Haern grabbed Daniel and dragged him toward the doorway, toward Carth.
If nothing else, he would allow him to escape. Someone still had to find Lucy.
The other women Rayen had brought with her were all incredibly skilled, and they surrounded the woman, each of them trying to move forward, but some sort of barrier prevented them from doing so.
Galen darted forward, dropping low and trying to kick, but he was pushed back again. There was nothing they could do.
Could he have been wrong? Could it have been this woman who had killed the Forgers?
If it was, then what chance did they have?
Galen went flying, and Haern raced over to him, grabbing him.
Galen shook his head, getting to his feet slowly. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said.
“Not even my father?”
“Your father had significant skills, but even he didn’t have anything quite like this. I… I don’t know that we can defeat her.”
“We can’t simply abandon my father here.”
“I don’t know what choice we have.”
Haern glanced around. If they could draw the woman’s attention away, maybe they could find a way to slip in behind her.
What he needed was the ability to Slide. If he could fight the way his father would, he wouldn’t feel so helpless.
“Even your father couldn’t escape this,” Galen said, almost as if reading his thoughts.
There had to be something.
The woman pushed out, slamming them all against the walls.
Haern tried using his knives, pushing on them with his connection to lorcith, but they bounced off her barrier.
She turned her attention to him. “Interesting. You have a connection to the metal. You could be useful to us.”
“And who are you?”
“Your friend Carthenne told you nothing about the C’than?” When he frowned, she chuckled. “Typical. She hoards knowledge and doesn’t feel it’s necessary for her to share, but then again, Carthenne has always believed that she was the one who needed to ensure stability and balance.”
“You don’t serve the C’than,” Carth said, appearing in the doorway. She looked beaten. A gash along one cheek dripped blood. Bruising had already started around her eyes, and she held one arm strangely. What was she doing even thinking about fighting still?
“Oh, Carthenne. How naïve you are.”
Carth took another step forward. Somehow, power still radiated from her. She mixed shadows, sending them out toward the woman, but heat rose from her as well.
The woman tried to dismiss Carth’s power, but she failed. Carth took another step forward. Rayen joined her, slipping her arm around her waist, propping her up. Carth glanced over, nodding briefly to her.
“The C’than seek knowledge. They seek understanding and balance. I have served the C’than a long time. And you have betrayed that knowledge.”
Power exploded from Carth.
Where did she find that energy? She didn’t look as if she even had enough strength to stand, let alone push out with power.
“Some of us have sought knowledge for our own purposes,” the woman said.
“I’m well aware of the knowledge you have pursued, Alera. I’ve wondered at your plan, trying to figure out why you would betray the C’than, and why you would betray Lareth. I’m still not certain what you intend.”
The woman pushed back, and Carth went staggering until Rayen slipped an arm around her. Galen tried lunging forward, but he was thrown back, crashing into the wall. Haern attempted to push on a knife, but Alera seemed aware of everything around her and had some ability to deflect it all.
Even the other Binders attempted to fight, but only a few remained standing. There weren’t enough of them remaining to oppose her.
The only hope they had was whatever strength Carth had remaining.
Haern hated feeling helpless like this. It was the way he felt compared to his father. This was power unlike anything he had ever imagined, power that exceeded even his father’s. Who was he against something like this?
“What I intend is to reacquire what we’ve lost.”
“Reacquire? You intend to bargain with Lareth for the Elder Stones?”
“Bargain? No. I intend to use him as bait. When they have him, I will follow them and discover where they are keeping the stolen stones.”
“The stones need to be kept where they belong,” Carth said. “That’s where they’re safest.”
“Like in Elaeavn? Are they so safe there?”
“They could have been.”
“The Ai’thol have decided to stop waiting and have chosen now to press their attack.”
“Because you captured Lareth,” Carth said, and power pressed away from her, forcing Alera to widen her stance. “He was a stabilizing force, distracting them. And you disrupted that. In your wisdom, you are the reason they might finally claim the Stones of the Watcher.”
“How little you can see,” she said.
“Is there an Elder Stone in Asador?” Haern said.
Carth glanced over. “An Elder Stone?”
“The Forgers are after Elder Stones. Is there one here?”
Carth turned her attention back to Alera. “What have you done?”
“I have done nothing.”
Carth’s brow wrinkled for a moment as she clenched her jaw. She kept her arms out, and Rayen continued to hold her up. “I see it now. The pieces are coming together for me. That is how you acquired such power. You used the Wisdom Stone. It was to be protected, held safe, not used.”
Alera grinned. “You and your antiquated beliefs. The C’than have long believed that the stones should be held by those they belong to. And what am I but one of the C’than?”
“The stone belongs to Asador. It belongs to the university.”
“And I am of the university.”
Carth let out a heavy sigh. “You revealed its existence. The Forgers and the Ai’thol knew nothing about the Wisdom Stone. The C’than saw fit to safeguard that knowledge, knowing that if others managed to acquire the Wisdom Stone, they would be even more formidable, and possibly unstoppable. And now because of your selfishness—”
“My selfishness? Where have you been all these years? You allowed the Ai’thol to continue to gain strength. Because of you, they have pressed onward.”
“Because of me, they have been distracted,” Carth said. “Because of Lareth, they have not gone after other Elder Stones. And you have removed protections.”
Alera raised her hands and brought them down in a sharp movement. A wave of invisible power slammed into Haern, forcing him against the wall. Carth went staggering back, and were it not for Rayen holding her up, she would have collapsed.
Alera flickered.
It was a shimmer that Haern was familiar with. He had seen it often enough from Daniel and others throughout the Aisl to know when someone would Slide.
How was she able to Slide?
She emerged inside the cell. She crouched down, grabbing for Rsiran.
“You are too late. I will be the one to use Lareth. And now that they’re here, the trade will be made, and he will lead me to the rest of the Elder Stones.”
Haern ran toward the bars of the prison. His father was in there, and there was no way of reaching him. The moment she Slid, there would be nothing they could do to find him again. She would take him to the Forgers, and he would be lost.
“Don’t do this. Don’t take my father.”
Alera paused, turning toward him. “Your father? Ah. I see the resemblance. When this is over, I will find you. You could be useful in other ways. I can see them now.”
“Don’t. He doesn’t deserve this. I don’t deserve this.”
“No one deserves anything. They take what they want. And now, I’m taking Lareth with me because I want to find the remaining stones.”
She started to shimmer.
As she did, an awareness of lorcith came to him, surpris
ingly within the cell.
It was the sword Daniel had been carrying—at least, what remained of it. It lay near his father, and somehow it was in the middle of the cell.
Haern pulled on the blade, dragging it toward Alera.
As she shimmered, the Slide beginning, the blade slammed through her, dragged all the way through her belly and back out.
Her eyes widened, and she clasped her hands over her stomach. Her shimmer and the Slide failed.
Haern pushed on the remnant of the blade, and it slammed into her chest, pinning her to the floor. She kicked and thrashed, trying to pull the blade out, but she couldn’t.
Haern gripped the bars of the cell, watching.
Alera rolled her head to the side, a twisted smile on her face. “Now what will you do? There’s no way of reaching your father without me.”
With that, she coughed and took her last breath.
Haern leaned on the bars, wishing he knew what to do. He made his way around the cell but could find no way in. There was no gate, nothing but the strange stone, and though he could See that metal was worked into the stone, it was not lorcith, and it did not appear to be heartstone, either.
Galen joined him when he completed his circuit. “You did well.”
“Did I? We stopped her, but we can’t reach my father.”
“We’ll find a way.”
“How?”
“Rayen can help,” Carth said, limping over to the cell. “And you… you did well.”
Haern swallowed. “I don’t really understand what has happened.”
“As I told you, it’s about the Ai’thol and the Elder Stones.”
“But she’s not of the Ai’thol.”
“No, but she intended to go after the Elder Stones the Ai’thol have already claimed, though I’m not sure that even with her borrowed abilities, she would have been able to do so.”
“And the Elder Stone she has?”
“Should never have been revealed. It is powerful, perhaps the most powerful, and the C’than have long entrusted it to the university here. It’s been buried deep beneath the university, in a place where the scholars would benefit from its residual effects, but they would not be enhanced in any way that would make it obvious.”
“And now she has it?”
“It seems that way,” Carth said. She glanced over to Rayen. “Can you wrap your shadows around her and drag her to us?”
“I think so, but what will that do?”
“We need the stone.”
“Can’t we just use shadows to rip these bars apart?”
“You can try, but I wasn’t able to do so.”
Rayen nodded. “If you weren’t able to, then I doubt that I will be either.”
“You shouldn’t discount your abilities. I certainly don’t. It’s just that I fear there won’t be anything we can do to break through this. We have to Slide through it.”
“Can we?”
“We can’t, but someone with the right connection can.”
“And what is the right connection?”
“That is why we need the Wisdom Stone. It will guide us and reveal what we must do.”
Rayen crouched down and put her hands between the bars, letting shadows stretch out from her. They formed something like ropes, and they crept into the cell, where she wrapped them around the fallen form of Alera. She began to pull, but Alera was pinned by the lorcith blade.
“I can’t—”
“Let me.” Haern pulled on the blade, lifting it out of the stone with a jerk, and working with Rayen, he pulled Alera toward the bars. Blood trailed after her, and Haern tried not to stare at it too long. There was something almost better about Galen’s method of killing. It was neater, and certainly less bloody.
“I can’t reach through the bars,” Rayen said.
“You can’t, but the shadows can. Feel for the Wisdom Stone.”
Shadows swirled around, working from one end of Alera to another. Rayen paused, leaning back. “I don’t find anything.”
“She has to have it on her,” Carth said.
“Would it be on her, or might it be in her?” Daniel asked, staggering to the gate. He nodded to Haern and then to Rayen. “When Lucy was attacked, the metal implanted itself in her and burrowed into her. If this stone was used in a similar way, it’s possible that she has it implanted within her too.”
Carth frowned. “It’s possible.”
Rayen shifted the focus of her shadows, sweeping across, but shook her head. “I don’t detect anything.”
Carth let out a tired sigh. “I will see what I can uncover. This will not be pleasant.”
Haern didn’t have a chance to ask what she meant. Heat began to build, radiating off Carth. A soft flame flickered at Alera’s clothing before working into her body and quickly consuming her.
He wanted to look away, but he wasn’t sure that he could—or that he should. When her flesh began to burn, he nearly gagged. The stench of it was overwhelming. If his father weren’t inside this cage, he might have turned away. There would be no shame in turning away, not from the sight of this, and not with the horrible stench, but he wanted to know. He wanted to find this Wisdom Stone, and if it meant that was how he would rescue his father, he would be a part of it.
Galen coughed. “Why didn’t you do this when you were fighting with her?”
“I tried, Galen. Believe me, I tried.”
A flash of pale purple caught his attention. “What’s that?”
Carth released her connection to heat, and she frowned. “What’s what?”
“Around her neck. At least, where her neck used to be.” Now it was little more than a charred remain.
“How did we not see it before?” Rayen asked.
“It’s tiny,” Haern said. It was smaller than the nail on his small finger, and smooth. Mostly clear, but a faint purplish hue glowed within it. That was what he had seen.
“Did you know it was so small?” Galen asked.
“I’ve never seen the Wisdom Stone. The C’than have held it, but none have used it. We have known better than to do so.”
“One of us has to use it in order to get Rsiran out of there,” Galen said.
“It should be Carth,” Rayen said. She looked around at the remaining Binders, those who were still standing. “She has shown more wisdom than I, and I should have known that she would never have abandoned her people.”
“I don’t blame you for anything,” Carth said.
“Which is why you should hold the Wisdom Stone.” Rayen pulled it toward them, through the bars.
No one touched it.
“What happens when you hold it?” Haern asked.
“I don’t know. I have been in the presence of others of the Elder Stones, but this… this intimidates me.” She stared at it, and he realized that the fact that it made Carth uncomfortable made him uncomfortable. “The power within the stone can be devastating.”
“Only if you misuse it,” Galen said.
“What if I’m drawn to it the same way as she was? She’s right. I have felt that I know better. I have manipulated things to my whim. What happens when I hold the Wisdom Stone and gain enlightenment? Will it be the same? Or, worse, will it be different?”
“We’ll only know when you try,” Rayen said.
As Carth reached for it, Galen grabbed her wrist. “You don’t have to draw the same powers from it. Only enough to know how to grab Lareth and get out. Anything else and you will be doing the same as her.”
Carth looked up at him. “Perhaps you should be the one to hold the Wisdom Stone.”
“I think I’m well beyond wisdom,” Galen said, releasing her wrist.
Carth grabbed it, and with a faint shimmer of color, she Slid inside the cell and emerged near Rsiran. She grabbed him and then Slid out, lowering him to the floor and turning her attention to the cell.
Haern rested near his father. He’d been searching for him for so long that it was hard to believe that he was here—and that he
was alive. Even though his father wouldn’t know, Haern hugged him. A tear streamed down his eye.
He glanced over to see Galen watching him. “You did well. He would be proud.”
“I can’t believe we managed to do it.”
“And it’s not over,” Galen said. “If you’re right, we still have to deal with the Forgers in the city.”
He turned his attention to Carth. With a smile, she pushed the Wisdom Stone into the cell and stretched her shadows out, forcing it back to the center of the cell.
“What are you doing?” Haern asked.
“If you’re going after the Ai’thol, I don’t intend to have this with me. We can leave it here until we know how to protect it once again.”
“I can stay,” Rayen said.
Carth shook her head. “For what is to come, I think you will be needed. I will stay.”
“Carth—”
She breathed out, sagging against the bars of the cell. “This has taken more out of me than I had expected. I will guard the stone—and Lareth—until you return. Finish this and then return.”
43
Daniel
Daniel hurt. Everything seemed to throb, and he’d been beaten, assaulted by Alera, and somehow had come out alive. More than that, they had succeeded. Lareth was out of the cell, and they could bring him back to Elaeavn. That was why they had left the city, wasn’t it? If they could return him, Lareth would be able to remove the metal spikes from the Elder Trees, and once they did that, everything would be over. They could resume protecting the sacred crystals. Things would get back to normal.
Only… he still didn’t have Lucy.
He looked over to Haern, expecting an argument with him. Haern would want him to Slide him and his father back to Elaeavn, but Daniel wasn’t ready for that. Not yet, not until he understood what had happened to Lucy.
“We can’t take him back yet,” Daniel said.
“Good. I was thinking you were going to argue with me,” Haern said.
“You mean you don’t intend to return?”
“We need to return, but the Forgers have come to the city with a purpose, and we need to do what we can to stop them.”
Daniel looked around. Rayen was speaking softly with Carth, and Galen loaded up his strange darts, filling them with whatever poison he preferred. The other women, all Binders, spoke off to the side, working with the injured women, getting them prepared.
The Elder Stones Saga Boxset: Books 1-3 Page 51
