Unbonded (First of the Blade Book 1)

by D. K. Holmberg

  “How do you propose we do that?” Timo asked, hobbling slightly toward him. “I suppose you have some grand way of removing these protections.”

  Benji laughed and gave a small nod. “As a matter of fact, I do. It doesn’t take too much to trick the bastards. They guard their shit like a dragon over its gold.”

  “Dragons aren’t real,” Timo said.

  Benji cocked his head to the side. “Are you so sure of that?”

  They looked over at her, and Imogen shrugged. Timo had once ridden on a paper dragon, the same as she had. While it might have been nothing more than an enchantment, it was still a dragon. There was something that her friend had suggested about those enchantments, anyway. She didn’t know if the enchantments were real, if they somehow truly represented actual creatures, or if they were merely a manifestation of the enchanter’s mind. Either way, she didn’t see that it mattered all that much.

  “So we track the adlet,” she said.

  “Track it. Hunt it. Kill it.” Benji chuckled. “And then we find the bastard who’s been controlling it. Shouldn’t be all that difficult.”

  Imogen wasn’t too certain about that, especially given what they had encountered so far from the adlet.

  “Do you think it’s a Sul’toral?” she asked.

  “Could be,” Benji said. “Might take a little strength to control a bastard like that, but that seems to be beneath them. They like to use what they call enchantments, but what I call stupid magic that is wasteful. It’s usually only sorcerers, the run-of-the-mill kind, who are dumb enough to think to control a creature like that.” He raised an eyebrow at her. “Well?”

  “We will go,” Imogen said, glancing over to Timo and nodding.

  As she watched her brother, who was looking at Benji, she couldn’t help wondering if perhaps he would have been happier taking this journey on his own. He might not have come across the adlet and been injured then. He certainly wouldn’t have helped Benji.

  Benji whistled and started dancing away from them. There was a spring to his step, and he chuckled as he went, though he still clutched his arm to his side. The Porapeth moved away from the road, deeper into the forest.

  Timo followed, a certain eagerness to the way he moved, as if he were chasing down something only he knew about. And it was possible that he could detect something. He had been searching for sorcerers, Sul’toral, and Toral for much longer than she had. He understood all of this in a way she certainly did not.

  He also had a certain violence to how he was approaching everything these days. It was reason enough for her to watch him.

  “I never took you for a monster hunter, Imogen,” Timo said as they followed.

  “It’s not monster hunting. I thought you would want to chase the creature.”

  “I don’t care about this creature. I care about the one controlling it.”

  She guided her brother, escorting him along the road, until they could make their way out and around and weave closer toward Benji. He had paused in the forest and was leaning forward, speaking to one of the trees again.

  “Tell me he’s not talking to that tree,” Timo said.

  Imogen shrugged. “It looks like it.”

  “You have to be kidding me.”

  “I’m not.”

  “Then—”

  Timo cut off as Benji looked in their direction. There was a flash in his eyes, something that tingled along Imogen’s skin, and she questioned whether it was magic or some other source of power. When it came to him, she had no idea. He hadn’t proven himself dangerous—yet. Eventually, she had little doubt he would do something to show what he was and what they needed to be concerned about.

  She urged Timo forward. He walked on his own, but he did so with a staggering gait, something of a limp as he made his way through the forest. He paused periodically, leaning on trees, though Imogen noted that they were not the same trees Benji stopped and spoke to. She had no idea if that was on purpose. The Porapeth continued to tap on a tree from time to time, and he would lean forward and whisper to it, as if there were some answer he might be able to obtain in doing so.

  After they had walked for the better part of an hour, Timo looked over to her. “What do you think he’s doing?”

  “I can’t say I know,” she said.

  “But you have to have some sort of idea.”

  She grunted, shrugging. “Not particularly.”

  “It looks like he’s petting that one.”

  As they followed Benji, it certainly did look like he was stroking the tree, and he leaned close and whispered to it as well. She frowned, though there was no point in allowing herself to be caught up in what Benji might be doing or to be bothered by the way he paused in front of the trees. At this point, the only thing they needed to do was to keep following.

  They traveled for most of the morning, and she caught up to Benji as he crouched down on the ground. “What is it?” she asked, joining him and immediately knowing why he had stopped.

  A dead squirrel looked as if a chunk had been bitten out of it.

  “We’re heading in the right direction,” Benji said.

  “You didn’t know for sure?” Timo asked.

  Benji glanced up at him, and he snorted. “Those shits have a distinct smell to them, and I’ve been trying to follow it, but sometimes I lose it. Inside the forest, it becomes difficult to track that stench. I suppose it’s hard for you to know, stinking as you are.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Benji straightened, and he held Timo’s gaze. “I’m just saying you smell like you’ve been traveling for a while. Maybe you should find a stream, soak for a little bit. It might clean some of that shit off you.”

  “Enough,” Imogen said, stepping between them.

  She looked down at the squirrel. Squirrels were fast. In order for something to grab one and do what the adlet had to this critter, it would have to be incredibly quick. Even a fast-moving creature would still have a challenge with something like that. She could not imagine how rapidly the adlet had moved.

  But as she thought about it, she realized she could. She had seen firsthand how extraordinarily quick the adlet had been.

  She looked over to her brother. “If you want to wait while we continue our hunt, you are more than welcome to,” she said.

  “You want me to wait now?” Timo asked.

  She did. She needed Timo to see that he needed to relax, to avoid rushing forward, but she wasn’t sure he could understand that. Would he find the good sense in it? She didn’t know her brother the way she once had, but she suspected even Timo could recognize the dangers of moving openly and making too much noise.

  “If this creature is out there, then I will help,” Timo said. He grabbed at his injured stomach and looked over to Benji, then shook his head. “Besides, I want to know who stabbed me.”

  “Do you think you can take care of the creature responsible?” There was a dangerous glitter in Benji’s eyes. “You certainly had a hard time with it before.”

  Timo glowered at him.

  Imogen frowned at both of them. “Can we keep moving?”

  “Of course we can,” Benji said with a smirk. “Now, it will be a bit tricky here. The trees tell me that we have to move silently, and they tell me that this one”—he nodded to Timo—“is too loud. Do you think you can creep more quietly? Otherwise, we might have to deal with the adlet before you’re ready for it. I’m not saying you can’t manage against a creature like that, but I don’t know if you can be as quiet as you need to be.”

  Timo glowered at him. “I can be quiet.”

  Benji clucked, and he started off. The Porapeth was unbelievably silent as he passed. Imogen practiced following him, keeping her feet light. She tried to track him, knowing that if there was this dangerous adlet in the forest, they were going to need to find the same impossible quiet the adlet would manage.

  She looked over to Timo, who was frowning. “What is it?” she asked.

&nbs
p; “It’s just that this is a far cry from what I was doing before,” Timo said. He looked over, holding her gaze. “Was this what it was like for you?”

  “Something like it,” she said softly. “I had a friend who gave me purpose.”

  “The old man?”

  “You can call him by his name. You know it.” Irritation crept into her tone. “Gaspar helped me while I was trying to complete my bond quest.” Benji arched a brow at her, and she held his gaze. “I understand that the bond quest is meant for the person taking the journey to complete themselves. I didn’t ask for his help, but he didn’t refuse it either. I could not have. I doubt that I would have succeeded were it not for him.” She ignored the way Timo looked at her.

  And it was more than just Gaspar’s help. It was all the people she had come to know and trust within Yoran. Without them, where would she be? She would still be trying to complete the bond quest. The hyadan would still be free. But now they were no more. Destroyed. She had done that. She had succeeded in doing something worthwhile.

  “You’re still unbonded,” Timo said.

  She shrugged. “Does it matter that I am? It doesn’t change who I am and what I must do.”

  “You could choose another quest. The Sul’toral could be your bond.”

  There was almost a pleading note in his voice, as if it was important to him in a way she couldn’t quite understand.

  As she watched him, she couldn’t tell if he was trying to offer her a way out of what she had committed to do, or if he was disappointed that she had come along with him.

  She forced a smile. Finding another bond wasn’t her reason for coming with Timo. How could she tell her brother that she thought he needed her more than Gaspar needed her? How could she tell him that she had done what she’d needed to do in Yoran, and it was time for her to move on? That it felt as if something was trying to pull her away?

  “Do you feel that staying meant you would have abandoned the Leier?” Timo asked.

  Imogen was quiet for a moment. She already knew the answer, but she wondered if her brother would understand. “Perhaps,” she said.

  “You don’t believe you did?”

  She glanced over to him. “I completed my bond quest. And from there, I moved on, as all must.”

  “You left.”

  “As did you.”

  “After I reached First, I left in search of my quest,” he said. “You left our homeland because of yours. And weren’t coming back.”

  She let out a frustrated sigh. She didn’t want to argue with him about this, and she ignored it.

  Imogen motioned for him to follow. They needed to move quietly now. The adlet had been through here. In the distance, Benji stood motionless. Something up ahead had caught his attention.

  “Are you ready?” she asked, glancing over to Timo.

  “What do you think I must be ready for?”

  “I’m not exactly sure. Whatever might come.”

  She headed forward, moving quietly, when a shriek split the silence of the forest.

  Chapter Ten

  Imogen unsheathed her sword in a moment, scarcely breathing as she did. Whatever was coming could be dangerous—probably the adlet, or whoever was in control of it. A powerful and violent sound pierced the air, something that shattered her ears, making her cringe against the power she could feel.

  Imogen held up her blade, sweeping it in a sharp arc and bringing it around as she prepared herself. Her body instinctively knew what she needed, having trained as long as she had so that she could react in barely more than a moment. The traditional patterns flowed from her, though she was tempted to use the sacred patterns, as she often was. They were useful, though no more useful than the traditional patterns she had learned and long ago mastered when she had been elevated to First of the Blade.

  She looked over to Timo, who was still standing motionless. This wasn’t like him. It wasn’t just the shriek of the adlet. Something else had struck him. Another magic must be influencing him.

  She spun, creating a pattern around her brother. Timo stood frozen, almost as if he were in a trance. Up ahead, Benji paused, one hand resting on a tree. She wanted to call out to him to fight, but she realized he could not move either. Something had happened to Benji as well.

  The magical attack.

  Imogen had to be careful now. She had no idea what was going on here, only that whatever had struck both her brother and the Porapeth had incapacitated them.

  The shriek emanated again, echoing through the forest. More than that, she could feel it deep within her. There was an energy to it that filled her, carrying through the forest, telling her that she could not fight.

  The feeling was coming from the shriek.

  She danced around, sweeping her blade toward her brother. “Cover your ears, Timo.”

  He didn’t move. Maybe he couldn’t move.

  “Cover your ears, Timo,” she repeated with more urgency.

  The shriek came again, and as before, it tugged on something within her. The sound called to her, as if it were bubbling some energy up from deep inside.

  Her brother stared blankly.

  “Timo!” she cried.

  She was going to have to handle this on her own. But if it was the adlet, she doubted she could do so.

  Imogen took a deep, steadying breath, and she raised the blade in front of her, pausing for a moment. In that time, she let all the knowledge she had learned over the years and all the information she had about the different sacred patterns fill her.

  The patterns flashed in her mind. She knew them so well that they were a part of her. It took little more than a moment for her mind to clear enough to focus on them. All she had to do was react. There was a certain magic in her training and her preparation. It was what gave her the knowledge that she could handle anything that came her way.

  Even the sacred patterns were there for her. Not like they were for a true master, but enough that she could use them were it to come to that.

  It steadied her. It readied her.

  And then she darted forward.

  Her technique was as precise as it had ever been. Perhaps more. Regardless of what Timo might claim, Imogen’s choice to leave their people and spend her time in Yoran had been useful to her. It had given her an understanding of the world that was greater than what she had learned when she had trained with the Leier. It had shown her that there was more beyond what the Leier taught.

  That was what she needed to focus on now.

  Imogen let that flow from her. And then she started toward the shriek.

  Within the forest, the trees were like other attackers, or perhaps they were allies. She had to think of them as if she were fighting alongside other Leier. She had known how to dance around others, avoiding them as she still focused on the patterns.

  The patterns had their own power to them.

  For so long, she had tried to ignore the possibility that the patterns themselves tapped into something greater. Even now, Imogen didn’t like to believe that they granted her some access to magic, but she had seen enough to make her think that perhaps there was more to them.

  This forest made it too difficult to maneuver through the traditional patterns, so she shifted, flowing into one of the sacred patterns.

  Imogen danced, carried by the energy. She swirled, sweeping her gaze as she did, looking for the adlet or anything else that would suggest sorcery nearby. She couldn’t feel anything, though as she moved with the blade, she could sense the energy around her.

  The patterns flowed through her. It seemed as if one of the sacred patterns was most effective here, and she floated into Petals on the Wind as she drifted between the trees. She made a point of dancing around Timo and then toward Benji, realizing he might be in the same amount of danger as her brother. As she approached the Porapeth, something pressed upon her—power. But it was a strange sort of energy, one she could feel building and rising within her.

  A shriek came again.

  Im
ogen switched directions, flowing toward it.

  There.

  In the corner of her eye, she caught a flash of movement. The adlet. It had to be. It was shirtless, the same way it had been when she’d seen it before. The tattered pants blended into the forest, making them more difficult to see. Thankfully, its naked upper torso was easier to observe, and she cautiously made her way toward it, letting the flow of the movements guide her closer.

  The adlet shrieked again. Was it trying to communicate? If it was, she had to be even more careful of who it might be communicating with.

  She continued sweeping around, moving quickly and carefully, feeling the flow of the sacred patterns as they guided her. Then she froze. Not because the adlet had changed directions, but because the movement had carried her slightly away.

  A realization hit her. It was almost as though the adlet was trying to draw her away.

  She turned and headed back to where she’d come from, but there was something else there. Imogen had come to recognize the pull of magic. There was a distinct sensation when it was used around her. Usually, she felt it as a tension along her skin, as if she were standing too close to a fire or had been out in the sun for too long.

  Now that sensation came to her. Not simply magic but real sorcery, and not just that strange energy of the adlet.

  That was what she had detected. That was what drew her.

  With that kind of power, there was a real danger that this was more than just a common sorcerer as Benji had suggested. That kind of power was more like what she would’ve expected with a Toral.

  Maybe even a Sul’toral.

  She had only experienced a Sul’toral once before, and she didn’t know the true extent of their power. She wasn’t sure that she wanted to ever face that again. Certainly not just with her and her brother. They would need more. Maybe Benji could help, but she had no idea if he would even be willing to do so.