The Dark Ability: Books 1-4

by D. K. Holmberg

  While he felt it everywhere around him, he began to wonder if he could listen for lorcith he’d forged. Always before, it pulled on him differently than the mined ore. Could he distinguish it from what he felt around him?

  Time passed as he listened. Rsiran had no idea how much.

  He breathed, listening, hoping that he could find Jessa. She could be trapped anywhere. He still didn’t know if she’d been lost in the space between the Slide or if she’d been captured by the Elvraeth.

  But, if he couldn’t escape from this room, he would never find her. His priority was finding a way out. Once out, he would track her using the lorcith knives she carried.

  Then, slowly, like a tickle at the back of his mind, he had the vague, familiar sense of forged lorcith. Something about this particular lorcith called to him strongly.

  Rsiran grabbed onto this distant sense and held it. At first, he did nothing else.

  It became more distinct the longer he held onto it. Something about it changed. Not just the sense of lorcith, but there came a sense of warmth and light that reminded him of the vision he’d had while holding the orb.

  Rsiran almost lost his connection.

  He steadied his breathing again and listened.

  This time, as he reestablished the connection to the lorcith, he pulled rather than using it to anchor. It was the same as what he’d done when trapped in Venass. This time, he had the same sense of movement. There came a flash of blue and the sweetly bitter scent he smelled while holding the orb, and then he emerged.

  Rsiran sat in a darkened room without windows or lanterns to give him any light. Lorcith burned nearby, the sense more acute than anything he remembered having before. He didn’t move for a long moment, listening for other lorcith.

  It was all around him, but this time it seemed to come from distinct locations. The knives in the leather he wore around his waist. Another knife, somewhere close. And then the charm.

  “Jessa?” he whispered.

  It had to be her. He’d made the charm for her, made certain she wore it, hoping he could use it to anchor and find her if she went missing. This time, he had been the one who’d gone missing.

  A hand touched his face and ran through his hair. He smelled the flower she wore and when lips touched his, he kissed her back, pulling her down onto his lap. She tasted sweet, like mint. He didn’t stop until someone cleared his throat nearby.

  “Have you had enough?”

  It was Haern.

  “Haern?”

  He grunted.

  “Where are we?”

  “Better question is where have you been?”

  Rsiran shook his head, but had no way of knowing whether they could see the motion. “I tried to Slide into the palace…”

  Jessa tensed atop him, and he put his arms around her, holding her close.

  “What happened when we were separated in the Slide?” he asked. At least she hadn’t been trapped in the place between the Slides. Rsiran wasn’t sure he would have been able to find her again.

  “You were holding my hand when you Slid, but I slipped away.”

  It had felt like they were torn apart to him. At least she was safe. Whatever else happened, he could get them to safety.

  “How did you find Haern?”

  Haern grunted again, softer this time. “Not too hard. She was standing just inside the door.”

  “Where are we?”

  “You don’t know?” Jessa asked.

  “I can’t see anything.”

  “Still a babe,” she whispered in his ear.

  “We’re in the palace. Too many guards coming by for us to move safely. Jessa said to find a place to hide and that you’d find us. Didn’t know if I should believe her.”

  “How long have you been here?”

  No one answered.

  “How long?”

  “It’s been the better part of a day, Rsiran. When I lost you… I didn’t know what to do. I knew it wasn’t safe for me in the palace. I traced my way back and reached the door when Haern pushed it open. We heard voices and knew we needed to hide. This was the first door we found.”

  “A day?” he repeated. “How have I been gone a day?”

  “That’s what I keep asking Jessa.”

  Rsiran looked toward Haern’s voice. The darkness had faded somewhat, and he thought he could make out a shadowed outline crouching nearby. “Why did you stay here?”

  “Where else would we go?” Jessa asked. “If we returned to the palace yard, we would have to make it up the wall before the guards found us. I wasn’t sure we could manage without getting caught.” She squeezed him and seemed reluctant to let him go. “So we waited.”

  From the edge of tension in her voice, he could tell how difficult it had been for her to wait. Jessa prided herself on her ability as a sneak, and waiting meant she didn’t think she could manage to escape on her own.

  But what would have happened had he not been able to escape from the room with the orbs? Would they have tried to get out on their own eventually?

  Rsiran didn’t want to think about that. He had escaped, though he still didn’t know what the vision meant that he had while holding the orb. And what did it mean that he’d twice managed to Slide without taking a step?

  “What’s in here?” With the darkness, Rsiran couldn’t see anything and again wished he had some of Jessa’s Sight.

  “Boxes.”

  The darkness around him continued to fade, but not enough for him to make out anything but lines, gradients of shadows. “Boxes? Like the crates in the warehouse?”

  “Pretty much. These are smaller. I can’t really tell what’s in them. This is even too dark for me, and I don’t dare step out to find a lantern.”

  “How haven’t you been discovered?”

  Haern grunted. “Damn lucky.” His voice sounded closer. “Did you find what you were looking for?”

  Rsiran took a shaky breath. “I think so.”

  What he’d seen in that room could be nothing else. Lorcith all around, the blinding blue glow, the strange pedestals made of a twisted wood, and the massive room with starlight for a ceiling. What else would it have been?

  “I found what they want.” This time, he said it with more conviction. “I don’t know what they think to do, but I’ve seen it. Hopefully Della can provide answers.” He had the sudden memory of the sharp pain stabbing through his head. When he managed to clear his vision, the orb had been back atop the pedestal. “I’m not sure they can even take what’s there.”

  “Could you reach it again?” Haern asked.

  He tried to remember the sense he’d felt when he cleared his mind, the sense he’d focused on as he Slid to where the orbs were kept. This time, he managed to clear the sense of lorcith away quickly. He felt the heartstone chain around Jessa’s neck. If he listened, he could hear the alloy of the bars within the palace, the heartstone all around him.

  Rsiran pushed this away as well.

  He was left with emptiness. It reminded him of the blackness that had surrounded him after touching the orb.

  Then he felt… something. Warm and powerful and calling to him…

  Rsiran let it go before it pulled him back. He didn’t know if he’d have the strength to return to Jessa.

  “What is it, Rsiran? You almost Slid again.”

  “You felt it?”

  She shook her head. The shadows around her had cleared enough that he could now make out the outline of her face. “I saw it. The swirl of colors that usually surround you when you Slide. But you stopped. At least, I think you did.”

  “I stopped.” He took a deep breath. “I found what the Elvraeth protect.”

  “What? What did you find?” Jessa asked.

  “Some kind of orbs of power,” he said. “I felt connected to the Great Watcher himself when I was there. I think I could reach them again if I tried. When I was there, one of them pulsed softly. I couldn’t find a way out of the room. I couldn’t Slide, and there was the sense
of lorcith all around me, like this building in the palace. So I touched it.”

  Haern leaned toward him. “You held one?”

  Rsiran couldn’t tell if there was accusation or a question to what he said. “I didn’t know what else to do. I couldn’t get out of there, and it seemed one of the orbs wanted me to hold it.” That was the only answer he’d been able to come up with for why the orb had stopped pulsing after he touched it. If only he knew what that meant.

  Haern leaned back and rocked on his heels. Had the room grown lighter or had his eyes finally adjusted to the dark? Now he could practically make out the look on Haern’s face, the way his jaw clenched while he contemplated what Rsiran had said.

  “Can you get us out of here?” Jessa asked.

  “I think so.”

  “Better hurry,” Haern said.

  Rsiran stood and readied to Slide. As he did, a heavy pounding came from a nearby wall.

  He looked toward Jessa and Haern. The Elvraeth knew they were here.

  “Haern—”

  Haern stepped over one of the boxes on the floor and grabbed Rsiran’s hand. Rsiran held Jessa close. He tried taking a step and Sliding but couldn’t.

  “Rsiran…”

  He tried again. Again he failed with his Slide.

  “I don’t know what’s wrong. I can’t Slide us.”

  Jessa tensed next to him. Haern only grunted.

  Chapter 39

  “You were able to Slide to us, weren’t you?” Jessa asked.

  The pounding came louder and now mixed with a scraping sound. Rsiran imagined the door slowly peeling away until they were exposed.

  “I did, but it was different.”

  Haern turned to him. He still held onto Rsiran’s hand, as if he hadn’t given up on the possibility that Rsiran could Slide them to safety.

  “Different?”

  “Like in Venass,” he explained to Jessa. “When the lorcith surrounding me kept me…”

  He stopped and looked around. Lorcith surrounded him here much like it had in Venass. The only difference there had been that the walls seemed infused with it, whereas here, the walls were lorcith. He didn’t know why that should prevent him from Sliding, but it seemed to work that way. When he’d been in Venass, he’d been able to listen for one of his forgings and use it to anchor, to pull himself rather than step into the Slide.

  Rsiran focused on the lorcith around him as the pounding built louder and louder. As before, he pushed it away, ignoring the immediate lorcith. He was left with the sense of heartstone alloy coming from Jessa’s necklace. Ignoring this, he listened for his forgings, knowing hundreds were scattered around the city.

  The faint sense of one of his forgings pulled on his senses. Rsiran listened, trying to ignore the pounding that seemed almost in the room with him, as he focused on this forging. But he couldn’t tell what it was. Possibly a knife—the Great Watcher knew he made plenty of them—or something small like that. Definitely not the sword, though he didn’t know why he wouldn’t feel the sword. Always before he’d been especially attuned to it.

  Rsiran gripped Jessa and Haern and then pulled on the sense of lorcith.

  At first, he didn’t know if it would work. Then, as light pierced the darkness of the room, he felt them move.

  The Slide was different, slow and thick, but picked up speed as they moved.

  And then they emerged.

  Rsiran blinked, looking around him, surprised at where they were. In spite of the darkness, there was no mistaking where he’d Slid them. The Barth.

  They stood in the kitchen of the Wretched Barth. A massive hearth that usually burned brightly was cold and dark. Cook pots lined one wall. A shadowed counter stretched in front of them. The scent of stale bread and meat filled the air.

  “Why did you bring us here, Rsiran?” Haern asked. He pulled away from Rsiran and made his way to a corner. He worked silently for a moment and then orange light spilled around the room from a small lantern. Haern held it out and twisted around.

  Rsiran shook his head. “I had to use lorcith to anchor. This was the first thing I sensed.”

  Haern turned the lantern toward him. It nearly blinded Rsiran, and he put his hand up in front of his face and turned away. “What?”

  The bowl he’d once made Lianna hung on the wall near them. That was what he’d sensed, what he’d used to anchor to. Rsiran pointed to it.

  Haern lifted the lantern to look at the bowl. He grunted again. “Couldn’t just take us to Della’s house?”

  Rsiran shook his head. “I can now. But I think I’m lucky I was able to sense anything.”

  Jessa pulled on his arm. “Rsiran…”

  He turned toward her. The lantern light played with the shadows across her face, leaving her looking lean and haunted. Her dark brown hair fell past her shoulders. The flower she’d been wearing had faded.

  “There’s someone else here,” she whispered.

  Haern’s head snapped around. “You saw something?” He spoke softly and set the lantern on the counter in a swift motion, another knife appearing in his hands as he did.

  Jessa shook her head. “Movement only.”

  Rsiran listened for lorcith, using his ability to try to determine whether they had anything to fear. He couldn’t sense any lorcith other than what they’d brought with them.

  But there was something else.

  He almost missed it, and realized nearly too late what it was: heartstone.

  Not the alloy, though. This was pure heartstone like they’d found in the Forgotten Palace.

  Rsiran quickly worked to clear his mind of lorcith. It was the only way he knew to sense heartstone. As he did, he knew Jessa was right. They weren’t alone.

  The heartstone was behind him.

  Rsiran turned, twisting with Jessa to take advantage of her Sight. As he turned, he grabbed two knives from his leather belt, and held them ready.

  A deep laugh echoed from the shadows near the door.

  “Impressive.”

  A figure stepped forward and Jessa gasped softly.

  Thom.

  “You were dead,” Rsiran said.

  Thom smiled. The long scar tracing up the side of his face twisted with it. “Was I?”

  An image surged in Rsiran’s mind, that of Thom lying on the ground, blood pooling around him. He’d been Pushed.

  Rsiran released the sense of heartstone alloy, but not before realizing it wasn’t somewhere near Thom. Rather, what he sense seemed to come from within him. He readied to use his knives.

  “Brusus didn’t send you to guard the house.”

  Thom’s smile widened. “I never said he did.”

  Rsiran frowned, trying to think about what Thom said when they’d first met. Had Thom been the one to mention Brusus’s name or had he?

  “Why are you here?” Jessa asked.

  Thom turned to her, his smile fading. “Why? The same reason as you, I suspect.” His eyes narrowed as he studied her. “I know your secrets the same as I know his.” He jerked his head to the side, to where Haern had been creeping closer. “And now it’s time we know his,” he said, motioning to Rsiran. “Consider this your summons.”

  Before Rsiran could answer, Haern stepped forward, holding onto his knives. “Most know my secrets,” he said softly. “Much as I know yours.”

  Thom tilted his head. “You really think so?”

  Haern frowned and pursed his lips. “They know about my past. Don’t change what I need to do now, does it? Doesn’t change that I can’t let Venass summon the boy.”

  “No? Then it wouldn’t matter to you if Brusus knew where you studied before you returned to Elaeavn?”

  Haern grunted. “That’s how you knew.”

  Thom tapped his head. “We’re more alike than you know.”

  Haern shook his head. “If you’ve studied there, then you know we’re nothing alike.”

  Thom smiled, his lips peeling back to show his teeth. “Perhaps.” He turned to Rsiran. “Y
ou’ve been busy. When I met you near the Aisl, I never expected you’d be so… resourceful. I’ll admit that I didn’t think you would be the one to reach it, but the others thought you might. And when you traveled within Venass, then I was sent to watch.” He laughed. “You’ve proven to be quite interesting, Rsiran.”

  “Rsiran?” Jessa whispered.

  Thom didn’t take his eyes off Rsiran. “If you are to refuse the summons, then I will have what you took from the palace.”

  “I didn’t take anything from the palace.”

  Thom took a step toward him, moving in that dangerously graceful way that he had while one hand rested on the hilt of his sword. Rsiran had no doubt that Thom knew how to use his sword. He didn’t know if he’d be able to reach him with his knives.

  “We know you were in the palace. And then you weren’t. Hand over the crystal.”

  Rsiran frowned. When he’d Slid to find the orbs, hadn’t he still been in the palace?

  But would he have known if he had Slid from the palace? The Slide had been different from any other he’d done.

  “I’m not going back to Venass.”

  “You made a bargain.”

  “Consider it broken,” Rsiran said.

  Thom smiled. “What did you take from the palace?”

  “We didn’t find anything,” Rsiran said.

  Thom angled to keep Haern in view and twisted toward Rsiran. “Now I know you’re lying.”

  Haern shifted and Rsiran glanced over at him. “How do you think you can stop all of us?”

  Thom shook his head. “I don’t have to stop all of you. Just one.”

  “There are three of us. I suspect you know what Rsiran can do, so you know how dangerous he is.” Thom tipped his head slightly. “And you know my history.”

  Thom sniffed. “That’s two. And this one?” He nodded toward Jessa, his hand still on the hilt of his sword. He hadn’t tried to draw it yet and seemed completely at ease. “You think I should fear your sneak?”

  “More than you know,” Haern said.

  He made a movement to come around Thom, but Thom raised a hand and wiggled a finger. “Didn’t I say I only had to stop one of you?”

  Haern suddenly jerked and stood up straight. The knives he’d been holding dropped from his hands, clattering to the ground.