Unseen (First of the Blade Book 2)

by D. K. Holmberg

  He eyed her for a moment, then flicked his gaze to Benji and Lilah before looking back at her. It was the same thing the other scout had done.

  “You shouldn’t be here,” he said. He was a Second of the Blade, not a First, and should not have spoken to her in such a way.

  “I would like to pass.” She said it more forcefully and without any of the flowery language that would’ve been expected were she to give him the opportunity to refuse. At this point, Imogen didn’t want to give him that chance.

  “I was given strict instructions to not let anyone pass,” he said.

  “Who provided those instructions?”

  He glowered at her and glanced at her sword as if he didn’t know whether to believe that she was a First the Blade, but he didn’t move. A Second should have deferred to her.

  He glared at her again. “General Derashen leads us.”

  Imogen frowned, glancing to the tents.

  “You know him?” Benji whispered. His voice barely carried, almost as if it were a whisper in the breeze itself.

  She nodded once. “I know him.”

  “Is that good?”

  Imogen took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “I do not know.”

  It had been too long. The only times she had spent with General Derashen had been when she had encountered him at the sacred temple. He might not even remember her. She had been a different person then—irritated at her failures, struggling to understand the sacred patterns, and believing that she was still owed something because of her skill.

  She eyed the Second. “I would like to pass.”

  “And I would like to take that blade from you.”

  Imogen tensed. “Is that a challenge?”

  She could be challenged, but it had been so long that she had forgotten about it.

  Challenging somebody of a higher rank put a person in danger. Imogen certainly couldn’t kill him, not without drawing the ire of those of a similar rank as her, but she also couldn’t let a challenge go unanswered. There was tradition to it, and the tradition meant she needed to respond.

  “It is not,” he said, though the tone of his voice suggested he was disappointed that it wasn’t.

  She smiled to herself. Was he really that eager to challenge somebody of a higher rank? A Second could confront a First, but typically in an organized and formal setting, not out in a camp, and not while on patrol. The fact that it seemed like he was willing to challenge her now left her thinking that more was taking place than she was aware of. Perhaps she had been gone from her people for too long.

  “That’s probably a good idea,” a voice said from nearby.

  Imogen spun.

  General Derashen ascended the rock, looking much like he had when she’d seen him all those years ago. He had silver hair, a powerful build, and pale-gray eyes. The sword at his side was marked with nine notches. Though he was a First of the Blade, he had progressed even beyond that. He was only a few notches below the sacred blade master. Given what Imogen knew of General Derashen, she doubted he had any interest in progressing to that point.

  She bowed, leaving her sword unsheathed.

  “Imogen Inaratha. I would not have expected to see you here.”

  “I heard about the Koral,” she said, deciding to use that as her reason for returning, rather than the truth. At least for now. Eventually, they would have to be made aware, but she needed to know where she stood within the Leier.

  He frowned, cocking his head to the side. He flicked his gaze to Benji, dismissing him quickly, and then looked at Lilah. “Interesting company you keep.”

  “It is—”

  Faster than she could react, he darted up the stone and grabbed Lilah, pressing a belt knife against her throat. “Did you bring us a prisoner?”

  “She is not with them,” Imogen insisted.

  “She bears the marker of the Koral shamans,” he said. “Did you know this?”

  He tugged on the necklace that Lilah now wore around her throat.

  Imogen looked over to her. At least she had an answer to that question.

  Benji watched them, and a nervous energy filled the air. The Second of the Blade who stood nearby also stared, almost as if expecting there to be more of a fight. Imogen didn’t think she would be able to disarm General Derashen. She might’ve progressed with her sacred patterns, but this was somebody who had nine notches above First. He was a true blade master.

  She was not.

  “We found her on the plains,” Imogen said, choosing her words carefully. “She had been captured. Sorcerers, I suspect.” She shot Lilah a look that warned her to stay silent.

  “We will put her with the rest and then sort out what must be done,” General Derashen said.

  Imogen considered how to react but decided not to argue. There wasn’t anything she would be able to say anyway, and certainly nothing that would convince him otherwise.

  He motioned for the Second of the Blade to join him, and he grabbed Lilah.

  Imogen locked eyes with the girl and nodded, then turned to Benji. “Go with her,” she said. “Make sure she is safe.”

  General Derashen sneered. “You’re telling me how to keep my prisoner?”

  Imogen held his gaze, refusing to lower her eyes. She knew better than to stare back, but at the same time, she also didn’t feel as if she could let him take Lilah away without objection. If she did so, she diminished herself in his eyes. But more than that, she needed to push back so Lilah could have the protection she needed.

  “This is my prisoner,” she said. “And I will ensure that she is offered the safety I guaranteed her.”

  He tilted his head to the side, then let out a long laugh. “It is good to see you, Imogen Inaratha. Come. Join me at my camp.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  This high up in the mountains, and this late in the evening, the heat radiating from the fire was welcomed. As the night had begun to fall, the chill had started to settle around Imogen, making her all too aware of how underdressed she was.

  She had not had a chance to see whether Benji or Lilah were safe since they had been taken away, but she had faith that General Derashen’s honor would ensure their safety. At least, based on the honor he had always displayed before.

  Imogen was not alone at the fire. Derashen had permitted her to join him, but there were others who sat with her as well. She found her gaze drifting to the wrappings around the hilts of their swords, and she noted that there were three others that were First of the Blade. Two of them had a single notch on their scabbards, and there was one who had five notches. She stared at his weapon. There was something familiar about it, though she couldn’t quite place it.

  General Derashen carried a large hunk of meat, and he dropped down on a boulder next to her. “Tell me, Imogen Inaratha. You have not been seen in your homeland for years.”

  She kept her face as serene as she could while trying to come up with the right words. She had to be careful with what she revealed. “I was on my bond quest,” she said, speaking carefully.

  “Your bond quest called you from the homeland?”

  She held his gaze. “Yes.”

  “And?”

  Imogen hesitated. This was the part she had feared when she’d returned. She did not know what to say to anyone about her bond quest, or about what it had taken for her to complete it. She didn’t know how to answer if anyone questioned why she didn’t return the moment her quest was finished, especially General Derashen—somebody she had looked up to from the moment she had first seen him at the temple. Somebody she had recognized as skilled, having the ability with the blade that she had always wanted.

  “I tasked myself with destroying the hyadan,” she finally said.

  He watched her for a long moment, then nodded. “A worthy bond quest. Difficult, but worthy.”

  She took a deep breath. “Yes.”

  “And it has brought you here?”

  “It has brought me here.”

  “It is to our
advantage—at least if you would stay for a while, Imogen Inaratha.”

  He wanted her to stay? She tried to hide her surprise. He didn’t know about her failure at the temple. He didn’t know how she’d been sent away on her bond quest rather than choosing it for herself.

  “There is something you must know,” she said. “I encountered something on my journey here.”

  “The hyadan?” one of the other Firsts of the Blade asked from across the fire, eyes gleaming in the light. He had dark hair and a thin mustache curled at the corners of his mouth.

  Imogen shook her head. “Not the hyadan,” she said. “Well, not this time.” She added the last part hurriedly, wanting to ensure they believed she was still undertaking her bond quest. At least for now. She could share with the general that she had completed her quest, but she would do so on her own, not in front of others.

  General Derashen grunted. “The Koral,” he said, then took a bite of his meat and tossed the bone into the flames. “They have proven troublesome. We started to see movement from the Koral. Our scouts had heard that they were sending their shamans.”

  “Why send their shamans to our lands?” Imogen asked.

  “Only the gods know,” he said, his voice dropping to an annoyed mutter. “When it comes to them, who can say with any certainty? Perhaps they finally decided to attack. All these years, they have brushed up against our borders but never crossed them.” He shook his head, irritation in his eyes.

  Why had the Koral come now?

  “They wouldn’t be able to oppose you in the mountains,” she said.

  “We would not have thought so, but they have gained some new tricks,” one of the other Firsts said.

  Imogen looked over to her. The woman was a little older than Imogen, with shoulder-length black hair. Her eyes were narrowly set, but there was a flickering nervousness to them as she continually glanced around her.

  Imogen smiled. Had that been her at one point?

  The others around the fire were focused solely on the general. Everyone other than the master with the five notches on his blade. He watched Imogen instead. His angular jaw and strong features seemed familiar to her.

  Imogen tore her attention away from the sword master. She didn’t need to get drawn into the politics of the Leier again. She was not here for that purpose. She had come to destroy the branox and stop the queen; to uncover what Timo was doing, whether he was forcing these creatures in this direction or simply following them; and to stop him from his pursuit of the kind of power he should not possess. Then she could move on. She could go after Timo, and she could finish all of this.

  “What tricks?” she asked.

  General Derashen waved his hand. “They have learned the tricks of the sorcerers. We think they’ve been studying with them. So when you brought your prisoner, or your prisoner came with you,” he said, smiling tightly, “we realized you must have found one of their trainees.”

  Could that have been it? Lilah had certainly been keeping something from her, and it was difficult for Imogen to know what it was. Secrets, of course, but what kind of secrets?

  “It would take time for the sorcerers to train them,” she said.

  “We think they’ve been doing so for years,” another First replied.

  Imogen looked over to the man who’d spoken. He was slightly younger than her, and he rested his elbows on his knees as he stared across the fire. That he was able to share a fire with General Derashen suggested that he had already proven himself at his age. Which meant that he had skill she should respect.

  “What do you think they are after?” Imogen asked.

  “We don’t know the reason they’re here.”

  “I might.”

  General Derashen frowned at her. “You might? What have you seen?”

  “Strange creatures,” she began, choosing her words even more carefully than before. She figured the Leier would need to deal with the branox, and she wanted to ensure they understood what they were getting into. “Ones that almost move faster than the eye can see. That feed on magic.”

  Several of the others around the fire laughed, and Imogen shot them a look. As they were similar rank, they fell silent—all but the one with five notches.

  “You would come here and claim you’ve been fighting magical creatures?” Derashen asked.

  Imogen hesitated. She wasn’t sure if the branox were magical themselves, but she believed they must be. They fed on magic, which hinted that perhaps they had their own kind of power. Something allowed them to move as quickly as they did, and also created the crackling energy in the air around them.

  “These creatures feed on magic,” she said.

  One of the Firsts clapped his hands together. “Then we have nothing to fear.”

  Imogen looked over to him, remembering the Koral she had seen. “You don’t, but the Koral you have captured here might.”

  She had been trying to figure out why the branox were coming here. If the Koral shamans were training with sorcerers and increasing their skill, it would explain why the branox had been drawn here. The Koral had more talent than they had before.

  “Then we slaughter them,” one of the others said.

  Imogen couldn’t see who had spoken. He sat across the massive fire, the flames and shadows making it difficult for her to make out much of anything. At first, she thought he meant they should slaughter the branox, but she realized that wasn’t it—he was talking about the Koral.

  “You would slaughter a captured enemy?” She glanced over to the general, frowning. That went against tradition. That went against honor.

  General Derashen had a look of uncertainty in his eyes.

  Would he try to kill the Koral?

  It occurred to Imogen that she didn’t know her people any longer. Too much had changed. She had changed. So had her appreciation and understanding of magic. And maybe there was a time when she would not have argued against the general, even in something as dishonorable as slaughtering one’s captured enemies, but now she could not hold her tongue.

  The general looked over to her. Imogen held her breath as she waited for his response.

  “We cannot slaughter them,” he said. “They are our captives. If we kill them, we will dishonor ourselves.”

  She exhaled. Not only for the captives, but also for Lilah.

  “We don’t even know if these creatures are real,” the man across from her said.

  She eyed him for a moment. His voice struck her as familiar, though she couldn’t quite place why.

  Imogen needed to provide proof of the branox, but Benji had ensured that any remains were removed. At the time, she thought his actions made sense, to avoid drawing more to them. But without that proof, she had no way to convince the Leier of the creatures’ existence.

  “I can show you,” she said.

  “In the morning,” General Derashen said. “You can bring us to these creatures. If they are attracted to magic as you say, then we can use the Koral for bait. That will not dishonor us. We will use the shamans to bring those creatures here.”

  Imogen didn’t know whether to be relieved that the Leier were willing to deal with the branox, or distressed that they were going to use the Koral as bait. Either way, she didn’t have to do this on her own any longer.

  The general stood, and Imogen followed him away from the fire, until there was no one around. He watched her, a question burning in his dark gaze.

  “It’s not just about destroying these creatures,” she explained. “They have a queen that commands them. We have to kill the queen, and then we can destroy the rest.”

  He stared at her for a long moment. Behind her, she heard the murmur of voices around the crackling fire.

  “How do you know so much about them?” he asked.

  Imogen should have expected that question, and she should’ve been prepared for it, but it still caught her flat-footed. “One who’s traveling with me has some experience with them.”

  “Can you trust someone
who knows so much about these creatures?”

  Imogen thought about telling General Derashen that Benji was a Porapeth. Her people viewed the Porapeth with respect—at least they had. Would he feel the same now? She could even tell him that Benji knew Master Liu and was trusted by him. But it might not make a difference. When she’d last seen Master Liu, she had been a different person.

  She needed to be careful. More careful than she had been, and more than she’d thought she needed to be before coming here. And that meant she couldn’t tell him everything. Perhaps there was a way to work around it.

  “I give my word that he’s trustworthy,” she finally said.

  General Derashen eyed her. “I see.”

  “Do you?” Benji wouldn’t tolerate imprisonment, even if it helped them catch the branox queen. She needed the general to permit him to remain free—and then Benji could share what he was on his terms.

  He smiled tightly. “You have been away from our lands for a long time. It is good that you have returned, Imogen Inaratha, but I am responsible for ensuring the safety of our people. We will determine if these creatures exist.” For the first time, Imogen realized that there was a question in his mind about whether or not these creatures were real. He had made it sound like he believed her, like he was willing to go and fight the branox, but perhaps he hadn’t been truthful.

  She nodded. “Thank you.”

  “That is not all,” he said. “While we do this, you will serve under my command.”

  “I’m afraid I am on my bond quest.”

  “You told me about your bond quest,” he said, his voice low.

  A chill worked up her spine. She looked up and held his gaze, everything within her still and calm. “Yes, I told you about it,” she said carefully.

  “You spoke of the hyadan.”

  Imogen nodded.

  “Reports from the outer lands are that the hyadan have been destroyed.”

  Her breath hitched. “Yes. They have been destroyed.”

  “Which means your bond quest is complete.”

  She nodded again.

  “So you are unbonded.”