Blood of the Tallan (The Petralist Book 7)

by Frank Morin

  A few people waved, and three separate times people tried to stop him to ask about when they could attempt to gain an affinity. He assured them the schedule would be posted soon, but excused himself quickly and kept going. He felt restless and needed some space to run.

  The Army gate was already open. He waved to the guards, tapped basalt, and accelerated sharply as he turned onto the road heading south around the city. As he approached the southern bridge that crossed the Macantact to the township, he noticed the huge gap in the speedcaravan track, and memories of the intense battle with Harley flooded his mind. They’d lost some good people, but so many more of them could have died. He shuddered to think how close he’d come to losing Verena to Mattias, who had hunted her under Dougal’s mind control. And Harley had nearly crushed Hamish several times.

  As Connor accelerated south, the valley opened wide to the east, on the opposite side of the river. He didn’t bother tapping air to fly across, or water to skate across, but simply fracked and ran across the waters, which were glassy smooth in the still morning. He grinned as he flashed across the river, running so fast he didn’t have time to sink, an enormous tail of spray shooting out behind him.

  On the opposite side, he accelerated more and banked off the narrow farmer’s road, entering a wide pasture, dotted with cattle. Careful to avoid smashing into any of them, he crisscrossed the fifty-acre pasture again and again, letting his mind wander as his feet flew across the ground. He made a point not to tap any of his tertiary powers. Training with the elements was amazing, but he needed a break, a chance to think.

  He let the recent fight against Queen Dreokt flow through his mind, revisiting the plan, his solo infiltration of Crann, and leading the queen to the ambush point. All of that had gone extremely well, but the fight had not. Despite all their planning, she’d walked into their ambush and clobbered them, hurting every one of them. If not for the Sucker Punch, she might have killed them all.

  Connor was supposed to be as strong as the queen, but he’d felt young and outclassed. She’d proven conclusively that he couldn’t stand toe to toe with her and slug it out with the elements. She’d win every time. Sure, by working together they’d managed to turn the tide against her, but then she’d unleashed the marble sculpted stone.

  Would she use another?

  She’d destroyed one of the most powerful battle affinities for a chance to kill them. Did she have another of those special stones? Would she sacrifice another affinity to gain a fatal advantage?

  Quartzite would do it. The very thought of snuffing out quartzite and losing all the Builder thrusters distracted him so much he almost ran right into a grazing cow. With a shout of surprise, he vaulted over it, leaving the surprised animal staring after him, chewing its cud.

  Connor wasn’t sure what they could do to stop Queen Dreokt from attacking another affinity. It seemed idiotic for her to dismantle her own ramverk, but if she killed them, she’d have plenty of time to rebuild it.

  Maybe they could find all of the ancient sculpted stones first, take them from the convergence points, and conceal them? Such an attempt would take precious time, and they might have to fight the elfonnel slumbering with the stones. He felt exhausted just thinking about so many elfonnel battles, but the idea had merit. Maybe.

  Thinking of elfonnel brought him back to his recent elfonnel experience. He raced circuits around the pastures, wind rushing past, reliving the marvelous experience. Raising the elfonnel had been a terrible gamble that could have easily killed him, but it had paid off even better than Kilian had thought possible. The elementals had answered his call and saved him, had walked with him in a way they had done with no other Petralist, not even Queen Dreokt herself.

  The debt he owed them was still unpaid.

  He thought about that, about the elementals’ odd behavior. Some of the things they had said hadn’t made perfect sense, but he’d been very distracted. As he thought about it, he became convinced that if Porphyry hadn’t remained with him and shielded his mind, he probably would not have ever returned.

  The elementals wanted to be freed, but refused to clarify what that meant. Connor tried to remember everything they had said, tried to figure out what their clues had meant, but couldn’t put the pieces together. He wished he was smarter.

  “Wow, I’m all seven kinds of idiot,” Connor chided himself, slowing to a stop and absorbing a little obsidian. He was one of the few people who could temporarily become much smarter.

  Connor tapped obsidian, his mind accelerating, and he grinned, but that was not nearly enough mental power. It was enough to give him a good idea, though.

  He tapped basalt again, but used the external-focused stilling. He then anchored stilling on obsidian like he had with internal-focused basalt to achieve superfracking. Then he max-tapped obsidian.

  Stilling absorbed that flood of obsidian and in seconds created an enormous pool of super-obsidian. Connor tapped it and gasped as obsidian roared into him, ten times stronger than he’d ever felt. He tried falling over, but caught himself without even thinking about it. His reflexes felt so finely tuned, he bet he could read an opponent’s movements before they even realized what they’d decided to do.

  The sound of Verena’s laughter warmed him as it burst across his mind like it always did when tapping obsidian. This time it sounded richer, like her granite laughter, and it made him smile.

  With obsidian illuminating his mind like a blazing sun, Connor turned his thoughts back to the question of the elementals, their odd behavior, and those cryptic words about debt. One clue snapped into focus immediately, so he focused on that idea.

  Connor released super-brains and absorbed a tiny bit of porphyry. His supply was critically low, but he needed to risk absorbing a few grains of the rare powder. If only he had even one clue about where to mine for more, with super-brains he could probably figure it out.

  Closing his eyes, Connor envisioned his affinityscape. It formed around him, and he stood on his mainland, facing his many bridges. His family bridge looked terribly worn from its recent abuse, worse than when he’d last seen it. He was tempted to cross it, to find out if it really did end in his family home. Maybe that would help him understand its importance. But it looked so weak, he feared it might collapse under his weight, and he sensed that would be bad.

  Porphyry appeared beside him as soon as he tapped it. The great monster padded around him, sniffed the air, then settled on its haunches, tilting its head a little as it regarded him. “You hunt the mind, Pack Leader?”

  “I do need answers,” Connor admitted. Speaking with Porphyry was so refreshing. Its entire world revolved around the hunt. “When Fire and Earth consumed me to raise that elfonnel, you protected me and helped keep my mind free.”

  At the mention of the elementals, Porphyry’s posture stiffened and a low growl rumbled deep in its thick chest. “Beware the deceitful ones, Pack Leader.”

  “Deceitful in what way? They helped me raise an elfonnel that saved all of our lives.”

  Porphyry resumed pacing around Connor. “The element pack abandoned their hunting grounds, betrayed their pack leader, and have invaded my hunting grounds. They seek new hunting grounds with no pack leader, no limits to the hunt. This is not the way.”

  Okay, so maybe possessing such a limited world view could be super annoying sometimes. Connor puzzled over that response, trying to understand what Porphyry meant. He even tapped super-brains again, but felt like he was missing an important piece of information to make it all clear.

  As he thought about it, he paced out across his triple-layered bridges to the tiered islands of his affinities. The strength of his connections to each affinity reassured him. He had access to so much power, there had to be a way to defeat Queen Dreokt.

  He thought back to Nicklaus and his blasted bridges. Poor kid. Losing so much so young from such a freak accident would have shattered almost anyone else, but the boy had bounced back with remarkable enthusiasm. If he kept progressing s
o fast, he might rival the famous Kirstin as the greatest Builder ever.

  That got him thinking about Kirstin’s father, King Triath and his disastrous experience with something Kirstin had done. If only . . .

  He tapped super-brains again, and a new thought erupted into his mind like another volcano. He gasped, shook himself awake, and fracked as soon as his vision cleared. Running faster than any other Strider alive was too slow, though, so he super-fracked.

  Connor whooped as he shot across the Macantact and up the road so fast it felt like he simply smashed through the space between him and the city. He released his super speed earlier than last time, but was still too close to the wall and unable to make the turn through the gate.

  So he jumped.

  Leaning all the way over, he ran right up the outer wall. Soldiers gaped as he shot past, arcing high out over the city, laughing with the thrill of it. A booming thunderclap shook the air around him as he jumped. He wasn’t sure where that came from, but clearly the soldiers thought he’d called the thunder to highlight his jump. It did make his move look even more amazing.

  Connor managed to land on a high, gently sloped roof, run down it, and skip across three more, each progressively lower, before jumping off the last roof and outrunning the fall to the paving stones. He slowed quickly, not wanting to plow over any other early risers. The streets were busier, but still noticeably empty compared to most days.

  He found Verena in her rooms in the palace, already dressed in Boulder battle leathers. She spun, showing them off proudly. “I barely slept last night. I’m so excited to start training! Want to join me?”

  He kissed her quickly, but shook his head. “I’d love to, but we need to talk. Do you know where Kilian is?”

  “In his suite, I imagine.”

  “Come on.” He grabbed her hand and headed for Kilian’s rooms. Verena asked, “Why are we in such a hurry? Most people aren’t even awake yet.”

  “I think I figured out something important. Do you have a speakstone paired to Hamish?”

  She nodded and withdrew a small quartzite block from her satchel. Connor said, “Have him meet us at Kilian’s.”

  “He won’t be happy about missing breakfast.”

  “I’m sure he’s got enough food under his bed for a week,” Connor assured her.

  It took only moments to reach Kilian’s suite. The door was already open, with General Wolfram standing there, wearing his usual perfectly-pressed uniform, speaking with Kilian. He turned to leave just as Connor and Verena arrived. He greeted them warmly, then excused himself and left.

  “Busy morning?” Verena asked Kilian.

  He smiled, looking alert and rested. “Good thing none of us stayed up way too late last night.”

  “I’m glad you’re up,” Connor said. “I need to speak with you.”

  “I need to speak with you too.” Kilian gestured them in and led them to his sitting room where a warm fire was already burning in the hearth. Aifric sat on one of the couches, dressed in a simple dress of pale green, her legs tucked under her. She wore her hair loose and was holding a warm drink of some kind in both hands, sipping it occasionally. She waved a greeting.

  Kilian gestured Connor and Verena to one of the couches, then sat beside Aifric and asked, “What’s on your mind, Connor?”

  A knock on the window interrupted them. Hamish was hovering there. Aifric unfolded herself from the couch and crossed to the window to open it. Hamish slipped inside and asked, “Don’t you know it’s rude to lock your windows when you’re expecting guests?”

  “I’ll be sure to add that to my etiquette booklet,” Kilian said, eyes sparkling with little geysers of water. He motioned Hamish to join them.

  “There’s a book?” Hamish asked.

  “Yeah, you eat it,” Connor joked.

  Hamish dropped into a nearby chair and peered at Aifric’s drink curiously, then looked to Connor and asked, “How’s your practice going with transforming water into that Althin hot chocolate?”

  “Pretty well, actually.”

  “Really?” Verena looked very interested.

  “Have you got any cups?” He asked Kilian, who rummaged in a cupboard and produced four large ceramic mugs. He handed them out, then with a gesture, filled them with hot water.

  Connor concentrated on them, tapping soapstone just a little. The water glowed brightly in his senses, and he could see into it, feel its deepest structure. He gave that structure a twist that he’d been practicing in quiet moments before bed. The clear water transformed into a dark brown liquid.

  “That looks promising,” Hamish said before sniffing it. He nodded appreciatively. “Smells better than your last attempt.” He gestured toward Verena’s cup. “Ladies first.”

  She gave him a suspicious look, but still sniffed her mug and took a tentative sip. Hamish watched closely. He’d tasted Connor’s first miserable failure, but Connor felt pretty confident he’d gotten it right. Verena’s eyes widened and she sighed. “This is delicious!”

  Hamish took a big gulp but then yelped and spit most of it back out. Looking embarrassed, he said, “Hot.”

  Connor sipped his. It was thick and creamy and sweet, just the way he liked it. Some aspects of ascension were simply awesome.

  After taking a sip of his own, Kilian said, “I see you’re using practice time well.”

  “Did your mother ever make you any hot chocolate?” Connor asked.

  “No, she never did,” he admitted.

  “Can I try?” Aifric asked, switching mugs with Kilian. She took a sip and grinned. “This is amazing.” She settled back in her seat, still holding Kilian’s mug. When she saw his surprised expression, she gave him a dazzling smile and said, “You don’t mind sharing, do you? You were asking for a sip of my tea earlier.”

  He chuckled and saluted with the tea. “Go ahead. I know better than to try out-arguing all of you.”

  “Wisdom is a sign of greatness,” she said with a gracious nod.

  “Or the sign that someone’s really, really old,” Hamish laughed.

  Kilian looked like he was considering lighting Hamish’s toenails on fire, so Connor said, “I wanted us all here because I was testing stilling with obsidian and managed to superfrack my brain.”

  “Is that a thing?” Verena asked.

  Kilian looked impressed. “You got it to work?”

  Connor nodded. “Same principle as basalt.”

  “I wonder if you could superfrack your rampager?” Hamish asked with a grin.

  Aifric shuddered. “Don’t go there, Hamish.”

  “I’m not sure what that would do,” Connor admitted.

  “Let’s not get distracted,” Kilian warned. With that group, it was a very real possibility. They loved diving into hypotheticals. “What did you learn?”

  Connor explained his thoughts on the different bridges, how he had three tiers of bridges, but Nicklaus only one before they got smashed. He asked excitedly, “What if tapping an activated sculpted stone only destroys the top tier of someone’s bridges, and what if the mechanical that King Triath was testing from Kirstin was a sculpted stone that she had fully activated?”

  Hamish let out a low whistle, while Verena rocked back in her seat, eyes wide. She reflexively took a sip of hot chocolate. Aifric gasped, and Kilian looked very thoughtful. He asked, “You think that somehow he got pulled back down through the final threshold?”

  “Is de-ascension even possible?” Hamish asked.

  Kilian shrugged. “I have no idea. I never considered the possibility. It’s a total reversal of what we always focus on.”

  “There’s always another secret, and another twist to Petralist powers,” Connor said with a grin. “What if it’s possible?”

  Hamish and Verena looked excited, and Aifric looked thoughtful, her gaze distant, her lips moving slightly, as if she was holding a conference among all the women in her head.

  Kilian leaned back, deep in thought. “You might be onto something.”
>
  “It all fits!” Verena exclaimed, gripping Connor’s hand.

  “Better than you know,” Kilian said. He rose and retrieved a document from a desk drawer. “I’ve considered the question of what happened to my father a thousand times, from every possible angle, but nothing fit. Your idea might finally offer us clarity, and it ties in perfectly with your aunt’s latest communication that I just finished decoding this morning.”

  “The third piece arrived?” Connor asked eagerly. He’d known the second part of the coded message had arrived by courier, but they couldn’t decipher any of it without the third.

  Kilian nodded. “I see why she took such exceptional precautions with this one. If it had been intercepted, she would have been compromised. Part of the message included a request for specific information to be sent today via the disinformation speakstone. That’s why Wolfram was here. He’s taking care of it.”

  “What does she need?” Connor asked.

  “Never mind that. The important thing for us is what the rest of her letter contained. She reports that my mother concealed the extent of her injuries from most of her subjects, but she suffered a short delirium while healing, and Ailsa was present.”

  Connor shuddered to think of Ailsa spending so much time in the presence of the mad queen. He wished again that they’d been able to catch her before she escaped back to Crann. They might have been able to finish her off.

  Kilian continued. “She picked up some important information, knowledge that not even I have ever heard before. My mother’s mind must have been wandering far afield.”

  “What information?” Verena pressed, leaning forward. The others looked as eager as Connor to learn.

  “Not even my mother understands what Kirstin did to my father,” Kilian admitted. Connor’s hope fizzled. The king’s descent into madness was the one clue that suggested a weakness they could exploit. Kilian continued, raising a finger for emphasis. “However, my mother told her that when my father suffered whatever it was Kirstin did, he fell victim to the elementals and they threatened to rise through him. That’s why she had to kill him.”