Festival of Mourn (The Dark Sorcerer Book 1)

by D. K. Holmberg

  “And you answer questions just about as well as you did when we were there,” Char said, grinning at her.

  Jayna sighed. It felt good having this banter with Char again. It felt like it had been too long. There had been a time when the two of them had sat around tables in the library, studying, laughing too loudly and drawing the attention of some of the librarians, but that had only made them laugh even more. They had always studied well together, and sitting with him now and having an opportunity to reconnect felt . . . right.

  If there was anything she could say about the time since she’d left the Academy, it was that everything had felt off for her. Jayna hadn’t quite been able to pin down why, but the more she dug herself into her work serving as a Toral, the more separated she felt from the kind of magic and power she wanted to learn. It was a separation that had left her feeling a longing for what could and should have been.

  “All of this was about Jonathan,” she said softly, leaning forward on the table. She lowered her voice, despite the noise in the tavern. That was what she could tell him—not about the dark magic she felt she needed to pursue. “He was in danger. I was sure of it. And I did everything I could to help him.”

  “I know you did,” Char said. “At least, I know what you told me you did. And I understand. I think.” He grinned again, his smile crooked, but there was a real warmth in his eyes. “What about this other sorcery?”

  Jayna waved her hand. “I’m not really a sorcerer, and I know that.” He arched a brow at her. “I’m not doing real sorcery, anyway. I’m just using aspects of what I learned in the Academy to help.”

  “To help?”

  “It’s complicated. The man I’m working for needs me for . . .”

  She trailed off as Bessie returned, offering two mugs of ale, two plates of food, and a shake of her head.

  “Bastard at the back table decided to grab my ass. He almost lost his hand.” Bessie pulled up her apron, revealing a dagger sheathed at her side. “I’m of half a mind to go back and stab him in the chest, but Pastore would only be angry if I did that.”

  “I’m sure he would have reason to be angry,” Jayna said.

  “Yeah? Maybe somebody needs to go back there and grab his wrinkly ass.”

  “If you need anybody to do it, I’m sure my friend would be happy to give you a hand.”

  Bessie chuckled. “Maybe I will take you up on that offer later.”

  She slipped off, swatting at another man reaching for her as she wound through the tavern.

  Jayna turned her attention back to Char, who only watched Bessie.

  “Would she really stab him?”

  “I doubt it, but it does take a special kind of woman to work in a place like this. She is frustrated. I suppose she has every reason to be.”

  “She’s an interesting person,” Char said.

  “I can let her know you said that. I wouldn’t be surprised if she would swing by the outpost. She might even offer to give you some snuggle time. You could use that however you like.” She winked at him.

  He glared at her. “You wouldn’t.”

  “Well, I would if you wanted me to. I’m not saying she would necessarily agree. I’d be careful with that dagger, if I were you. You might not be the only one doing the poking.”

  “You’re disgusting.”

  She shook her head, taking a long drink of her ale and settling back. There were times when she agreed with Eva and thought wine tasted better, and there were others when she appreciated the slightly bitter taste of ale. Especially at a place like the Able Angler where the ale was a bit cool, and certainly of better quality than so many other places.

  Char watched her. “How did that man end up on your doorstep?”

  Jayna shrugged. “Not all of my work is dangerous.” Thankfully. If all she did were chase dark magic, she wasn’t sure she’d have agreed to it. “I get sent to a city like Nelar, often to wait. Then Eva and I search for information. I usually find others who need help that the Society can’t”—or won’t, she didn’t say to Char—“provide.”

  “So you just sort of fell into a minor sorcery?”

  “Minor. I like that. I’ve never really known quite what to call it.” It was certainly better than admitting she was a Toral. Not everybody even knew what that was, whereas they all knew what sorcery was. “But you’re right. I did sort of fall into it. This augments the kind of work I do. Besides, I get to meet interesting people.”

  He let slide her mention of the kind of work she did. “Like your friend.”

  “Like Eva. Even the other man, Topher, has an interesting story.” More interesting than she had anticipated. She hadn’t expected that he would be caught up in any sort of power, but now that she knew . . . “And now he’s missing.”

  “The man you brought to the outpost?”

  She nodded. “He wasn’t the only one targeted that way, and we went looking to try to figure out what happened when he disappeared in The Hester Square Market.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know that place. I haven’t been in Nelar all that long, Jayna.”

  “I didn’t think you had.” Actually, she knew he hadn’t. She could feel his presence within her, the connection that bridged them giving her all the understanding of him that she needed. “I was just telling you the location because it might matter.”

  “Why might it matter?”

  She took a deep breath, letting it out. “I don’t really know. I’m still working on that part of things.” She took another drink of ale. “There’s some sort of dark power taking place here. I suspect the men who are missing have a dwaring inside of them, which will continue to feed on power, growing, and then the dark sorcerers are going to use it for a festival.” They all seemed to be men, though she wasn’t sure. Topher and the others he knew had all been male, but what about the three others Eva had heard about? Maybe they were women.

  “What kind of festival?”

  “A dark festival.”

  Char breathed out heavily, sitting with his hands cupped around the mug. “Dark power. That's what you are involved in.”

  She nodded. “I don’t know everything they intend, only that I discovered at least some of what they intend to unleash, and—”

  “You realize what you’re saying,” he said.

  “What am I saying?”

  “You’re talking about dark magic, Jayna. Don’t you see the irony in that?”

  “What irony is that?”

  “The irony in you saying it, of all people.”

  “I don’t see anything ironic in that,” she said.

  “No. I’m sure you don’t. But I do.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you disappeared, and when you reappeared, all of a sudden you’re drawing upon incredible magic.” She started to protest, and he waved his hand. “I know you don’t want to acknowledge how you got it, but I can tell what you’re doing. I saw it. I’m not going to report you.”

  “Oh, good. I would hate for you to have to turn me in to the Society and share that I have somehow gotten caught up in dark magic,” she added with a wry smile.

  “Don’t do this,” he said.

  “Don’t do what?”

  “This. Whatever this is.”

  “And what is this? You’re accusing me of using dark magic, and you don’t even know what’s going on.”

  “There’s a reason I don’t know what’s going on,” Char said.

  “Really?”

  “You took off. You didn’t even give me a chance to help you. You know I would have. You’re my friend. My closest friend.”

  She let out a long sigh. “I know.”

  “You know, but it hasn’t changed anything for you, has it?”

  “What is there to change?”

  “I would think there would be the opportunity for you to try to tell me what’s been going on. What’s really been going on.”

  “I’m trying to tell you what’s really going on,” she said softly.
/>   “You could start by telling me about your dark magic.”

  “That’s not what it is,” she said.

  She studied Char. This was the reaction she’d feared. This was why she hadn’t gone to any of the sorcerers in the Society, knowing that if she were to do so, others would react just like Char.

  Worse, probably. Most of the other sorcerers in the Society would probably lash out at her, accusing her of dark magic. And while she might have a little bit of darkness to her magic—having used that power and felt the flow of energy on the periphery, she could no longer deny that there was some element of darkness to it—she also didn’t believe she was what he feared.

  She couldn’t argue with him though.

  “It’s been good seeing you,” she said softly.

  “That’s it?” Char asked.

  “What more do you want?”

  “I guess I want my friend back. Agnew could help. I know you don't want to believe this, but the Society would even help. There are ways to pull you away from . . . whatever it is that happened to you.”

  Jayna leaned back, crossing her arms over her chest in irritation. “If you think I’m wrapped up in dark magic, then I don’t know how I can prove anything to you.”

  “What about that?” He nodded toward her hand, toward the dragon stone ring. In the faint lantern light of the tavern, it glowed softly, though most people wouldn’t even realize that it was glowing at all.

  Heat radiated from the ring, as it often did. She could feel that heat washing outward, rolling through her hand, the power that came from the ring itself flowing through her. In order for her to connect to something more, something greater, all she had to do was tap into that energy.

  “It’s not dark magic,” she said.

  “What is it, then?” He leaned forward. He still hadn’t touched his food or his ale. “And don’t lie to me.”

  “It just gives me—”

  “Power.”

  “Not dark power,” she said.

  He grunted. “That’s what they want you to think. They draw you in by seducing you with power. And you fell for it. You, of all people. I wouldn’t have expected that of you. Others in our class, maybe, but you?”

  She shook her head. “Do you think I’d be seduced by power? I never wanted power. I just wanted…” She struggled to think about what she had wanted. “Understanding. Knowledge.”

  “Doesn’t that lead the same place?”

  She twisted the ring on her finger, feeling the power within it. “Not in this case. It’s a way to power, but different than we learned about in the Academy.”

  That was part of the problem with the ring. And perhaps that was his point. Because she didn’t know what it was, she had no way of knowing what more she could and should be doing with it. All she knew was that she had found a quick way to access power that she needed.

  The tracking spell required three simple elements.

  At least, they should be simple elements.

  She could find the iron nails.

  And Char could provide something else, whether or not he was willing to.

  As Bessie returned to the table, Jayna made a decision.

  “What is it?” Bessie asked, regarding Jayna for a moment.

  “Can I borrow your knife?”

  Bessie's brow furrowed. “Don't tell me you intend to—”

  “I don't intend to do anything to you. Just to him.”

  Char started to stand, but Jayna hurriedly traced out the pattern Ceran had shown her and looped the snake pattern around him, holding him in the chair. His eyes widened.

  It was an easy enough pattern. She understood why Gabranth had defaulted to it.

  Bessie shook her head. “Oh, Jayna.”

  She held her hand out, and Bessie placed the knife into it.

  Jayna marched over to Char. “I know you don't want to be involved. I know you don't want me to be involved. And I know there's going to be consequences. And for that, I'm sorry. But I need to do this, or too many people are going to suffer.”

  “You going to kill me? You gone that far down this path?” Char asked.

  She brought the knife up to him, behind his neck.

  He held her gaze, almost in defiance. “Go ahead. If that's what you need.”

  “Thank you.” She cut a section of hair from his head, and flipped the knife back over to Bessie, who seemed too startled to say anything. Jayna tucked the hair into her pocket, held the snake spell around Char, and marched out of the tavern, leaving him behind.

  15

  Jayna glanced up at the bright sunlight shining down on them as they made their way along the street. The air wasn’t as humid as it had been, though it still weighed upon her. Her head pounded, and she’d had to use magic to clear it.

  How did Eva drink the way she did every day?

  Morning had come too early for her. Jayna was exhausted, and she kept waking up through the night, fearing that the Society would come for her, but there had been nothing. After leaving Char the way she had, she half expected that he would've sent them after her. She had protective spells around the home, but she suspected that any full-fledged sorcerer would have little difficulty penetrating them. Eva had done what she could to protect the home as well, but how long would it have taken for a sorcerer to through?

  And she had used Char.

  She hadn't seen her closest friend for a year. So much had changed for her in that year. But it had changed for him as well. Char was still the studious man she'd met when she had first come to the Academy, and he was filled with the same strong belief of right and wrong. There was something appealing about that normalcy. It had been a long time since she'd known anything quite like it.

  And then she had to go and treat him the way she had.

  Jayna glanced over to Eva. Despite how much wine she drank, she looked no differently than she ever did in the mornings. Her pale yellow dress caught the sunlight, almost as if she'd chosen it because of the sunny day. She moved quickly through the streets as she guided Jayna.

  She had shared with Eva what she had learned of Asymorn, and Eva had fallen silent. Jayna didn't know if it was fear—which she understood, as Eva struggled with memories she could not recall—or if there was another reason.

  Silence had stretched between them, and Jayna wanted nothing more than to break it. “Are you sure this is the direction?”

  Eva glanced back at her, wrinkling her face in an irritated frown. “There's only one place in the city I could find fairy fingers. All we have to do is scout. We can go back afterward.”

  They were in a section of the city that Jayna didn’t know all that well. The buildings were all rundown, with pale gray walls of stone, the same thick layer of moss across them. It was an older part of the city. Most of the stone buildings were small, compact, and those with storefronts had wooden awnings hanging over them that seemed overly large. Some had posts set up in front with signs on them, but most had only a symbol or sigil painted on the door. Jayna studied most of those markings, trying to figure out just where Eva was guiding her, but she hadn’t been able to ascertain anything.

  “How did you find this place?”

  Eva glanced over to her. “You remember Master Nev from the tavern when you were shot.”

  Jayna doubted she’d forget. “The two of you?”

  Eva shrugged. “He knows things about the city. And you need me to find things in the city. It seems reasonable that I would use him.” She fell silent for a few moments before turning back to Jayna. “Why did you put me in the bed?”

  Jayna blinked, frowning. “What?”

  “Why did you put me in the bed?” Eva repeated.

  “Because you passed out. I figured you would sleep better in the bed rather than by the fire.”

  Eva shook her head. “You would figure that, but you’d be wrong,” she said softly.

  “What is going on with you?” Jayna said. She looked around the street; there were only a few people out, though they
were far enough away that they wouldn’t hear the conversation. This wasn’t where she wanted to talk to Eva about what had been taking place, but they had to do it somewhere. And they had to do it at some point. “You’ve been like this for too long. Ever since I met you, in fact, but you’ve been worse lately.”

  “I’m so sorry I’ve been worse for you, the great Jayna Aguelon.” There was an edge of hurt in her tone.

  “That’s not it at all,” she said. “I’m just trying to understand what’s going on. I want to help.”

  Eva scowled at her and she started to turn, but Jayna grabbed for her wrist, forcing her back around to face her.

  “Don’t just walk away.”

  “I’m taking you where you wanted to go, aren’t I?”

  “You are, but I still want to know what’s going on.”

  “And I still want to just get this over with. Unless you want to stay in this section of the city? I’m sure there aren’t any rapists or murderers wandering the streets.”

  “I’m not terribly concerned about rapists or murderers,” Jayna said.

  “You might not be, but I am,” Eva said.

  “I can protect you.”

  “Can you?”

  There was something to the question that Jayna knew she didn’t quite get, something more that Eva was asking about, yet as she studied her, she wasn’t sure what she was overlooking.

  There was some aspect to Eva that was more than just troubled.

  “What is it?” she whispered.

  “You wouldn’t understand,” Eva said.

  “Maybe not, but sometimes talking helps. And I'm more than happy to listen. You may think I won't understand, and I might not, but I am your friend.”

  Eva was silent for a few moments. “I know.”

  “We are going to find answers.”

  That was what this was about for Eva, at least as far as Jayna could tell. She wanted to find answers about herself, about what had happened to her, and why she couldn't remember. Jayna believed that eventually they would come up with those answers, but she also wondered how Eva would learn what she needed by staying with her. She didn't want to say that though. She didn't want Eva to leave.