Seal of Light (The Endless War Book 5)

by D. K. Holmberg

  Alena raised a hand. Would they follow her lead?

  It would be better were Wansa here, but where was the damned woman?

  “We were unprepared for the last attack,” she said. “We cannot risk the same this time.”

  One of the warriors stepped forward, a man she recognized. Lupan was a short man, muscular and compact, and one who could shape with much power. Why wouldn’t Lachen have pulled him from the city?

  Alena quickly used a spirit shaping on him, wanting to ensure that he hadn’t been twisted, but found nothing. She needed to stop and needed to find a way to trust, especially since Oliver and Yanda had gone through the warriors, checking for the same spirit shaping. If healers of the guild couldn’t detect something off, Alena wouldn’t either. She needed to trust that they had done what they promised.

  “Alena Lagaro. What makes you think that you can return to Atenas and assume command?”

  She considered tossing out the fact that the commander himself had assigned her to the council, but how many would believe that? Wansa had because she had seen the commander, but Alena’s role hadn’t been formalized, and few of these shapers would have reason to believe that she truly sat on the council.

  Thunder rumbled again.

  How could she convince them that they needed to act? How could she lead?

  Honesty. That was what she needed. After all the deception that had taken place within Atenas, she would not be the reason for more.

  “I have been gone from Atenas,” she started. “I went where I could train to hunt the draasin.” There were murmurs of appreciation as she said it. “And we did. The draasin were pressed out of Rens, and for the most part, they disappeared.”

  “That was you?” another shaper asked. Those nearest him stepped to the side, revealing a broad-shouldered man she recognized as Kal Easan. They had known each other when she still had been in Atenas, and she had known him then to be a skilled shaper of earth. She was not surprised to learn that he had risen to join the Order, even if he hadn’t managed to reach the other elements when she still had been here.

  Alena nodded slowly. “That was me. Others like me. We trained, learning to hunt the draasin. Learning to destroy them.”

  More murmurs of appreciation.

  “That was how you managed to defeat the last attack?”

  Alena couldn’t tell who spoke, other than to note that it was one of the women.

  “That was not how I managed to defeat the last attack.” She glanced at Oliver, and then Yanda, realizing that Wansa stood off to the side, shrouded in darkness. Had she not known better, she would have wondered if Wansa had been turned again, but the counselor had asked Alena to test her every day, constantly concerned that she might have been affected again. With what had happened to her, Alena couldn’t blame her. “While I was there, I learned that the draasin were not the threat we thought them to be. They should not have been hunted.”

  “The draasin have killed dozens of our shapers,” someone said.

  “They did. But not by their choice.”

  “Rens controlled them.”

  Alena nodded. “I thought the same, but that was wrong. We were wrong. Rens… Rens was forced into a war that was not of their choosing. They didn’t want to fight any more than we did.”

  Kal frowned. “How do you explain the attacks on our borders? How do you explain Rens fighting us so violently?”

  Alena wasn’t sure that she could explain that, so chose to try a different tact. “The draasin are creatures of fire. They are what are known as elementals. There are other elementals, connected to each of the different elements.” She paused, letting the words sink in. The murmuring had abated somewhat. “There are those who have learned to control the elementals, much like we have learned to control our shaping, using the power of the elements. That is what triggered the attack.”

  Lupan stepped forward again. Alena considered layering a shaping of spirit on him to help soothe him, but that would only risk antagonizing him if he knew. The wind coming from the south remained cold, and the steady thunder rumbled, but she thought that she had time. If she could convince them of what she said, they could learn to use the spirit sticks. They could fight the shadow shapers and the darkness. They might have a chance against the Khalan.

  “You expect us to believe that others controlled Rens, who then controlled the draasin attack?”

  “I want you to understand that the draasin did not choose to attack.”

  Lupan frowned. “Why? Why tell us this now? The war in Rens is nearly over. The commander has pressed across Rens, wiping out the rest of the resistance. Now Rens is ours.”

  And now Rens could not work with Ter, she realized. The commander might have eliminated some of the threat from the Khalan, trying to destroy those they controlled, but at what cost? They still hadn’t managed to prevent them from attacking the city. And if Atenas fell, the rest of Ter would fall next.

  “Because the attack will return.”

  “When?” Kal asked.

  Alena looked at him, meeting his eyes, then turned to each of the others, holding their gaze for a moment. “Soon. The wind and the thunder is the sign that they come.”

  “Rens risks attacking here?” This came from another warrior, one Alena didn’t recognize. She had come late. With a quick shaping of spirit, she determined that the woman was not shaped, but that didn’t mean she would be harmless. None of these warrior shapers would be harmless, especially if they continued to believe the lies that had lasted for so long about the war, lies that the Seat had propagated, a council controlled by the Khalan.

  “Not Rens. And you must be ready—”

  A collection of gasps emanated from the back of the line.

  Alena realized that two warriors had fallen. Two more held swords out and had stabbed at the others.

  “Oliver! Yanda!”

  She leaped forward, pulling on her sword, unsheathing it as she blasted spirit from the end, sweeping it across the warriors. She had checked a few while they stood here, and Oliver had tested them before, but that didn’t mean that others hadn’t been turned in the time since Oliver tested them.

  The two with the swords had layers of shaping over their minds. Alena ripped the shapings free, not worrying about peeling them back gently as she had with Wansa. As she did, the men stood stunned, facing each other.

  One of them, a younger man with a thick beard who Alena didn’t recognize, looked at his sword with gradually widening eyes. “What… what did I do?”

  The other shaper started convulsing.

  Oliver was there in moments and scooped the woman with more strength than Alena would have expected. “I thought we had time,” he said.

  “I thought so too.”

  “I’ve tested the others,” Yanda said. “There’s nothing.”

  There was something. Which meant someone was here, already in the city, even if the attack hadn’t quite reached them. In the time since the last attack, they had missed someone.

  But who?

  29

  Jasn

  Summoning might not be enough.

  —Ghalen, First of the Khal

  Cheneth roused them early the next morning. Jasn felt stiff and had to stretch, but he’d slept well, warmed not only by the fire that crackled throughout the night but by the draasin curling up near them, her body shielding them from the night and radiating a welcome heat.

  Ciara lay on the opposite side of the fire, almost as if she wanted to be as far from him as she possibly could be. He didn’t blame her, not after what he’d done. Would she find it in herself to forgive him? If for nothing else, they still had to work together. She might be the only one able to defeat Tenebeth, but he had a role in the fight as well.

  “We should move,” Cheneth said.

  “Where do you intend for us to go?” he asked. “What more do you think for us to do?”

  Cheneth looked to the north. “I think it might be time for us to return to Atenas. We need
to find others who can help us with the Khalan. I don’t know how to find them—”

  “I think that I do,” Ciara said.

  Jasn glanced at her, but she made a point of not meeting her eyes.

  “The darkness that they summon. I’ve felt it before,” she explained. “When I was in there,” she motioned toward the tower, “the one who taught me used a summons of darkness. I think that I can find it.”

  “Using the darkness will only lead you toward Tenebeth,” Cheneth cautioned her.

  “I would not be using it. I felt it when they attacked. I recognized the summons. I think that I can follow it.”

  Something about the way that she said it made it clear that chasing after the dark summons placed her in danger. He didn’t want her to risk herself unnecessarily, especially after seeing the way that the Khalan so easily attacked them. Jasn had survived, but only because of his connection to water. Cheneth might not be so lucky the next time, and Ciara… what would happen if the Khalan managed to get past him and reach her?

  He wouldn’t let that happen. Regardless of what she might think of him now, he would not let that happen.

  “If we could find the Khalan,” Cheneth started.

  “No, Cheneth.” Jasn stood and pointed to the tower. “Look at what happened when five of them attacked here. How many do you think there are in their fortress? Dozens? We barely survived, and that was when they barely outnumbered us!”

  “If we could find them, we could call others to help,” Cheneth said.

  “Who do you intend to help us? The others you’ve trained in the barracks? There are skilled shapers there, Cheneth, but that is all that they are. The Khalan are some of the most skilled from within Hyaln. They wouldn’t stand a chance.”

  “The Wise would return,” Ciara said. She stared at the draasin, and he knew that she must be speaking to the elemental.

  “You know this?” Cheneth asked.

  “The draasin speaks to them. They are ready.”

  Cheneth turned and faced the tower. “It has been so many years since the Wise roamed the skies. Riders, many of them were called, though there were never that many riders. With their connection to the draasin—”

  “They don’t have a connection to the draasin,” Jasn said. “They can speak to them, but that’s not the same. They would risk themselves and us by going.”

  “He’s right,” Ciara said.

  Jasn hid his surprise that she would agree with him. “I want to find the Khalan as well, but we have to be careful.”

  “Then we find them,” Cheneth said. “There are others of Hyaln in addition to the Wise. We will call them to us.” He raised his hand when Jasn opened his mouth to say more. “This needs to be done, Jasn. We must stop the Khalan or we will never suppress Tenebeth.”

  Jasn studied Ciara, wondering what she thought of the suggestion, especially after seeing how poorly they had fared before. As he did, he realized that he didn’t have to wonder. With his connection to spirit, he could know the answer.

  Using a soft shaping, he created something subtle and layered this atop her mind, nothing but the barest of touches. Her eyes widened slightly, and he wondered if she knew what he did. Jasn didn’t stop, wanting to know what she was thinking. Not only wanting to know but needing to know.

  The answer hung at the surface of her mind.

  Hurt. That was the most prominent emotion. It ached atop her mind, like a wound that he wished he could heal, but there was nothing that he could do to heal it. He had caused this ache. Beneath that was another emotion, one that he understood all too well. A longing for vengeance. Realizing that took him aback. She was angry with the Khalan for what they had done to her, and she was willing to do whatever it took to see them fail, even if it meant her death.

  How could he not help her knowing that was how she felt?

  As he released the shaping, she glared at him. For a moment, he wished that he still held onto the shaping so that he would know if she recognized what he had done, but that wouldn’t change anything.

  “You’ll call for help once we find them?” Jasn asked Cheneth, watching Ciara as he did.

  “We will have to call for help,” Cheneth said. “I don’t think that we can do this on our own.”

  “If they haven’t moved, I might know how to find them.”

  Cheneth tapped his cane and frowned, but she didn’t offer any more explanation.

  In the light of day, Cheneth appeared younger than he had, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes softened and his skin more vibrant. Had the healing helped him so much?

  Ciara moved toward the draasin, each step measured. A summons, he realized.

  Jasn checked his sword, touching it at his side, and they waited while Ciara made a small series of movements, something that reminded him of a dance. Each step appeared to be perfectly placed, and as she did, he could feel the power humming from her, but not from any elemental that he knew. What did she summon with this movement? Was it nobelas? Did that elemental give her a different connection than he had? Was that the reason that she could summon without using any movement?

  Power surged from her, and she stopped, tilting her head as if to listen.

  She pointed. “There.”

  “Where?” Cheneth asked.

  “The draasin will have to take you.”

  The draasin lowered her neck and Ciara climbed atop her and waited. Jasn motioned to Cheneth to go first. As much as he might want to sit behind Ciara, he didn’t think that he should.

  When they were settled, the draasin took flight.

  Riding the draasin was a lesson in terror. He had done so several times, but still hadn’t adjusted to the way nausea threatened to overwhelm him, or the way that the wind whipped past him. Now, riding behind Cheneth, he didn’t even have the same reassurance that he’d had when sitting behind Ciara. Jasn had to fight back the terror on his own.

  They swooped over the water and flew east. The winds picked up as they flew and the sense of water shifted, somehow became vaster than it had been when on the island. Jasn surveyed the expanse of blue and quickly understood why Ciara had to bring them. He might have been able to shape himself across the ocean, but how much strength would he have remaining when he was done?

  Eventually, a patch of brown appeared. The draasin continued toward it.

  What is on that island?

  It took a moment for the water to answer, and when it did, the water sounded different in his mind, as if there had been a shift in the elemental as they flew.

  Shadows cling to the island, Child of Water.

  Shadows. Tenebeth.

  “That’s where they are,” Jasn said.

  Cheneth nodded. “I feel them too.”

  “Do we turn back?” he asked. “We know where to find them. Now we can return.”

  Tendrils of dark shadow swirled away from the island, and Jasn turned, realizing that the darkness surged behind them as well and blocked them in place. They would have to fight their way out now.

  He unsheathed his sword and already began to pull on a shaping, sending it through the sword. If Tenebeth—or the Khalan—attacked, he would be ready for them. He would do whatever it took to protect Ciara.

  The shadows thickened behind them, but also in front of them.

  Ciara brought her hands together, and light surged, parting some of the shadows, but not quickly enough.

  Jasn stood, his sword outstretched.

  “What are you doing?” Cheneth demanded.

  “She can’t do this alone.”

  Ciara watched him, but he couldn’t read the emotion in her eyes and wasn’t willing to risk shaping her now.

  “Turn the draasin. I’ll get you free from the shadows,” he said.

  “Damn it, Volth!” Cheneth said.

  Jasn jumped, sweeping behind him on a shaping of water, skimming across the surface of the ocean as he did, his sword flaring even brighter white than it had before. He continued to pull on each of the elements
and called to the water for aid, hoping that it would help him here, but not at all certain that it would work the same over the ocean as it did where the elementals were familiar to him.

  The shadows attempted to swallow him.

  Jasn raised his sword and released his shaping.

  The shadows parted. He continued to press his shaping, and the light blazing through the sword increased even more, leaving the shadows cleared.

  Jasn spun, the shaping of water turning him back toward the draasin. He expected to see Ciara riding with Cheneth right behind him, but they were not. They were gone.

  30

  Alena

  I begin to observe power returning to the world, and not all of it is tied to Tenebeth. Not all is dark. Why would the seals suppress both light and darkness?

  —Lren Atunal, Cardinal of the College of Scholars

  The night air had grown cold, almost unseasonably cold, and whipped around Alena’s cloak as she stood on the edge of the tower, looking down upon the city, searching for signs of the darkness, signs of anything that would explain what had happened. So far, they hadn’t discovered how the others had been influenced.

  At least it helped convince them of what they faced. If nothing else, the attack had made believers out of the other warriors, now seeing what exactly the Khalan was capable of, even if some still thought it Rens who attacked.

  The cold seeped through the warm white dress she wore, and even seemed to creep down the hilt of her sword. This was Tenebeth’s wind, she knew, though whether Tenebeth or the Khalan came, she didn’t yet know. She thought she could face the Khalan, but could she face more shapers controlled by Tenebeth? Thenas had nearly overwhelmed them, and while he might be a skilled shaper, there had been many others more skilled who he had defeated.

  “They each have a spirit stick,” Yanda said. “Oliver works with the other and thinks she can be saved.”

  The other turned out to be Lacy Rawls, a young warrior who had only recently been elevated to the Order. From what the others told Alena, Lacy didn’t have much in the way of strength with earth or fire, which made her wonder how she had ever been elevated. She was barely a warrior.