Shadow Trapped

by D. K. Holmberg

  “How much is some?”

  “it depends on the person. With your friend, I don’t know. She is from Elaeavn, and her people have abilities that enhance their sight, so it’s possible that this will work like that, but it’s also possible that it won’t work nearly as well as it does for others. I could take it…”

  Carth shook her head. “It has to be Alayna. She is the best sailor, and with her other ability, she should be able to detect problems that occur before they happen.”

  Carth turned to Alayna and offered the vial to her. “You don’t have to take this.”

  “The Great Watcher knows that I do.” Alayna unstoppered the vial and downed its contents. “How long…? Oh.” She blinked and looked at Carth. “That is much faster than anything that Boiyn ever gave us.”

  “She said that the speed of onset was crucial.” Rebecca folded up the bundle of her enhancement vials and placed it back in her pocket. “Otherwise, she worried that if we had need of these enhancements and they didn’t act quickly enough, we would be in danger.”

  It was one thing that Boiyn had never managed to perfect, and Carth suspected it was partly related to the fact that he was not a fighter. He had never cared about the speed of onset. Maybe that was part of the reason that he had died. Had he cared more about how quickly his enhancements worked, maybe he would have been able to take one that would have helped him.

  She reached toward Rebecca’s pocket and grabbed the bundle of vials out. Rebecca protested, grabbing for it, but Carth jerked her hand back. “What are these for?”

  Rebecca stared at her before letting out a sigh. “These are vials that work well for me. These three will enhance my eyesight,” she said, pointing to the middle section, now with one missing. “These three will enhance my strength. These three will add to stamina.” Her brow furrowed. “There is said to be a considerable cost when those are used, so I haven’t tried them very often. The one time I did, I was exhausted and had to sleep for days to recover.”

  “And what of the remainder?” Carth asked.

  “Those will enhance reflexes.”

  Each of them were familiar enhancements, and they were borrowed—or stolen—from work that Boiyn had done. Without him, none of these enhancements would have been possible. And it wasn’t Rebecca’s fault that Linsay had stolen them, but that didn’t make it any easier for Carth to hear about how Linsay had taken them, and how she had added to them.

  “What is it?” Rebecca asked.

  “It’s just that these enhancements were ones that my friend Boiyn had created.”

  “She showed us these years ago,” Rebecca said.

  Carth frowned. Years? That didn’t fit with the timing.

  Could it be that Boiyn had worked on something similar? Had Linsay pretended to work with him on these enhancements?

  “She continued to refine them and would send details back over the last few months,” Rebecca said.

  At least Carth knew that Boiyn had provided some benefit, but perhaps she had it backwards. Maybe Linsay had been the one responsible for all of Boiyn’s success. Maybe it had been Linsay who had been the key to him discovering various enhancements.

  Carth held on to the pouch and slipped it into her pocket. If she used the enhancements, she had no idea how long they would last. Her experience with enhancements was variable. There were some that she burned through quickly, her natural abilities destroying the enhancement. There were others that were effective with her. She didn’t have time to test it, especially not if one of them would give her increased stamina but would potentially leave her weakened. That would have to be an enhancement of last resort.

  “Are you able to see better?” Carth asked Alayna.

  “Well enough,” she said. “There’s still quite a bit of disturbance here. I can see shades.”

  Carth reached into the pouch and pulled out the remaining vials for eyesight enhancement. She handed them to Alayna. “Try another. If you’re open to it, keep trying them until you know how much you can reach. There might be a maximal level of enhancement that is possible.”

  Alayna looked at Carth for a moment and then nodded. She tried another vial, waited a few moments, and then tipped back the remaining two. Rebecca’s eyes widened as Alayna continued to take the enhancements.

  “I have a feeling that we we’ll need every benefit that we can get,” Alayna said.

  “But you don’t know how that will affect you. We’ve been testing them for a long time, and we’ve never tried quite so many at one time.”

  “Maybe you haven’t needed to. Maybe your life hasn’t relied on the fact that you have such enhancements.”

  Carth stood at the edge of the deck, and from here she focused on the shadows. She would eventually need to use her connection to the S’al, but that would be for them to escape. Until then, she needed something else. She needed to stretch through the darkness and see if she could pick up on either Talia or Linsay.

  And there was one way that she thought she could detect it.

  Carth swept her connection to the shadows through the fleet of ships around them. As she did, she was aware of what she was searching for.

  A void.

  “Keep them safe,” Carth said to Alayna.

  “And you?”

  “I’m going to finish this task.”

  Carth jumped.

  28

  She soared above the fog and kept her focus on the void. High up in the clouds, she was able to adjust her course, and she came shooting down to the deck of the ship. She landed with a shadow-muted thud but still feared that she had made too much noise.

  There were men ready to fight on board the ship. Most had bows pointed outward, but a few had them aimed toward the center of the ship. Carth wrapped shadows around them and constricted them quickly, keeping those men from reacting. She darted across the deck and smacked men in the back of the head, knocking them unconscious one at a time, but more quickly than they could react. When she was done, the ship was silent.

  There was movement below, and as she pushed out with her connection to the shadows, she was aware of the void beneath her. Talia was there.

  Carth crept down the stairs leading to the lower level. She encountered a man rushing up to the surface and wrapped shadows around him, silencing him and suffocating him before he could get past her. She released them before he asphyxiated, not wanting to kill—not yet. It might come to it, but she thought that there might be a way for her to avoid that.

  She searched along the hall, looking for movement—or the void. It was there at the end of the hall.

  Carth hurried forward, and when she reached the door and found it locked, she sent a thickened surge of shadows into the lock, adding just a spark of the flame, and the lock exploded.

  She stepped inside. There were three men standing over two women.

  Carth jumped forward, wrapping shadows around them, but one of the men danced toward her, avoiding her shadows.

  Was he from Keyall?

  Carth created an explosion in front of him, sending him flying back. He landed in a roll and came up with his sword flashing.

  She unsheathed in a fluid movement and slashed at him. He caught her blade, deflecting it down, and she spun, kicking him in the shoulder. He managed to absorb the blow and tried to twist toward her, but she ducked, bringing her sword arm up, and caught him in the belly. The man finally dropped.

  She spun around, searching for anyone else who might be in the room, but there was only Talia and Linsay.

  “Carth?” Talia asked.

  “Come on. We need to go.”

  “Why are you here?” Linsay asked.

  “I think,” she began, “the same reason that you are.” When Linsay’s brow furrowed, Carth chuckled softly. “Ras was your instructor. I’ve struggled with understanding how you were so skilled at Tsatsun, and it took me a while to realize.”

  “You found the books.”

  “They were shared with me,” Carth said.


  Linsay’s eyes widened slightly before she caught herself.

  “They were only doing it because they wanted to help you. You should be pleased.”

  “You weren’t supposed to know,” Linsay said softly.

  “We can talk about that when we get you off this ship.”

  “There’s a fleet of Ai’thol around us. I have a hard time believing that even you can get us out of here,” Linsay said.

  “Perhaps not, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t try,” Carth said.

  She led them out the door and down the hall. When she reached the end, she noticed shadows moving in the staircase. Carth surged out with them and wrapped them around the people she detected on the stairs, dropping them. She motioned to Linsay and Talia to hurry past her, and they raced up the stairs. Carth brought up the rear.

  When she was on the deck, she saw Linsay glaring at someone.

  The captain.

  “You have involved yourself in something that you should not have, Carthenne Rel.”

  “You made a mistake thinking that I would allow you to take Talia.”

  “Only Talia?” he asked.

  “I don’t know what your disagreement is with the Collector, but you didn’t have one with Talia. You claimed her because you could.”

  The captain watched her for a moment, seemingly as if trying to determine whether she was joking with him or not, and then he started laughing. “You really are exactly what people say you are, aren’t you?”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  “You will take nothing.” He motioned and movement surrounded them.

  Carth attempted to push with the shadows, but it failed, slipping around them as if they were from Keyall.

  Without meaning to, she formed a barrier with the S’al. Doing so dropped the fog. The shadows began to fail, and the darkness began to grow lighter.

  The captain looked around, and though his men couldn’t come closer to him, a smile came to his face. “You would attack the Ai’thol?”

  Carth followed his gaze and saw a dozen ships converging on where the shadows had been. There were her ships, a collection of different shapes, all of them bearing the mark of the Binders on the sail, a subtle marking that she knew to look for. There were ships that she suspected came from Waconia, all helmed by women, and likely all enhanced. And then there were long, sleek ships that she had seen hidden in Keyall. There were probably twenty ships in all.

  And they were outnumbered.

  The ships of the Ai’thol immediately turned their focus, and weapons began firing. Carth heard screams, angry shouts, and felt terror surge through her. She had made a mistake and needed to correct it, but she would have to do so quickly.

  Carth jumped outside of the barrier she had created with the S’al. With a surge of shadows and flame, she sent an explosion toward each of the men, knocking them into the water. She returned, jumping back so that she could face the captain, and saw Linsay standing across from him, blocking him from Talia.

  “Even if you kill me, my ships will destroy yours. The Ai’thol will reach this island, and we will claim another Stone.”

  “No. You will not.” Carth stalked toward him, and as he attempted to reach for his sword, Carth wrapped them in shadows. They slithered off him, and she thought that she understood. He had access to the power that Keyall sat over. Maybe not everybody from Ai’thol did, but enough did that they were able to resist her magics.

  What would happen if they were able to reach Odian?

  Carth wasn’t sure whether there was anything on the island that would allow them to gain the power of the S’al, but she had seen how that power could be transferred, and how the A’ras used a connection to the flame to grant them their magic. It was different than what those born to it were capable of, but still potent enough that they were dangerous.

  Not only did she have to stop the Ai’thol, but she had to prevent them from reaching Odian.

  She had made a mistake not sinking the Ai’thol ships when she could have.

  The captain swung at her, and Carth blocked. But he was skilled, and he ducked, sweeping his sword back around. As Carth attempted to shift her focus, his blade cut into her arm.

  She bit back a scream and switched hands, but not fast enough.

  The captain kicked her, sending her tumbling across the deck.

  “I don’t get to lead the Ai’thol by allowing some woman to surprise me.”

  “Some woman?” Carth said, propping herself up. She reached into her pocket, searching for the enhancements. She needed reflexes or stamina or anything at this point.

  “That is what you are, is it not? You are some woman who has the belief that she is something more than what she should be.”

  He started toward her, but Talia darted in front of him. He reached his arm back, as if to smack her, when Linsay kicked him in the knee. She would not have had any enhancements, and it did little other than distract him, but Talia kicked him from the other side.

  He brought both arms out, catching them on the shoulders, and they went flying.

  The distraction had been enough. Carth slipped the reflex enhancement into her mouth. She waited, praying that she wouldn’t burn off the effects, and as he approached, she kicked.

  She managed a faster kick than she would have unenhanced.

  Carth sent a surge of flame through her, healing her.

  She jumped to her feet, hoping that the flame she had used to heal herself hadn’t burned off the enhancement, and felt that it had slowed. She reached for another one and quickly took it.

  “You made a mistake,” she said.

  “What mistake did I make? I have studied the Rel for a while. I know exactly what you’re capable of.”

  “You know nothing of what I’m capable of. You think that you know me, but your study of me has only taught you some.”

  Carth tossed the bundle of enhancements over to Linsay. Her eyes widened slightly, but she recognized it and quickly downed a series of vials.

  “And it’s not me that you have to worry about,” Carth said. “It’s her.”

  Linsay jumped at them, moving with more speed than Carth would have expected, and crashed into the captain’s chest. She began beating on him, pummeling him over and over, and Talia was forced to pull her off.

  “We might need him,” she said.

  “After what he did?”

  “Even then,” Talia said.

  She looked up at Carth and nodded.

  “How are you going to stop the fleet?” Linsay asked, sitting on top of the captain, holding him beneath her as she readied another punch.

  “I will need to borrow one of your enhancements,” she said.

  “I thought you didn’t take them.”

  “I don’t. But for this…”

  “Which one?”

  “Stamina.”

  “You understand what will happen if you take it?” Linsay reached into the pouch and flipped one of the vials to Carth.

  “I understand the possibility. If this works, and we remove the threat of the fleet, you could harm me. Or, you could return me to the Binders.”

  “And if I do?”

  “Then you will return to Waconia. You will not chase additional power. We will work together to prevent the Ai’thol from creating another threat.”

  “You don’t understand. It won’t—”

  Carth shook her head. “I understand better than I did. This won’t be a negotiation. It will require many of us, multiple sides, all working together.” That was what Carth had discovered when staring at Ras’s board. She had seen the way that each side would be worn down by the other, but working together, the same way that she had when forging the accords, they could simplify the game. That was the key.

  Linsay stared at her. “I can’t make that promise.”

  “I can,” Talia said.

  “Talia—”

  Talia rounded on her sister. “Carth came for us. She didn’t have to. She place
d herself in danger. She placed those she cares about in danger.” She turned back to Carth. “Whatever happens, I will see that you return to your people.”

  Carth nodded. She jumped to the top of the masthead and stared out. Battles waged all around. She saw Binders facing the Ai’thol, and one ship was already sinking. Others were in poor shape, with two having ballista bolts hanging from their sides. There were ships from Waconia surrounded by those from Ai’thol. The ships that seemed to be making out the best were those from Keyall, but even they were struggling, outnumbered and outmaneuvered by those from Ai’thol.

  She would have to use both magics, but she would have to do it in a way that would be controlled.

  Doing so would take too much strength, at least if she were to attempt it without an enhancement. But with enhanced stamina?

  Carth hoped she could accomplish it then.

  She swallowed the enhancement.

  It took but a moment for it to kick in. It came like a surge of strength, as if she could feel both the brightest sun and the darkest night around her. It was power, and it flooded through her, as if she were connected to whatever the source of power that she had more directly.

  Carth focused on both, directing blasts at each of the Ai’thol ships. As she did, they exploded, ships and wood and sails and sailors going flying as her magic exploded them.

  She went ship by ship, destroying the Ai’thol.

  Her strength began to wane. She had known that it would.

  Carth pulled on more. There were still too many ships remaining.

  Could she summon a burst of magic?

  She focused, drawing on it, and sent an explosion at a grouping of ships.

  How many remained?

  She lost count, attacking, one after another, her strength fading, her connection to both the shadow and flame slipping.

  There was still another. And another. And another.

  Her vision began to fade.