The Fates of Yoran (The Chain Breaker Book 3)

by D. K. Holmberg

  “There are creatures in the world that few have ever witnessed. Some suspect that the creatures were created by a sorcerer long ago. Either a sorcerer or a magic user who has tapped into one of the great powers in the world.” She nodded to the pocket holding the egg. “Some call those powers gods, but the El’aras know them as something else.”

  The energy of the jade egg filled him with power that rolled through him, and he couldn’t help but feel as if there was something within the jade egg he could use. And if there was something he could use, he could easily imagine what the Fates wanted it for.

  If a magic user who could tap into some greater power in the world, he wanted to ensure that the Fates could not acquire it. They already had enough power, and he didn’t want to be responsible for them gaining even more magical potential. It was not with what he had seen, the dangers he had experienced, and their willingness to attack so openly throughout the city.

  “Once I draw the semarrl, I can trap them, but I don’t know if the enchantment will hold long,” Gavin said. “Without a way of truly holding the creatures, there may be nothing that can be done unless I can find the one controlling them.”

  Whoever they were would be powerful.

  If he were right—and increasingly, he thought he was—they had killed the Captain and all his guards to get the item that would control the semarrl.

  “You will need to find the item of power and use it to bind them. Doing so requires somebody of considerable understanding of the flows of magic.”

  “Couldn’t we just use the egg?” he asked again. It would be easiest.

  “Not without making a greater sacrifice,” she said, shaking her head. “While you have talent, Gavin Lorren, you are untrained. You must force the person who released them to hold them once again.”

  He had to draw that person out.

  Gavin started moving along the street, gripping the jade egg. It didn’t glow quite the same way for him as it did for her, though strangely, it did continue to glow for him. Gavin didn’t know if something about him caused the egg to glow or whether Anna had activated something within it. More likely, it was the latter. He felt the warmth that flowed within it. He tried to hold on to that energy to use it.

  Anna watched him, frowning.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “You’re holding onto a kind of power I was not expecting,” she said.

  He recognized that there was something within the egg that he could feel. The longer he held it, the more potent the feeling of whatever it was that he detected. Strangely, it felt as if there was a reverberation from some place deep within him, almost as if the egg were calling to that core reserve of power.

  “Can you feel what it is you are doing?” Anna asked.

  “I can feel something,” he admitted. “I don’t know what it is, only that there’s a sense within me that seems as if it’s tied to the power of the egg.”

  “It is the power of the egg. It’s the power of trapped energy, and it is calling to part of you.”

  “What part of me?” he asked softly, even though he thought he knew the answer.

  He had long suspected what part of him was, some hidden and sequestered piece he still didn’t fully understand. Ever since he’d dealt with the El’aras, Gavin had begun to question who and what he was. Not enough that it mattered. He didn’t care. It didn’t influence what he did, but there was some part of him that had to wonder.

  “You understand what you are,” she said.

  “I understand I’m somehow tied to the El’aras.” Even saying it was difficult for him, though he knew it was true. He could feel the truth within himself.

  “You are not just tied to the El’aras,” she said.

  “What is it, then?”

  “You are El’aras.” She smiled tightly at him and glanced at the sword he now carried. She’d looked to the blade a few times since arriving. “You don’t have to believe it for it to be true,” she said. “I felt it the first time I met you. And then when you were able to take the sh’rasn elixir, I realized you were truly one of the people.”

  Gavin stared at her. “I’ve wondered how that is possible.”

  “Because it is. I don’t know if you are fully El’aras or whether you are only half, though for someone who is half El’aras to tolerate the elixir would be surprising. Not unheard of, but surprising.”

  “Why do I get the sense that you don’t care for people who are half El’aras?”

  “It’s not me that you need to be concerned about,” she said softly.

  Something that Thomas or one of the other El’aras had said to him came back. He didn’t remember it in great detail. At the time, he’d been trying to stay alive, but there had been something almost derogatory about a half El’aras.

  “The El’aras don’t care for them, do they?” Gavin asked.

  “If you take the time to understand, you will know.” She smiled. “I have seen you up close, Gavin Lorren.”

  He waited for her to expound, but she fell silent. She smiled at him, as if she were telling him some truth that he should have known all along.

  He watched her for a moment. “What does it mean?”

  “Why must it mean anything? If you’ve chosen for it to mean nothing, then it means nothing. If you’ve chosen for it to mean something, then it means something. There is no reason it must mean anything to you.”

  “Even though it ties me to the El’aras?”

  “How does it tie you to the people? The only thing it does is reveal your heritage. It doesn’t make you anything you were not before.” She regarded him for a long moment, and he felt a pull from her, almost a desire to reach for her. “Did you know what you were before?”

  It was a simple question, but it seemed laden with so much more than what Gavin had given thought to. “I know who I am, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

  “You have known that you were the Chain Breaker, but I’m asking if you know what you are.”

  Gavin breathed out slowly. “I lost my parents when I was too young to remember,” he said.

  “Many have,” she said.

  He looked over. “Is that why you were in the city?”

  She smiled tightly. “I was in Yoran because I am the Risen Shard.”

  “So you were hiding.”

  “Yes.”

  It was the most admission that he had gotten out of her, and he wondered why. “Why?”

  “I’m afraid we don’t have an opportunity to discuss this anymore.”

  A strange haze appeared in the distance. Smoke.

  “They’re here,” Gavin said.

  “Then I must leave you,” she said.

  “Are you sure? I could use your help.”

  Anna frowned, shaking her head. “As much as I might be interested in seeing what the two of us could do together, I doubt there’s anything I could offer you. And I have my side of the bargain to fulfill.”

  She leaned toward him and gripped his forearm, and then she kissed him on the cheek. A heat washed through him. He thought of Jessica and what reaction she might have if he acknowledged that he felt waves of attraction for Anna, but he thought that Jessica would understand. Jessica knew that Gavin would leave at some point, and now that he had spent some time around Anna, even Gavin thought that he needed to leave.

  It was time for him to do so. It was time for him to understand who and what he was.

  Why not with Anna?

  Gavin pushed the thoughts away—thoughts of Anna, thoughts of the nature of the kiss—and focused on what he needed to do: Find the source and origin of the smoke creatures. Trap them and prevent them from returning.

  He took a deep breath and found the energy within his core reserves, which flowed out of him into the jade egg. When he was done, he released that energy.

  Finally, he held out the jade egg.

  “Do you know what you did?” she whispered.

  “I could feel it,” he said.

  “Feeling
it is different than knowing it.”

  “I know I pushed something through the egg.”

  “I thought you’d be able to better identify what it was that you were doing, but…” She smiled, and then she took the egg from him. “Focus on that pool within you. You have it. I could see it when I first met you. And think about what you want to do. That is how you control it. There is more to it, but we don’t have the time to go into it. Be safe, Gavin Lorren.”

  She ran off, disappearing into the city. He watched for a moment but turned his attention to the smoke as the semarrl came near him.

  Gavin held on to the El’aras sword and dagger. He thought he could find power within him; some way of reaching it and letting it explode out from him. It would take concentration, but it would take an understanding as well.

  He unsheathed the sword and held it in front of him. The blade glowed softly, though it surged more brightly than before. He pulled one of the enchantments from his pocket. He could feel that sense of energy and the trembling within it. It was almost as if it were calling to him, demanding that he release power. Gavin had to be careful not to release it any sooner than necessary.

  Some pressure built upon him from a distance. He focused on his core reserves, testing as he pushed the energy through the enchantments he carried, readying for anything. Strangely, ever since holding the jade egg, he could feel that core reserve bubbling within him in a way it hadn’t before.

  Gavin let that power build deep within. Then he raced toward the smoke creatures, ignoring the danger of it as they pressed upon him.

  He had the enchantments. The combination of the two—one for repelling magic and the other for speed and strength—allowed Gavin to move quickly.

  He hurried toward the nearest of the smoke creatures. When he met it, he thrust the enchantments forward. The suddenness of Gavin’s movements overwhelmed the creature. He pushed through the enchantments, using that core energy within him, and it exploded from him. Not nearly as potently as it had before, though this time with somewhat more control.

  He could feel the enchantment taking hold, sealing the creature within. The semarrl stopped writhing within the enchantment, and he backed away, no longer holding quite as tightly as he had before.

  Gavin spun. He stuffed the enchantment into his pocket, pulling another out. He had to be ready. He needed to find some way to call that energy to him, to draw these creatures' owner to him.

  If it wasn’t the Fates, then he had to find out who it was.

  Gavin continued to hold on to that sense of power, clutching it to him, focusing on it. Another creature streaked toward him. He pushed the energy outward through another trap, wrapping it around the nearest of the smoke creatures.

  Once he captured it, he stuffed the enchantment back into his pocket, hurriedly grabbing another. He poured power into the next enchantment, trapping another smoke creature.

  As he worked through them, he started to worry. How many smoke creatures would there be? He didn’t have enough enchantments for as many creatures as he’d detected.

  He needed to find the person releasing them. He needed to stop them. And if not that, then he needed to learn how to destroy the smoke creatures.

  Gavin captured one after another, using the core reserves within him. In the distance, he was aware of more pressure squeezing upon him. He walked along the street, and it seemed as if the smoke creatures were forcing him forward. He dabbed his fingers into the pouch of powder Anna had given him and licked them quickly before stuffing the pouch back into his pocket. There came another surge of energy, though not nearly as vibrantly as before.

  He followed the way the smoke creatures were pressing him. That seemed significant. He tried calling out to Wrenlow, but there was no answer. That didn’t surprise him.

  The more he was around the smoke creatures, the more certain Gavin was that they had a way of neutralizing magic. A massive semarrl stretched toward him. This one was dark gray, and he could almost see limbs within the smoke.

  Gavin spun, drawing upon the enchantment for strength and speed, and he darted toward it. He thrust one of the enchantment barriers forward, trapping the smoke creature within it.

  How many more will I be able to capture?

  Davel had made sure that Gavin had plenty of enchantments, but there was a limit to what he could do. Gavin reached for the packet of powder again, taking another dose despite knowing he could only take so much. The more he consumed, the more likely it was that he would take too much and eventually run out of power. More than that, he might eventually simply succumb to overuse.

  Gavin thrust another one of the enchantments forward and trapped a smoke creature again. One after another, he continued to use the energy from the powder, pushing out through his core reserves. The powder Anna had given him seemed to tap into some greater strength, as if he were calling power he couldn’t otherwise. He couldn’t help but feel as if that strength tied him to some other part of himself.

  The semarrl continued to guide him forward along the street. He had gone this way before. Most parts of the city were familiar to him after living here as long as he had and wandering the streets as much as he had. There was still something about this that felt different, even more familiar than it would have otherwise.

  Finally, the pressure forced him to turn. When it did, Gavin thought he understood what was taking place. It was forcing him along the pathway beneath the ground.

  The same path that the sorcerer’s lair would take.

  He started to slow. It was almost as if they were sacrificing themselves to drive him forward. There had to be some reason they were directing him in this way.

  He had an incredible amount of that power, far more than he had ever had before. Holding on to it now, Gavin could feel that energy flowing up within him, rolling out through him in a way that suggested he could do anything.

  He needed it. Power slammed into creature after creature, giving Gavin the belief he could do this. The resistance that pressed around him was a strange energy. It felt like a wall squeezing upon him, though he could see nothing to it. Perhaps a faint shimmer, a bit of color within the translucence, but nothing more than that. He fought against it but felt his strength failing. Resistance pressed around him.

  Gavin was in a part of the city emptied of people. The pressure guided him to a clearing. At one point, the market he’d visited after meeting with the old woman about the necklace occupied much of the space, but today it was gone. He traced his way along the ground, feeling the stones, but he couldn’t tell why the smoke creatures would have guided him here.

  He turned and shoved his fist out, driving it toward each of the smoke creatures that attacked him. They got close, but they stopped swirling as close as they had, almost as if they realized he had a way of enchanting them and trapping them. There were too many. As Gavin looked around the clearing, he counted a dozen or more separate swirls of smoke.

  Too many.

  All of them were darker and much more distinct than the smoke creatures had been when he’d first seen them. Several had faces within the smoke, though they’d not opened their jaws to try to swallow him the way they had when he’d headed to the enchanters. Gavin felt an overwhelming urge to be anywhere but here.

  Finally, he stopped.

  If the smoke creatures wanted him here, then this was where he was going to be. What he needed was to figure out who controlled them. He moved in a small circuit, turning in place to avoid the smoke creatures.

  He’d have to allow the smoke creatures to surround him. Only then could he call upon the power he needed. If he could trap them using a massive enchantment, perhaps he could end this. He didn’t need to find the person responsible or find whatever method they used to release the smoke creatures. That was, if the smoke creatures were some sort of magical item.

  What if they are a part of the natural world, preying upon those with magic?

  Anna would have known if that were the case.

 
Gavin stopped in the middle of the clearing with his hands at his sides as he let power flow through him. The smoke creatures circled closer and closer, dozens of them. Too many. They attempted to slam into him, but Gavin braced himself. The enchantment pushed them back.

  He feared the enchantment failing. They would swarm him, overwhelm him, and swallow him. They would consume him with their strange power.

  Gavin ignored that fear. Instead, he focused on what he could do with them. If they pressed in upon him, then he might be able to contain them.

  But there were too many for the enchantments he had taken from Davel.

  What if there was another way?

  Gavin held out the enchantments, but he also held out the El’aras sword. Squeezing the hilt, he let power pour from him and flow from that core deep within him. The blade exploded with power, and he pushed that power toward the creatures, bursting through them with a vibrant light.

  When he had used the sword against the smoke creatures before, nothing had happened. This time, the creatures dissipated, dissolving under the assault. Each time he swiped at the creatures, another surge of power came, a burst of energy that flowed.

  He no longer tried to use the enchantments to capture the smoke creatures. Now he swung the blade and carved through them, and the smoke creatures shrieked as the blade ripped through them. It felt strange to hack at the semarrl with a sword, but Gavin could feel it cutting through them, tearing them apart.

  Why had Anna been afraid of them?

  If she had this kind of power—or more—there should’ve been nothing for her to fear. Only, as he darted through and swung the blade at these creatures, he couldn’t help but feel as if there was something that Anna hadn’t shared with him. Some aspect of this power and ability that she had not revealed to him.

  The smoke creatures continued to dissolve. At least, Gavin thought they were dissolving. Each time he carved through them with the blade, they screamed and cried out, then disappeared.