Serpent of Fire

by D. K. Holmberg

  Even without elemental power, he was skilled.

  Tan raised his sword, readying to try to deflect the attack. The Par-shon warrior sneered at him. As his shaping built, a shadow swooped from above.

  The man wasn’t quick enough to see it.

  Asboel caught him with massive talons and tossed him into the air, biting through him in one sharp snap of his powerful jaw.

  The night fell back into silence.

  Tan lowered himself to the ground, relief washing over him. Return to Ferran, golud, if you would choose the bond. He sent the request as a slow and steady rumble, not certain if it would matter. Perhaps golud had already chosen to return.

  Asboel settled on the ground next to Tan, curling his tail around his bonded friend much like Sashari had done with Asgar. He twisted his head to meet Tan’s eyes. That was foolish, Maelen, even for you.

  Tan grunted. That was foolish, even for me, he agreed.

  They sat for a moment until Sashari landed next to Asboel. The draasin rubbed their noses together and Tan stood and turned away, giving them a measure of privacy.

  “Are there any survivors?” he asked aloud. Spirit sensing told him that Cianna was nearby.

  She appeared out of the darkness. The moonlight played off her bright red hair and her eyes seemed to glow. Heat radiated from her as it so often did. “You intended there to be survivors?”

  “I intend to know where they have placed their traps,” Tan said. “That was the purpose of this incursion.”

  Cianna frowned. “Are you certain? This many for traps?”

  Something about the comment struck him, but Tan shook it off. “Ferran lost his bond. I think I might have saved it, but only if one of them,” he said, motioning around him, “was the one who stole it from him. We found one of their traps. There will be others.”

  “Tan, you can’t go attacking stupidly like this. Hasn’t Theondar told you that we can’t risk losing you? Think of what will happen if the kingdoms don’t have their most powerful shaper. How will we stop Par-shon then?”

  Tan sighed. He shouldn’t have attacked like that, but his anger had gotten the best of him, driving him to do something he should not have. “It’s bad enough that they bond elementals in Par-shon,” he said. “I can’t let them do the same in the kingdoms.”

  Cianna motioned him forward. “Do you really think that you need to be the only one to do this? We are all a part of the kingdoms. We must all work together. You’re Athan. You only need to summon, and shapers will follow your command.”

  They stopped near a tall pine tree. Lying on the ground next to the tree was a young woman dressed in deep red leathers. Her hair was cut short, the back of it shorn. Fire ringed the tree and arched up and over her, done skillfully and with a precision that he hadn’t seen since the lisincend had once placed a similar cage around Amia.

  “She is the only survivor. The other… well, they made the mistake of attacking the draasin. This one did not.”

  10

  The Rune Master

  Tan regarded the woman, trying to think of what he should do with her. In the darkness of the night, with barely any moonlight and the wind still carrying the tang of blood from the fallen Par-shon, Tan didn’t have the stomach for any more killing.

  He took a deep breath. In the time since the attack ended, some of his strength had returned. With a wave of his hand, he lowered the fire cage. Cianna gave him a sharp look but said nothing. Tan stepped across the fire barrier surrounding her and knelt next to the woman, forcing her to meet his eyes.

  “How many traps did you place?”

  She tried to look away from him, but he held her head in place with a shaping of wind.

  “How many?” he snapped.

  She stared at him defiantly. “You will not find them all.” She actually managed to smile. “And once the Utu Tonah learns how rich this land is, he will send more. There is much to harvest here.”

  Harvest. The way she said the word sent chills up Tan’s spine. “You think to harvest elementals for your own purpose? Were you to take the chance, you might learn from them, might find a way to work with them, rather than forcing them to work for you.”

  She stared at him blankly. “You think this is his only plan? This is but a beginning. You have seen his power. I see it in your face when I exalt his name. You know that you will not be able to stop him. He knows what these lands can offer, and he will come with more strength than you can hope to contain. Your shapers,” she spoke the word with disdain, “will be able to do nothing against the elemental might.”

  Tan glanced toward the draasin, perched in a tree. He sensed Asboel watching him, studying him. “You might be surprised at how connected we are to the elementals,” he said softly. He spoke with an angry heat, the words coming out almost ragged. “Now, I will ask again. How many traps have you placed?”

  The woman fixed him with a level gaze. She did not blink, did not appear intimidated or afraid of the fact that two massive draasin sat barely twenty feet from her, or that a warrior shaper stood in front of her, one who had very nearly stopped seven bound Par-shon shapers by himself. Tan realized that he would not get anything useful from her.

  Using spirit, he reached into her mind. Had he not watched Amia and the First Mother working together, he would not have known where to begin. Even with that, he still didn’t sense with anything close to the skill that Amia managed, but he didn’t need skill. Only knowledge.

  Touching her mind like this gave him glimpses of her place within Par-shon. She was a Rune Master, the one to place the runes on the traps, an exalted position. When she had been selected to come across the sea, she had taken the trip willingly, almost eagerly. She had claimed bonds in Doma and Incendin, and she was the one who had claimed earth from Ferran.

  There was more, but Tan couldn’t reach it. It was as if she hid something from him, expecting his connection to spirit.

  Tan reached deeper, needing to understand. He found evidence of the traps, the way they were placed around Ethea, ringing the city. But there were more than that. Dozens were scattered around the kingdoms. Tan took that knowledge from her. He would need it to remove them.

  He tried reaching for more, but whatever secrets she buried remained hidden to him.

  He released her mind and the Rune Master gasped.

  “You should not—”

  “No,” Tan snapped. “You should not have come to the kingdoms. Everything you do goes against the will of the Great Mother.”

  The woman snorted. “You think the Great Mother cares how we use her resources? The Utu Tonah is closer to the Great Mother than any other. He knows that what we do has meaning. You will see. No matter what you choose to do to me, you will soon learn the might of Par-shon. These lands will suffer for fighting what must happen. This is only the beginning,” she said again.

  The woman disgusted him. The joyous way that she trapped elementals disgusted him.

  But he didn’t know what to do with her. He couldn’t kill her, not when she was like this, and he didn’t dare bring her into Ethea for questioning. That left him with few options.

  “Forgive me,” he whispered.

  He shaped spirit, layering it atop her mind. Tan hated that he must do this, knowing it was the reason that spirit shapers had gained the reputation that they did, but he refused to kill her when she was no longer a threat.

  Through his bond with Amia, he sensed her dismay at what he attempted, but there was understanding as well.

  Like this, she said, guiding him through the shaping.

  The shaping draped over the woman’s mind but then layered through it, clinging to it, Amia’s presence ensuring that the woman would not be able to free herself. What they did changed this woman. He made it so that she would not bind another elemental, that she would forget what she had seen in the kingdoms, even that she would forget the shaping.

  Amia guided him to release the shaping, but with one additional flourish, Tan placed the suggest
ion within the woman that she help the elementals.

  As he prepared to release the shaping, the woman pulled a long-bladed knife out from behind her. Tan scrambled for it, but was too slow. She plunged it into her chest.

  Tan wrested the knife from her hands. She shouldn’t have been able to harm herself. She shouldn’t have wanted to harm herself, not with the shaping that he’d placed onto her.

  Using a shaping of water augmented by the nymid, he attempted healing, but he was weakened, drained from the attack.

  Can you help? he asked the nymid.

  There was a response, but it was faint and difficult for him to hear. Blood continued to pool around the woman, and her lifeless eyes stared at him with an almost victorious expression burning behind them.

  Tan dropped the knife and sunk to the ground. The ground shuddered briefly, as if golud was released, and then fell still. Elementals all around him went silent, as if ashamed of what he’d done.

  Cianna touched his shoulder and lowered herself to crouch next to him. “It is for the best. She did the honorable thing.”

  “Honorable?” Tan asked. “None of this is honorable. If they thought to be honorable, they would not have forced the bonds on the elementals. They would not treat them as if they were nothing more than horses to be saddled.”

  Cianna touched his arm. Her hand radiated heat and she let it simply sit, not trying to caress or anything else with seductive undertones like she so often would attempt. “And how did you feel about the elementals before you could speak to them?” she asked.

  Tan opened his mouth a moment and then clamped it shut. Before speaking to them, he hadn’t given them much thought. There had never been a reason for him to spend time thinking about the elementals. Always before, they were something mysterious, hidden, but had he not also considered them a part of the natural world?

  “I would not have wanted them forced to bond like this.”

  She smiled at him, as if he was too stupid to see her point. “Have you ever had a dog?”

  Tan frowned. “What does that have to do with this?”

  Cianna shrugged. “Humor me. Have you had a dog? Maybe a cat?”

  Tan watched her, wondering what she might be getting at. “We had a dog when I was growing up. Doshan. My father found him when hunting and brought him to our home. Mother wanted him to get rid of him. She said he was more wolf than dog.” Tan smiled at the memory, some of the anger he’d been feeling defusing. “With as big as he got, she was probably right. But he was a good dog and became well trained.”

  “Could you speak to your dog?”

  “Listen, Cianna. It’s not the same. You know that the way Par-shon views the elementals is dangerous. They think to use them, to use their power and ability—”

  “Likely no differently than your father thought to use your dog’s nose for hunting or tracking. You might have treated him well, but you used him just the same.”

  Tan stared at the darkness around him. He sensed Asboel’s interest in the conversation and recognized that he had been listening. I don’t think of you as a dog, Tan told him.

  Behind him, the draasin snorted softly. You ride me like a horse.

  Tan sensed amusement within Asboel and sighed. After a moment, he stood, glancing around the clearing. He stepped past the fallen Par-shon woman, his gaze trailing across the ground.

  “What is it?” Cianna asked.

  “There was a spirit shaper here,” Tan said.

  “Are you certain?”

  “I thought that I sensed spirit when I first arrived. Everything was chaotic, so I couldn’t tell where it was coming from.” He still wasn’t sure if he actually had sensed spirit or if it was something else. Maybe he’d been mistaken about that, the same way he’d been mistaken in thinking that he could shape spirit over the Par-shon woman. He hadn’t expected her to kill herself. Maybe there wasn’t anything he could have done to prevent it, but he would have tried.

  He made his way around the clearing. The rocks were darkened, some stained with blood from the shapers who had fallen. There wasn’t much left of the attackers, especially once the draasin got involved.

  What did it mean that there might have been spirit shapers among the Par-shon? Even if there was a single spirit shaper, that would be enough to present a challenge for the kingdoms. If Par-shon learned how to bind the elements together to forge spirit, it was possible that they would become even more powerful than they already were.

  And he couldn’t shake the words she had said. This is but a beginning. A beginning to what? What did it mean for the kingdoms?

  They needed to remove the remaining traps, and then they had to determine if the Utu Tonah had anything more planned. Only, Tan wasn’t entirely certain how.

  He stopped at the Par-shon woman and stared down at her body. His shaping had given him parts of her knowledge and experience. Maybe he could use that to understand a way to deactivate the traps without needing to risk the kingdoms’ shapers again.

  And he still had to help Asboel find the missing hatchling. What if they had taken her across the sea? What if she was in Par-shon?

  The hatchling cannot cross the sea on her own, Asboel said.

  Are you certain?

  She is not strong enough yet to separate from fire for such a journey.

  I don’t understand.

  Because you are not of fire. Making a crossing over the sea like that requires the draasin to store fire. The hatchlings are not ready.

  Will Par-shon know that? He sensed Asboel’s hesitation. Asboel?

  The others within the fire bond would know. Saa, he said the name of the fire elemental with lingering irritation, would understand.

  At least there was hope that the draasin remained, that Par-shon hadn’t dragged her across the sea. There was still hope of finding her.

  Why can’t we reach her through the fire bond? Tan asked. When Asboel didn’t answer, he pressed. Asboel?

  I… I do not know.

  That might be the most troubling thing of all.

  Tan tore his gaze away from the dead Par-shon woman and stepped away, turning to Cianna. “Come. We can go now.”

  Cianna nodded toward the Par-shon woman. “What of her?”

  “She can stay here.”

  “Tan—you should give her a proper burial.”

  Tan glanced back at her. “Proper? And what would a burial of Par-shon look like?”

  Cianna frowned at him. “Does it matter? She deserves to be returned to the earth.”

  Tan sighed heavily. Then he reached toward the earth with a shaping, asking it to swallow the Par-shon woman. With a steady rumble, it was done, leaving Tan weakened again. He continued toward Asboel.

  “They will know what happened when their shapers don’t return,” Cianna said as they neared the draasin.

  Asboel eyed him, raising his head and blinking at Tan slowly. We can hunt.

  No. You must find the hatchling. This is my task.

  You think you must hunt alone?

  Tan sighed. Not alone, but there is much that needs doing. You and Sashari must continue your search. If you need me, you will summon.

  Asboel breathed out heavily. You would command the draasin?

  There was a vague sense of amusement to the question.

  Only if you’re too slow to find her.

  Asboel roared against the night. The sound echoed against the rocks. A challenge, Maelen?

  Tan smiled sadly and touched the draasin’s side. If only there were times for games. Heat bloomed from Asboel, creating a soft cloud of mist around him.

  There will be many challenges ahead, Tan told him. I only hope that we are both strong enough to face them.

  As I’ve told you before, Maelen, you will never hunt alone.

  11

  Elemental Education

  The next day came sooner than Tan would have liked. He had awoken groggy and still weakened from the attack the night before—and powered by a purpose: He needed to fin
d the traps scattered throughout the kingdoms and remove them.

  Tan found Ferran in the halls of the palace, again escorting the group of children. He glanced at Tan and nodded. Tan hadn’t seen him since they had removed the trap and still didn’t know whether Ferran had found his bond again.

  “Are you…?” He couldn’t bring himself to finish the question.

  Ferran tipped his head toward Tan. “The bond has returned. It is different, I think, but there.” He shuffled the children into a room along the hall.

  Tan caught a glimpse of what was behind the door. Three others were inside, and he recognized only one, a wind shaper named Alan. The university might have been destroyed, but that didn’t mean there weren’t teachers willing to guide potential shapers.

  “Different in what way?” he asked Ferran.

  Ferran pulled the door closed and rested his hand on the handle. “The golud have a…” He paused, his brow furrowing as if he struggled to find the right word. “A fervor that was not there before. They would see me searching for more of these devices.”

  “I will find them,” Tan said.

  Ferran arched a brow. “You don’t need to search on your own. There are others able—and willing—to help you, Athan. What if there are others of Par-shon hiding?”

  Tan didn’t want to tell him that he had learned where some of the traps would be hidden, or how he had gotten the information. A part of him was embarrassed about shaping the Par-shon Rune Master to acquire the knowledge. He recognized the need, and his anger had driven the desire, but having a night to sleep had calmed him and given him a different perspective.

  Now that he’d had a chance to think, the idea of using shapers not bound to the elementals made sense. They would be able to recover the traps without risking the same as him. “Thank you, Ferran.”

  The earth shaper reached over and settled a broad hand onto Tan’s shoulder. “You are strong, but you don’t have to work alone. There are others who can help, who want to help. You have not been a shaper long, but others of us have faced this, and worse. We understand what is at stake.”