Carth waited, wondering if he expected her to say something, or if he came to deliver some message to her.
When he didn’t, Timothy reached past her and made a quick gesture with his fingers. The man nodded and pulled one hand from his sleeve, slipping a folded sheet of paper into Timothy’s hands.
“May the light guide you, acolyte,” Timothy said.
The acolyte nodded once and then turned before disappearing back down the aisle.
When he was gone, Timothy unfolded the paper, his eyes skimming the page. Creases formed in the corners of his eyes, and he stood. “We need to hurry.”
Timothy swept down the aisle and out of the temple. He said nothing more. Carth followed, uncertain what else to do, wondering what he might’ve seen on the page that would leave him worried like that.
Outside the temple, there was a steady sort of chaos in the streets. Carth raced to catch up with Timothy, reaching her shadows and the flame, no longer feeling compelled to restrict herself from accessing them. As she approached him, Timothy nodded, as if he agreed with her need to use both of her abilities.
He turned to her and handed a small vial to her. “You will want to take this.”
“What did you learn?”
“This man that you follow, he has knowledge that we have sought to keep from Venass.”
“Because he’s one of the Caulad Guild?”
Timothy tipped his head. “Yes. If Venass is successful in recruiting him, we will lose much.”
“What is this temple?” Carth asked. “It’s more than simply the Caulad Guild.”
Timothy glanced over. “It is more than that. I’ve told you that there are Hjan assassins. That is what this is. It’s a network, one that has helped control the flow of power in this land for many years.”
“And if he goes to the Hjan, it will disrupt the flow of power?”
“If he goes to the Hjan, it is possible that they will be the power.”
“Then where are we going? What did you learn that worries you?”
“Because he is going to the tower.”
“The tower?” Carth couldn’t conceal her confusion.
“Venass. The seat of their power. That is where he goes.”
The tower rose up out of the ground, a giant finger of stone surrounded by an empty landscape. The city of Thyr stood behind them with a reasonable distance, as if the city itself intended to give the tower the necessary space. Timothy guided her, and neither of them spoke. Carth still hadn’t seen any sign of Marna and had begun to wonder if the woman had become lost or if she had been harmed in the journey. She feared what might have happened to her as the assassin made his way to the tower.
Carth held on to the shadows, drawing them from her with a certain urgency. She feared much the same as Timothy, wanting to prevent the Hjan from gaining any more knowledge and power than they already had. If that meant that she had to stop this assassin, then she would.
As they raced towards the tower, she noted a single man making his way from Thyr along the road to the tower. He walked without any sense of urgency. He wore a dark cloak, and Carth could feel something coming from him. There was power, though she didn’t understand the source.
The man turned, and even from this distance, she could see the glitter of his green eyes. When he saw her, he smiled.
“We should hurry,” Carth said.
“I don’t think it matters.”
Carth realized that he was right. The man waited. He seemed unconcerned that Carth was here. He seemed unconcerned that he stood in the open countryside, outnumbered. He might even know that Timothy had some ability.
Carth and Timothy continued forward, and Carth held on to the shadows, drawing the flame as well, holding the powers within her as she approached.
“You don’t die easily, do you?” he said.
“I can’t let you reach the tower,” Carth said.
“That will not be up to you.”
“Who are you?” Carth asked.
The man shook his head. “Who I am no longer matters.” His gaze flicked to Timothy. “Much like who I was no longer matters. It is who I will become that matters.”
“Why?”
“They needed a demonstration. They pointed me to Asador.”
They. The Hjan. Had Hoga somehow worked on their behalf?
“I won’t let you reach the tower,” Carth said.
“No?” the man asked, arching a brow. “You will stop me, but how will you stop them?” he asked.
A wave of nausea rolled through Carth’s stomach.
She had felt it before, but it had been some time since she had detected the Hjan traveling near her. She called it flickering but knew they had another term for it, as Invar had called it traveling.
Where there had been an empty plain, now there were six men, each appearing in a flicker. They surrounded the assassin.
The assassin watched her with a lazy arrogance. “As I said, what will you do?”
Timothy reached for his sword, but this time, Carth rested a hand on his arm.
“You not going to fight them?” Timothy whispered.
Carth’s gaze drifted past the assassin, drifted past most of the Hjan assembled around her, and fixed on one man, one with deep green eyes who she had seen before. Somehow, she knew that he led the Hjan.
“I suppose you will claim him?” Carth said.
The man tipped his head. “It’s a move I believe you are familiar with, is it not?”
“You will abide by the accords. He will abide by the accords.”
The green-eyed man only nodded. “I abide by them as long as you do.”
“I claim the Caulad Guild,” Carth said.
The green-eyed Hjan’s gaze narrowed. “That was not the agreement.”
Carth shrugged. “I claim them just the same. If you harm them, you will violate the accords.”
The man nodded to the others around him. As one, they flickered, taking the assassin with him.
The green-eyed man stared at her, an amused expression on his eyes. “What game are you playing at?” he asked.
Carth shook her head. “This is no game. And I’m determined to protect the accords. All who follow me are under my watch. Any harm that comes to them, I will take it as an insult and a violation of the accords.”
A hint of a smile played across his lips. “I have done nothing to violate the accords.”
Carth frowned. “No. You have only seen that someone you sought to recruit did. If this tactic is employed again, I will consider it a violation.”
The man tipped his head, and with a smile, he said, “Much like your violation?” He watched Carth, waiting for a reaction, but she refused to give him one. “I will see you again.”
“I will look forward to it.”
The man flickered, disappearing, leaving her and Timothy standing alone on the plane with the tower before them.
“What was that?” Timothy asked.
“That,” Carth said, “is me ensuring our safety.”
31
The streets of Asador still felt empty, the way they had felt in the days since Lindy’s death. Carth still missed her friend, and still felt the pain of her loss on a daily basis, even now that she understood the reason it had happened. How Hoga had manipulated the situation, steering Marna toward a more dangerous choice. Marna had not known exactly what she was getting into when she had arranged for the assassin.
“Will you remain here?” Marna asked.
Carth glanced over to Marna. They stood crouched on a rooftop near the edge of the city, the docks visible. From here, Carth could see the movement of ships in and out of the harbor, and she had a sense of the smugglers working, as well as a sense of the women making up part of her network.
“I think I’ll stay here for now,” Carth said with a sigh. “Eventually, I’m going to return to what I’ve started.”
Continuing with what she had begun would be difficult. It would take time to continue to establish a
network along the coast, but given what she’d learned, and what had happened outside of Thyr, she thought she had no choice but to continue. The Hjan made that abundantly clear.
“You’re going to need help,” Marna said.
“I am,” Carth agreed.
“I can assist you in this.”
They hadn’t spoken about this part of Carth’s plan during the remainder of their return to Asador. Marna had been silent, and thankfully unharmed.
“You don’t need to do this. You have others you serve, and they need you just as much.”
“The smugglers guild is fully established. I can continue my influence there, and can continue to help you as well. Unless…”
“Unless what?” Carth asked.
Marna shrugged. “Unless you would rather I not. I understand if you are still angry with me about what happened.”
“I haven’t decided how I feel about what you did. But I understand why you did what you did. It’s a decision I might have made were I in your situation.”
“And Hoga? What is your plan for her?”
Carth smiled to herself. “Hoga will be useful. She might not agree with it now, but I think that in time, she will come around.”
Carth had sequestered Hoga and intended to take everything that the woman knew from her. If nothing else, she would understand the Caulad Guild better. She would use everything she knew—everything she possessed—to ensure that Hoga no longer harmed anyone else. She would help, whether she liked it or not.
And there was the fact that Hoga had some connection to the Hjan. She had to have for them to have used her to find the assassin. She would learn what that connection was.
“Thank you,” Marna said.
Carth frowned and looked over to her. “You’re thanking me now?”
“I’m thanking you for saving my sister. You didn’t have to do that. And I… I thought you were—”
“I know. We were used.” Manipulated by Hoga. Perhaps Carth should play Tsatsun with her. Maybe it would help her understand the woman and the way she thought better.
Carth let out a long sigh. She was a long way from Nyaesh, and a long way from the person she had been when she had lived on the streets, scared and trying to understand what she’d seen, the horror that she had observed of her mother dying in front of her. When that had occurred, she had felt helpless, lost. That person was no more. Carth was powerful. With her connections to both the shadows and the flame, she had a responsibility to use those powers.
And there was much danger in the world. There were plenty of others who thought to abuse the powers they possessed. She had to do what she could for those without power.
Along the way, she intended to strengthen others. She needed the women she served to realize they were stronger than they knew. Already in Asador and in Reva, it was happening. Women had discovered that they had strength and power that they had never known. That discovery brought Carth much joy. It would be necessary for them to discover it, especially as they faced the growing threat of the Hjan.
“You should take some time to celebrate with those you helped,” Marna said. “Sometimes it does us good to realize that we’ve impacted others.”
“I think you need to come with me,” Carth said.
Marna smiled. “That isn’t my place.”
“It will be if you intend to coordinate Asador for me.”
Marna tipped her head to the side, studying Carth for a long moment. Her brow knitted, and after a while, she nodded. “That I can do. On one condition.”
“You’re going to place conditions on me now?”
Marna shrugged. “Only that you agree to continue to play Tsatsun with me.”
Carth allowed herself to smile. “I think I would like that.”
She gathered the shadows around her and jumped from the rooftop. Marna followed barely a step behind, enhanced by the concoctions that Hoga had taught her. Those were the concoctions that strengthened Carth and the women of Asador. They would grow stronger together. They would become more than what they had been.
For the first time since coming to Asador, Carth felt a glimmer of hope.
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Looking for another great read? Soldier Son, Book 1 of The Teralin Sword, out now.
As the second son of the general of the Denraen, Endric wants only to fight, not the commission his father demands of him. When a strange attack in the south leads to the loss of someone close to him, only Endric seems concerned about what happened.
All signs point to an attack on the city, and betrayal by someone deep within the Denraen, but his father no longer trusts his judgment. This forces Endric to make another impulsive decision, one that leads him far from the city on a journey where he discovers how little he knew, and how much more he has to understand. If he can prove himself in time, and with the help of his new allies, he might be able to stop a greater disaster.
About the Author
DK Holmberg currently lives in rural Minnesota where the winter cold and the summer mosquitoes keep him inside and writing.
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Also by D.K. Holmberg
The Shadow Accords
Shadow Blessed
Shadow Cursed
Shadow Born
Shadow Lost
Shadow Cross
Shadow Found
The Lost Prophecy
The Threat of Madness
The Mage Warrior
Tower of the Gods
Twist of the Fibers
The Teralin Sword
Soldier Son
Soldier Sword
The Dark Ability
The Dark Ability
The Heartstone Blade
The Tower of Venass
Blood of the Watcher
The Shadowsteel Forge
The Guild Secret
Rise of the Elder
The Sighted Assassin
The Painted Girl
The Binders Game
The Forgotten
Assassin’s End
The Cloud Warrior Saga
Chased by Fire
Bound by Fire
Changed by Fire
Fortress of Fire
Forged in Fire
Serpent of Fire
Servant of Fire
Born of Fire
Broken of Fire
Light of Fire
Cycle of Fire
Others in the Cloud Warrior Series
Prelude to Fire
Chasing the Wind
Drowned by Water
Deceived by Water
Salvaged by Water
The Endless War
Journey of Fire and Night
Darkness Rising
Endless Night
Summoner’s Bond
Seal of Light
The Lost Garden
Keeper of the Forest
The Desolate Bond
Keeper of Light
The Painter Mage
Shifted Agony
Arcane Mark
Painter For Hire
Stolen Compass
Stone Dragon
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Shadow Found (The Shadow Accords Book 6) Page 18
