The Guild Secret (The Dark Ability Book 6)

by D. K. Holmberg

  The man banged a hand on the table, his head craned around trying to see Firell, but Firell only watched Rsiran. “Why did you come here?” he asked.

  “Not for you, if that’s what you’re afraid of.” He nodded to the man. “If I let him go, will he leave me alone, or do I have to put a knife into him?”

  Firell watched Rsiran for another moment. “There was a time when I’d have thought that an idle threat from you.”

  “Try me,” Rsiran said.

  “I did. I think you’ve answered that quite clearly. Let him go. Jonas will leave us alone.”

  Jonas nodded, and Rsiran released his arm. He backed away from Rsiran carefully, and Rsiran took his place but repositioned himself against the side wall, giving him a chance to watch Firell and not worry about someone approaching him from behind.

  “Why did you come here if not for me, Rsiran?”

  “Venass.”

  “Don’t you think that’s a dangerous game to chase Venass? They’re known to be deadly, especially their assassins.”

  “Haern was one of their assassins. I think I understand them better than you.”

  A woman at a nearby table jostled forward, glancing briefly at Rsiran before making her way out of the tavern, weaving heavily from too much ale.

  “Ah, well as a man who has lived his entire life within Elaeavn, I think that you don’t quite understand Venass nearly as well as some of us who have faced them outside the protection of the city.”

  Rsiran scooped the dice off the table. “Protection? There wasn’t much protection when Venass attacked the city.”

  Firell leaned toward him. “Venass attacked? You’re sure it was Venass?”

  “I’m sure, why?”

  Firell glanced at Rsiran’s roll. A pair of ones. Watcher’s eyes. “Only that Venass would not act openly. That’s not there method. They prefer the shadows and hiding.”

  Rsiran glanced around the tavern, noting how Firell sat obscured in the shadows here. “Sort of like you, then?”

  Firell shrugged. “I’m a smuggler, Rsiran. What else would you expect from me? You wouldn’t expect me to operate openly now, would you?”

  He sighed. “You were supposed to be a friend.”

  “You know why I did what I did.”

  “I know. How is Lena?”

  Firell shot Rsiran a heated look. “Careful mentioning names around here. They can be dangerous if overheard by the wrong person.”

  “Fine. But how is she?”

  “She’s… well. She’s with family. Safe for now.”

  Rsiran nodded. “I’m glad to hear that. Truly.”

  Firell watched him and snorted. “You actually are. After everything that happened, you aren’t angry?”

  “I’m angry enough, but I understand what you did, and why you did it.”

  Firell took the dice and shook them, dropping them on the table without taking his eyes off Rsiran. “You haven’t said why you’re here, Rsiran.”

  “I have. I’m trying to find a way to stop Venass.”

  Firell chuckled. “Many have tried to stop them over the years, but there is no stopping, especially when they send their assassins after you. Why do you even care? If they’re after the Elvraeth, what does it matter to you?”

  Firell had been gone from the city for too long for Rsiran to feel comfortable sharing with him what he knew of the crystals, but there was something that Firell could know about, and that wouldn’t matter if he knew.

  “My grandfather leads them. I learned of him when they attacked the city. And they still hold my father. I would like to get him back.”

  Firell whistled softly. “That… that is unexpected. Thought you didn’t care anything about your family.”

  “They hurt me,” he admitted, “but that doesn’t make them any less family, does it? I’ve got to do what I can to find why they’ve taken my father, and I’m going to be the one to stop my grandfather, family ties notwithstanding.”

  Firell picked up the dice without ever looking to see what he’d rolled. Rsiran realized that the mug of ale next to him remained untouched. “These are dangerous times, Rsiran. You’ll need to be careful. Not sure that you can keep safe with what’s coming.”

  “I’m not the same person that you knew, Firell.”

  “I see that. That boy wouldn’t have nearly torn Jonas’s arm off. You got stronger.”

  “That’s not all I got.”

  Firell tipped his head as he considered Rsiran. “No? What else you got?”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  Firell leaned forward. “I think if you’re facing Venass, then it matters very much. Something like that will get you killed, and I know that you got someone you care about back in Elaeavn. Unless she’s here with you.” He glanced around the tavern. “I hope you weren’t stupid enough to bring her with you here. This isn’t really a place for a nice girl like Jessa.”

  “She’s not here.”

  “You came alone? That’s almost as bad.”

  “Do you think I’m in danger by coming alone?” Rsiran asked.

  Firell shrugged. “No more than me.” He leaned back against the wall and shook the dice in his hand. Rsiran waited for him to drop them onto the table, but he didn’t.

  “Do you know what happened with Josun?” he asked.

  Firell paused. A troubled look passed across his face, lingering fleetingly before disappearing. “I haven’t seen him since he released Lena.”

  “That wasn’t the question.”

  “That’s all the answer that you’re going to get.”

  “You know something about him. I need to know or I’ll—”

  “Or you’ll what?” He flicked a knife from his pocket and set it on the table, point aimed at Rsiran. A steel blade, and well made. “You’ll attack me? I don’t threaten so easily these days, Rsiran.”

  He grunted. “I didn’t think you threatened so easily before. And that’s not what I was trying to do. I only wanted to tell you that I need to know what happened to him. I know that he lives.”

  “Of course you do. That was the price to release my daughter.”

  Rsiran had an awareness of the chains around Firell’s neck. It would be an easy thing to constrict them, and force Firell from the tavern, but that wasn’t why he’d come here. Firell wasn’t his enemy, regardless of what he’d done to him… or what he had failed to do for them. He had betrayed them, and wasn’t any sort of friend that he had claimed to be, but Rsiran couldn’t blame him for what he had done.

  “I know that he was in Thyr. I came across a knife of mine there.”

  Firell smiled and laughed softly. “A knife? That’s how you know that he was there? Damn, Rsiran, there are plenty of your knives scattered around. What do you think Brusus was doing with them when you were pumping them out?”

  “Some were bribes. Others you shipped. I can tell you exactly how many are along the dock here if you would like.”

  His eyes widened slightly and he leaned in. His breath smelled slightly of ale, but not as strongly as Rsiran expected. “You can do that? You know how many there are?”

  Rsiran shrugged. “I have a connection to the knives. To everything that I make these days. There are more than my knives here. Would you like me to pull them to you to demonstrate?” Rsiran leaned toward Firell. “Maybe you’d like me to pull on the chain you’ve got wrapped around your neck.” He did, but only slightly. Firell pushed away. “I didn’t come here to antagonize you. I thought that maybe you’d have a few answers, and I think you know more than you’re letting on.”

  Firell grabbed at the collar of his cloak, trying to move the chain, but Rsiran held onto it, keeping it from moving. “Enough. You’ve made your point.”

  Rsiran eased his connection to the chain. “What do you know about Josun?”

  Firell shook his head. “You do not want to go after him.”

  He didn’t, not really, but then Firell didn’t need to know that. “Try me.”

  “
He was dangerous before, and that was when all he wanted was to join the Forgotten. Now… now he’s something else. Worse.”

  “He’s gone to Venass,” Rsiran said.

  Firell nodded. “From what I can tell. I don’t follow him, mind you, and I swear I haven’t seen him since he released Lena. But I keep my ears open for word on him. Better that way, with what he done to me. Last I heard, he had gone to the tower. Only one reason a man like him goes to the tower.”

  Rsiran sighed. The Hjan.

  Hearing that Josun might have become one of the Hjan made it more real, for some reason. Finding the knife in Thyr had worried him, as did what the knife had shared with him.

  But was Josun any worse than Danis?

  In some ways, he was. Josun hated Rsiran, and for good reason. Without Rsiran, he would have reached what he wanted. He would have managed to reach the Forgotten, but Rsiran had stopped him, and exposed him. And then he had trapped him, leaving him stranded in Ilphaesn until Firell had rescued him and exchanged him for the safe return of his daughter.

  Danis might be powerful, but he acted out of a desire for power. Josun… he would work out of a desire to hurt Rsiran.

  That would be dangerous, not only to him, but to those he cared about.

  “I see that you already knew that,” Firell said.

  “I suspected.”

  “How did you survive an attack on Elaeavn?”

  “Because I’m not the same person you knew. They tried to kill me, but they failed. They tried again, and they failed again. Now… now it’s my turn. I will make sure that Venass doesn’t continue to hurt people. That’s my purpose.”

  Firell started to smile, but it faded. “Damn,” he whispered. “I’d say be careful, but don’t think that matters.”

  “Can you do something for me?” Rsiran asked.

  Firell frowned. “What do you want?”

  “If you hear of Josun, or of a man named Danis, send word to me.”

  “And how am I supposed to do that?”

  “I don’t know. You’re the smuggler aren’t you?”

  Chapter 8

  Rsiran Slid from the tavern without standing from the table, leaving Firell and emerging outside where the sounds from the taverns drifted out into the street, creating a festival-type atmosphere, one of almost celebration. Gulls cawed overhead, and the sounds of the waves crashing against the shore gave him a reassuring sense, one that was more soothing than it should be.

  He moved to the shadows and waited. Firell had seemed to know something, and more than he had let on. Rsiran waited outside the tavern, wondering if he could follow Firell and discover anything. But Firell would see him here, so he Slid to the top of one of the buildings where it would be less likely for Firell to look up and see him.

  He didn’t need to wait long. Jonas came out first, glancing along the street, and then Firell followed, his eyes narrowed as he searched the shadows. Neither man had bothered looking up.

  Rsiran Slid after them, moving from building to building. Firell paused often, glancing around, almost as if he feared that he might be followed. He still didn’t look up, or seem to notice that Rsiran followed him from above. He thought it strange that Firell would move away from the shore where he would have his ship, but this way was easier for Rsiran to follow. When the street darkened to the point where he couldn’t see anything, he pushed a knife ahead of him to light the way. Firell might see the knife—that was a risk he would have to take—but he wouldn’t see the light off the blade.

  The men moved deeper into the city. The buildings were spaced farther apart here, and he was afraid that he might lose him because he had to wait between Slides. But they continued to walk along the darkened streets, Jonas appearing to lead them, rather than Firell.

  The men stopped outside a long, low row of buildings. Rsiran Slid to the rooftop and emerged as they entered. He paused, detecting the chain Firell wore, and realized that he wouldn’t have lost him as he tracked him through the city, not now that he knew what to listen for. Firell was inside, and had stopped moving.

  He wanted to hear them. Were he a Listener, he wouldn’t have any difficulty. Not for the first time, he wished he had some of the skills of the Great Watcher, abilities like the Elvraeth, but then, he wouldn’t trade what he could do for any of them. Traveling risked weakening him, and he didn’t have anyone able to watch him, so he would have to determine what happened inside some other way.

  Sliding to the ground outside, he searched through windows until he found a room where Firell and Jonas were. A dim lamp glowed inside and he could just make out the door to a darkened room on the other side. Rsiran debated whether he should return to Elaeavn or see what else Firell might be up to. Curiosity won out.

  He Slid into the room, readying his knives in case one of the men noticed him. He would not be caught unaware by Firell again. The last time, the Forgotten had used slithca on him, and he was not willing to repeat that.

  Voices drifted to him through an open doorway. Rsiran Slid, emerging near the door. The light of his knives allowed him to see that he was in an older home. Shelves lined the wall where he stood. A table and chairs were in the middle of the room. Opposite where he’d entered, a cold hearth occupied most of the wall. Dust filled his nostrils.

  “Dangerous for us to stay here now,” Firell was saying.

  “You know the assignment.”

  “I know it. That doesn’t change the fact that I see how dangerous it is. After Lareth came…”

  “That was always a risk.”

  Was it Jonas talking to Firell or someone else? It seemed the other person seemed superior to Firell, rather than the other way around.

  “You saw how easily he handled you.”

  Jonas then.

  “I allowed him to handle me. We can watch him now.”

  What did that mean?

  “Do you really think it so easy?”

  “Not easy. Fortuitous. Had he not come to you, we would have spent countless hours searching for him. Now we don’t have the need.”

  “I think you misjudge his ability,” Firell said. “From what I have heard—”

  “Heard. Not seen. There is nothing you need to fear, unless you don’t want to see her again.”

  “Enough.”

  Rsiran cocked his head as he listened. Had something happened to Firell’s daughter again? Once, he could understand, but a second time… Either Firell wasn’t able to protect her, or there was something more at play than Rsiran understood.

  “Now we wait,” Jonas was saying. “It should not be long.”

  What did Jonas expect to happen? Was someone coming to the house?

  Was it Josun?

  The idea terrified him—and excited him.

  He counted the knives he carried. He might not fully know how to counter shadowsteel yet, but he would find some way to do so. Venass wasn’t the only one with the ability to learn. Rsiran could learn; facing Venass, he would have to.

  A door opened and heavy feet thudded in, leaving the ground practically shaking. Not Josun. He would have Slid into the room, having no need to walk.

  “What be the problem? You do be sendin’ word about somethin’.”

  Rsiran almost let out a soft gasp. The voice… it could be none other than Shael. The last time he’d seen the man, he’d been dying, the broken end of a blade crushing into his skull. How could he be here? And why would Firell still be working with him?

  “Had a visitor tonight,” Firell said.

  “That be why you stayin’ down by the docks. We need you to be havin’ a visitor.”

  “Not who you thought. This was unexpected.”

  “There be many unexpected visitors in Asador. You need to be more specific. Damn, but you shouldna sent for me unless there was something I needed. Can’ have it be known we working together again.”

  “Lareth.”

  Feet thudded across the floorboards. “What do you be sayin’?”

  Firell sniffed.
“That was my visitor. Lareth. Came to the tavern tonight. I think it was these,” he said, and rattled the metal chains around his neck. “I think he controls it now.”

  “He done be controlling it the las’ time we saw him.”

  “He’s changed, Shael. We’ll need to be careful around him.”

  “Changed? Lareth be nothin’ but a boy protected by your city.”

  “That boy managed to twist Jonas around before he could even move. That boy claims he’s faced Venass and lived.”

  Shael laughed. The sound was rich and easy, and there was a time when it had been a welcoming sound. Rsiran resisted the urge to Slide to the other side of the wall and attack. After what Shael had done, and the way he’d used him, Rsiran wasn’t sure that he could leave Shael alive.

  “Facing Venass don’ mean the same as facing the Hjan.”

  “He knows Josun Elvraeth lives. Claims he saw him in Thyr.”

  “Thyr? Well, damn. Guess we better be pullin’ up anchor and getting’ out of port, then. Oh… tha’s right. Josun Elvraeth do be havin’ the same ability to jump from place to place as Lareth. When we fin’ that bastard…”

  Had Rsiran read this wrong? They were after Josun?

  But why? What reason would be convincing enough for Firell to risk his daughter? And why work with Shael after what he’d done to him? Shael had proven that he wasn’t anyone’s friend. He was more concerned about the coin he could earn than in maintaining friendships.

  And then there was the ability Shael possessed, that strange ability that resisted Sliding. The second time, he thought he caught him off guard. If there was something about what Shael could do, Rsiran needed to understand it.

  “Lareth could help,” Firell said softly.

  “You do be thinkin’ that he come help you after what was done to him? Thought you said he be changed?”

  “He was changed, but we could ask. After what we’ve been through, it can’t hurt to have help.”

  “Help don’ be comin’ from Elaeavn, and certainly not from a man we done attacked. If it were me, I think I be guttin’ the men responsible jus’ fer what they did. You be lucky, Firell. If he changed as much as you claim, he could have jus’ done the same to you.” Shael laughed again. “Thinkin’ ‘bout Lareth like that… that do be funny.”