Blood of the Watcher (The Dark Ability Book 4)

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Blood of the Watcher (The Dark Ability Book 4) Page 12

by D. K. Holmberg


  Another Slide, this one to the stairs. He went up, pausing to focus on lorcith, searching for signs of his sister, but found none.

  If she still had her necklace—and why would the Forgotten have reason to remove it from her?—he would find her.

  Rsiran made his way back down through the palace, relieved that it remained empty. Until he reached the lowest level of the palace. Voices drifted to him, and he froze, jamming the barriers that he created into place, holding them tightly, this time afraid to Slide.

  “Where is she?” This came from a male voice, and harsh.

  “Not yet returned, but she was to be right behind me. We have asked for a meet, but they have refused.”

  “They can’t refuse for too long. One of us will find him.”

  Was it Valn? Rsiran couldn’t be certain. He’d heard him only that one time, not enough to recognize the man’s voice.

  “What of the others?”

  “We’ll have most of the sm—”

  “Why are you standing here?” This was a third voice, and one Rsiran recognized: Inna.

  “Easy. We were waiting on you.”

  “Waiting. Get back to the mines. Check their progress.”

  “They refuse. They claim they can’t hear it.”

  “They’re smiths,” Inna said. “They hear it. They choose not to help.”

  “We had one who was willing, but he’s gone.”

  “Then convince them they need to help. Give them no choice, much like you have with the others.”

  “How?”

  “Get creative. We need to prove how far we’ll go. If they won’t work for their own safety, maybe they will for another’s.”

  Rsiran Slid forward a step, trying to better hear.

  When he emerged, the voices had gone silent.

  He waited, fearful that Inna and the other two might have heard him. Expecting one of them to appear at any moment, he finally began to relax when no one came.

  Then he saw a faint sparkle of light.

  Rsiran Slid back a few steps, afraid to remain where he was. Inna hadn’t said anything more. Did they know that he was here? Had they discovered him somehow? He didn’t know how they would, but he didn’t want to risk it, either.

  But her comment… that hadn’t seemed the kind of statement she’d make if they’d already taken his sister. It sounded more like they planned to do something similar.

  Did that mean it had been Venass?

  A figure appeared in front of him.

  Rsiran tensed, readying his knives.

  Inna. She smiled darkly when she saw him, unsheathing a sword.

  Rsiran didn’t hesitated, and anchored to the knife atop Krali, and Slid away.

  Chapter 16

  Rsiran trembled atop Krali Rock, the wind pulling at him once more, a sudden change from the stifling sense within the Forgotten Palace, almost as if the wind blowing off the sea wanted to tear away the fear he felt after being in the palace.

  He’d seen Inna. Worse, she had seen him. Would she send others after him now?

  But it didn’t sound like they had come for Alyse. Not yet.

  That left him with needing to reach Venass. After foolishly Sliding to the Forgotten Palace—something he might keep from Jessa for now—he needed to find Thom.

  Rsiran steadied his breathing, letting the sense of the wind help him relax. He focused on lorcith, then pushed it away, seeking instead the heartstone. Sources of heartstone pulled on him, some nearly as plentiful as within the Forgotten Palace. From the time that he’d held the crystal and seemed to float above the world with nothing but darkness below him, he had suspected that there would be other sources of heartstone, but detecting it made it more real.

  A realization came to him, one that helped him forget about the Forgotten Palace: he might never run out of heartstone if he could mine it. Heartstone wasn’t always as useful to him as lorcith, but when combined with lorcith, it created a way for him to avoid the Forgotten Sliders, and possibly even those of Venass. Rsiran could envision using enough heartstone and lorcith to create a place where he would be safe from both, not having to worry about his Slides being influenced, and not needing to worry about them attacking.

  Thoughts of safety were premature. First he had to find a way to reach Thom, then his father, and then find his sister. Only after he did that would he consider the possibility that he might be able to find safety for himself. His friends. And maybe even his family.

  From where he stood, he detected other sources of heartstone, but each was so small that it was difficult to know where exactly to find them. Rsiran began to fear that he wouldn’t be able to find Thom, that his connection to heartstone wasn’t strong enough. What options would he have then? He could return to the Forgotten Palace, but if he did that, he wouldn’t take Jessa. Risking her for something that would be nearly certain danger wasn’t something he was willing to do. He wasn’t even certain that he would be able to take her with him to wherever he found Thom, especially if he found him somewhere that Haern or Brusus considered too dangerous. Better to take Haern.

  And he could craft similar bracelets for Haern, protect him from Thom’s influence, keep him from being used against them. Haern was skilled with knives and had the experience to be able to withstand an attack from Thom if he could prevent him from being Compelled. But Haern wasn’t Jessa. There was a certain comfort that came from knowing that she would be the one watching over him, protecting him from whatever attack might come. And her Sight was valuable.

  He had to focus. Standing here, he’d allowed himself to get distracted by thoughts of what he needed to do once he found Thom, but first he had to find Thom.

  Knowing that he’d sensed Thom’s heartstone before gave him a degree of confidence. He should be able to find him.

  Reaching out, Rsiran ignored the larger collections of heartstone, pushing away what he sensed of the palace and the unmined heartstone. As he did, he felt a steady pulsing, a faint, dark draw, but one that he recognized.

  Thom.

  It was distant, but not so distant that he didn’t know where he’d gone.

  Rsiran should not have been surprised to learn that he’d returned to Thyr. Possibly even to Venass.

  Finding him there would be dangerous. Within Venass were others with the ability to pull him to them, to influence his Sliding. He hoped that the heartstone he carried would protect him, but he’d never had the chance to test it as well as he would have liked.

  Could he really take Jessa to Thyr?

  She wouldn’t let him leave her; he knew that with certainty. Which meant that he would take her. And she would want to help him, even if it meant trying to help his sister. He knew that she didn’t agree with what he felt he needed to do, that she didn’t agree with him that he should even help, but she wouldn’t let him leave her behind.

  Rsiran focused on the smithy. It was time to return, to make preparations for reaching Thom, and for leaving.

  Then he Slid.

  As soon as he did, he recognized that something was wrong.

  He felt the pull of his Slide, as if another force tried pressing on him, drawing him from his intended target. Normally, Sliding to the smithy would be easy, something that he could manage without fear.

  He should have been more careful. He’d seen the couple trailing him through Elaeavn, and knew that the woman Sarah at least had the ability to follow Sliding. It didn’t take much to guess that she could influence it as well.

  Yet, when Della influenced his Sliding, there was never the sense of a battle, not like he felt now.

  This was a distinct awareness of what opposed him. Not the person, but the fact that there was someone wanting to pull him away from where he intended.

  Rsiran reached for the sense of lorcith, searching for an anchor. He should have done that before. Knowing that Sarah was after him should have kept him more on edge.

  The colors oozed past him. Lorcith burned in his nostrils as if he’d left it on th
e coals too long. He pushed back, terror filling him, trying to remain on Krali Rock.

  An anchor. He needed an anchor that he could use. There were dozens around Elaeavn, but where could he go that would protect him? He needed to reach someplace where he didn’t have to fear exposing others, especially if she followed him.

  Not the smithy. He might be protected by the bars of alloy, but he didn’t want to risk them finding the smithy. Not Della or the Barth or so many other places. All of the places that he considered, he had to ignore, fearing their exposure.

  Where could he go?

  As much as he fought, straining in the place between Slides, spending more time here than he ever had before, he felt himself drawn steadily forward. Eventually, without an anchor, he would be pulled away.

  Then he found a piece of lorcith he’d forged, left unintentionally but not in a place that would expose him or anyone with him.

  Anchoring to it, he pulled himself to the lorcith, and emerged near the docks. The remains of a broken knife rested between rocks. Rsiran left it, thinking that he might need it again, and then Slid, this time anchoring as he did, emerging in the warehouse, then the smithy. Hopefully, the additional stops kept him safe, but he wasn’t sure. Maybe he no longer could be sure when it came to Sliding.

  Jessa looked up as he emerged, and then ran to the door, sinking the bars of alloy into the ground and up over the frame.

  “What happened?”

  He trembled. After being discovered in the Forgotten Palace, and now this… Had Inna followed him? “I was nearly pulled out of my Slide.”

  “Like when Della does it?”

  “This was different. Rougher.”

  She leaned against the door. “Do you really think it’s safe for us to go then? Until you know, do you really think that we can rely on you Sliding us safely?”

  “If I have an anchor, I’m safe.” Inna wouldn’t have followed him, would she? Not to Elaeavn. He was safe within the city. Outside the city, he didn’t have the same number of anchors as he did within Elaeavn. “Besides, I still think when I have heartstone with me, I am protected.”

  Why had he left the sword behind? Why had he gone to the Forgotten Palace? What had he been thinking?

  If he’d had it with him, he might have been able to avoid battling with whoever attempted to pull him from his Slide. He needed to take it with him when they went after Thom, but what if it didn’t work? What if it didn’t prevent someone from drawing him along out of his Slide?

  “Did you find him?” she asked.

  He nodded. “I think so, but you’re not going to like it.”

  Jessa tipped her head, waiting.

  “I think he’s in Thyr.”

  She pushed away from the door. “You’re right. I don’t like it. I know that you’ve made these for me,” she said, lifting one of her wrists. “But what if they don’t work? What if when we’re that close to Venass, they can overpower whatever you made? I know that you can protect your mind, and that Brusus can with his ability to Compel as well, but we’re putting an awful lot of faith in these, especially when we’re talking about being that close to Venass.”

  “I have to go, Jessa,” he said.

  “I know.” She took his hands in hers and looked of at him. “Della was right. When she was talking about needing to do these things because of the memories, I understood. My parents,” she went on, letting out a sigh that shook her body, “made me a part of what they did. It was dangerous, and it was the reason my father was jailed. And my mother… I don’t even know what happened to her. After they took me, after they sold me, I lost her. Had it not been for Haern…” Jessa sighed.

  Rsiran didn’t need her to elaborate. Had it not been for Haern, she would have been sold into slavery, and forced into… what? Rsiran didn’t know what would have been required of her, only that Jessa feared it. Any time she spoke of it, she tensed.

  “You don’t have to go,” he said.

  “No, that’s not it. What I’m saying is that I understand,” she said. “My parents, had they not involved me in what they did, I would never have been placed into a position where I had to fear like I did. For a long time after Haern rescued me, I was angry with them. For so long, I hated the fact that they had never lived in Elaeavn, that it took Haern to return me to where I should have lived all along, where I should have been able to grow up. But if I had a chance to talk to them today, even after what I went through, I’d take it in a heartbeat.” She pulled him to her and hugged him tightly. “So I understand what you need to do. Even though they never treated you kindly, I understand the desire to know more. And I understand that you might not always like them, but you don’t want something bad to happen to them.”

  Rsiran swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. The possibility that he might not have Jessa’s support had been the hardest part for him. Knowing that she would be there with him, and better, that she wouldn’t be angry for what he wanted to do, took a weight off his shoulders that he hadn’t realized had been there.

  “I know this might not be safe, but I have to do it.”

  “I know.”

  “I’m afraid for you if you come with me.”

  She rose up on her toes and kissed his cheek. “And I’m afraid if you go without me. What if something happens to you while you’re gone? I wouldn’t know.” She wrapped her arms around him and took a deep breath. “Trust me, it’s better that we’re together. If we weren’t, and something happened, and I didn’t know…”

  He held her tight against him, understanding exactly what she meant. It had been the same thing that he had been afraid of when Josun took her. For him, at least he had the ability to Slide, to search, but Jessa would only be able to wait, to hope and pray that he found a way to get free.

  “When do we go?” she asked.

  A heavy knocking on the door answered her question.

  “I guess now,” Rsiran said.

  Chapter 17

  Standing on the rock overlooking the stretch of plains leading up to Thyr, Rsiran paused, debating whether he should continue forward. Night had fallen, and the thin sliver of a moon didn’t give much light—more than before, now that he had a hint of Sight—but he could still make out the pale white tower gleaming in the distance. His heart fluttered as he considered it, debating whether he should Slide any closer.

  “I’m still not certain this is a good idea,” Brusus said. He crouched on the rock, his long, wool cloak catching the breeze that whispered past this high up on the rock, and cupped a hand over his brow, almost as if shielding his eyes from the light of the moon. Brusus was Sighted, but could the moonlight really make that much of a difference?

  “It probably isn’t,” Rsiran agreed. “That’s why I brought you.”

  Jessa elbowed him in the stomach and touched the pale blue daisy tucked into her lorcith-shaped charm. Rsiran still wondered if the flower sufficiently diluted the bitter odor of the lorcith. Having grown up around lorcith, the only time he noticed it was during a Slide, when for some reason, he always detected the scent of it burning in the air.

  “Didn’t you say the last time you came too close, they pulled you to them?” Brusus glanced from Jessa to Rsiran.

  Rsiran touched the heartstone alloy sword, his cloak keeping it covered. He’d taken to wearing it since escaping from the palace a second time. There was reassurance to having a sword, even if he barely knew how to use one. But he hoped that with the heartstone alloy blade, he wouldn’t have to worry about his Slides being pulled by someone like Sarah, or Della. As far as he knew, he was the only person able to Slide beyond the heartstone alloy, and probably the only person able to Slide with the alloy.

  “I don’t think they will find it that easy this time,” he said.

  Jessa looked at him with a troubled expression. He noted the deep crease in her brow, and she chewed on her lower lip as she often did when she worried.

  “They’ll only find another way to draw you in, Rsiran. You pro
mised them, and Haern said—”

  “Haern said they’re dangerous,” Rsiran said. “Well, I’m dangerous too.” He glanced at Jessa and she shook her head.

  “You’re not dangerous. You’re barely able to—”

  He Slid to her in a heartbeat and cut her off with a kiss.

  “Bah,” Brusus said. “Even here? C’mon, we’re on a job.”

  Jessa pulled him closer for a minute before giving him a shove away. “See? Not dangerous at all. You couldn’t even stop me from hitting—”

  Rsiran detected the sudden flash of lorcith and grabbed Jessa, pulling her back a dozen steps, Sliding faster than he once would have thought possible. He emerged long enough to grab Brusus, and pulled him into the Slide as well, drawing them behind a teetering tower of rock behind them.

  Had they been followed? The fact that it was lorcith, and that he’d noted the same thing the other times made him afraid that neither the heartstone sword nor the way that he Slid kept them safe.

  Brusus had a pair of knives already in hand as they stopped, and Jessa ducked down, peering around the bottom of the rock. The bracelets that he’d made for her bumped softly against the rock. With their Sight, she and Brusus would be best equipped to see what he might have detected.

  “Lorcith,” he said softly. He focused on the sense of it, trying to find where he’d sensed it. The faint presence of the ore had changed. Had it disappeared?

  He couldn’t have them attacked this close to Thyr. If they were followed, and someone prevented them from reaching Thom, he wouldn’t be able to get answers about Alyse.

  That meant confronting whoever might be out there.

  He had claimed that he was dangerous, and he intended to prove it. Haern had worked with him enough that he felt more confident in his ability to keep himself safe if attacked, at least against someone not nearly as skilled as Haern. If he encountered another assassin who shared Haern’s skill, then he would need to rely on Brusus and Jessa to help.

  Rsiran stepped around the rock, five small knives already pushed out in front of him and now hovering in the air. If the lorcith had disappeared, that meant someone was Sliding. Maybe Valn and Sarah, even though he hoped they hadn’t followed him from the city. Could the lorcith have been masked? This close to Thyr, with the Tower of Scholars in the background, he could think of only one reason it could be masked.

 

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