“What? What’s wrong?”
“Jason,” Reyga said, “Tal Vardyn’s wisdom is no longer with us. Loremaster Seryn is the new High One now.”
“What? He’s dead? What happened?”
“He was killed by a sandbarb when he went to the nasaiken looking for aid,” Seryn said.
“Oh, wow.” Jason couldn’t think of anything else to say. Although he hadn’t always seen eye to eye with Tal, the man had earned his respect. To wake up and find that he was gone was a lot to handle. Is he dead because I told them about the nasaiken? The question was uncomfortable, but unavoidable. The Circle hadn’t even known they were out there. If Jason hadn’t said anything…
He frowned as he felt an uprush of emotion from Lenai. It was as if she couldn’t decide how to feel, which emotion to embrace. The word ‘turmoil’ came to mind. He looked at her as she stepped up to Nyala.
“Forgive me for interrupting, and this may not be the appropriate time, but I need to ask something of you,” she said.
“Of course. What is it you need?”
“I need you to break the Bond between Jason and myself.”
“What? No! Wait a second!” Jason shoved himself to his feet, holding on to the table as a wave of dizziness swept over him. “Lenai, what are you talking about? Why do you want to break the bond?”
She whirled to face him. “Because I cannot be a threat to you! As long as the Bond holds, the Shadow Lord can use me to attack you again. And now, with Bodann back, if he is as strong as Nyala states, just imagine what he could do to you. I cannot let that happen.”
“But you could die if the bond is broken, and I can’t let that happen.”
“That is not important.”
“It’s important to me!” He looked at Nyala. “You can’t do this. I won’t let you.”
Lenai turned back to Nyala. “If Teleria is truly important to you, you must.”
“No!” Jason couldn’t believe Lenai had just asked that. At least now all the strange stuff he’d been feeling from her over the last few days had an explanation.
“Please, Jason,” Lenai said. “You are afraid I will not survive if Nyala breaks the Bond. But I know I will not survive if Regor or Bodann use the Bond to destroy you. Especially if it could have been avoided. Perhaps if the Bond is broken by something other than your death, I will be well.”
“At the very least,” Lenara said, “it would do no harm for Nyala to determine if it is even possible. If it is, even if you do not break the bond now, you would know that you have the option later, should it prove necessary.”
Jason bit back a retort. He didn’t care who Lenara was or who she had been when she was at Lore’s Haven. She’d just met him; she didn’t have any business sticking her nose in. This was between Jason and Lenai, no one else. Before he could think of anything to say that wouldn’t sound rude, Reyga spoke up.
“I find that I must agree with Lenara,” he said. “Although I do not believe the bond needs to be broken at the moment, it would be good to know if it is even possible to dissolve it. Wait,” he said, as Jason started to speak. “You know that you and Lenai are both very important to me, and I would not see any harm befall either of you. But it cannot hurt to assess our options, even if we never exercise them.”
“It never hurts to have options, Jason,” Nyala added.
Although he knew they didn’t intend to, Jason felt like they were ganging up on him. He didn’t want to argue with Reyga or Nyala, and he sure didn’t want to fight with Lenai. But he wasn’t about to just give in.
“Fine,” he said to Nyala. “You can look, but don’t do anything.”
“I promise,” she said. Then she turned to Lenai. “Would you mind stepping away from the others? It may not be necessary, but it’s always best to be safe.”
Once Lenai was on one side of the room, with the rest of them gathered on the other. Nyala stepped up to her.
“I will try not to harm you.”
“I know. I am not afraid.” She gave Jason a long look and then stared at the ceiling as Nyala’s power increased and enveloped her. Jason tried to see through the shimmering sparkles to make sure Lenai was okay, but the brightness was too intense for him to see anything other than a hint of Lenai’s form. He was paying particular attention to what he was feeling from her. So far, there was mainly apprehension, but little else. He thought about using his aura vision, but stopped himself. He had been almost blinded in the first meeting with the Altered, and they hadn’t been exercising any power other than for their disguises. I can probably see better without it this time.
As he watched, Nyala’s power intensified even more. Then he saw an iridescent tendril extend from the power surrounding Lenai, as if Nyala’s dimsai was following an invisible thread. It lengthened and stretched toward him until it hovered just in front of his chest. Is that the bond? Although he had objected, the thought that he might be looking at what connected him and Lenai riveted him. He watched as it slowly twisted and turned, the sparkling growing more intense by the moment. Then the end near him began spreading out, growing until it was large enough to reach from his head to his waist. And then it was gone, as Nyala extinguished her power. His gaze jumped to Lenai.
“Are you okay?”
“I am well,” she said with a nod of her head. She looked at Nyala. “Well? Can it be broken?”
“If it can, it would have to be by someone stronger than I am,” Nyala said. “I have never seen anything like this. The connection between you two is more than I could deal with, even if I wanted to.”
Jason breathed a quiet sigh of relief. At least now, Lenai couldn’t force the issue.
“So it cannot be broken,” Lenai said. Jason thought she seemed troubled.
“Not by me.”
“Maybe some bonds weren’t meant to be broken,” Jason said. He blinked in confusion as every emotion he had been feeling from her vanished. It was like she had suddenly disappeared, even though he could see her right in front of him. She swayed slightly, and then turned to face him with an expression that made him take a step back.
“Maybe you are the worst thing to happen to me since the day I was born!” she shouted. “Everything that has happened here is your fault! Why did you have to come here? You should go back where you came from!” Then she turned and ran from the room.
“Lenai!” But she was already gone. Jason looked at Reyga. “What was that?”
Reyga was staring at the door, his mouth hanging open. He spread his hands as he turned to Jason. “I do not know. I have never seen such an outburst from her.”
Jason looked at Nyala. “Did you break the bond? I can’t feel her anymore.”
“No. The bond is too strong for me to break. I did nothing.”
Reyga grabbed Jason’s arm. “You must find her. There is something very wrong here.”
Jason nodded and ran after Lenai.
*****
Elam worked the hot metal, enjoying the feel of the heat on his face and the vibration from his hammer running up his arm. They were the only familiar sensations in this unfamiliar place. Although it looked the same, the Lore’s Haven of today was a much different place from the Lore’s Haven of his childhood. Even surrounded as he was with a keep full of people, he was constantly fighting feelings of isolation. About a third of the village had decided to return with him, but the others were either elsewhere within Lore’s Haven, trying to make a place for themselves, or had been reunited with their families, accepted now that the Circle had firmly reasserted their stance on banishment. He was happy for them, but their reunions only seemed to emphasize what he had lost.
He examined the metal and repositioned it slightly as he continued to work. He was glad he had chosen to bring all of his own tools. Although the forges and workstations at Lore’s Haven were more elegant than those of his village, there were some notable shortcomings, mainly in the elements needed for the finish work. He shook his head slightly as he worked. The saiken used their dims
ai for finish work. To his thinking, they could hardly consider themselves smiths. Their power was a crutch, preventing them from really knowing how to create something using nothing but tools, hands, and heat; that was the true joy of blacksmithing. He squinted at the metal, noting the subtle change as the color gradually shifted from yellow to orange. It would need to be reheated soon to bring it back up to the correct working temperature.
It had taken several experimental runs, using different heat and ingredients, to smelt the pure Blood Iron from the ore. Although he had studied the diagram and notes carefully, little had been said of the proper smelting process. Pieces of slag littered the ground around the forge. Larger pieces of ore were piled nearby. It had taken even more time to find the right working color. The remainder from those trials filled in the spaces between the slag. Now, however, they were ready to put the final touches on before mounting the gemstone.
Several saiken stood around him, watching his every move. At first, he had been annoyed. The last thing he needed was some saiken telling him how to do his work. He had seen many examples of saiken metalwork, and was more than willing to put his own creations up against theirs any time. Then, as they began asking question after question, he realized that, like his father, he had misjudged them as well. They were not there to criticize him. They wanted to learn from him; to learn how to work the metal without dimsai as he did. He could hear them talking to each other in low voices as he worked. The few words and scraps of sentences he overheard through the ringing of the metal showed him they were not disparaging his work, but admiring it.
How long had it been like this? How long had he and the other nasaiken been wrong about those living at Lore’s Haven? He wondered if the others who had returned were experiencing the same revelation. Had Bartel lied to them this whole time about the Circle and those at Lore’s Haven? The thought, while hard to believe, was inescapable. Had something happened to Bartel that he had never spoken of, to turn his heart so against everything and everyone related to dimsai? Certainly, Bartel had changed his stance when faced with Tal Vardyn’s death, but what if the Circle had always felt this way? How many years had been wasted that could have been spent with family and loved ones left behind? I could have been with my father. He would still be alive now. Although there was little to be gained by dwelling on such questions, the thought was still troubling.
“Your work is extraordinary.” Loremaster Borin had been watching quietly while Elam worked, carefully observing every move and hammer stroke.
“Thank you,” Elam said. He tried to think of something to add, but his uncertainty here, surrounded by people he had been taught to hate for so many years, had his thoughts in too much disorder. Nothing seemed appropriate…or adequate. He hoped his silence would not be interpreted as hostility.
“Watching you work is somewhat of a humbling experience,” the Loremaster added.
“You find it surprising that a nasaiken can work the metal as you do?”
“No, no! You misunderstand. Watching you, I fear that our reliance on our power has dulled our craft rather than enhanced it. It is an honor to watch, and, I hope, to learn from you.”
An interesting answer. Perhaps the young man had the heart of a smith after all. He nodded without saying anything. A few more blows on the final tine, and then he held up the hot staff for inspection. After turning it to examine it from all sides, he nodded again. “I believe we are ready to mount the gem.”
The Loremaster motioned to someone behind him. Elam turned to see several Warders, one of them carrying the red diamond, approach. Seeing the armed soldiers approach, he felt a spark of anger. He turned back to Loremaster Borin, the heat from the staff reflected in his eyes.
“So, for all your talk, you do not trust a nasaiken to hold to his word without weapons at his back?”
“Of course not! Please, let me explain before you judge us. This gem could be vital to our fight, even our very survival, and it is the only one known to exist. I assure you, even if I was making the staff myself, these Warders would be surrounding us, just as they are now. We dare not risk its loss, no matter who has the making of the staff.”
Elam grimaced, inwardly chastising himself for his outburst. Clearly, years of hatred would take time to overcome. He would have to watch his emotions and reactions more carefully if he wished to make a new beginning with these people. For the sake of his father, and the years his hatred had cost them. He held out his hand.
“Then I will take extra care not to drop it.” He gave Borin a wry smile as he saw the shocked look on his face. “It was a jest.” He saw the Loremaster’s shoulders sag in relief as he realized Elam’s intent. With a little chuckle to himself, he turned to the anvil and went back to work.
*****
Jason jogged through the busy hallways, looking for Lenai, as he dodged around residents going about their daily business. At each intersection, he scanned the passages extending both ways, looking for any clue that she might have gone that way. Her unexplainable absence from what he could feel only made the search that much harder. He couldn’t rely on their shared emotions to guide him through the keep.
What could have possibly happened to make what he felt from her vanish like turning off a light? Was the bond broken? Although Lenai seemed reluctant to share what she’d gone through when he almost died, it was obvious from her reaction when he asked about it that it had been pretty bad. So, if the bond was broken, why wasn’t he feeling anything like that? Did that mean it really wasn’t broken? Or did it mean that humans didn’t experience the same thing as Shanthi did? And if the bond wasn’t broken, why couldn’t he sense what she was feeling? The only thing he was sure of was that the only way to answer those questions, and others, was to find her.
“She was right you know,” a voice beside him interrupted his thoughts. “Everything that has happened is your fault.”
“What?” he turned to the man who had spoken. The man blinked at him, a confused look on his face. Then another voice spoke up.
“She would be better off without you.”
He spun to look at the woman. She had a hand to her head and was swaying unsteadily on her feet. She looked as confused as the man before her. Then more voices joined in, one at a time.
“Yes, you should go back where you came from.”
“No one wants you here.”
“Why did you come here anyway?”
What was going on? He was almost getting dizzy himself from jerking his head back and forth trying to see each speaker. Why was everyone turning on him? And how did they know what Lenai had said? How could they know? Reyga was right. There is something wrong here, but it’s more than just Lenai. Now he began hearing apologies mixed in with the accusations. Claims that they did not understand why they had said such things, and professions of faith in his ability to help them. And then, without any observable change, the same ones who had just apologized threw more accusations at him, more condemnations.
Without thinking, he triggered his aura vision. Maybe there was something unseen behind their strange behavior. His eyes widened as he saw a sickly, yellowish aura surrounding the man currently telling him he should go away and leave them all alone. Then the aura leapt from the man to a woman on his other side. The man staggered back a step, and then the woman repeated that Lenai would be better off without him.
He tried to ignore the verbal barbs as he studied the aura. It was the same color as the “fog” he had seen in his room and over the forest under his window. But it seemed familiar from somewhere else also. Where had he seen that color before? He tried to think back over his time in Teleria. A lot of the earliest part, when he was trying to adjust to being in a different world, was little more than a blur in his mind, but some of the memories were crystal clear. The pale aura looked like… His eyes widened as he realized where else he’d seen that aura.
“Crin!” He sent a mental shout to the fortunewing. “Find Lenai! Bothan is controlling her somehow.”
Controlling her? How?
“I don’t know, and it doesn’t matter right now. Just help me find her!”
He began running through the passages again, ignoring the comments and insults that chased after him. How was he going to find her in a place this large? Even more importantly, what did Bothan have planned for her? A small part of the back of his mind registered that no one was insulting him anymore. Maybe Bothan had gotten tired of the game.
Jason! She is here. At the top of the keep. An image formed in his mind. Immediately, he created a portal and stepped through onto a ledge surrounding the highest tower in Lore’s Haven. The sudden height gave him a moment of vertigo, but he pushed it aside. Lenai was twenty yards away from him, just visible around the curve of the wall. She stepped up onto the ledge, when Crin swooped down, flapping his wings furiously as he hovered in front of her face. She stepped back and knocked him to the ground on the walkway. Jason saw Crin launch into the air again, but not before Lenai had regained her place on the ledge. He wanted to run to her, but his feet wouldn’t obey. The scene before him transfixed him, freezing him in place where he stood.
“Lenai!”
She turned to look at him, a familiar grin twisting her features. “See you soon, laddie.”
Then she stepped off into empty space.
*****
Bothan opened his eyes, a chuckle on his lips, as he released his control over the Shanthi. Once her feet left the ledge there wasn’t any need to stay, and he’d had no desire to feel the impact when she hit the ground. You should have made better choices, lad. Now, what will you do without your little shifter? He’d let the boy think about things for a bit, and then go pay him a visit. But how long? Jumping from person to person, controlling them like puppets, had been more fun than he’d imagined it would be. Of course, he could do it again at any time, but he wanted to let Jason stew on the loss of the girl for a bit. Playing his game with just ordinary people wouldn’t be nearly as entertaining. But, the Circle, on the other hand… A slow grin crossed his face. Aye, the Circle would be the perfect next step to his game. And even if they found out what he was doing, what could they do to stop him? He just hoped he didn’t get bored with the game too soon.
Soul of Power Page 17