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

by D. K. Holmberg

  Haern decided to try a different tactic. “What sort of metal is used in your implants?”

  “You can’t tell?”

  “I suspect it’s some form of lorcith,” he said. “I’m not as skilled as my father at detecting the different types of lorcith. My father would know the alloy that was used, but I don’t.”

  The Forger grunted. “If your father understood, he wouldn’t oppose what we do.”

  “Why do you force the lorcith?”

  “Force it? There is no forcing of anything. The metal does as we demand. It is a tool, nothing more.”

  That wasn’t the way his father felt about lorcith, and though Haern wasn’t able to hear it the same as Rsiran, he recognized his father’s skill. Having seen some of his sculptures, he knew that his father was incredibly connected to lorcith. He had to be in order for him to do some of the things he could do.

  “The C’than taught you something new about the metal.”

  The Forger said nothing, and Haern knew he was right. That was why Lucy’s implant worked better than the way the Ai’thol placed them. That was important—and it was tied to what had been done to the trees.

  “What other metals do you use?”

  The Forger swiveled, dragging his chains across the ground. They rattled, and he glared at Haern for a moment before yanking on his chains. Haern closed his eyes, clenching his jaw so that he didn’t jerk back, but he wasn’t sure he would be able to withstand it. “If your father were so well connected to lorcith as you claim, then you wouldn’t need anyone to share with you the secrets of our techniques.”

  “I don’t need you to share, I’m just hoping for confirmation.”

  “Confirmation?” The Forger smirked. “If you needed confirmation, you wouldn’t have come to me. You wouldn’t have asked the questions you have asked. And they’re questions you should have asked long ago. Why wait? Why ask them only now? Do you think I am the key to your gaining knowledge that has taken the Ai’thol generations to acquire?”

  “What are you after?” Haern asked.

  “We’re after something greater than your home or mine. We are after the sort of thing that you—and your father—cannot even fathom. And there’s no point in you trying.”

  “You’re after destruction. I was there in Asador. I saw what your people were willing to do for the Elder Stone.”

  “If you understood what the Elder Stones were, then you wouldn’t question it.”

  “And what are they?”

  The Forger jerked on his chains again. “You think they are nothing more than a means to power. Your people sit within the city, hoarding the crystals, hoarding the trees, preventing others from accessing that power. It’s the same as everyplace else we’ve gone, with every other Elder Stone we’ve discovered. The same stone Rel thought to hide from us.”

  Carth had hidden a stone from them? As far as he knew, Carth had knowledge of several of the Elder Stones—shadows and Flame. “She wasn’t going to allow you to access the Flame.”

  “She tried. And now she will fail.”

  That was what it was about, but why? How? “And you would do something different with the stones?”

  “I understand that there needs to be control of the Elder Stones. I understand how they’ve been used, and I understand how they should be used.”

  “And how would the Ai’thol use the Elder Stones?”

  “We would use them the way the Elders themselves meant them to be used.”

  Haern wondered if that could be true. He didn’t know anything about how the Elders would have used the stones. For that matter, he didn’t know anything about the Elders themselves. He had an understanding of the stones, and though he had tried to hold one of the crystals, he had never succeeded.

  “My father intends to hold you here until we have answers.” Haern thought he had enough of an answer for them to go and try to understand, but would his father listen?

  “Then you will hold me indefinitely.”

  “Do you doubt his ability to do so?”

  “When it comes to Lareth, I recognize that there is no reason to doubt his capabilities. Nor do I doubt what he’s willing to do, how much he’s willing to sacrifice, in order to succeed.”

  “And just what would he sacrifice?”

  “More than you can ever imagine.”

  Haern sat back, sighing deeply. “I want to imagine. I want to understand. Help me so that I can.”

  “Help you understand so that you can use what you learn against us? As I’ve said, I’m not going to make that mistake.”

  “You’ve talked with me this much.”

  “And why shouldn’t I? I haven’t shared anything that would be of any use to you. And even if I had, I doubt you will live long enough to take advantage of it.”

  “And why won’t I live long enough?”

  “Because you are like your father. You believe that you have might, and you believe that you have right.” He fixed Haern with an intense glare.

  It seemed to Haern that his eyes flared a deeper green, but it could have been only his imagination. “My father will hold you here.”

  “I hope so. The longer I’m here, the stronger I become.”

  “The weaker you will be,” Haern said. “This lorcith will continue to press on you the same way it presses on me.” Haern leaned toward the bars, risking more than he had before. “I feel the way the lorcith presses. Eventually you will succumb to it. And when you do, you will tell my father what he wants to know.”

  “I didn’t realize Lareth needed to send a child to do his bidding.”

  “I’m not a child.”

  “You are when it comes to understanding the world. You know nothing, young Lareth, but I suspect the day is coming when you will. I suspect a time will come when you will wish that your father had shared with you what he knew.”

  The Forger yanked on the chains again, and he turned away from Haern.

  Haern could circle around the cell, but what would the point be?

  He had wanted to get a better understanding about what the Forgers might do, and what had he learned?

  Nothing, really. He’d learned that the Forgers held anger toward his father. He’d learned that the Forgers believed the people of Elaeavn were misusing the Elder Stones. Knowing the Forgers, he shouldn’t have been surprised by the claims. They were exactly the kinds of things that the Forgers had been saying all along.

  He stepped back to the door leading into the cell. With a pull on the lorcith, it came open. For a brief moment, he feared that he had revealed something to the Forger about how to open it, but it passed. There was no way the Forger would be able to reach the lorcith within the cell. Only his father had the ability to control the lorcith bars. He didn’t think he needed to worry about this Forger twisting it, figuring out some way of escaping.

  He paused before heading out. “Are you hungry?” he asked the Forger.

  “What?”

  “Food. Are you hungry, and do you need to eat?”

  “So that you can poison me? My hatred for you and your father will feed me.”

  Haern let out a frustrated sigh. “Even if it does, you still need to eat real food. I’m going to bring you food. And then we can talk.”

  The Forger grunted but said nothing.

  Haern thought about what he might bring, but he thought just as much about what his father might say. Starvation might serve some purpose that his father had in mind, though it didn’t serve any purpose Haern could fathom. What reason would there be—could there be—for his father to starve a man?

  He looked back at the Forger, studying him for a moment before turning away and closing the door once more.

  Back out in the night, he pushed on the lorcith, sealing it closed. He stared at the metal structure, thinking about what his father must’ve gone through as he had designed it, the hatred that had to have filled him for him to have been able to come up with this prison. Maybe there was some truth to what the Forger said. Co
uld his father really be filled with such anger?

  Haern knew the answer without asking the question. He knew his father well enough to know that he absolutely could be filled with that much anger.

  He knew exactly the way his father felt about the Forgers and that he would do anything to hold this man here. Would he go so far as to torture him simply because he hated them so much?

  Probably, as much as he was loath to admit that. And if he did, it would make him no better than the Forger they had captured.

  They needed to determine what the Ai’thol planned with the Elder Stones. If the Elder Stone was heat and flame, then where would that take them—and what did it have to do with the understanding of the metal they’d gained from the C’than?

  33

  Daniel

  The city came into view as they sailed down the river. It was more that Carth and Rayen pushed them down the river, but they maintained the appearance of sailing, mostly for anyone who might be waiting on shore. Daniel gripped the railing near the bow, looking off into the distance as the city gradually came closer. This was a place where Carth thought they needed to come, but it was also a place she hesitated to come to. Whatever else it might be, this was a place he knew he should fear, if only a little. There was power within this city, a kind he didn’t know how to access. The A’ras were here, and with them their dangerous magic.

  “It was my home for so many years,” Carth said, approaching the railing.

  “I get the sense that you hesitate to return.”

  “It’s not so much that I hesitate as I worry about what sort of reception I might get.”

  “Do you fear what they might do?”

  Carth glanced over at him. “Do you think I fear anything?”

  “Everyone fears something.”

  “Perhaps that’s true. What is it that you fear, Daniel Elvraeth?”

  There were many things he feared, more so than Carth. She appeared fearless, though he wasn’t convinced she was. Most of the time when she was asked questions she didn’t want to answer, she deflected, trying to avoid any sort of response that might draw unwanted attention to her. If it were a game of Tsatsun, it would be a move of misdirection.

  “I fear not being enough,” he said.

  “If that’s what you fear, then ensure that you are more than enough.”

  Daniel grunted. It was easier said than done. He wanted to ensure that he could be everything he intended, but there was a part of him that wasn’t entirely certain it was possible.

  “What is it about Nyaesh that concerns you?”

  “I worry about why the A’ras have decided to move,” Carth said softly. “After all these years, something has changed, and that worries me.”

  “And this is all about the Ai’thol?”

  “While it sometimes seems as if everything is about the Ai’thol, I don’t know that it is.”

  “What else could it be?” When she didn’t answer, he thought about what they had experienced since he had left Elaeavn. “The C’than,” he realized.

  “Possibly. I don’t know. Which is why I’m concerned.”

  “Why them and not the Ai’thol?”

  “I didn’t say it wasn’t the Ai’thol. If my experience with the Ai’thol has proven anything, it’s that they are making many different moves all at the same time.”

  He had seen the same thing but still wasn’t sure what to make of it. How could they defeat the Ai’thol? They were more formidable than the Forgers. But despite everything they had learned, it felt as if they remained a step or two behind.

  Carth joined the other Binders as they continued to navigate toward the docks in the distance. The city hugged the shore of the river and spread out from there. Buildings lined the river, some of them massive and sprawling, warehouses most likely, designed to store the merchandise brought in by merchant ships. A dozen ships were tied to the docks, and they had passed nearly that many on their way toward the city. If nothing else, Nyaesh was a busy port.

  It surprised him, as he’d heard nothing about Nyaesh before meeting Carth. But then, having lived within Elaeavn, separated from the rest of the world, he hadn’t heard much about any other cities prior to experiencing the rest of the world. There were likely dozens of similar places, places where the Ai’thol might have an influence. And in all these places, Daniel had to wonder if they were in danger.

  Carth navigated the ship into one of the dock slips. When they were situated, the Binders began to throw lines off the side, hurriedly tying them off. He didn’t even bother to try and help, thinking it pointless with his minimal knowledge of what to do. And no one seemed disturbed by that. It wasn’t his task. In the last few days, he had worked with Carth, playing her game, realizing the complexity of it. It was far more difficult than he had expected when she’d first mentioned a game to him.

  The more he played it, the more he realized her comment about understanding strategy from the game had some merit.

  Carth had described the benefit of anticipating several moves in advance, and Daniel could see that himself. It was difficult for him to anticipate more than ten moves in advance, as there were multiple moves his opponent might make. Carth seemed pleased with his progress, but it seemed to Daniel that he had lost quickly each time.

  “Are you ready?” Carth asked.

  “Are your people ready?”

  “Most will stay on board the ship. We don’t want to leave it empty. It’s not safe to do so in Nyaesh. At least, it hadn’t been safe to do so. Perhaps that has changed.”

  “What might happen?”

  “Considering the type of tasks people along the shores find themselves doing? It wouldn’t surprise me to find that our ships were ransacked. Now, we don’t have much of value on the ship, but others wouldn’t know that.”

  “How is the city so unsafe if the A’ras are here?”

  “The presence of those with power has never served to deter others seeking power. I’m sure you saw some of that in Elaeavn.”

  “I didn’t really see much in Elaeavn when it came to that.”

  “Because you are Elvraeth and didn’t bother to look?”

  “You don’t understand what it’s like in Elaeavn. It’s—”

  “I understand quite well what it’s like in Elaeavn. What I’m trying to get across to you is that what you experienced in Elaeavn isn’t quite what you would have others believe. The city is isolated because it chose to be. You didn’t have to be isolated.”

  “I understand that now.”

  “And now that you do, what do you intend to do about it?”

  “I’m not sure there is anything for me to do about it,” Daniel said. “Much like I’m not sure exactly what I intend to do.”

  “That’s fair.”

  “What about you?”

  “You mean what do I intend to do with Nyaesh?” When Daniel nodded, she shrugged. “I will come to understand why the A’ras have acted and whether that means the Elder Stone is in danger. I have to come to terms with the fact that the city is different now, but then, so am I.”

  “You didn’t take the time to create your network here?”

  She breathed out and sighed. “I have connections here, but it’s a little different from other places.”

  “How so?”

  “In that I have connections not only to the Binders, but also to the A’ras still.”

  “If you have those connections, why not use them for this?”

  “I would, but there are some things I can’t learn from the A’ras, especially if the C’than have made their presence known. It’s possible that the A’ras are compromised.”

  The Binders were arranging for a plank leading down to the dock, and Rayen looked over to Carth, question lingering in her gaze. Carth nodded, and she motioned for Daniel to follow her.

  “What about Lucy?”

  “Lucy will remain here,” Carth said.

  “And that’s safe?”

  “There are plenty of Binders on bo
ard to ensure her safety, even if I worried about it.”

  “I worry about it.”

  “I’m saying that you don’t need to.”

  He glanced over to where she worked with several of the Binders. They were busy wrapping up the sails. Lucy glanced in his direction, and he wondered for a moment if she Read him. Maybe she did, but it didn’t matter. He flashed a smile, wishing he could look more confident than he felt about leaving her here. He wasn’t uncomfortable going with Carth. In a city like this, he figured he could Slide, even if it required him coming back here, and he had trained often enough with the sword that he felt prepared. It was leaving Lucy behind that bothered him.

  And it shouldn’t. She had made it clear that she wanted to be here with the Binders and was less concerned about whatever protection he thought he could offer her. There really wasn’t any protection he could provide that she didn’t have on her own. She wasn’t trapped in any certain place, not with the extreme ability to Slide, and with her ability to Read, she would know about the possibility of an attack long before it ever took place. She was far safer than him, in many ways. Perhaps if she developed her ability as a Seer, she would have even less to worry about.

  When he stepped down on the deck alongside Carth, he glanced back at the ship. “I sometimes feel remorse when I leave.”

  “It’s time for you to move on, Daniel Elvraeth.”

  There was more in that statement than a simple request for him to come along with her, and she was right. It was time for him to move on. He couldn’t linger. Staying here, remaining as he was, served no purpose. They had come to Nyaesh to find information, to see if they could discover anything about the Forgers in the Ai’thol, and he needed to stop delaying them. It might even be more than that. She might be telling him to move on from Lucy.

  As they made their way onto land, Carth glanced over to Rayen. “These were the streets where I first learned to control the shadows.”

  “I seem to recall you telling me that the last time we were here,” Rayen said.

  “I thought a reminder wouldn’t hurt.”

  Rayen chuckled. “Were you concerned that I might have forgotten?”