Shaper of Water: The Cloud Warrior Saga

by D. K. Holmberg

  “You might find sailing south will bring you calmer waters.”

  “South is Incendin,” he said.

  Elle nodded. “And Incendin fights with these shapers as well. When the city was attacked the last time, Incendin intervened. If you can keep enough away from Incendin shores, you might be able to sail freely.”

  Merash scratched his arm, nodding in consideration. “Reaching the kingdoms will take longer,” he said.

  “Won’t it be worth it if you can make it safely?”

  His brow furrowed as he considered, then turned away, leaving her to go to his men without telling her his answer.

  Elle went to Ley and extended a hand to help him up. He took it slowly and looked around the ship as he did. “What is it?” he asked.

  “We’re leaving.”

  Ley frowned. “Leaving? We’re in the middle of the ocean and you said there were shapers on the shore.”

  “Shapers that are making their way toward Falsheim. I don’t know what Brist has planned, but we need to get the city protected.”

  Ley stared down at the water lapping around the boat. The angry swells of waves had eased, but the sea still splashed and left the Xsa ship rocking with a steady rhythm. From Ley’s face, Elle could tell he thought they’d need to swim to shore.

  “I can do this,” she told him.

  As she did, she called on Nimala, asking the elemental for help. Like before, the mist coalesced into a blanket of faint green that at first had reminded her of what she’d seen from the nymid when she first encountered them in the bay. Now, it was all masyn. The elemental was much stronger than she had suspected, and she was certain it would be strong enough to carry Ley with her as well.

  Ley studied the water, his uncertainty pinching the corners of his normally wide eyes. “I can sense that you’ve done something, but I don’t see it.”

  Elle grabbed him by the hand and stepped over the edge of the railing, coming to land on the blanket held by Nimala. Ley landed awkwardly, sliding his feet atop it before falling into a careful balance. “Good thing you don’t need to see it. I will watch for the both of us.”

  She pressed on the shaping, sending them sliding away from the Xsa ship and moving steadily to the south. The shaping picked up speed as she went. The shaping was easier now than it had been the first time she’d attempted it. The more she practiced it, the more she managed it almost without thinking.

  Ley gripped her hand tightly. “You could have shaped the entire ship south,” he said over the sound of the wind and the spray of the water.

  Elle watched as the Xsa ship grew smaller and smaller, finally fading into nothing more than a dot on the horizon. “That would have taken too long.” And would have required more strength than she was willing to risk. She didn’t know what they would encounter as they made their way south, but if there were any other shapers, she didn’t want all of her strength to be sapped trying to move a ship. “Besides, Merash will be able to sail quickly enough.”

  “He doesn’t intend to help, does he?”

  Elle shook her head. Water dripped from her brow and she enjoyed the cool breeze coming off the water. Until they had left, she hadn’t noticed how warm it had been to the north, much warmer than it should have been. “They have suffered enough by these shapers,” she said. “We can’t ask them to suffer any more.”

  “Where will they go?”

  “The kingdoms,” she said.

  “Are they safe there?”

  Elle thought about the shapers she had met there. Each was more skilled than any in Doma, even more skilled than her, but they didn’t have any—other than Tan, and she wasn’t certain that he had—bonded to elementals. Would the kingdoms even be able to withstand an attack like that?

  The barrier that protected the kingdoms might help. She knew little about it, other than it was a shaped creation, intended to prevent other shapers from entering. It was because of the barrier that the kingdoms had never come to help Doma when Incendin attacked. Elle had avoided being stopped by the barrier the first time she had gone to the kingdoms because she couldn’t shape. But now that she’d learned, would she be able to return, or would she need to circle around much like Merash?

  “They will be safe,” she decided. At the least, they would have more time before these shapers moved inland, time for the Xsa to decide if they would stay or keep moving on, to sail beyond the kingdoms, to the lands even the Doman fleet didn’t visit.

  “I wish we could be safe,” Ley said.

  The wind caught the words, but Elle still heard them.

  25

  They reached Falsheim as darkness began to descend. The sun faded behind the horizon, leaving streaks of color pushing through clouds colored like bruises. The air grew thick the closer they came to Falsheim, and thunder rumbled distantly. A storm brewed, and from the charge in the air, it would be a powerful one.

  Elle skimmed along the water and landed them on the beach. By ship, they had been gone over a day, but using the shaping, it had taken them the better part of an hour to reach Falsheim, and that was with Ley coming with her. How much faster would she be able to shape herself alone?

  With the coming storm, Elle had expected the docks to be busy, but there were only a few ships in port. One was a Xsa ship, with a mermaid figurehead carved into the bow. Two were long, wide fleet ships. A few smaller fishing vessels were there as well.

  “What is it?” Ley asked as they made their way toward the storm wall.

  “There should be more boats here by now,” she said.

  Ley shrugged. “Some will stay out for days. The fleet just patrols these waters.”

  They hadn’t seen any of the fleet ships while they made their way into Falsheim. They hadn’t seen any ships, now that Elle really spent much time thinking about it. Other than Merash’s ship, they’d seen no one. That didn’t necessarily mean anything; some of the ships could be in the deep waters beyond the reef, while Merash had stayed closer inland. But she couldn’t help but feel unsettled.

  “We need to find Brist,” Elle said.

  They reached the gate leading into the city. At this time of night, the guards were preparing to close the doors and bar them from the inside. They would be opened in the morning. If a storm really came, extra reinforcement might be needed. There had only been one massive storm in the time she’d been in Falsheim, and then she’d been too busy cowering in the basement of the small room Brist had assigned to her, one that was far removed from the center of the city and the Lord Commander’s location.

  “Do you think that he’ll want to see you at this time of night?” Ley asked.

  “He’ll want to know what we saw. Now, if there’s anything that can be done about it…”

  There might be nothing more that could be done. Xsa might have had the right idea by bringing her people away from the Isles, but Doma didn’t have that luxury. And with as few ships as there were, there really wouldn’t be anything that could be done.

  People crowded along the streets and music drifted from a dozen taverns near the docks. Elle had always found this part of the city to be vibrant and fun, so different than the calmer eastern section where Brist was headquartered. She noted countless people dressed differently than the usual Doman attire, and she paused.

  If the Xsa could hide in Doma, with few noticing how many had settled here, how difficult would it be for one of these shapers to hide among them? They wouldn’t even have to hide; they would only have to make a point of not standing out.

  Elle cursed herself for not thinking of it sooner. An older woman passing nearby glared at her. Elle made a point of ignoring her.

  Ley grabbed at her sleeve. “What?”

  She ignored him, too, and focused on the buzzing sound of Nimala in the back of her mind. The elemental was more distant the farther she went from water, but Elle could reach it and draw her close. She needed to use what the elemental could discover.

  Nimala, how many have already reached the city?
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  The elemental slowly coalesced in front of her, leaving a shimmering green film shaped something like a face. She would have feared that others would see the elemental, but Ley hadn’t even been able to see the blanket that Nimala made, and he was able to shape. She doubted others would be any more able to see the elemental.

  You think there are others?

  Why wouldn’t there be? All these people, and all it would take would be a few shapers set among them. We wouldn’t even know, would we?

  I will see what I can learn. What you ask will take time.

  Thank you.

  The elemental faded with a swirl of fog. Elle felt a pang at the departure and noted that the buzzing in her mind grew quieter, but Nimala would be doing important work.

  She pushed through the crowd. The farther they went from the docks, the thinner the crowd became. Elle ducked down a side street and took a deep breath. Only a few people wandered the street here.

  “You need to talk to me, Elle. Why are you rushing through here? Why did your face go as white as the froth around Widows Ledge back there?”

  Elle made her way a little slower along the street, letting Ley keep up with her. “What if there are some of those shapers in the city already, Ley? I’ve been worrying about what will happen when the others reach Falsheim and attack, but what if they’re only able to reach Falsheim because there are others already here?”

  Ley’s face blanched, probably going the color he’d said that she had. “We wouldn’t even know, would we?” he asked in a whisper.

  “It’s not as if they would have to hide,” Elle said. “They could simply be here, walking among us.”

  Ley’s head swiveled, as if to search for where they might be hiding. “Can you find out if they are?”

  “I have the elemental searching now,” she said, “but I don’t know if it will matter. If they’re here, and if there are even more than one, I’m not sure I can do anything.”

  Ley breathed out. “Then we’ll be no different than Xsa. Falsheim will fall.”

  Elle licked her lips. For as moist as Falsheim could be, her mouth suddenly felt dry.

  She started forward and was stopped by the return of Nimala. Did you find others?

  There are others, Elle. The elemental struggled with a number, and an image of a series of waves appeared in her mind.

  Elle counted them for the elemental. Five waves, each repeating and building. “Five,” she said aloud.

  “Five what?” Ley asked.

  “Five shapers in the city,” Elle said quickly, trying to think through what to do. If there were five shapers in the city, and if shapers were making their way toward Falsheim now, an attack would be coming soon.

  “I have to delay it,” she said, mostly to herself.

  “Elle,” Ley started.

  “Find Brist. Tell him that we know Voldan lied, that we’ve seen the extent of his lies. Make him understand what is coming.”

  “What are you going to do? You should be the one to go to Brist. You saw the shaper on the shore, and you’re the reason the one on the ship was stopped.”

  “I need to see if there’s anything that I can do to stop those already in the city,” she said.

  Can you lead me to them? she asked Nimala.

  The elemental swirled around her and Elle took that as assent.

  “Go, Ley!” she urged.

  For a second, Ley’s face turned into hard stone, like he didn’t want to do this, but then he started away, staring at her over his shoulder as he went.

  Elle turned her attention from him. If she couldn’t find a way to stop—or at least slow—the shapers in the city, there wouldn’t be enough time to help those in the city. She had to do something, even if she wasn’t sure what it would be.

  Nimala led her through the streets, and Elle realized that she was guided back toward the wall, toward where they’d come in. It was where there were the most people.

  How many are together? she asked.

  They are the same, Nimala answered.

  Elle wanted to rephrase the question but didn’t have the chance. The elemental stopped in front of a simple building. A faded sign out front showed a spool and thread, but the windows were shuttered and there was no sign that it was still a tailor or seamstress. Here?

  The elemental squeezed through the cracks along the door. Elle hesitated, but only for a moment, not wanting to pause too long. She sensed for shaping, but detected none. Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t detected any shaping along the coast or on Merash’s ship, either. That was even more evidence that these people weren’t shapers, but something else entirely.

  She tried the door, but it was locked. Elle jiggled it carefully, not wanting to alert anyone inside of her presence. The door remained locked. Elle glanced over her shoulder, but the street was empty. Was there a water shaping she could use that would open the door? Water was different than other elements. For the most part, it was meant for healing, but with the elemental help, she’d seen the Par-shon shapers use it in different ways.

  Could she?

  Could she freeze the lock? What was ice, but water?

  She touched the edge of the door and called on a shaping. It pooled near the latch, filling the space in a tight ball of water. She could summon water, but how could she turn the water into something else?

  Heat. She needed to draw heat from the water. But she wasn’t a fire shaper. She didn’t have control over temperature the same way that a fire shaper would.

  An idea came to her. Nimala had given her the insight when she’d formed the blanket that Elle had used to travel upon. Water had been pulled closely together into something solid. It was still water, and maybe not ice, but if she could do the same with the door, she might be able to pop it open.

  Elle squeezed the water shaping together. As she did, there came a soft crack as the frame of the door bent and snapped, and then the door swung open.

  When she stepped inside, she didn’t know what to expect.

  The door opened to an empty room, but a candle flickered down a hall. Elle crept down the hall, calling Nimala to her. She’d need the elemental to help if it came to an attack.

  At the back of the building, another door was cracked open slightly. This was where the candlelight flickered out. Elle pushed on it and saw an older man bent over a long bench. He held a hammer in his hands that caught the light of a lantern flickering on the table near him.

  When she entered, the hammer paused in mid air, and she suddenly was wrapped in wind, which stopped her.

  He turned to face her. A long scar ran down his face, starting near one eye and ending above his chin. A dark tattoo was inked on that cheek, and the shape reminded Elle of the ancient runes she’d seen. He still held the hammer, cocked back as if to strike at her.

  “What is this?” he demanded.

  Wind pushed against her face. Elle pulled on a shaping of water, forming a mist that pushed against his shaping. Hold him, she instructed Nimala.

  The water elemental surged toward the man. He glanced at the shimmering form of the elemental and Elle was startled to note that he appeared to see it.

  With a flick of his hammer, he scattered Nimala.

  As he did, Elle pushed against the wind shaping and lunged at the man. She caught his arm and pushed it back. He was stronger than she expected and wrenched his arm toward her. Elle pushed with everything that she had, adding a shaping of water into it as well, but still he was stronger.

  Earth shaping, she realized.

  Nimala!

  The water elemental answered her summons and wrapped around the man. With Nimala’s help, she managed to push him to the ground. The hammer slipped from his grasp. Elle reached for it as he began another wind shaping.

  Not willing to wait for it to complete, she slammed the hammer down on his head. His eyes widened briefly, there came a gust of wind and a soft rumble of earth, and then he stopped moving.

  Elle dropped to the ground, shaking.


  What had she done?

  She couldn’t move, and her body trembled. Her hand was sticky with blood running down the hammer and she threw it to the side, not wanting to touch it.

  The others are pleased, Nimala said gently. They are thankful you freed them.

  She sighed silently. At least some good would come from it. But now she had to figure out a way to stop four more of these shapers bonded to the elementals before the others reached Falsheim. But how could she if it meant killing?

  26

  Elle sat on the floor of the small building with her legs crossed over each other and her arms limp in her lap. Fatigue like nothing she’d ever experienced washed over her. The fourth shaper found, another older woman, lay sprawled across the ground where Elle had forced her with a shaping of water. Unlike the first man, but just like the last woman, she had taken her own life when Elle began to overpower her.

  With a sigh, she rolled the woman over. Like the others, she had a dark tattoo in the shape of a rune, but this one was behind her left ear. Elle didn’t recognize the rune and wondered at the significance.

  A slender knife stuck from the woman’s chest. She had been sitting in a chair when Nimala led Elle to her, and she had lunged for the knife before Elle could even do anything to stop her. If she couldn’t capture any of them alive, she’d never get answers. That, more than anything, was what she wanted now. She needed to know why Doma was being attacked.

  The water elemental swirled silently around her. Elle didn’t need to solidify the connection to know that Nimala was pleased with what had happened. For a water elemental, an element that she always associated with healing, Nimala had reveled in the release of the bonded elementals. This woman had wind and fire, now blown back through the small home.

  Elle needed rest, but didn’t dare take the time that she needed. If she did, would she be able to get moving again? How much longer did they have before the attack came?