Chased By Fire (Book 1)

by D. K. Holmberg

  “Forced? Why would a warrior be forced away?”

  She looked up and the debate about whether she should answer raged across her face. “Lacertin was found trying to enter King Ilton’s chambers after he died. No one knows his reasons, but it took three warriors and a half-dozen shapers to get him out. He fled Ethea, chased by the warriors and the furious new king.”

  “Why would he enter the king’s mourning chamber?” Tan asked. Custom dictated that the deceased king be left alone, dressed in his robes and goblet, sitting atop his throne for seven days after his passing. According to custom, none should disturb him as the Great Mother prepared for his arrival.

  She set both hands on the table and met his eyes. “You have a curious mind, Tan. You always have. With your ability…” She trailed off and shook her head. “I really wish you’d consider going to Ethea, if only to see what it has to offer you. I think you’d be surprised by what you’ll find. There are others like you—others with your talent—”

  “I don’t have any special talent,” he snapped. Tan took a steadying breath, controlling his emotions before saying anything more that he might regret. “I’m just a senser. It’s a useful enough skill here in the mountains where I can track, but in the city?” He shook his head. That was one thing he’d never understood about his father—how he could have gone to Ethea to study, taking on the king’s fee for his studies. And dying for it.

  His mother sighed and looked back down to her pages. She didn’t bother to hide the disappointment on her face. “Then get some rest tonight so you can get up and complete your responsibilities on time tomorrow.”

  Tan left her room without another word, not wanting to disappoint her further.

  CHAPTER 7

  Stranger to the Forest

  The Aeta caravan left early the following morning.

  Tan rose early, dressing quickly to finish his chores before Lins awoke for the day. If he managed to get everything done, he could be up in the mountains with Cobin tracking the creatures before Lins came looking. And he would come looking.

  As he worked setting down hay in the stalls, the light tinkling of bells told him the caravan was moving. The mother promised their stay would be brief. He hadn’t expected it to be quite so abrupt.

  Tan ran out of the stables and hurried to the wall to watch the Aeta depart. The caravan had already circled around the outer wall and slowly rambled south and east. Other than Velminth, there wasn’t anything in that direction for hurdreds of miles.

  “They’re already leaving.”

  Tan turned. Cobin leaned on the wall, scratching his dark beard as he stared after the wagons.

  “They told my mother they couldn’t stay long. I figured another day at least.” He prayed for a glimpse of Amia, one last parting shot to remember her by. Only the wagon drivers sat out this early.

  A slow smile spread across Cobin’s face. “That why you’re up so early?”

  Heat rose in his cheeks. “Did you get to trade?” Tan asked, changing the subject. He hadn’t seen Cobin the night before, though after talking with Amia and running into Lins, he wasn’t sure he’d remember.

  “Thought I had more time.” Cobin looked down the road where dust followed the wagons. “Anything interesting?”

  “I don’t know. I ran into Lins.”

  Cobin grunted and spat. “Best stay clear of him today.”

  “That’s the reason I’m up already,” Tan admitted, laughing. He didn’t fear Lins—not really—but Amia had embarrassed him in front of Tan. Lins wouldn’t let that go.

  “Want to head north?” Tan nodded. “Heller said he’d come.” Cobin paused and considered Tan for a long moment. “Probably ought to check with your ma first.”

  “Like she’ll be happier knowing you’re with me?”

  Cobin laughed. “I think me and Grethan got into too much trouble together for that. She already thinks I’m trying to corrupt you too.”

  Tan forced himself to laugh. Cobin had the chance to know his father much longer than Tan ever had. And now never would. Summoned to serve the king, and for what? To keep the southern border of Galen free from immigrants from Incendin?

  “I wasn’t the only one to see them,” he said. Cobin waited. “The Aeta did too. Some kind of hound out of Incendin.”

  Cobin’s face changed, eyes narrowing and growing hard. “Called them Incendin hounds? You sure?”

  Tan tried to remember what Amia said about the hounds before nodding. “Why?”

  “Just…there are stories about Incendin hounds.” There was a different edge to his voice. “Not sure how they could slip past the barrier, but if these are Incendin hounds, I need a few other items before we track them again.” He turned and looked up into the mountains. “Actually surprised you managed to follow them.”

  “What are they?” It wasn’t like Cobin to be nervous, but something in his tone told Tan he didn’t share everything he knew.

  Cobin shook his head. “Talk about it later. I need to find Heller, talk to him again.” He turned back to Tan. “Maybe this is one you should sit out. If your ma finds out I let you track hounds…well, I’m sure I don’t want Ephra’s wrath.”

  “I’m old enough to decide for myself.” Tan hated how pouty he sounded, but Cobin sometimes took his view of protecting him too far.

  Cobin’s face softened. “I know you are. But after what happened with your father—”

  “I know what happened with my father. And it had nothing to do with tracking hounds.”

  Cobin sighed. “Tan, believe me when I tell you that if these are Incendin hounds, you are lucky to still be alive.”

  Tan started away. Staying would only lead to an argument. After battling with his mother, he didn’t need to argue with Cobin, too. “I’ll find you later.”

  “Not sure I’ll change my mind. This one might be more dangerous than I thought.”

  “That’s why you need me.”

  Cobin grunted. “I need you to stay alive. Promised your father that.” Cobin started off, leaving Tan staring after him.

  Questions lingered. Had he more time with Amia, he might have asked other questions about the hounds. Why had it suddenly gotten so hot? Why had he struggled to see them clearly? What scared them off?

  Thinking of her left him disappointed he would never see her again. Or could he?

  It was early enough and he had already done the chores he’d neglected the day before. Why couldn’t he follow the Aeta wagons? Maybe he’d even catch another glimpse of Amia. The wagons didn’t move quickly. If he cut through the woods, he could intercept them before they went too far.

  Before thinking about it too much, he set off at a slow jog. He kept the winding path of the road in mind as he climbed through the woods. His way took him up steep, rocky inclines and down hazardous ravines. It was nearly midday by the time he heard the distinct sound of their melodic bells.

  Tan slowed as he neared the road, careful to remain hidden within the trees. He’d already followed the Aeta once. How offended would they be to see him after them again? The caravan moved slowly upon the road toward Velminth. The bright wagons moved past him, flashes of bright color against the greenery.

  As he watched, he worried for a moment he might have missed his chance. And then…there she was, sitting near an open window of the rear wagon. She sat frowning, one hand twirling through her golden hair. Then, as if sensing his presence, she turned to look in his direction, a smile parting her lips.

  Tan ducked. She shouldn’t be able to see him through the layers of leaves and branches yet she had looked right at him. And smiled. His heart fluttered and he dared to lean forward, risking exposure. The wagons disappeared, but he thought she waved.

  He sighed, ignoring the pang he felt at her leaving. He barely knew her, yet something about her pulled at him, leaving him with a sense of longing.

  A harsh snap broke the silence of the forest.

  Tan turned, fear of hounds or wolves jumping to his mind. He
hadn’t paid attention as he’d followed the Aeta. Could he have missed their tracks?

  Quickly, and without thinking about it, he listened to the forest around him, sensing for anything off. It felt different than yesterday. Alive and as it should. Birds chirped in the trees overhead. Squirrels danced along branches. Wind whispered through the canopy.

  That he’d forgotten to bring so much as a knife didn’t make him feel any better.

  “Greetings.”

  Tan stiffened. A figure emerged from the shadows of a nearby tree. How had he gotten so close without him knowing? Dressed in a heavy cloak covering his face, a sheathed sword hung at his side. One hand hovered over the hilt.

  Tan eyed the man’s sword nervously, afraid to say anything. He considered where he could run if he needed. The road would be easiest, but it would be the same for the man. Better off through the woods. He knew these woods and had some advantage there.

  The figure followed Tan’s gaze down to his sword and pulled the hand away. Raising palms forward, he lowered the hood of his cloak, revealing wavy silver hair and bright eyes. “Just wandering the woods?”

  Tan nodded, realizing he still wore his dirty breaches and shirt from his work in the stables. Had Amia had seen him this way?

  “What villages are near here?”

  The question seemed odd. Most traveling through Galen knew it well enough. Near Nor was Velminth, a logging town. Beyond that lay the upper reaches, deep and twisty mountainous terrain few bothered to travel. The upper passes there would already be seeing the first snow. And beyond the mountains lay the edge of the kingdoms.

  “Nor,” he answered. Tan positioned himself closer to the road. At least he could move quickly if needed.

  The man frowned. “Nor? As in steel?”

  He nodded. “Not many bother to work with steel anymore.” There’d been a time when the mines produced enough iron to practically supply the entirety of the kingdoms. That had been long before Tan was born. Now miners managed barely a trickle, though steel made in Nor still had value.

  The man patted his sword quickly. “Still useful,” he said. He turned and looked around the woods. “Hunting?” He considered Tan for a moment before shaking off the question. “Not hunting. But not expecting me. Comfortable among the trees.” He spoke mostly to himself.

  “The Aeta visited last night. I just watched them leave.”

  The man looked up the road, ignoring Tan as he did. “The Aeta?” A curious look crossed his face. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

  Tan frowned.

  An uncomfortable moment passed before the man turned and smiled again. “I didn’t mean to come upon you like a wild elemental.”

  He grinned as if seeing one of the elementals should make sense. From what his father used to say, that might have happened once, but the elementals were even rarer in Galen than shapers.

  When Tan didn’t answer, he went on. “I’m looking for a woman from this area. A wind shaper of some strength. She’s gone by many names so I don’t really know what she’s called now.” He shrugged, as if names were unimportant.

  Tan shook his head. “We have no shapers in Nor.” Lord Lind would panic if one ever did settle in the area. “We have few enough sensers here.” He said nothing about his ability. What Tan did really couldn’t be considered sensing, not to any real degree. His father had been a senser, but he used as much traditional tracking as he did sensing, combining them more than anything.

  The man frowned. “None? I thought we had shapers in all the border towns.”

  “We’re not entirely on the border.”

  The man turned and looked to the east, staring into the mountains, toward Incendin. “What protection do you have, then? Are there frequent Incendin invasions?”

  Tan laughed and nodded toward the sloping mountains. “Nothing other than those. Not many passes through the mountains in this part of the kingdoms.”

  The stranger only grunted. “I suppose not.” He turned back to Tan. “Can you lead me to Nor?”

  Tan debated briefly before shrugging. While he could follow the Aeta farther, he’d be doing so without a knife of a bow. Or even a skin of water. And the stranger could just as well follow the road into town. “You won’t find your shaper there. Not much other than a few old smiths and a cranky manor lord.” As soon as he said it, he wished he could take it back.

  The man eyed him but thankfully didn’t comment.

  They started off. Tan took him a direct route, bypassing the road. “You said you searched for a shaper?”

  The man nodded.

  “What’s she like?”

  “Don’t really know anymore. She was lovely when I knew her, but fierce. She had this dark, flowing hair and olive skin…” He trailed off and shook his head. “But it was her laugh that truly made her beautiful.”

  “You knew her well?”

  The man simply shrugged. “Once.”

  “She was a wind shaper?”

  The stranger nodded. “One of the strongest I’ve met.”

  “You’ve met a lot of shapers?” That meant he likely came from Ter or Vatten. Maybe even Ethea, but if he was from the capital, it seemed odd he’d be so far out here and all by himself.

  “Many.”

  “Where? Ethea?”

  They climbed down a steep slope. The man followed him easily, moving with a limber grace that told Tan he wasn’t a stranger to woods like these.

  “There. And other places,” he said.

  Tan grabbed a thick sapling as he started down another slope. “Ever meet any warriors?” Cloud warriors, the most prized shapers, could shape all of the elements. That was how the last Incendin war had been won.

  The stranger laughed. “There aren’t any warriors. Haven’t been for nearly a decade.”

  “Why?” Tan’s father used to tell of how he’d seen some of the great warriors when he’d trained in Ethea, back when they’d been called into battle to defend the kingdoms. Shapers so skilled they could practically walk across the sky, shaping themselves into the clouds.

  “Few enough are born sensers. Fewer still can become shapers. Warriors have to master all the elements.”

  They fell back into silence for long moments as they drifted toward the edge of the forest. Nor opened up in front of them, spreading far below. The stranger arched a brow at him. Tan shrugged and started down, sliding on his heels as he made his way down the steep embankment. Near the bottom of the hill, he waited. The stranger followed close behind, not struggling as much as Tan would have expected.

  “So how do you know so many shapers?”

  The stranger shrugged. “Happens in my line of work.”

  Tan laughed. “What line of work is that?”

  The man laughed. “You don’t know?”

  Tan shook his head.

  “Thought you recognized the ring,” he said, pointing to the silver band on his first finger.

  Now that he saw it, Tan still didn’t understand. He thought he’d seen it in one of his father’s books before, but couldn’t remember where. He shook his head.

  The man grunted. “Time was a man recognized the mark of the Athan.”

  Athan. That was a term he recognized. Direct servants of the king. They spoke with his word, his voice. Only five Athan served at a time. But why would the king send one to Galen?

  CHAPTER 8

  Tainted Name

  The Athan was quiet as Tan led him to the manor house. Tan didn’t bother interrupting, especially not now. He shot occasional glances down to the man’s ring, but didn’t dare let his eyes linger.

  Once the man caught him looking and smiled. Tan turned away, a hot flush rising in his cheeks, and glanced at the cloudless sky. The sun pressed toward the tops of the trees, unseasonable heat coming with it. No wind whistled though town. Sweat slicked his arms and back.

  Bread rising somewhere made Tan’s stomach rumble. He’d been gone most of the day again, though this time not tracking anything as dangerous as the
hounds. But atop the scent of bread lingered a sharp stink of sweat. Amia probably had been happy to leave Nor.

  Lins Alles emerged from the shadows near the manor house as they neared. His eyes were red and bloodshot and his hair disheveled. Probably just getting up now. He saw Tan and sneered before turning and staggering away, probably still drunk from the night before.

  Tan sighed.

  “Not a friend?” the man asked.

  He shook his head. “Not a friend.” How far would Lins push him now? Tan couldn’t really fight back—not against Lins and certainly not when he was with his friends—but Lins wouldn’t let last night’s insult slide by without additional comment.

  “Who is he?”

  “Lins Alles.”

  The stranger watched Tan as they walked the last few steps in silence, before pausing at the doorway to the manor house. As Tan set his hand to the doorknob, the stranger laid his hand atop his. Tan stiffened, fearful of what the Athan might say. The voice of the king could punish him with only a word.

  “You empower him when you fear him.”

  Tan swallowed. He didn’t fear Lins. Not yet. “It’s not empowerment.” Tan took his hand from the door. “It’s entitlement.”

  The stranger tipped his head, frowning.

  “Lins Alles, son of Lord Lind. Manor Lord of Nor.” Tan eyed the Athan, waiting for his response.

  “I see.” The stranger’s frown deepened. “But that’s not all.”

  Tan shook his head and laughed softly, glancing over to where Lins had disappeared. “Lins thought to impress an Aeta girl by insulting me last night.”

  “Did it work?” The man’s tone indicated he knew it wouldn’t.

  “She insulted him in kind. He didn’t care for it. I think he blames me.”

  The stranger’s silver eyebrows raised and he chuckled. “That young man needs to learn a few lessons about impressing women. Particularly one of the Aeta.”

  “Don’t we all,” Tan said.

  The stranger’s laugh deepened and he clapped Tan on the shoulder.

  Tan pushed open the door and led the man through the hall. From his frequent visits to see his mother, he knew the way toward Lord Lind’s office. At this time of day, he was likely there.