“Is she inside this building?” he asked, wanting nothing more than to change the topic. Why was Rayen challenging him like this?
“Probably.”
“How hard will it be to get to her?”
“Hard enough,” she said.
“What—”
Daniel didn’t get a chance to finish. Rayen started forward, moving within the shadows so quietly that every step he took seemed far too loud. The crunch of his boots seemed to cry out against the darkness. At one point, he thought he stepped on a stick, and the crack was so loud that he almost turned back. Even his breathing was incredibly loud in his ears.
Rayen made almost no noise. If he couldn’t see her—and it was getting increasingly difficult to do so—he wouldn’t know that she was even there.
How was she moving so silently? For that matter, how was she hiding her presence from him? It was almost as if she were covered by the darkness around her.
“Enough of this,” he muttered. Daniel Slid, moving to catch up with Rayen.
She glanced over at him. “It took you long enough to decide to use your abilities like that.”
“I was conserving my strength.”
“Is that something you need to do? Are you so weak with these special skills that you can’t even use them when you need them?”
He glared at her. The longer he traveled with Rayen, the less he liked her. Then again, he didn’t have to like her. He only had to get along with her long enough for him to get in and help Lucy.
“I just wanted to make sure that when we get in, I have enough strength to help bring Lucy out. And you, if something happens.”
She arched a brow at him, a hint of a smile crossing her lips. “At least now you’re saying something sensible.”
“How do you move so quietly?”
“Not all of us have such heavy boots.”
“You asked me about my abilities, but you never told me about yours.”
“Didn’t I? I would have sworn that I did.” She continued forward, none of her steps any louder than the silence all around them.
Daniel Slid. Small movements like this were easier than attempting to Slide over longer distances. At least this way, he thought he could keep up with her, and he certainly didn’t have to worry about making too much noise.
“You didn’t. I would’ve remembered.”
“My skill is in stealth.”
“I can see that, but—”
“See, or just see?”
“Both.”
She grinned. “Otherwise you wouldn’t be able to see me at all.”
“Why?”
“Let’s just say that I have a way with the darkness.”
She continued onward, and Daniel kept an eye on her movements. The more he watched, the more it seemed as if shadows swirled around her, practically caressing her. It wasn’t an ability of the Great Watcher, but he knew there were other abilities in the world. Did she somehow control the night? It would make her powerful at this time of day but likely wouldn’t be all that valuable in daylight.
The enormous manor loomed in front of him. Light flickered in a few windows, but if Rayen had the ability to manipulate the night, maybe they wouldn’t have to worry about all that candlelight. The building was enormous.
“How are we going to find her in there?”
Rayen glanced over at him. “Most people who would try this would be more concerned about getting in.”
“I’m not concerned about getting in.” The door wouldn’t keep him out—not unless there was heartstone involved, and knowledge of that was unlikely to be found this far outside of Elaeavn. Unless this man was affiliated with the Forgers.
“You should be. Once we get in, we have to deal with his men.”
“Do they have any abilities?”
“Like yours? No. But they are brutes, and they will give you trouble. You’ll have to move quickly, and that involves being able to use your abilities quickly. Do you think you can do this?”
Daniel took a deep breath. If it were anyone else trapped inside, he might not, but this was Lucy. The idea of harm coming to her—any harm—left his blood practically boiling. He’d been waiting impatiently until he could do something to help, and now that he was here, he wasn’t about to turn back.
“I can do this.”
“Good. Now go inside.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll have my own way of getting inside.”
“Where will I find you in there?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure I find you.”
Daniel studied her, knowing a moment of doubt. Could she be playing him? If she was, would she be trying to force him to expose himself?
That didn’t seem likely, especially with the fact that she was here to help—or seemingly so.
Focusing on a space just inside the building, he Slid.
21
Daniel
When Daniel emerged, he did so inside of a well-lit room. A hearth crackled along one wall. The counter that stretched in front of him smelled of fresh-baked bread. A woman wearing a dusty apron stood in front of the counter, and she looked up, her eyes flashing wide when he appeared.
“What the—”
Daniel Slid forward, emerging behind her, and he slammed her in the back of the head with his fist. It was a brutal technique that the tchalit had taught him to incapacitate someone. He hated the idea of striking kitchen help, but at least she wouldn’t die from an injury like this.
Had Rayen known the cook was in here? Somehow, he suspected this was a test. Would he have passed by knocking out the cook?
He crept forward, reaching the door and opening it to find a hallway. He heard the sound of voices and footsteps along the floorboards.
Where were the others in the building?
To find Lucy, he’d have to go from room to room. Once he found her, then it wouldn’t be hard to get out. He could Slide. Now that he had been to the tavern with Kasha, he could return there. He would be safe. It would give him a chance to regroup and figure out what their next steps would be.
A door opened on the other end of the hall.
Daniel stepped back, pushing the door closed in front of him. He listened, worried that he might have been discovered, but the footsteps thudded past him. Muted voices echoed from the hallway, but he couldn’t understand what they were saying. Perhaps it would be helpful in understanding what had happened to Lucy—if she was even here.
He was taking it on faith that she was. But what if this wasn’t where they were holding her?
Then he would treat this as an exercise in demonstrating how easily he could move through this place. It was the kind of thing the tchalit had wanted to teach him, but he had ignored it. There had been no reason for him to learn to fight like that. That was why the Elvraeth employed them. Now there was no choice.
It was life or death—his and Lucy’s.
When the sounds outside the door had passed, Daniel pulled it open again. He would hold on to his ability to Slide. He had enough strength to transport himself, but it required more than strength. He needed to have focus, and without knowing where he was going, he worried that he might simply Slide into someplace that wasn’t there. Lareth would have been able to handle that, but then he was rumored to be incredibly gifted. Most people who could Slide were more like Daniel. Talented, and with enough strength to travel great distances, but not much more than that.
He stopped at the next door. It was locked, and he Slid to the other side.
When he emerged, he found two people in the middle of passion. Daniel hurriedly Slid back out into the hallway. A flush washed through him, and he smirked to himself.
He reached the next door and Slid to the other side of it. A storeroom.
He made his way along the hallway, Sliding into each room. Most of them were empty, though in one, he found a young woman sleeping. He had assumed the couple in
the first room had been in a consensual relationship, but the more he thought about it and the more he remembered what he had learned from Kasha, the more he wondered whether it was consensual at all. Maybe these women had been forced into something.
And if that was the case, could he leave them behind?
It wasn’t his responsibility to save them.
But if he didn’t, who would?
He pushed the thoughts out of his mind. First find Lucy. And he would ask Rayen what she thought about it. She knew more about this thief master, so she’d know if that was the kind of thing he got involved in.
The hallway ended with another door. This was the door he’d seen the other man come out of, and he paused and listened. There were voices coming from the other side, which meant that he couldn’t simply Slide in there without having other preparations.
Was there another way to reach deeper into this building? There had to be stairs somewhere. Even if he couldn’t find them, he could Slide, but he’d have to do it blindly.
Where was Rayen? She was supposed to have followed him in, and he had expected to come across her before now.
He wasn’t about to stay and wait any longer.
He focused on a space above him. Taking a deep breath, he Slid.
He tensed as he emerged, thankful that he could move. He opened his eyes—he hadn’t realized he’d closed them. Most of the time he didn’t do that anymore. He looked around to see that he was in a bedroom. It was different from the ones on the floor below. Those had been sparse, with little more than a bed. This was much more formal. A four-poster bed took up much of the space, with a lace canopy hanging over it. The covers appeared silky, and the pattern on them indicated a certain cost. A table at the other end of the room, stacked with piles of papers and books next to an unlit lantern, took up the rest of the space.
Maybe this was the thief master’s room.
Two doors led off the room. Daniel approached one of them. It was unlocked. He pulled it open and saw that it let out into a hallway. Other doors lined the hallway, making him think that whatever was along this would be much like what he’d seen below.
What about the other door?
Daniel approached it and rested his hand on the handle. This one was locked.
Before attempting to Slide, he paused and listened. There was the distant sound of muted voices, and occasionally he heard footsteps along the floorboards, but nothing else.
Whoever’s place this was would be back eventually, and he didn’t dare take too long here, not wanting to get caught up in whatever they were doing. But at the same time, he felt as if he had some time. If he moved carefully, he could reach all the rooms and find out whether any of them contained Lucy.
Daniel Slid to the other side of this door.
It was dark. Daniel hesitated long enough for his eyes to adjust to the sudden change, and it took a moment for his Sight to allow him to see more clearly. When he did, he realized it was only a closet. He turned around, prepared to Slide back out, when he noticed a small doorway at the far end of the closet.
Why would that be here?
It made no sense for there to be a doorway like that, and Daniel approached it slowly, feeling his way toward the opening. This door was locked too, and curiosity overpowered his better instincts. He Slid to the other side.
A low-ceilinged room greeted him. He couldn’t stand, and he was thankful he had been crouching when he had Slid. Otherwise, he might have ended up halfway through the ceiling. He crawled across something that crunched beneath him, and Daniel hesitated, worried that he might have injured himself doing so.
A small bed at the far end of the room caught his attention.
Lucy was chained on the bed. She didn’t move.
With his breath caught in his throat, he stared. Was she even still alive?
When he reached the bed, he saw her chest rising and falling, telling him that she still breathed. Daniel let out a nervous sigh.
He touched her on the shoulder, noting how cold her skin seemed. “Lucy,” he whispered. “I need you to wake up.”
There was no response.
He looked on either side of the bed, trying to figure out some way to remove the chains. There had to be some way to get her out of here. Could he Slide her through them? Not easily. His ability to Slide involved taking a step to drag himself forward, and without that ability, he didn’t know that he would be able to rescue her.
Without that, would she be trapped here?
No. He wasn’t going to leave her trapped.
There had to be some way to free her from these chains. He jerked on them, but they were anchored too deeply. He couldn’t pull them free.
“Lucy. I need you to come around. With your augmented abilities, you need to Slide yourself from here.”
She still didn’t make any sign that she’d heard him.
Whatever poison they’d used on her was beyond him. If he could get her back to the Aisl, maybe the healer would be able to do something. First he had to get her out of here.
Daniel slipped his hands beneath her, vaguely aware that this was the most he’d ever touched her. She stirred, but only slightly. He tried to touch her cheek reassuringly but didn’t think it did much good. Focusing on the room in the tavern, he started to Slide.
The chains resisted him.
Daniel pulled harder, focusing on the Slide, but he couldn’t go anywhere.
At least, he couldn’t go anywhere with Lucy.
And he wasn’t leaving her behind.
He needed some way of severing the chain.
Where was Rayen?
Daniel Slid back out of the room, hating that he left Lucy here, and returned to the bedroom where he had started. The sounds of footsteps thudded beneath him, distant enough that he knew he had time, though how much time would he really have?
He could return to the main level, but if he did that, he ran the risk of confronting one of the people responsible for this, and Rayen had warned him about that. Was he ready? If it came down to it, was he prepared to fight?
There might not be much choice.
And he needed to find whoever had the key to these chains.
He wasn’t about to abandon Lucy here.
Before thinking too much about it, Daniel Slid back to the main level.
He emerged in the hallway. Two men were making their way toward the kitchen.
Both were large, muscular, but shorter than him and dressed in dark cloaks. They grabbed for weapons at their waists as soon as he appeared.
Daniel unsheathed his sword. All the times he’d worked with the tchalit came to mind, but he remembered what Rayen had said. This was different than training.
One of the men slashed at him, and Daniel Slid.
He’d seen enough of the Sliders’ sparring to know that someone with the ability to Slide was better equipped for a fight than someone without. He appeared behind them and pushed. One of the men slammed into the other, and they went crashing to the floor.
It made too much noise, and Daniel looked over toward the room at the end, knowing others would be coming soon.
“Stay down,” he hissed.
One of the men thrashed, trying to slam his sword around to catch Daniel, but he managed to Slide away from it.
He turned and caught the man on the side of his head with a booted foot. The man grunted before passing out. The other looked over at him, and Daniel Slid to him, kicking as he emerged.
He got up, ready for another attack, but no one came from the other end of the hall.
Daniel waited, expecting someone to appear at any moment, but when no one did, he made a circuit, glancing into the rooms on either side of the hallway, not surprised to find them now empty. Where had they all gone?
As he reached the doorway, movement behind him caused him to spin.
The hall was empty.
Daniel spun back around, turning his attention to the door, when he heard Rayen. “I wouldn’t do that.”
He jerked his head back around. “Where have you been?”
Shadows seemed to surround her. “I told you I’d meet you inside.”
“Right. And I’ve been inside for a while. I found Lucy, but I can’t get her out.”
Rayen grunted and placed a hand on the door. It might only be his imagination, but it seemed as if shadows swirled out from her, sweeping from her hand and into the other room. She paused, a frown pinching her face. “I thought you could Slide,” she said.
“I can, but she’s chained.”
“I don’t understand why that makes a difference.”
“A Slide requires movement. With her chained like that, I can’t make the movement I need.”
“How big of a movement do you need?”
“Enough to take a step. Without that, I’m not able to perform a Slide.”
“I never realized your abilities were so… limited.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what sort of limitations you have with your abilities, but I have to have certain opportunities for it to work.”
“Apparently.”
“If I Slide you up there, do you think you can help me get her out of the chains?”
“Do you somehow think one of my abilities is enhanced strength?”
“I don’t really know what your abilities are. You haven’t made those clear to me.”
Rayen glanced over, grinning. “I haven’t, have I?”
“You know, you could share with me what you can do.”
“Where would the fun be in that? You need to show off what you can do, Daniel.”
“If we can’t break her out of the chains, then I’m going to need your help to find whoever has the keys to them.”
“I think you’re going to need to think differently,” she said.
“What would you suggest?”
She grinned at him. “I’m not the one with your limitations.”
She frustrated him, but even more frustrating was that, with every passing minute, they were wasting time. He hated leaving Lucy up there any longer than he had to.
Muted voices came from the other side of the door. “What do you intend to do, Elvraeth?” Rayen asked.
The Elder Stones Saga Boxset: Books 1-3 Page 26
