to these places, showing her the various arms of the C’than, but why?

  Carth watched her, and it seemed there was something in her eyes, curiosity or perhaps understanding, but either way, it was nothing that Lucy could fully Read. If only Carth would open herself up to her, then she might be able to Read her, might be able to understand what Carth wanted from her.

  “Can you still detect Daniel Elvraeth?”

  Lucy’s breath caught. She hadn’t considered that. When they had emerged here, she had been so thrilled with the fact that she had been able to Slide that she hadn’t focused on holding on to her connection to Daniel.

  As she thought of him, she became distantly aware of his thoughts. He was staring out over the water. As she focused on him, she was able to practically see through his eyes, the acuity of the image bright enough that she could find it within her mind, almost as if it were her memory. Tying her Reading to Sliding this way was beneficial, but she couldn’t help but think that it was invasive— a betrayal of sorts.

  Then again, Daniel probably wouldn’t object. He had tried to block her out, but at the same time, he had made it clear that he understood he wouldn’t be able to fully prevent her from getting into his mind. And it wasn’t that she wanted to uncover secrets he wanted hidden. This was more about borrowing his connection.

  Would she ever tell him what she did?

  Lucy wasn’t sure she could. How would she explain to him that she had used him?

  “I can still detect him,” she said, whispering it.

  “Good. Can you take us up there?” Carth asked, nodding toward the tower.

  Lucy took a deep breath, holding on to Carth’s arm, and she Slid.

  When she emerged, there was pressure around her. It reminded her of the pressure that came from the other strongholds she’d encountered, but this time, there was something else mixed within it.

  More than that, a figure standing near the base of the tower caught her attention. It seemed to be a sculpture, not real, but then Lucy realized that it very much was real.

  “Who’s that?” she started to ask.

  As she did, the ground exploded near them.

  30

  Lucy

  Preparing to Slide, she reached for Carth, but the other woman glided forward on shadows, streaming toward the figure. Carth unsheathed her sword in a fluid movement, and Lucy could only watch. Though she had been working with the Binders, she was not a fighter, as she had continually told Carth. Standing aside as she did, she couldn’t help but feel as if it had been a mistake not to have taken more time to learn how to fight.

  She was tempted to go after Carth, to Slide to her, grab her, and return to the ship, but if she were to do that, she would likely lose her focus in the middle of Sliding, and she would need to retreat anyway.

  Besides, out of all the strongholds they had visited, this was the first time they had encountered someone outside of one. Somehow, Lucy suspected that Carth had anticipated they would find someone else. Though had she expected this?

  There was darkness swirling around Carth, but it was matched by darkness swirling around the other figure. It was a strange thing to observe, a battle of those powered by the shadows, and as she watched, she couldn’t help but feel as if Carth were evenly matched.

  When another explosion struck, Lucy was thrown back. She Slid, emerging a step or two away, catching herself before falling. She realized that Carth still stood.

  The figure was down. Shadows swirled around both of them, but this time, they all seemed to emanate mostly from Carth and not from this other figure.

  Lucy appro
ached slowly, making her way along the cobbles toward the fallen figure. The stones beneath her feet were shattered, many of them having crumbled to dust, and it made the footing unsteady. Weeds grew up between many of the stones, most of them dried and broken, though some were taller and more vibrant, as if they had taken hold.

  Lucy forced her gaze away from those. As she made her way toward Carth, she kept her eyes on the fallen figure. It was a man with graying hair. A thick beard covered his chin, also peppered with gray, and he had an earring in one ear, the shape of it formed like a symbol. He lay motionless, staring up at Carth, gritting his teeth.

  “Who is this?” Lucy asked.

  “I thought perhaps you would be able to tell me.”

  Lucy looked at the man and attempted to Read him.

  There was resistance, but she pushed past it, the same way she had learned that she could push past the resistance and Slide into Elaeavn and the palace.

  As she did, she caught a faint stirring of his thoughts. It reminded her of what she had discovered when she’d attempted to Read Carth, as if there was something there, but she wasn’t able to delve into it. It was almost as if shadows swirled around his mind.

  “He’s obscuring his thoughts from me,” she said.

  “Is that right?” Carth took a step toward him, and suddenly she seemed to glow.

  It was a strange thing for Lucy to witness. She’d seen Carth using the other half of her abilities before, but never so suddenly and never with such power. Heat and light radiated off her, the kind of power that seemed to flood from her, almost overwhelming. It struck the man, and the fog over his mind faded, disappearing.

  Lucy was able to plunge into his thoughts.

  As she did, she paused.

  What was clear from his thoughts was that he was C’than, or at least he had been, though not recently. More recently, he had spent time in…