The Elder Stones Saga Boxset: Books 1-3

by D. K. Holmberg

  “Dark robes. They use implants to augment their abilities. Seem as if they want to rule.”

  She nodded to herself. “We call them the Ai’thol.”

  “We always called them the Forgers, but I think they’re the same.”

  “Perhaps they are, then.” The woman pressed her hands on either side of Elise’s belly. She closed her eyes and pressed her hands together, squeezing them, and Elise began to moan. As she worked, Haern could make out the way the skin stitched back together, reforming much the same way as it did when Darren performed a Healing.

  There was no doubt in his mind that it was the same.

  “How did you get your ability?”

  “Why?”

  “I just wondered. It’s an impressive ability.”

  “Some of us can Heal. Others have different talents.”

  Haern stared at Elise for a moment. “Can she stay here?”

  “Now that we’ve healed her, we’re not forcing her to leave.”

  “There are others I need to help.”

  “What others?”

  “I left them behind to save her.”

  “How far away?”

  “Not far. Can I bring them here?”

  The woman glanced to the door behind her. “You will have to ask the others. That is not my area.”

  Haern patted Elise’s hand before heading through the doorway and standing for a moment. Three of the Binders remained, though none of them were Mindy. He wanted to thank her for bringing him here but wondered if perhaps she had to get back to whatever it was she had been doing, her Binder role.

  “Can I bring the others here?” he asked.

  “How many others?” one of the women asked without looking up. She was sitting at a table, writing on a sheet of parchment, a lantern glowing next to her.

  “Eight or so.”

  “There are eight more like that one?”

  “They aren’t like her. They aren’t near death. They’re starving, but…”

  “You may bring them,” one of the other women said.

  Haern glanced over to her, noting her dark hair that reminded him of the healer, but she didn’t have green eyes or any other features that would otherwise suggest she was similar. “Thank you.”

  None of them answered.

  He stepped out into the street. The night was cool, and the wind caught his cloak, sending it fluttering. He pushed on a coin, dropping it to the ground and then hovering in the air as he tried to get his bearings. He’d traveled quite a bit through the city, and now he wasn’t entirely sure which direction he had come through.

  Could he use lorcith?

  Since reaching the city, he hadn’t tried to use a connection to the metal. There hadn’t been a reason, but more than that, he been so focused on helping Elise that he hadn’t even thought about it.

  As he strained, searching for evidence of lorcith, he felt it in a surprising quantity.

  It was all around him.

  How could there be so much of the metal here?

  It would make it difficult for him to determine where the other girls were, and he decided to push away those thoughts, focusing instead on getting out of the city.

  He traveled in the direction he thought he’d come.

  Elise was alive. That was as much as he could hope for at this point, and hopefully he could keep her that way.

  He traveled until he found the girls. They were moving quickly, jogging for the most part. When he landed in front of them, Joanna held her sword up before seeing that it was him. She tried to hand it to him, but he shook his head.

  “Keep it.”

  “Won’t you need it?”

  “Maybe, but I have other ways that I can fight. You keep it and defend yourself.”

  “Did you find her help?” Catherine asked.

  Haern turned to her, meeting her youthful gaze. “I think so.”

  “Think?” one of the other girls asked.

  “You remember the women I said I was going to try to find?” Several of the girls nodded. “I think I found them. They had one with them who had the ability to Heal.”

  “She’s going to live?”

  Haern looked toward the city. “She was alive when I left.”

  “Why did you leave, then?”

  “I didn’t want to leave you out here for too long.”

  “How far do we have to go?” one of the younger girls asked.

  “It’s not far.”

  He stayed with them as they continued, though they didn’t run as quickly as they had been now that Haern was back with them. When the city came into view, they hurried their steps. At the edge of the city, Haern motioned for them to slow.

  “We have to go quite a ways in the city, but I think now that we’re here, you will be safe.”

  “What about you?” one of the others said.

  “I’ll also be safe,” Haern said, smiling. “I need to return to my home. My job isn’t done. I’m trying to find someone important to me.”

  “Were they taken by these Forgers?” Catherine asked.

  Haern nodded. “Unfortunately, he was. We did everything we could to try to protect him, but it wasn’t enough. And the Forgers are powerful.”

  He guided them through the streets, weaving toward the distant location where he had left Elise. As he went, he had a sense that he was followed.

  Every so often, Haern would pause, looking behind him, but he saw no evidence of anyone behind him. Maybe it was nothing more than his imagination, but he didn’t think so.

  Rather than heading directly toward Elise, he decided to take a different path and began to wind away from where he had been heading. Every so often, he would look behind him, searching for evidence that someone was following, but never came across anything.

  “What is it?” Joanna asked as they traveled.

  “Just a feeling,” he said.

  “Why do I get the sense that we aren’t going to like that feeling?”

  “We’re fine,” he said.

  “What happened?”

  “I think we’re being followed.”

  “By who?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Do you think it’s the Forgers?”

  He didn’t answer, partly because he wasn’t sure how to answer. It was possible the Forgers had managed to find him, but how would they have done so?

  “Haern?”

  “It’s fine.”

  “What if they are following us?”

  They paused near a series of tall buildings, and Haern looked up. He was tempted to push upward, to see if he could glimpse anything from overhead, but doing so would leave the girls in danger.

  Instead, he continued to navigate them through the streets.

  There had to be another option.

  What they needed to do was find someplace they could go that would conceal them, but where would that be?

  Not only conceal them, but they needed to go someplace they could get help if needed.

  First, he needed to know if he was actually being followed. If it was nothing more than his imagination, then traveling away from Elise only took them farther from where they needed to be, but at least he felt as if he were proactive. He didn’t want to be the reason that something happened to them.

  They reached a square. Buildings framed it on all sides, and long grass grew within it. He motioned for them to follow him, and they headed to the center of the square, standing there for a moment, looking around. It gave Haern a chance to determine whether they were being followed or not. Out in the open like this, it would be hard to follow someone without being spotted.

  There was nothing. No sign of anyone who might be following, no evidence of danger. So why didn’t he feel any safer than they had been?

  “Haern?”

  He raised a finger to his lips, silencing the girls.

  Dropping a coin, he pushed off, hovering in the air. He remained like that for long moments, looking around, and waited, afraid he would find someo
ne watching from the shadows.

  He was being paranoid, he knew it, but with so many depending upon him, he didn’t know that he had any choice.

  As he began to lower himself, a flicker of movement caught his attention.

  Had he not been so on edge, he wasn’t sure he would’ve even noticed, but in this case, he was tense, afraid he had overlooked something.

  The sense of movement occurred again, and Haern shifted his attention, looking to see where it had come from. It was down one of the alleys, and as he stared, hoping for his enhanced eyesight to help him, he Saw another flicker of movement.

  Forgers.

  He was sure of it.

  Did that mean that the Forgers were moving openly in the city?

  When he had been here before, he hadn’t seen any evidence of it, but then again, he had been so focused on Elise that maybe he had overlooked it.

  Dropping to the ground, he pulled his coin to him and looked at the girls. They needed him to protect them, but how was he going to do that?

  Perhaps he needed to trust the Binders, use them and whatever help they could offer, but for some reason, he feared that he had made a mistake in coming here.

  Without any other allies, he didn’t have any choice.

  He motioned for them to follow him as they headed toward the alley. He made a point of guiding them away from where he’d seen the Forger, and as he did, he watched for evidence of the flickering, the telltale sign of the Sliding the Forgers used.

  There was none.

  A part of him considered trying to claim his sword again, but he decided against that. Instead, he would use the coins. They would work as an adequate weapon, and he focused on them, ready to push upon them, but there was no sign of the Forgers as he went.

  Twisting through the streets, he found his way toward the place where he’d left Elise.

  “She’s here?” one of the other girls asked.

  “She’s here,” Haern said, pausing in front of the door. Something felt off.

  He spun, looking for signs of the Forgers, but there were none.

  It was just his imagination. He had to put away those thoughts, be ready to move on, and once he did, then he could help these girls.

  He knocked, but no one answered. Haern opened the door, looking inside, but there was no sign of the Binders. He motioned for the girls to follow, and they joined him inside the home but found it empty.

  Where was Elise?

  “Where is she?” Joanna asked.

  “I don’t know. She was here, and there were several others.”

  The bedding had been changed, and there was no evidence of blood, making it look as if no one had been here.

  Were they trying to make it seem as if he had been imagining it?

  Where had they taken Elise?

  He had been gone long enough that he wondered if perhaps they had been attacked. Maybe they had felt the need to move her for their own safety and for hers, but to where?

  Movement near the door caught his attention, and Haern turned to it.

  Not just movement. Sliding.

  “Behind me!” he shouted.

  Several of the girls started whimpering, and he tried to position himself so that they would be safe. He pushed on coins, sending them at the suddenly appearing Forgers.

  They flickered in and out of existence, more rapidly than he could follow.

  He turned and realized what was happening.

  They were grabbing the girls.

  Haern swore under his breath. Where were they taking them?

  Probably the same place they had taken the Binders—and Elise.

  One of the Forgers shimmered too slowly, and Haern pushed on a coin, sending it slamming into the man’s shoulder. The Forger spun, and Haern dove, grabbing for him, keeping him from taking one of the girls—Catherine, he realized.

  Slamming the Forger to the floor, Haern punched, driving his fist into the man’s face. He twitched before falling still.

  Jumping to his feet, Haern spun around, readying another pair of coins, but it was too late. The room was empty other than him.

  The Forgers had taken all of the girls.

  He grabbed the fallen Forger, lifting him, and dragged him to the back of the room. Once there, he turned his attention to the stairs again and carried the man with him, climbing the stairs quickly before pausing. It was an unfinished space, and there was another door.

  Haern took the man there, dragging him, half expecting another Forger to appear, but there were none.

  Once on the rooftop, he looked around. At least here, he wouldn’t be surprised, and he could use his coins to push, but where would he go?

  He had escaped the Forgers in one city only to encounter them in another. And there were far more Forgers than he would’ve expected.

  Worse, he feared what they intended to do with the girls.

  Haern slapped the fallen Forger, striking him on either cheek. The man began to stir, and Haern held him in place, pushing down with one of his coins. If only he hadn’t left his knives with the girls, maybe he would have a weapon.

  His knives.

  His sword.

  There might be significant lorcith in the city, but he knew those weapons. He had either forged them himself or helped in the process, and because of that, he was connected to them in a way that he wasn’t bonded to other lorcith.

  It had to matter.

  As the Forger awoke, Haern continued pressing down on the coin, practically forcing it through his skin. The man cried out, and Haern clapped her hand over his mouth.

  “You’re going to be quiet until you tell me where they brought them.”

  “You made a mistake.”

  “You attacked people that were under my care.”

  “Which was your mistake.”

  “Where are they?”

  “You won’t find them.”

  “And why not?”

  “They will be far from here by now.”

  “No.” That didn’t fit with what he knew of the Forgers. He had a hard time believing that they would suddenly run from the city. “Where are they?”

  “Probably dead.”

  Haern pushed on the coin again, forcing it down into the man’s shoulder. “Careful, or you’re going to be dead first.”

  “I welcome death.”

  “You might welcome it, but I think I’ll draw it out.”

  “You don’t have it in you to draw out death.”

  “Don’t I? I trained with a man who taught me many techniques of torture. I doubt you want to know just how easily I could torment you, but I’m more than willing to share with you those techniques.” He continued to push on the coin and grabbed for another, setting this on the Forger’s forehead. He held it there, pushing, though without much force. The Forger’s eyes widened. Haern could feel him trembling and worried that he might try to Slide away, but sitting as he was on top of the man, he thought he could keep him from Sliding away from him.

  Just how long would he be able to prevent him from doing so?

  Not as long as he wanted. Eventually, Haern suspected the Forger would find some way to escape him, and all he wanted to do was prevent him from doing so for as long as possible.

  “Where are they?”

  “You can’t think to save them.”

  “Don’t tell me what I can think to do.”

  “You made a mistake. You’ve made an enemy that you know nothing about.”

  “I know more about you than you realize. It’s you who have made an enemy you know nothing about.”

  “Oh, we know plenty about those from Elaeavn. Your people fear violence.”

  Haern pressed the coin all the way through the man’s shoulder. He cried out, and Haern kept his hand clamped over the man’s mouth. “What was that? Like I said, I’ve trained with a man who has taught me various torture techniques. I don’t think you want to know anything about them.”

  He continued to push on the other coin, squeezing it down, se
nding it toward the man’s skull. With a little more pressure, the coin would tear through his head.

  There was another sense of lorcith that came from within the man himself. He shifted his focus, pulling on it.

  This lorcith was wrapped around his spine.

  The man began to scream, and even his efforts at suppressing the noise failed. The cry was piercing and painful, a tormented sound that did nothing to diminish Haern’s determination.

  “I see I have found something you respond to,” Haern said.

  “Stop. Please.”

  “Where are they?”

  “I don’t know. If you stop, I will help you find them.”

  “If I stop, you will turn me in to your friends. I think it’s better I continue to hold on to this.” He pulled on the lorcith again, dragging it away from the man’s spine, unmindful of the fact that he continued to scream. Haern braced himself, ignoring the cries, anger filling him that made it so that he felt no remorse. This man deserved nothing but his rage. “Tell me where they are, and I might take mercy on you.”

  “They will be within the temple.”

  “Temple?”

  Haern turned, letting his gaze drift around the city. If that was where they had taken the girls, then Haern was determined to head there. In the distance, he saw a building that rose higher than the rest. The temple. That was where he had to go.

  When he turned his attention back to the Forger, the man somehow Slid, leaving Haern to crash down to the rooftop.

  28

  Haern

  Haern made his way through the city, pushing off on lorcith. He traveled as quickly as he could, wanting to reach the temple. Visions of what they were doing to the girls kept drifting into his mind, and he was determined to get to them, to rescue them. But even when he found them, how was he going to break into a place fortified by the Forgers?

  He couldn’t do it alone.

  He had to believe the Binders hadn’t betrayed him. If he thought otherwise, then any help that they might have would already be gone. Haern hoped they hadn’t betrayed him but had been attacked and had moved, avoiding the possibility of the Forgers finding them.

  Which meant he needed to find where they had gone.

  He raced back toward the distant tavern he had encountered when he’d first come to the city. Once there, he landed, entered, and looked around. As before, all the tables were occupied, and a single servant meandered through, bringing drinks. There was no sign of the singer, and Haern frowned, making his way toward the servant.