The Dark Ability: Books 1-4

by D. K. Holmberg

  “How long?”

  She shook her head. Rsiran didn’t really need her to answer to know. Already, she faded under the strain. Della was powerful, but not so powerful that she could hold this forever.

  “I can make it through the night,” Della said. “More than that…” She shook her head again. “More than that, I just don’t know.”

  Rsiran swallowed. The night. How long until morning? Several hours. Maybe he could find Haern in that time. He’d been an assassin, maybe he knew of this poison.

  But from Della’s face, he doubted she could hold out that long, and that meant that Brusus would die.

  Chapter 6

  Rsiran walked from Della’s home. Cool night air gusted at him, and heavy clouds covered the full moon. A cat yowled nearby. Rsiran waited, hoping to hear another, but didn’t.

  Bad luck, but then again, when had he ever had good luck?

  Brusus lay dying. And Rsiran could do nothing about it.

  He felt helpless. Surprising, given all he had been through that feeling helpless bothered him so much. But accepting his ability to Slide, and learning he could move lorcith, gave him a measure of comfort most times. Now, neither of his abilities could do anything to assist Brusus.

  And then what? Once Brusus was gone, what would happen to him? To Jessa?

  They would have to keep themselves safe, but wasn’t that what he’d been doing all along?

  Rsiran stopped near the end of Della’s narrow street and crouched next to a twisted corbal tree. The sharp bark irritated his back, but he ignored it. Tears streamed down his face and he didn’t fight them. Whatever Brusus had kept him from with the Elvraeth, Rsiran didn’t want him to die because of it.

  He buried his face in his hands until the tears stopped. If Brusus were to die, Rsiran would at least learn why. He might not be able to find Haern, but there was some place he could go to find more information.

  He made his way along the streets. Lanterns glowed orange with enough light for him to see, but thicker shadows than usual seemed to shift around the street. Rsiran made certain to hang off to the side, not wanting to be seen. He kept his focus on the knives tucked into his pocket, ready to push them at the slightest sign of attack. After what happened with Brusus, he didn’t want to take any chances.

  How had the Barth become unsafe?

  A shiver worked through him. The Wretched Barth had become like a home to him since he’d been exiled by his father, the place where he first met with Brusus, where he’d met Jessa and Haern. And Firell. Maybe the Barth had always been unsafe and he hadn’t seen it.

  He sighed.

  Waves crashed along the shore. The smell of salt and fish filled the air, mixing with a hint of coming rain. No gulls circled tonight, their cawing strangely silent.

  Near the Barth, he hesitated. Part of him wanted to Slide into the tavern and see what had happened. Doing so would be dangerous. But wasn’t Brusus worth the risk?

  He glanced up the street to make sure no one watched, and then Slid.

  Rsiran had been careful to emerge near a corner along the wall. A defensive position in the Barth, but also one where he might be shadowed enough that others wouldn’t notice him at first.

  He found the Barth empty.

  It was strange seeing no one in the tavern. The smells of baked bread and roasted meats drifted from the kitchen, the food not the same as when Lianna ran the Barth, but still better than nothing. His mouth watered, and he considered grabbing something to eat before remembering how Brusus had been poisoned. He wouldn’t touch anything here.

  He looked at the table where they’d been sitting. One of the stools had tipped over, but the table looked the same. Dried blood smeared across the surface as if hastily wiped up. The stack of dice Jessa had brought sat untouched. Rsiran slipped those into his pocket.

  Nothing else was left, no sign of what happened earlier in the night.

  Rsiran turned, thinking to leave, when he heard a soft shuffle from the kitchen.

  Was one of their attackers still here?

  Against one, Rsiran had a chance. Maybe that would be how he could help Brusus. If he learned what poison was used, Della might be able to save him. Or maybe it wouldn’t matter either way. Then he would have revenge for his friend. Didn’t Brusus deserve that much?

  He Slid toward the hearth on the far wall. There, the door would block anyone from seeing him, giving him some advantage. He grabbed two of his slender knives from this pockets and held them, ready to push on them if needed.

  The door swung open slowly. Rsiran readied.

  A flash of steel came through the door first, followed by black leather.

  Rsiran hesitated. He’d seen that sword before.

  The door swung closed. Thom glanced around the tavern, lantern light shifting off his long scar in a strange way. Thom shifted so his back was to the door, spinning quickly to face Rsiran. He held his sword at the ready.

  “Why are you here?” Rsiran asked.

  Thom flickered his gaze in both directions. He remained tensed, coiled as if to strike. “Same as you, I figure.”

  Rsiran frowned. Could Thom know about what happened to Brusus? “Why aren’t you guarding my father?”

  Thom turned away from Rsiran and went to the front door, peeking through the small window. When satisfied, he turned back to Rsiran. “You think I’m the only one hired for the job?”

  “How many others did he hire?”

  Thom shrugged. “They don’t tell me too much. Besides, I’m only helping as a favor. Watching an old man in the woods can be done by anyone.”

  Brusus wouldn’t trust just anyone to watch Rsiran’s father. That meant he trusted Thom. Who else did he trust enough to watch his father?

  “You know what happened?” Rsiran asked.

  Thom shrugged, eyeing him carefully. “For the most part. How’d you learn?”

  “I was with him.”

  Thom glanced at the table with Brusus’s blood on it. “You get him out?”

  Rsiran nodded.

  “Where?”

  He considered what to tell Thom. Brusus might trust him, but Rsiran wasn’t sure that he did. “He’s safe,” he said.

  Thom sniffed and nodded toward the table. His scar seemed to writhe as he did. “Don’t look like he’s safe. Where is he?”

  “I took him to a healer. She’s trying to help him.”

  “Trying?”

  Rsiran nodded. “He was poisoned.” He took a shaky breath. “He might not make it. She doesn’t know what poison they used.”

  Thom seemed to consider for a moment. “You see who did it?”

  “Not well. They were from Elaeavn, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  “You sure?”

  Rsiran nodded. “We caught one.”

  “Just one? He still alive?”

  “For now.”

  A dark smile twisted Thom’s face. “You going to murder him if he don’t survive? That your plan?”

  Rsiran hadn’t fully considered what he would do if Brusus didn’t survive. But taking out his frustration on the man that had attacked him—and threatened Jessa—seemed as good a plan as any.

  “Why do you care?”

  “Don’t. You just don’t strike me as the murdering type.”

  “You have no idea what ‘type’ I am.”

  “No? So you could just walk over to a man,” he started, stalking toward Rsiran, his sword raised, “and take your blade and stick it into his gut?”

  Almost faster than Rsiran could think, Thom’s sword swept toward Rsiran.

  He pushed the lorcith knives away from him to block the sword. They crossed and slid the sword up and away, deflecting the attack.

  Rsiran Slid back a step as he pushed the knives along Thom’s sword until they reached the hilt, holding the sword away.

  Thom dropped his sword. It clattered to the ground. Then he raised his hands up.

  “Guess I do need to watch out for your blades,” he said.
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  The knives hung in the air in front of Thom. He watched them, a curious expression shining in his eyes. Rsiran pulled them back and caught them out of the air.

  Thom smiled. “See? You aren’t the type.”

  Rsiran frowned. Had the attack been to prove his point? He glanced at the sword lying on the ground. Definitely one of his. Above the hilt was his mark. “I could have killed you!”

  “But you didn’t. Me? Someone comes after me with a sword like that, I put them down so they don’t try it again.” His smile widened. “But like I said, you’re not the murdering type. Otherwise, from what I heard, you would have put a knife into your father long ago. Not like you haven’t had the opportunity. From what I see, not much slows you.”

  Rsiran looked away, tucking his knives back into his pocket. He held onto the connection, prepared to push them at Thom if he made any movement toward him again.

  But Thom simply grabbed his sword off the ground and sheathed it quickly. “Interesting ability you have there. Useful, I should think. Man who can slip anywhere, send his knives at a target… such a man has value.”

  “Thought you said I wasn’t a killer.”

  Thom laughed. “I said you weren’t a murderer. Being a killer is a different thing altogether.”

  Rsiran shook his head. “You’re right. That isn’t me.”

  Thom made his way toward the door. “Too bad. Brusus might have found you useful.” He reached the door and twisted the handle.

  Rsiran Slid to him and pushed on the door. “What do you mean?”

  Thom looked over. “If what I’ve seen and you’ve told me is right, Brusus is dying. Were it you, I know what he’d be doing.”

  “And what is that?”

  Thom smiled again. “Brusus would be getting revenge.”

  Rsiran shook his head. “That’s not the Brusus I know. If it were me, he’d be doing everything he could to find a cure.”

  “You think so? So that’s what you’re doing, then?”

  Rsiran thought of the way Brusus had made sure Rsiran had the healing he needed when they’d first met, the way he hadn’t asked anything in return. He’d given him access to a smithy, a place to work and learn to listen to the lorcith, never asking for anything. “I know he would.”

  “Hmm. Then what are you going to do?”

  Rsiran sighed. “He’s already with a healer. There’s not much more I can do.”

  “But you said your healer isn’t sure she can save him.”

  “I said she didn’t know what poison was used. She’ll figure it out.”

  “And if she don’t? You think with your abilities, there’s nothing you can do to help?”

  “I’m no healer.”

  Thom’s smile returned. “Maybe not. But there are places where such things are learned.”

  Rsiran frowned. “What sorts of things?”

  “Poisons. Healing. There might be a price, but if you could help him, wouldn’t it be worth it?”

  Rsiran considered what Thom said. Wouldn’t Della know if there was a place to find a cure? As a Healer—one gifted by the Great Watcher—wouldn’t she know if there was something more that could be done? Why would Thom know and not Della?

  “Where is this place?”

  Thom shook his head. “Not a place I can describe. Got to show you. You can take another along with you when you… travel?” he asked.

  “You know the answer to that.”

  “Ah, that’s right. Your girl.” His smile had a dark quality to it. “It’s a place in Thyr. Not easy to reach, but with your ability…”

  “I’ve never been to Thyr,” Rsiran said.

  Thom studied him for a moment and then nodded. “Then take me with you, and I’ll show you.”

  Thyr. The last time he’d left Elaeavn—really left the city and Slid to Asador—he’d found his father. Only he hadn’t known it was his father at the time. What Thom suggested meant he would need to Slide blindly again. Doing so was difficult work, draining. And taking another would be hard.

  But if there was a chance to save Brusus? If Thom knew of a place where a cure could be found, shouldn’t Rsiran take it? Thom was wrong about Brusus; Rsiran knew he would do anything if Rsiran or Jessa were in his place.

  “What is this place?” Rsiran asked.

  “I told you. It’s a place you might find an antidote.”

  “But we don’t even know what poison was used.”

  Thom shrugged. “For some cures, that don’t matter.”

  Rsiran sighed. He already knew what he’d do. What he had to do.

  “Does this place have a name?”

  “Near Thyr. A place called Venass.” Thom watched Rsiran as he said it.

  Venass. Rsiran had never heard of any place like that, but he wasn’t nearly as worldly as Brusus or Haern. He could ask Della, but he suspected she’d tell him not to go. She knew everything Rsiran had been through.

  Then there was the issue of what to do about Jessa. When she awoke, she’d be angry if she learned he went without her. Leaving her behind would keep her safe… but bringing her might keep him safe. With her Sight, she helped him as often as he helped her.

  As much as it might put her in danger, he needed her.

  “You will show us Venass? If I Slide us there, you will show us to it?”

  “Us?”

  Rsiran nodded. Taking both Jessa and Thom might be more than he could manage, especially over great distances. But he had to try. Hopefully all the practice Sliding he’d done recently had strengthened him.

  Thom seemed to consider before answering. Then his smile returned. The scar seemed to writhe again as he did. “For you, I think I will.”

  Rsiran let out a relieved sigh. At least he was doing something that might help Brusus.

  Chapter 7

  They emerged in the pale blue light of his smithy. Shadows seemed to slip along the walls. Had he not known better, he would have wondered whether the smithy was empty.

  The bitter scent of lorcith assaulted him as soon as they emerged. Jessa released his hand and hurried to the long table and grabbed a pair of long slender steel knives. Rsiran touched her hand and shook his head.

  “Lorcith blades.”

  She frowned.

  “They’re larger than your charm. I’m more attuned to them.”

  “What if…”

  He knew what she wondered. He’d wondered the same. “I don’t think there’s another who can use that ability. Certainly not where we’re going.”

  She took one of the long-bladed lorcith knives and tucked it into the waist of her pants. Then she took a steel blade as well. “You don’t know that. Better to be safe.”

  Rsiran laughed as he grabbed ten of his small lorcith blades. He stuffed them into his pockets, wishing he’d thought ahead and fashioned something to hold them. That could come later, if they saved Brusus.

  “Ready?” he asked her.

  Jessa took a quick look around the smithy. “You don’t want the sword?”

  Rsiran didn’t have to look to know where it was. Tucked beneath a floorboard, he kept it hidden. Something about this sword was different from anything else he’d forged. He felt a connection to it even stronger than what he felt to the knives. “I don’t even know how to use a sword. The knives I can push.”

  She took his hand and they Slid, emerging near the wooden hut.

  The air smelled different here, cleaner and with less of the bitter odor. The sjihn trees had a distinct smell, a mixture of pine and jasmine that left a perfume on the air the steady wind couldn’t quite blow away.

  “How do you want to go about this?” Jessa asked. “Did he tell you where to meet?”

  Rsiran shook his head. “Only by the cabin, nothing more.”

  Jessa knelt before the lock, unrolling her lock-pick set. “Maybe I just pick the lock. Keep your strength this way.”

  “Don’t want to just appear inside again?”

  Rsiran spun and saw Thom grinning at him, one
hand hovering over his sword. Moonlight gleamed off the long scar atop his head just as it had the night before.

  “You left him alone?”

  Thom shrugged. “He’s not going anywhere. That door is as stout as any I’ve seen. The lock too.” He narrowed his eyes. “So you get what you need?”

  Jessa tucked her lock-pick set back into her pocket as she approached. “Didn’t even have it locked,” she whispered.

  Thom smiled again. “Like I said, he’s not going anywhere.”

  “Why did you want to meet us here?” Rsiran asked.

  “Thought we could move more easily from here. Besides, didn’t you want to see him again?” A dark smile pulled on his lips.

  “No,” Rsiran said. He glanced at the wooden building before turning his attention back to Thom. “Are you ready?”

  “I thought you’d be bringing Brusus with you.”

  “Like I said, he’s with a healer. I thought you said you knew a place we could find an antidote.”

  Thom nodded, slowly, looking through the forest, back toward Elaeavn. “Be easier if he came—”

  “He can’t,” Rsiran said. If he tried to bring Brusus, he would have to leave Jessa behind, and he wasn’t willing to do that. Besides, once they found an antidote, he could Slide back to Elaeavn. “And what about him?” Rsiran asked.

  Thom’s smile returned. “He won’t go anywhere. Besides, there are others who know where he is.”

  “Lock the door,” Rsiran said to Jessa. “If everything goes well, we’ll return before morning.”

  Thom eyed him. “You can travel that fast?”

  Rsiran nodded. He wouldn’t explain to Thom the limitations of Sliding. He didn’t need to know that Rsiran had to know where he traveled; otherwise, he risked them during the Slide. Reaching Thyr would take the longest. The return would be easier.

  “Hold onto my arm.”

  Jessa grabbed one hand and Thom watched for a moment before grabbing his other arm. Rsiran considered for a moment before Sliding. He needed to go north, but that was all he knew. Maybe he was making a mistake by trying to Slide all of them there. It would take multiple Slides to reach Thyr, and once they were there, he’d be almost too weakened to do much of anything.