Shaper of Water: The Cloud Warrior Saga

by D. K. Holmberg

  Dondal sniffed and looked at Elle knowingly. “Because they haven’t looked.”

  Brist let out an exasperated sigh. “Do you really think we should evacuate the entire city beneath the city? What sort of plan is that?”

  “The sort that lets our people live,” Dondal said. “We have survived here for centuries, but we’ve always had the water for assistance. Our shapers reached to water, and they were able to keep us safe, even when the sea raged against the storm walls. If Shaper Vaywand says that what’s coming is worse than an Even Storm, then I believe her.”

  Thunder rumbled, as if in answer.

  Thoras jerked his head to look to the south. “Lord Commander…”

  Brist glanced from Elle to Dondal. “You know I’ve trusted you for years, old friend, but what you suggest is more than I can agree to. People won’t agree to evacuate beneath the city, not when there is not even a threat!”

  Thoras smiled at Elle as if it were his triumph. In that moment, she hated him nearly as much as she hated Voldan for betraying their people. If Thoras had his way, they would lose as much as what Voldan had risked with his betrayal.

  “We will prepare as we always have, and we will ride the waves as they come. The Sea Father will see that we’re safe.”

  Dondal clapped Brist on the shoulder. “I wished that you could see…”

  He trailed off and a dark frown crossed his mouth. Elle felt a shaping building from him with incredible strength. How had she not known that he was a shaper before?

  “Ah, Great Mother,” he swore. “We are too late,” he said to Elle.

  “They’re here?” Brist asked. His tone had changed and Elle didn’t care that he believed Dondal when he didn’t believe her, just so long as he believed.

  Dondal nodded. “There are probably a dozen outside the walls. More on the way. It’s hard to tell—”

  “They mask themselves,” Elle said. “That’s why I wasn’t able to see them.”

  “Earth sensing is more potent in some ways,” Dondal said. Turning to Brist, he said, “You won’t have much time. You need to get as many people into the caverns as you can. I will do what I can to slow them…”

  “You can’t do that alone,” Brist said.

  “He won’t be alone,” Elle said.

  Ley stepped up next to her. “I’ll be there too.”

  “And you can send Thoras. We’ll need the help of a strong water shaper like him.”

  Thoras faced Dondal. “I will do what is needed to help my city.”

  Dondal nodded solemnly, as if not expecting anything else. “Go, Lord Commander. Lead your people,” Dondal said.

  Elle was surprised to see him simply nod and go running off. When he had disappeared into the city, Dondal looked at her. “You have been through much tonight. Are you strong enough to keep fighting?”

  The rest had helped. She wasn’t at full strength, but she could feel Nimala swirling in the surf near her, ready to help. “I will do what I can to help Doma.”

  Dondal pointed to the wall. “I will be there. This one,” he said, motioning to Ley, “will help. We’ll gather the other shapers in the city to assist as well. Thoras, you will need to be on the ground in the city. I trust you know shapings for healing?”

  Thoras nodded.

  “Good. If this turns into a Sea Father forsaken mess, some might need healing.”

  “Where do you want me to be?” Elle asked.

  Dondal patted her on the shoulder. “You have to decide what you need to do. I should have asked you first if you minded me giving orders, so now I’ll ask forgiveness.”

  Elle glanced at the top of the storm wall as another peal of thunder echoed across the water. Morning was coming, and with it there would be rain, but also something more.

  The wind kicked up, sending mist spraying across the surface of the ocean. She breathed in, allowing herself a moment to savor the moisture in the air.

  “You don’t need to ask forgiveness, Dondal,” she said.

  “Good. Now, go do what you need to do.”

  When Dondal stepped away from her, he went to Thoras and began speaking quietly in his ear. Ley approached Elle, worry pinching his brow.

  “What are you going to do?” he asked.

  Elle hadn’t given much thought to it. She needed to help give the city time to get below. That meant slowing the attack, but would she be able to do that on her own?

  Only, she wasn’t alone this time. Dondal would help, and Ley would assist from the wall. They would gather other shapers, and they would defend what was theirs. “I’ll do what I can,” she answered.

  “If there are that many shapers out there, I don’t think we can save the city.”

  Elle looked past Ley, toward the darkened caverns that promised safety. Already, a few people began making their way down, led by soldiers. “I don’t think it’s about saving the city anymore. I think we need to salvage what we can.”

  “Elle…” he started. Then he shook his head and pulled her toward him in a tight hug.

  She squeezed him back, taking a deep breath as she did. When she released him, she nodded to Dondal. “Keep him safe. We might need someone with actual wisdom before this is over.”

  Ley laughed. “I’ll do what I can, but I get the feeling that he wouldn’t let me do anything to help him even if I wanted to.”

  Elle pulled on the mist, drawing Nimala around her, and shaped the blanket of water. When she stepped onto it, she felt an energy growing within the elemental, as if Nimala knew what Elle needed to do. Wind gusted with increasing force out of the south, sending spray into the air. Elle took that as a good omen.

  She gave Dondal a brief nod of farewell and streaked around the outside of Falsheim, trying to figure out just how she would be able to slow the oncoming shapers so that people would be able to evacuate.

  29

  The north side of Falsheim appeared no different than it ever had, but Elle believed Dondal’s claim that there were a dozen shapers approaching. She had managed to stop the shapers in the city, but outside would be different. This wasn’t about stopping—though she would if she could—but about delaying. Falsheim needed time.

  Nimala, I will need to hide for what I must do.

  The elemental didn’t answer, and Elle wondered if maybe she wouldn’t have Nimala’s help. The coming storm continued to blow, growing stronger with each passing moment. Thunder rolled, coming nearly constantly, and there were occasional flashes of light in the clouds. The storm would be massive.

  A drizzling rain began to fall. As the rain thickened, becoming a dense fog mixed with an increasingly heavy rain, Elle realized that Nimala had answered. The wind blew through the fog but didn’t disrupt it. Wind shapers would find it more difficult to blow away this storm.

  Elle allowed herself a grim smile. This would give her some advantage. For a moment, she allowed herself to think that she might be able to do more than salvage Falsheim.

  Then the earth exploded next to her.

  The explosion tossed her into the air. In a panic, she pulled on water, drawing the fog together, and lowered herself back to the ground. Water sensing told her where there was a disturbance in the fog, and Elle used the same shaping to thicken the air around the shaper.

  There was a struggle, but it was brief. The earth rumbled as the shaper dropped.

  Not all would be so easy.

  Show me the next, Elle said to Nimala.

  The water elemental guided her. Water sensing allowed Elle to know how close to the city she still was. If there were shapers already this close, then maybe she wouldn’t have enough time to slow them. She would have to work quickly.

  The next shaper appeared as a shadow in the fog. Elle didn’t give them a chance to turn and face her. She used the same suffocating shaping, but this time, it didn’t work. A water shaping pushed against her. Wind gusted along with it, blowing against the coming storm.

  Elle swirled around the figure in a spiral, drawing the wind i
nward and pulling the mist back toward the shaper. As she began to sense the pressure against her shaping, she released it and dropped. Her feet collided with the person and Elle kicked, sending them sprawling.

  The shaper was a solid man, and he stood as if barely bothered by what Elle had done. A water shaper would be too hard for her to stop alone, but then, she wasn’t alone. Would Dondal know to help?

  She drew the mist away from the shaper, creating a clear space with him in the center. He frowned at her and charged.

  The ground heaved as he did, cracking open and swallowing him.

  Elle sighed, thankful that Dondal had seen what she needed.

  She released the mist, letting it fill the space where the shaper had been, and called on Nimala to guide her to the next shaper. The elemental drew her toward the next, but this time, they were prepared for her.

  Elle pulled on the mist, again drawing it in a spiral around the figure. As she had with the last, she pulled the mist away, leaving a clear space. Dondal’s earth shaping came like a crack, splitting the ground. Had Elle not been floating on a shaping above the ground, she would have been swallowed.

  The shaper fell, but then the earth groaned and they shot up. Earth would not help her this time.

  Elle lifted higher on her shaping of water, letting it spin around the other shaper. Wind battered her, coming from both the sea and from the wind shaper, and Elle pushed against it, using all that she could to resist.

  Already, she felt her strength sagging.

  The shaper appeared before her. Surprisingly, it was a stick-thin girl, possibly no older than Elle, but her eyes were hard and she glared at Elle as she shaped, leaving her mouth slightly open as she attempted to throw Elle to the ground.

  Elle used a shaping of water and stuffed it into the girl’s throat.

  Her eyes widened and she kicked. Elle forced herself to watch, forced herself to see what her shaping did, knowing that there was no other choice but hating it nonetheless. The girl flipped toward Elle, using the wind to try to crash into her, but Elle created a protective shaping of water and the girl bounced harmlessly away. Then she fell.

  Wind whistled in a last gasp as the bond was released. The earth trembled and went still.

  Elle turned away. Was this what her ability had become? Was she now a killer, forced to defend her homeland? When she had dreamt of learning to shape, it had never been dreams of using water to suffocate, or restraining shapers so that others could stab them. When she’d formed her bond with the elemental, it hadn’t been with the idea that she would use that against others. She wanted to help.

  Her shaping faltered and she lowered to the ground. For a moment, the wind eased and the fog lifted. Elle caught sight of the wall circling the city and thought she could see Ley standing atop the wall, but maybe that was only her imagination.

  Wasn’t that the reason she fought, the reason she was a shaper? Wasn’t she supposed to use her ability to protect her home and those she cared about?

  The wind gusted, slamming into her. It wasn’t a shaped wind but natural and from the coming storm. Elle shuddered against its impact, straining to keep standing. Thunder rumbled like a steady drumbeat and rain sluiced down. The air remained thick with rain and fog.

  She reached through that connection. How many more shapers remained? How much more could she do? Her strength was failing her and she doubted that she could withstand much more, but she wanted to give those in the city as much time as they needed to evacuate.

  Through the fog, she detected at least another ten shapers. Some were farther away, but half were closer. Mixed with the shapers was something she hadn’t expected. A hundred others, possibly more, streaming from the city.

  Elle asked the mist to part and saw soldiers in Doma colors marching across the field. Brist marched with them, sword gripped in an outstretched hand like the fool he was. Did he really think soldiers could stop shapers?

  She wouldn’t let them sacrifice themselves like that, but she couldn’t fight the shapers one on one. That had been a mistake. She might have survived so far, but with her failing strength, there wasn’t much more that she’d be able to do. Could she try a different tact? Would she be able to draw them away?

  She had to try.

  Elle called to Nimala and rose on a shaping of thickened water, moving against the rain as if she intended to climb toward the clouds like one of the fabled Cloud Warriors of the kingdoms. As she did, she made a point of asking Nimala to draw the mist around her, to create a dark funnel, one that would be visible from anywhere around the city. Rain eased the higher she climbed.

  Then she turned the shaping and started out to sea, wanting to draw shapers away from the city and away from the soldiers.

  The effort of holding this shaping was immense. She might be able to ride above the waves, but compressing the water like this took intense effort. Already, she felt it failing. Elle clung to it, praying to the Great Mother and the Sea Father that it would draw the attention of the shapers.

  When she felt wind start to push through the funnel, she knew it was working. Then the air grew warmer. The ground rumbled, matching the rolling thunder. Even water tried tearing it apart.

  Elle resisted, fighting as long as she could.

  The cloud around her began to thin. Figures appeared out of the mist, standing on the cloud as if they were warriors. Elle spun slowly, trying to figure out how many were with her, and could only make out six. Too many for her to counter by herself.

  They had her trapped.

  Nimala, thank you for your help. Go, so they don’t force you to bond.

  The elemental swirled around her in answer. The cloud began to glow a faint green. Rain that pounded beneath the clouds was less so here. Wind and heat whipped at her. At least the ground couldn’t claim her.

  The clouds thickened even more and Elle noted the green within it growing more intense. She pulled on the mist and the fog, making it as dense as she could, wanting only to press the shapers to the ground.

  Her shaping failed. She wasn’t strong enough to stop these shapers who were not shapers. The elementals bonded to them would not be freed, remaining tortured by their forced servitude. If only she could do as she did with the Xsa, release them without killing the shapers…

  The mist shifted, thinning, and as it did, it washed over the figures around her. When it did, Elle felt something different. She could detect the wrongness of the bond.

  With the last of her energy, she pressed out, not to attack, but to heal.

  Screams rang out, mixing with the thunder.

  Elle’s shaping failed. She fell.

  Cold air whistled around her as she tumbled end over end, her dress splaying out around her. Nimala wasn’t there to catch her this time and Elle knew she wouldn’t survive the landing.

  As she fell, she caught a glimpse of the city and hoped that she had given the people enough time to evacuate.

  Then she hit the ground.

  30

  Cold water lapped around Elle, who managed to open her eyes. Everything hurt. Someone had a hold of her, gripping her under the arms, but she couldn’t tell who. She felt every bump as she was dragged across the beach. Elle tried to jerk away, not wanting to be captured by those shapers, but she hadn’t the strength needed to make a real attempt at escape.

  “Easy, Elle.”

  “Ley?” she asked. Her voice came out in a whisper, and it hurt for her to talk.

  “I’m here. We need to get you inside.”

  “But the shapers—”

  “We’ll talk about it when you’re inside,” he said. Thunder cracked loudly, and only then did Elle realize that it was raining.

  Her chest and back hurt, as did arms and legs. Even her fingers and toes seemed to throb. On top of that, she felt exhausted. The effort of the shaping had drained her. How had she made it back to Ley?

  Unless he’d been captured.

  She tried opening her eyes but couldn’t see anything. The rain
suddenly stopped and she heard heavy footsteps. Elle tried counting them but wasn’t able to.

  Then she stopped moving. A cold wave of shaping washed through her and she gasped at the sudden healing. Her vision cleared and she looked around.

  She was underground, inside a narrow cavern. Ley crouched next to her, with Thoras on the other side. He had put their differences aside to heal her.

  “What happened?” she asked. “Where am I?”

  “You’re beneath the city, Shaper Vaywand,” Dondal said from behind Thoras.

  “And the people?”

  Ley nodded. “We had enough time. Between your shaping and the Lord Commander’s attack, we managed enough time to get everyone under.”

  “Where is Brist? That fool man, what was he thinking bringing soldiers out against shapers?” she asked.

  Ley shook his head slightly and Elle sighed.

  “He didn’t make it?” she asked.

  “He made certain the city survived,” Dondal said. “Now we have to find a way to keep it that way.” He looked to Elle as if she had the answers.

  “I don’t…” she started. But maybe she could. She had managed to break the bonds from the shapers. Maybe she could do that again.

  “There are dozens of shapers on the way,” Dondal said softly, almost as if knowing her mind. “We’ll need help.”

  Elle nodded, but where would we get it?

  She had the beginning of an idea, but no way to know if it would work. She had spoken to Tan the same way she spoke to Nimala, so maybe she could reach him. It was a start. If Falsheim could be salvaged, it was a start.

  She stood, glancing around the cavern. “This is it?”

  Dondal shook his head. “Not this,” he said, and led her forward.

  They reached a ledge and he pointed. Down below, Elle saw hundreds of faces. Maybe thousands.

  “The Lord Commander is gone,” Dondal said. “We will need leadership.”

  “That’s why I’m glad you’re here,” she said.

  He smiled and tapped her on the shoulder. “Me? I’ve been too long from the city to be effective. What they need is someone with courage and strength.” He smiled again. “Besides, the people don’t want me to lead, they want the savior of Falsheim.” He arched a brow at her. “You will need to lead, Shaper Vaywand.”