The Dark Ability: Books 1-4

by D. K. Holmberg

  “Just promise that you’ll wait for me.”

  As Brusus started away from them, Rsiran realized that he hadn’t told him anything about Firell or the lorcith he’d felt on his ship. “Brusus… there’s something else I haven’t told you that you need to know.”

  Brusus turned and waited.

  “We went to Firell’s ship.”

  Brusus’s eyes still looked reddened and deep wrinkles lined his face. “Why?”

  Jessa frowned. “When we couldn’t find you and you didn’t come to the Barth, we went looking for you. I’m sorry we cared enough to be concerned.”

  Brusus seemed to bite back a response and let out a soft sigh. “And what did you find?”

  “Crates of unshaped lorcith. Some of my forgings.” At least now, he knew how the forgings might have ended up there. If Brusus was using his knives to trade, Firell could have gotten them anywhere.

  “Lorcith?” Brusus seemed puzzled by that. “What would Firell need lorcith for? The only value is in Elaeavn.”

  “That wasn’t—”

  “Just… wait for me,” Brusus said, interrupting. Then he turned and headed into the city.

  Jessa stared after Brusus. She sniffed softly at the flower tucked into her charm. “There is more here than we know.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “If the knives he has you forge are so valuable, then why wouldn’t other smiths outside the city value the pure lorcith?”

  “It’s the same reason that I can hear the lorcith, the same reason my father wanted to send me to Ilphaesn,” he suggested. “Our smiths can use lorcith and others can’t.”

  But what if there was more to it than that? Rsiran could hear the lorcith, could shape it into whatever form it demanded of him, but that didn’t mean other smiths couldn’t simply work with it too. He remembered the one conversation he had with his father when he learned that others heard the lorcith, that most within the smith guild could hear it. Did that ability make them better smiths? That didn’t seem likely, especially since his father had wanted him to ignore the song of lorcith… unless other smiths didn’t ignore it. But if that was the case, why was Rsiran the only one to make weapons with it?

  Jessa squeezed his hand. “You know more about it than I do. Are there any other uses for pure lorcith?”

  “Not that I know. The metal itself is pretty hard. And as you know, it takes much higher heat than any of the other metals I work with to get it to the point where I can even shape it. But lump lorcith? I can’t think of any reason.”

  “Other than to limit supply?”

  “It’s already limited—”

  “How?”

  “The mining guild controls what comes out of Ilphaesn. They are the only guild directly controlled by the Elvraeth. Once it reaches the city, lorcith is distributed to the smiths by orders. Even lump lorcith is expensive, though, so there are a few smiths who won’t work with it. My father figured they didn’t want to risk a forging not working. But if you can secure a commission, the return is more than enough to pay for what you’ve used.”

  But lorcith was even more limited than that. The supply depended on actually successfully mining it from Ilphaesn, and when he had been there, the boy had stolen lorcith from him to prevent larger nuggets from being found.

  “So maybe Firell just had it to sell?” Jessa said. “But to who if not the guild?”

  Since learning about the lorcith on Firell’s ship, he’d wondered what it could be used for. At first, he’d thought it might be meant for him. When it became clear that it was not, he wondered if maybe lorcith had been moved to drive up the price. But if Josun was involved, it changed the possibilities.

  He remembered how Brusus had described Josun the first time he’d mentioned him. Layers. If he could peel back the layers, they could reach better understanding. Only, he had no way of knowing what layers to peel back.

  Then there was the issue of the lump of soft metal he’d found. If Rsiran was right, if it was meant to be used in the alloy of lorcith, how would that help Josun? The alloy created a barrier, but was that all that it did? What if Josun had a darker intent?

  There was one place to find out more about the alloy, but it was a place he didn’t dare go: the alchemist guild. He had never met one of the alchemist guild willing to share anything they knew. They were secretive, nearly as protective of their secrets as the Servants. Yet, if he didn’t find the answer, he feared they would continue to be one step behind Josun, always looking over their shoulders, fearing what he might do next.

  Chapter 21

  Rsiran Slid them to the smithy. Doing so drained the rest of his strength, but not nearly as much as when he’d Slid with them all to the Aisl. Jessa let go of his hand and hurried to where he left the lantern hidden and covered, pulling the sheet off of it. Soft bluish light filled the smithy.

  “Why do you think it’s blue?” he wondered. The color of light the lantern emitted always seemed strange to him, so different from the one in the mines. The lorcith of the lantern pulled at him, an awareness different from what he felt from lorcith he shaped.

  “Sight. It doesn’t hurt the eyes of someone with Sight like orange light. Even as bright as it is, I can still see clearly.”

  “The lanterns in the mines let off orange light.”

  She shrugged. “Orange makes it harder for someone with Sight. Everything becomes dulled. Probably done on purpose so the miners wouldn’t run.”

  “There wasn’t anywhere to go,” he said softly. His time in the mines had scarred him, and not just physically. The long scar on his neck still throbbed at times, but not nearly as much as the nightmares he had of being stuck in the depths of the mines, left wandering and injured. “They kept the entrance locked.”

  Jessa slipped her arm around his waist. “You got out.”

  “I did.”

  “What now?” she asked.

  “Brusus wanted us to wait for him.”

  “I’m supposed to believe you intend to comply with his request?” A grin spread across her face. “And I never said that I would. Besides, you want to know what Firell is up to.”

  He let out a long breath. “Just let me—”

  “You need to rest. I know how hard that Slide was on you. And getting us back here surely took whatever energy you had left.” She pulled her arm away from him and checked to make sure the knives he’d given her were still tucked into her belt. “At this time of night, I can move easily. And there are things that only I can see.”

  “I… I don’t know if that’s safe.”

  She smiled. “Probably not. But neither was you Sliding us onto the ship.” She leaned up on her toes and kissed him on the cheek. Her lips felt warm and wet and tingled where she’d touched him. “We all take risks, Rsiran. That’s the price of what we do.”

  “I don’t like it.”

  “I didn’t ask you to.”

  Jessa locked the door behind her, leaving Rsiran standing alone in the smithy. He needed rest. His body felt weak and run down, but his mind rolled through what he had learned. Too much had happened, too much that he had no answers for. And he should feel scared—just knowing Josun Elvraeth still lived should worry him—but partly, he felt relief learning he hadn’t killed someone.

  Working the forge would help clear his mind, but he didn’t have energy enough to do that now. He didn’t want to simply sleep, either. If Josun was the one who attacked Lianna, that meant he was ready to reveal that he still lived. And maybe ready to move forward with whatever else he had planned.

  Rsiran would need to be ready. That meant practice.

  To reach the level of skill Josun had, he needed to build up his stamina to the point where Sliding no longer exhausted him. Even if that meant practicing when he felt overwhelmed with fatigue. So he Slid.

  Just a step. Taking small steps required little energy, but after what he’d done earlier, he felt the effects. Another step, then another. Each step a small Slide, each taking him arou
nd the shop.

  Small steps would not be enough. For him to build his endurance, he needed more. As tired as he felt, he had a sense of urgency to do this. What if Josun Elvraeth Slid to the smithy? What if Rsiran was too weakened to do more than simply Slide himself to safety? He needed to have the strength to defeat Josun. But he didn’t know how hard he could push.

  So many questions and he had few enough answers. There was one person he could ask, but he worried about the timing. The Great Watcher knew he had imposed on her enough since meeting her… but she had imposed on him, as well, though he suspected she meant it to help him.

  Before thinking about it too much, he Slid, emerging in Della’s home. All the times he’d Slid there made it almost as easy as reaching the smithy. After the attack in the palace, he’d made certain to leave a small candleholder he’d forged in her home, an anchor of sorts so he could make the Slide even when weakened.

  Della sat before the fire, rocking in her chair. She did not look up as he entered, simply waved a hand at the other chair. “Sit.”

  “You felt me Slide.”

  She adjusted her scarf and nodded. “The ripples.”

  “Can I learn to do that?” he asked, sitting in the chair as she instructed. How useful would it be for him to feel when Josun Slid near him? Then he would have less reason to fear him.

  “What do you feel when you Slide now?”

  Rsiran leaned back in his chair. Fatigue from the day was starting to catch up to him, but this was the time when he wanted to push himself, use it to build his endurance. “I feel the sense of wind. Sometimes colors flash when I step.”

  Della nodded. “Do you know how it is that you Slide?”

  When it first happened, Rsiran did not know how he had Slid. Even now, he still didn’t know what he did to make traveling from one place to the next happen as he did. He simply saw it—or imagined, if he had been there before—and was able to step there. In his mind, he considered it stepping between planes, because he knew there was something in between, but did not know how he did it.

  “I just Slide.”

  “You just Slide. And I feel the ripples. That is all I can tell you about what you do. Just as you cannot explain how you Slide, I cannot explain how I feel the ripples. But still—the ripple happens with each Slide. Especially tonight. There were great ripples around Elaeavn earlier. I suspect that was you?”

  Della turned and stared at him. Deeper lines etched the corners of her eyes than the last time he’d seen her. Redness rimmed them. Rsiran suddenly knew that she had been crying.

  “Brusus came to you.”

  She nodded slowly. “He came. Told me what happened to Lianna.”

  “There was nothing he could have done.”

  Della closed her eyes and sighed. “I know that. And I think he does too. But Brusus is one who sometimes lets his heart get in front of his head. I worry about what he plans.”

  “What is he going to do?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know, though I suspect it involves him finding a way to draw out Josun. It is a dangerous game that he plays, one I fear he does not fully understand.”

  “With Josun, I’m not certain there is anything Brusus can do.”

  Della took a deep breath and turned back to the fire. “You see why I am concerned.”

  Rsiran shared the same concern. The fact that Josun was one of the Elvraeth put Brusus at a disadvantage. That Josun could Slide… well that left Brusus in danger. “I thought I had killed him once.”

  “And how do you feel now that you think you did not?”

  The emotions were difficult for him to explain. Did he admit that he felt some relief? That the idea of having killed one of the Elvraeth frightened him? If the council learned, what would they do to him? Rsiran would never be safe in Elaeavn, he’d always need to remain vigilant, constantly worrying what would happen next, whether Jessa would suffer for him, whether his other friends would suffer for who he was…

  “How would that be any different than it is now?” Della asked.

  She had Read him. And if Della could Read him this easily, Josun would be able to as well. More than simply working to increase his strength for Sliding, he would have to practice keeping the barriers built within his mind, fortifying them with the image of lorcith.

  Della looked over and smiled. “It is good you recognize that.”

  He decided to ask the question that had brought him to her house in the first place. “How much can I push myself?”

  “As much as you can tolerate.”

  “You said doing so will make me stronger?”

  “Not stronger,” she answered. “You are not a weak Slider. This is not like Sight where there are gradients of strength. With Sliding, you either are or you are not.”

  Was that completely true? He could Slide, but there was no doubt that he had barely been strong enough to Slide everyone to the forest. Had he practiced more, would such Slides get easier? Was that not the same as strength?

  “Are there dangers if I push myself?”

  “The danger is in the traveling. You risk getting careless, coming out where you do not intend. Such things place you at risk.”

  Rsiran thought about what happened when he Slid all of them to the Aisl, how he hadn’t quite reached where he intended. What would have happened had one of them emerged inside a tree? Or worse, if he would not have been able to pull them all the way to safety had they encountered danger of some kind? As tired as he had been after attempting the Slide, he might not have been able to do anything more.

  “I have seen you push yourself. Is that how you got stronger?”

  Della smiled sadly. “There are times when you have no choice but to push forward. When failure means death.”

  Rsiran considered her words. If Brusus ran into trouble with Josun, his failure would very likely mean death. Maybe his. But worse, others he cared about. He could not allow that to happen. Given what he knew now, he was certain Josun would continue to harm those Rsiran cared about to push them all in the direction he intended. First Lianna, but what would happen if he reached for Jessa? What would Rsiran do then?

  Yet… he knew the answer already. Josun had tried to harm Jessa, had threatened her in the palace. If the same—or worse—happened, Rsiran would do whatever he could to protect her.

  “He will see your caring as a weakness,” Della warned. “That is why he chose Lianna. He knew how Brusus would react. That makes Brusus predictable. But also dangerous. I do not think Josun will expect that.”

  “You seem to know quite a bit about Josun.”

  “I have lived in Elaeavn a long time, Rsiran. There are many things I know.”

  Not for the first time, he wondered about what Della didn’t share. Like Brusus, she had secrets. She had strength unlike any other person he’d met and unlike most in Lower Town Elaeavn, she was gifted in many areas. Healing. Reading. Probably Sighted as well. Normally, he would assume that made her Elvraeth, but he had no proof of that.

  “I… I don’t know what I should do.” He had come to Della hoping for answers, but now he had only more questions.

  “You think I should be able to tell you what to do.”

  “I don’t want to lose anyone else.”

  Della rested a hand on his arm. “That is why I know you will do only what you must.”

  Chapter 22

  Jessa didn’t come to Rsiran the next morning. He awoke slowly, and his body ached as if he had actually carried everyone the day before rather than simply Sliding them. His head throbbed and lines streaked across his vision. His mouth felt thick and dry.

  After leaving Della, he continued to Slide. He went from the city to the clearing in the Aisl to the docks and back to the smithy, repeating until exhaustion made it so he could no longer focus. And then, he made small Slides, taking no more than a few steps at a time, determined to push himself until he could no longer stand. At one point, he staggered to the mattress and fell onto it, plunging quickly in
to sleep.

  Normally, Jessa joined him, but the empty mattress next to him said that she had not. He needed her to return. That was his next step in practicing—taking her with him until he reached the point of exhaustion. Rsiran was determined to build up his stamina so that Josun would not catch him unaware.

  A skylight set into the repaired roof of the shop let some light in. They had patched over all the windows on the front of the shop, not wanting anyone wandering by able to see what he might be doing inside. That kind of exposure risked drawing the attention of the guild, something Rsiran was determined to avoid. In many ways, the guilds were as powerful as the Elvraeth.

  He turned to the small basin of water resting near the table and took a long drink, trying to determine how he would spend his day. Brusus needed more weapons, and he now had the lorcith Shael had brought. The crate drew his eyes, but he didn’t even need to see it to know it was there. The sense of lorcith packed into the crate pulled on him, and there was enough to create whatever weapons Brusus wanted, enough to not worry about where he’d find the next supply of lorcith for quite some time.

  Before leaving, he checked his belt to ensure he had a pair of lorcith knives with him. After the attack in the warehouse, he didn’t want to be caught without a weapon, and knowing he could throw his knives without touching them lent him a particular kind of safety. The lorcith in the knives pressed against his awareness. Before doing anything else, he made sure to grab the spyglass Jessa had given him and slipped it into his pocket.

  Then he Slid to the docks.

  Rest had done him some good. Sliding after a full night’s rest was almost easy. Emerging on the rocks along the shore, careful to remain concealed, Rsiran looked out over the water toward the ships. Rsiran hoped to catch him before he set sail. Otherwise, it could be weeks before he returned.

  The bay looked nearly empty. Waves crashed steadily along the rocks of the shore, but other than that, the gulls were silent today. Where he stood smelled of spoiled fish and rot, but he didn’t dare emerge too close to the docks and risk one of the workers seeing him simply appear. A few of the flat-bottomed boats that he knew primarily fished within the bay dotted the far horizon. Smaller boats, mostly transport vessels, sailed close to shore. At first, he saw none of the massive ships that he had seen the other day.