The Coming Chaos

by D. K. Holmberg

  “What do you suggest we do?” Rayen asked.

  “We can either Slide away, or we can find out what they intend to do with us.”

  “Well,” Rayen said, raising her hand above her head. Shadows swirled around her, though they were tight, confined to her body, as if she placed them there so as to create a barrier around herself. “This should be fun.”

  19

  Daniel

  The men holding the spears forced Daniel and Rayen ahead of them. He kept his hands up, mimicking Rayen, trying to look as nonthreatening as possible. The men made no attempt to remove his sword, and they’d said nothing to him or Rayen since appearing.

  Every so often, they would jab their spears toward them. Even then, they didn’t say anything, merely forcing them forward. They took a wide-open pathway between many of the cottages, a road that wound through the homes here, and all the people he had observed out on the street retreated at their coming. It was almost as if they realized they were there and made a point of retreating, escaping the newcomers.

  The only ones who followed were the children, and they did so at a distance, their voices barely carrying. He could hear their excited chatter and wondered what sort of things they were talking about. He didn’t recognize their language.

  “Do you recognize it?” he whispered to Rayen.

  One of the men jabbed his spear toward Daniel.

  He brought his arms up, blocking it from striking him in the groin. The sharp crack slammed into his wrists painfully.

  If he were injured, escape would be far more difficult.

  When he straightened, the two men pushed them forward along the street.

  The cottages started to thin out, and the design began to change. On the edge of the city, the homes were small, compact, but as they continued through the city, they were larger. Many of them seemed to be comprised of multiple cottages built together, a cluster forming a larger home. All of them had the same style of thatched roof, and many had windows cut into the sides, left open. With the heat and humidity of this place, Daniel couldn’t help but wonder how anyone managed to sleep.

  Rayen whispered to him. “I don’t recognize the language,” she said.

  Her voice carried on a shadow, barely loud enough for him to make out. She seemed to use the shadows to pitch her words so only he would be able to hear them. He wouldn’t be able to do the same thing unless he could somehow master a connection to shadows.

  Many of the larger clusters of homes had more activity, though that activity began to ease as they neared. Larger structures rose up within the city, and he wondered why he hadn’t seen them before. From the edge of the city, he should have been able to make out some of these larger buildings, yet they had been obscured from him. Perhaps it was the thatched roofs, the way they all looked the same, blending together so it looked like an entire field of grass, or perhaps it was some similar mirage to the way the floating palace appeared within Elaeavn, designed so that it would blend into the rock, disappearing to hide the occupants.

  “Do you still think we can Slide from here if we need to?” Rayen asked.

  “I think so,” he whispered.

  It wasn’t quiet enough, and one of the men swung his spear toward Daniel, catching him on the shin.

  He swore under his breath. He needed to be careful that he didn’t end up getting hurt before they reached wherever they were taking them. At this point, Daniel was curious as much as anything.

  The larger homes began to thin. A tree grew above much of the city from somewhere in the distance. It was this tree the men were guiding them toward. The tree was situated in the middle of the city—at least partly in the middle. More buildings spread out around it, stretching off in all directions. Once again, he marveled at the scale of the place.

  The Elder Trees within Elaeavn and the Aisl were impressive, towering high into the air, massive even compared to the surrounding trees. This one seemed to dwarf them. Strangely, he hadn’t been aware of it until they had entered the city and were heading toward it. It was as if the city shielded this tree.

  As they neared, he saw the base of the tree was as large as several of the larger homes within the city. Gnarled roots twisted, curving out of the ground before diving deep beneath the earth. More people were congregated near the tree than in other places in the city.

  What would they find when they got here?

  The spear men stopped them near the base of the tree. They tapped on the ground with their spears. Daniel took that as a signal to wait.

  He glanced over at Rayen, gauging the distance between them. If it came down to it, he would need to reach and grab for her hand to Slide her away.

  Perhaps it would have been better had Carth been the one to come here. This was the kind of thing she would be good at: coordinate a meeting like this, working with strange peoples and attempting to understand them, find a common sort of ground. All fit with his experience with Carth.

  Somehow, he and Rayen would have to make it work.

  The two men holding the spears backed away, giving him and Rayen a bit of space. He shuffled toward her, moving slowly and still keeping an eye straight ahead of him. “I wish I were a stronger Reader.”

  “Can you pick up anything?”

  “Nothing.”

  “In my experience, that’s strange.”

  “There are plenty of people who have the ability to block out Readers.”

  “That’s true, but most of them have experience with people who can Read, don’t they?”

  Were the situation different, he might have made a joke with her, but at this point, he didn’t feel as if there were any jokes that could be made. He was scared, if he was honest with himself. Seeing as how he didn’t speak the language, he wasn’t able to communicate with these people.

  A small figure appeared in between two of the gnarled roots, slipping out of them almost as if coming from a doorway. The person approaching had wavy brown hair, deeply tanned skin, and a sash of cloth over her chest and groin dyed a deep green, though there were other colors mixed within, dots of red and orange and yellow, almost making it seem as if it shimmered as she walked. She was short—much shorter than the guards guiding them through the city—and she came unarmed.

  She stopped first in front of Rayen, staring at her for a long moment, her lips pressed together in a frown. When she was done, she turned her attention to Daniel, focusing on him.

  “Elaeavn.”

  Daniel blinked. The woman’s voice was sharp, lilting, but she had spoken the name of his homeland.

  “Child of Ih.”

  Rayen nodded.

  “Why are you here?”

  “We’re searching for help,” Daniel said.

  “You will find no help in Ceyaniah.”

  At least he had a name for where they were, though from the sound of it, it didn’t matter. If they weren’t willing to help, there might not be anything he’d be able to do.

  “You don’t even know why we need help,” he said.

  “I can imagine. You come here together, rather than separately, and there can be only one reason for that.”

  Rayen studied the woman for a moment. “What reason would that be?”

  “You seek the Council.”

  With that, the woman turned and headed away, leaving Daniel and Rayen staring after her.

  They shared a glance. She could mean only one thing by that. And if the woman knew something about the Council of Elders, then they had to find out what it was, in order to understand how the Ai’thol intended to reconstitute the Council of Elders.

  That might not be why Carth had sent them here, but it would be equally valuable.

  They started forward, but the two men with spears reached them, slamming their spears in front of them, blocking their way. Daniel had half a mind to Slide past them, but he suspected if he did, they would lose the opportunity to ask the questions he wanted to ask, and then they would miss out on gaining insight into this land.

 
; He couldn’t shake the sense that Carth was fully aware of what they might find here. It was just the kind of thing she would do.

  “We would like to visit with her,” Daniel said.

  Neither man spoke.

  Daniel glanced at Rayen.

  “We could Slide,” she whispered. Once again, her words were carried on a flutter of wind that was meant only for Daniel’s ears.

  Perhaps they could Slide past these men. If he did, what might they come upon?

  He motioned briefly with his hand, deciding they’d wait. At this point, they could always Slide, but they could just as easily ruin that opportunity if they attempted to run—or break free.

  He had to wonder how long they’d be forced to stand there. Neither man spoke, and neither even bothered to look much in his direction, almost as if intentionally avoiding him. It was possible that they were.

  The moments passed, stretching longer and longer, and when the woman finally returned, there were several others with her. Each was dressed in the same sash wrapped around their chest and then midsection. Several of them had short, wavy hair, while one had close-cropped hair, shorn nearly bald.

  Daniel was surprised to note that it was a woman. She had tattoos along one arm, the markings done with exquisite skill, a series of what appeared to be letters or symbols, something that likely had some meaning for these people. Her other arm had tattoos of animals. He stared at those for a moment, to try to get a sense for what sort of creatures they were. One looked something like a horse, though with a larger head. Another seemed a massive wolf with flames surrounding it. Still another was a serpent with legs.

  “Why have you come?” the tattooed woman asked.

  Here Daniel had thought the woman who had first come out to greet them was the one in charge, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

  “We need help. Information.”

  “And you think that you can find it in Ceyaniah?”

  “We didn’t know.”

  “How is it that you came to find us?” This came from the woman near the back. She had deeply tanned skin like all of them and appeared to be a little older. Her dark, wavy hair had streaks of gray running through it, and the lines around the corners of her eyes were deeper, carrying with them the sense of age and wisdom.

  “Luck,” Daniel said.

  “One does not find Ceyaniah by luck,” the tattooed woman said.

  “Why not?”

  “We don’t want it to be so simple to find Ceyaniah.”

  “It wasn’t necessarily simple,” he admitted. Without the connection between the shadows and Sliding, he doubted he would have found it.

  “They seek the Council,” the first woman said.

  “No one seeks the Council.”

  “Look at them.”

  Daniel shared a glance with Rayen before looking at the woman with the tattoos, meeting her intense gaze. She had deep brown eyes, so deep that they were almost black. The way she looked at him carried with it a question—and almost an accusation.

  “Is that what you seek?”

  “We come for information. There’s a dangerous man chasing power, and we want to prevent him from reaching it.”

  He wasn’t sure if that was the right way to describe Olandar Fahr, but it was fitting. He was a dangerous man—and he was chasing power. Whether or not these people would understand was a different matter.

  “You know nothing about the nature of what you seek.”

  “Help us understand.”

  “There is no point. As you don’t understand, there is nothing to be lost in your ignorance. There is much that could be lost if you begin to learn.”

  “We want to stop him for good.”

  “By chasing the Council,” the tattooed woman said.

  “That wasn’t what we were intending.”

  “The Council of Elders has not met in centuries,” the tattooed woman said. “There would be no reason for it to be convened once again.”

  “None? What if they began to gain the power of the Elder Stones?”

  “The Elder Stones were left for the people. The elders recognize the need. If they have acquired those abilities, then all is as it should be.”

  He couldn’t help but feel as if that wasn’t quite right. All wasn’t as it should be, and if the power of the Elder Stones was drawn out by someone with the wrong kind of power, then there was no telling what would take place.

  Then again, it was possible that these women knew.

  “Help me understand,” he said.

  “So that you can use it?”

  “I have no interest in using that power.”

  The tattooed woman watched him for a long moment. There was something unsettling about her gaze, and he wanted to turn away but feared that if he did, he’d show weakness. Everything within him told him he couldn’t afford to show weakness to these women.

  The tattooed woman motioned to someone off to the side, and others carrying spears marched forward. There had to be a dozen, but Daniel didn’t dare take his eyes off the women in front of him. The others might have the weapons, but they didn’t have the real power here.

  She turned away, motioning to the others. “Bring them inside.”

  20

  Daniel

  As he followed the men with spears, Daniel stayed close to Rayen. Every so often, their hands touched, a reminder for both of them that they could Slide from here if it were necessary. Rayen probably wasn’t as worried as he was. She had a confidence about her at all times, and he wouldn’t be at all surprised to learn that even in a situation like this, she was completely at ease.

  The men guided them between the tall roots of the enormous tree before reaching the giant trunk. A doorway that seemed little more than folds of wood blended into the tree itself. The air changed, dropping in temperature and taking on the thick scent of earth and decay. He glanced to Rayen again, but she kept her gaze fixed straight in front of her. The shadows remained tightly wrapped around her.

  They stepped inside a massive chamber within the tree with light coming from everywhere. In the middle of the space, an enormous table grew up from the ground. Small stools surrounded it, rising from the ground in the same way as the table.

  “What is this?” he asked.

  The women shared a glance before turning their attention back to him. “You wanted to see the Council.”

  Daniel stared. “This is the Council?”

  “Not any longer, but this was where the Council once convened.”

  “You hold it here?”

  “We are its protectors. We have long provided oversight to the Council.”

  Daniel neared the table. A sense of energy surrounded it and pushed against him, as if trying to keep him at a distance. “Why is it here?”

  “As we said,” the woman with the tattoos said, “there are places like this throughout the world.”

  “I haven’t seen any other places like this,” Rayen said. She kept her gaze locked on the table, and it seemed as if she were in awe of it.

  “Have you traveled to all places?”

  “Not all, but enough I would have known if there were others like it.”

  The woman smiled at Rayen. “Perhaps they have concealed it from you.”

  “Or perhaps there are no more,” she said.

  There certainly couldn’t be any place else quite like this room—or this table. How could there be without drawing attention to it? In this place, hidden as it was within the city of Ceyaniah, the tree itself was isolated from the rest of the world.

  As Daniel made his way around the table, he was tempted to have a seat, to see what it might feel like if he was part of the Council of Elders, but the energy pushing against him resisted his efforts.

  “There are other places like this, but this one remains pure.”

  Daniel looked over from the table. “Why are you showing this to us?”

  The woman frowned. “Not many have come looking for the Council of Elders over the years.�
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  Not many didn’t mean none. Could Olandar Fahr have already gotten here?

  “What can you tell us about it?”

  The woman shared a look with the other, the first dark-haired woman, and motioned for them to follow.

  They did, and surprisingly, they departed the massive tree from another angle, heading back out into the clearing. They walked them across the clearing until they reached a building nearby. This one was large, one of the largest he’d seen in the city, and had a steep thatched roof stretching high overhead. The women made their way inside, and Daniel hesitated on the other side of the door, looking around.

  After having seen the table for the Council of Elders, he hadn’t been sure what to expect. He wasn’t sure if this was going to be something similar, but instead he found himself inside a home. Furniture was made of woven branches, covered with furs of some unknown animal, and brightly colored feathers added to the decoration. The furniture was all flowing lines rather than sharp angles. An enormous animal skin covered the floor, the fur soft and supple beneath his feet. He couldn’t imagine what sort of creature it came from.

  The woman motioned for him to sit in one of the woven chairs, and Daniel hesitated a moment before doing so. Rayen was slower than he was, more cautious, and shadows swirled around her, probing various aspects of the room before retreating. Finally, Rayen took a seat.

  “Are you satisfied?” the woman asked.

  “With what?” Rayen asked.

  “With your questing.”

  Rayen tipped her head in a slight nod. Daniel smiled to himself. They had known what she was doing.

  Could that be why she hadn’t been able to detect anything with the shadows before? Could they have been aware of what she was attempting and have some way of rebuffing it? If so, that suggested even more control and power than he had suspected. Nothing about the city spoke of power. It seemed as if these were simple people, isolated by their location within the forest, but they did appear to have a knowledge of things he and Rayen did not.