Festival of Mourn (The Dark Sorcerer Book 1)

by D. K. Holmberg

  Jayna dragged Rendal along with Eva, hurrying through the city. They’d gone several streets over before she realized she’d forgotten the cane she’d brought with her. Going back wasn’t an option—not right now—but she didn’t know what the cane could do.

  It probably didn’t matter.

  “What if he’s unwilling to help?” Eva asked.

  She shook her head. “I don’t know.”

  “Do you think he will help?”

  “I don’t know,” Jayna said again.

  Eva laughed. “What do you know?”

  “I don’t know,” Jayna snapped.

  Smoke swirled around Eva, and though she had pinned Rendal’s legs with her arms, she had her hands clenched into fists. That smoke still swirled, lingering around her, and left Jayna wondering just what the other woman was doing.

  She was worried. That much was clear. But what was she worried about?

  “You’re not telling me something.”

  “There is nothing to tell,” Eva said.

  Jayna shook her head, not wanting to stop in the middle of the street, certainly not wanting to stop while holding on to Rendal, but she felt as if she needed to get answers from Eva. “What is it?”

  “Not now,” Eva said.

  “When?”

  “Not now.”

  Jayna sighed and shifted his upper body, trying to redistribute the weight, but already her strength had started to wane. Why did she always get the heavy part? When they had dragged Topher through the city, they had used a cart. Maybe she needed to find a cart to get Rendal to the outpost.

  When she slipped, she let out a frustrated cry, eliciting a look of amusement from Eva. They hurried through the city. She grew increasingly tired, and she struggled, but they crossed over the river. From there, they moved beyond, out toward the outpost. As they got closer and closer to it, she slowed.

  She was going to have to get Char to help, but would he?

  This involved a very different request than before. This involved helping a sorcerer.

  Of course he would help.

  Then again, this involved helping a very specific kind of sorcerer.

  Somebody who was after dark magic. Somebody dangerous.

  Char may not even believe her if she told him Rendal was after dark magic. He’d been trained and taught to recognize sorcerers as authority, and in the case of somebody like Rendal, somebody who obviously had considerable power, he would struggle to believe he could be anything but the authority he thought him to be.

  She had to try though.

  He was growing cold, but he was still alive. Every so often, Jayna would pause and check his circulation, watch his breathing, mostly to ensure that he was, in fact, still alive. Once reassured, she shifted his weight again, hurrying along the street with Eva. How much longer would he live?

  “What exactly happened to him?” Eva asked.

  “I'm not sure. We interrupted a spell. It involved a dwaring, but I don't know why he would have been performing it.” And she wasn't entirely sure why the tracking had brought her only to him. She had thought it would guide them to other Celebrants.

  “Did the spell reach him?”

  “Possibly?” She glanced down at Rendal. “Probably. I don't know.”

  That was why she needed Char. If he would help. After the way she’d left him before, she wasn’t sure she could count on that.

  Rendal’s torso slipped again, and she grunted, slipping her arms underneath him. Without meaning to, she tapped into some part of the dragon stone to push power out through herself. It gave her strength.

  She jerked him up, holding on to him more tightly. Eva gave her a sideways glance, but said nothing. They hurried forward. Once they were on the street outside of the outpost, she lowered him to the ground, raising a hand to tell Eva to wait, and she circled around the back side of the outpost again. It felt like she’d only done this a night ago, even though it had actually been several. How could it be that she would come to Char two times in such a short period after not having needed him for months?

  No light glowed in the room this time.

  She pulled herself up, borrowing more power from the dragon stone ring, and peered through the window. She wanted to make sure this was Char’s room. It would be just her luck if he’d been moved to another room.

  She swept her gaze around. A darkened form rested on the bed, its back to her, and the dark hair made it difficult for her to determine whether it was Char.

  She tapped on the window.

  Now all she could do was wait.

  She held herself up, looking through the glass. The figure didn’t stir.

  Jayna tapped again, but there was still no response.

  “Dammit, Char, why don’t you wake up?” She tapped yet again, this time with a little bit too much force. The glass started to crack.

  She lowered herself down to the ground and looked up at the window of the outpost. How would Char explain that? There might be a spell that could repair the window, but she didn’t know any.

  A light suddenly glowed in the window and Char’s face appeared there. He stared into the darkness before frowning. Jayna pointed to the front door, circling around the outpost and standing in the doorway.

  When the door opened, Char shot her a look filled with annoyance. “What are you doing here? And breaking my window?” he hissed before lowering his voice.

  “I’m really sorry about that,” Jayna said. “I can repair it, or I can help you with the magic needed to repair it, but I need your help right now.”

  “Last time I saw you, you held a knife to my head.”

  “To your hair,” she said.

  “Still.”

  “I wasn't going to hurt you. You have to know I would never hurt you, Char. And now I need your help. Can you do that?” Jayna snapped at him.

  “Let me guess. Another one of your men who ended up injured?”

  “Something like that. Only, this one is a sorcerer.”

  “A what?”

  Jayna nodded. “A sorcerer, but—”

  “I need to get Master Agnew, then. If a sorcerer is injured, we need to do all we can to—”

  “It’s a sorcerer who’s dabbled in dark magic,” she said.

  Char tensed.

  “I’m not working with him,” she said quickly. She knew exactly where his mind was going, and what he likely assumed of her. That he would immediately assume she had gone into dark magic spoke volumes about the nature of their current relationship. “But I need information out of him. And I need your help. Now.”

  She tried not to sound too irritable, but she was. Char wanted to get Agnew involved, which might be fine, but right now they needed to act before Rendal died and she couldn’t get any information.

  “You need my help to question a dark sorcerer?”

  “I need to know what happened to him so I can figure out where they are holding this festival so we can stop it.”

  “Or you can be there for it?”

  “I told you what I was after. I told you the kind of magic I was pursuing. We don’t have time. “

  “You told me about your brother. You didn’t tell me about this.”

  Jayna was certain she had said something to Char about the dark sorcerers, and the kind of dangerous power they were after, but perhaps all he had heard was dark magic. She had to get him past that.

  “I need somebody who has a different kind of healing magic. Will you just help me?”

  “Like I helped you the last time?”

  “I don't think there is a dwaring in him this time.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Not really, but I don't feel one.” With Topher, she had felt the dwaring inside of him, and had recognized the way its power coursed, trying to draw on him. This was something different. “Whatever is wrong with him is beyond my ability. I need a true sorcerer.”

  “Then I should get Master Agnew.”

  At least Char was coming around a little bit,
though not as much as Jayna needed.

  “If you go to Master Agnew, it’s going to open up the kind of questions I don’t need. He’s going to prevent me from getting close enough to ask the questions I need to ask. And all it’s going to do is delay things.”

  “Why is there such an urgency here?”

  “You can go ahead and get the entire Society involved, but let me get answers from him. We don't have much time, and I'm not even sure that the Society, including Master Agnew, are going to be powerful enough to stop the sorcerer involved.”

  Char eyed her for a moment, and she could see the disbelief there.

  “Just help with this. Start there.” She grabbed him, dragging him toward the street. Char was too surprised to prevent her. When she reached the street—and Rendal—Char hurried forward, crouching down next to him and taking his head in either hand, cupping them on either side of his face.

  Power built from Char.

  Jayna felt the energy he used, and she touched Rendal on the leg, trying to feel it as it flowed through Rendal, wanting to know just what it was that Char used on him.

  She couldn’t follow the trail of power, though she knew there was some key to what Char did, some aspect she could follow if she were only able to find it.

  “I don’t detect any physical ailments,” Char said.

  “I don’t think it’s a physical ailment,” Jayna replied. “It might be sorcery, but I don't know.”

  “Sorcery can’t be used in that way. It would be dark magic.”

  She waved her hand at Rendal. “A dark sorcerer, remember?”

  Char backed up, shaking his head. “Even knowing there is dark magic out in the world . . .”

  Jayna turned to him, holding his gaze. “I know it upsets you. Gods, it upsets me, but I’m going to need your help here.”

  “I don’t know if I can,” he started.

  “Well, there are seven people missing who are probably being used by the dwaring and will suffer immediate consequences, and that’s only during the festival.”

  “What festival?”

  Jayna let out a long sigh, looking over to Eva before turning her attention back to Char. Dark shadows ringed his eyes, and his hair was a little wild from sleep, but he watched her with an intensity that reminded her of when they had been in school. He had always been the studious one, always more attuned with what they were supposed to be doing, taking a no-nonsense approach to their studies. Jayna had been a little more freewheeling. They had been good for each other. Char had always kept her on track, while she had helped make sure he didn’t get so caught up in his studies that he forgot how to live. In the time since she had left the Academy, she had missed that person. She had missed her friend.

  “We can talk about it once we get inside, but for now, I’m going to need your help. We need to keep him alive long enough so I can figure out what’s going on, get answers from him, and then . . .”

  Jayna wasn’t entirely sure what would happen then. If there were some sort of spell inside of him that was killing him, then she didn’t know if she would even have enough power or knowledge to help. Worse, she didn’t even know if she wanted to help. Having seen what Rendal and the others were willing to do . . .

  Jayna forced those thoughts away. That would come when they figured out what was taking place. Until then, she would keep her focus on the task at hand.

  Char glanced over to the outpost. “If I do this, you’ll let me get the rest of the outpost involved.”

  “Fine. After, like I said.”

  She was getting increasingly irritated, but she needed Char, as much as it pained her to admit that.

  “And you will return the spellbook that you stole.”

  She glanced over to the outpost before turning her attention back to Rendal. He was motionless, and she had a feeling they needed to work quickly or something was going to happen with him. She didn’t know what it was, or whether they had enough time for this conversation, but she sensed that if she didn’t work through this with Char, he wasn’t going to help her.

  “When I left the Academy, I had to leave all of my belongings behind. I don’t have any spellbooks.”

  “You shouldn’t be using them. You aren’t a sorcerer, Jayna.”

  “I nearly was,” she whispered.

  He shook his head. “‘Nearly’ isn’t the same thing. You aren’t a sorcerer.”

  “Fine. I’m not a sorcerer, but that doesn’t mean I’m not acting on behalf of the kingdom.”

  “That remains to be seen.”

  “Just stop. I need your help, or a lot more than your precious Society will be in danger.” Jayna didn’t know how much time they had, but if they waited too much longer, one of the sorcerers within the outpost would wake up, maybe even Master Agnew, the man Char seemed most concerned by. “Can you do that or not?”

  “I will, on one more condition.”

  “What is that?”

  “That you stop running from me. And attacking me when I try to help you.”

  Jayna glanced over to Eva, then turned her attention back to Char. “I’ve never run from you.” She couldn’t deny the other part of what he’d said.

  “You don’t have to do this alone. You know that, Jayna. When we were at the Academy, it was always the two of us. It could be again.”

  She smiled at him. “There’s the Char I was hoping for.”

  “You and I have to talk about a few things once we get inside,” he said.

  “I’m happy to talk to you—when we get inside.” And after they did what they could to help Rendal. To get answers.

  He grabbed Rendal under the arms, and Jayna and Eva each took a leg, hoisting and carrying him to the outpost’s entrance. When they reached the door, Char pressed his hand against it, using a bit of magic to unlock it. Even the door was an enchantment, though Jayna knew that. She had often wondered if her magic would be enough to open the door to the outpost, but doubted it would be. In order to get inside, she needed to be somebody who was supposed to be inside, and considering how she had left the Academy, left magic altogether, she very much should not be there.

  It was dark inside, with only a faint light glowing from one of the orbs set into the walls. The darkness gave the outpost an almost eerie sort of feel. She glanced over to Char, and he shook his head, guiding them along the same side hallway they had taken before, but he stopped at a different room. This one was at the end of the outpost, and it was sealed by a strange-looking door. The symbols on the door suggested the room contained great power. There were dozens of them, all of them etched into the wood—or metal, she realized. A mixture of wood and metal would add to the elements of power, complicating whatever magic flowed through the doorway.

  “Why this one?” Jayna asked.

  “If he does have dark magic”—Char glanced behind him, looking along the length of the hall before turning his attention back to Jayna—“then I need to use the room designed to contain it. This is the only one in the outpost that might have that potential.”

  “I didn’t realize there were rooms designed for that.”

  “Each room in the outpost is designed for a different purpose,” Char said, as if explaining something she should know. “The one we were in last time was a simple healing room. Had I known we were going to be pulling off something dangerous . . .” He shook his head. “Anyway. The rooms determine the kind of power that can be used inside.”

  He pressed his hand up against the door. It didn’t open very quickly. It was different from the other door, as that one opened rapidly under the pressure of magic she had used upon it. This one instead seemed to take on a steady and slow glow.

  Jayna paid attention to the pattern he used, noticing how he activated a series of markings on the door. The combination was important as well, she suspected.

  When the door opened, Char waved them inside. The room was fully darkened, unlike any other place within the outpost. He stopped in the center of the room, turning toward them and ho
lding up one hand, his knee propping up Rendal underneath him. The room started to glow softly.

  When he was done lighting the way, he waved for them to follow him farther into the room.

  It was an empty room. Nothing but stone. Four orbs glowed from each corner, providing the room’s only illumination. The stone itself was different from the stone in the rest of the outpost—that stone was a gleaming white that contrasted with this room’s darkness, as if these stones truly had absorbed dark magic.

  Once they were inside, he motioned to Eva to close the door.

  “Are you sure that’s safe?”

  “We have to seal the door closed if we want to hold anything inside of here,” he said.

  “Like I said, are you sure that’s safe?”

  “We don’t have any choice,” he said.

  Jayna helped Eva close the door. It gave her an opportunity to examine it a little bit better. Up close, she could tell that the symbols on the outside of the door were old. Some of them looked to be El’aras, though she wasn’t entirely certain. Some were similar to the writing within the spellbooks she had studied at the Academy, though even that didn’t seem quite right. Then there were symbols that were nothing like the others—flowing letters that looked like they came from other lands, languages not spoken in the kingdom.

  Strange that the outpost would have that here.

  When she closed the door, she looked at the back side. The inside of the door was much less complicated than the outside. There were markings suggesting that whatever was done on this side of the door would stay here. The door would hold that power, trapping it.

  Jayna turned back to him. “Why does the outpost have something like this here?”

  “The Society has places that can control dark magic everywhere,” Char said, looking down at Rendal. He frowned, holding his hands just above Rendal’s body, sweeping them up and down, moving in a practiced fashion. Power flowed from him, and he used that energy to try to track the power within Rendal.

  “They have places where you can isolate dark magic,” Jayna said, looking back to the door and thinking about the markings on the other side, “but nothing like this.”

  Char looked up at her, frowning. “Jayna. We are on the edge of the kingdom. We are in an outpost at the outskirts of the known lands. I don’t know what you’re getting at.”