The Elder Stones Saga Boxset: Books 1-3

by D. K. Holmberg

  There was a sense of the shadows, and it was a sense that reminded him of Rayen, enough so that he wondered if perhaps she had pushed her shadows after him, chasing him in order to ensure that he was safe. He wouldn’t be surprised she would do something like that.

  Smiling to himself, he continued onward. When he reached a clearing, another few branch points of tunnel in front of him, he paused a moment to fix the location in his mind before Sliding back to the others. Before his eyes had a chance to adjust to the slight change in light, he had a moment where he feared they weren’t there, but then he found them.

  Grabbing on to all three of them, he Slid them deeper beneath the ground, and when they emerged, he took a step back.

  “Can you See anything?” he asked Jessa.

  “Give me a minute.”

  The darkness seemed to shift, and as it did, Daniel could more easily make out Rayen, but also Jessa and Neran.

  “This was you?”

  “What was me?”

  “Moving the shadows.”

  “I did, but you should not be able to see it.”

  “We’ve been underground so long, I think that’s all I can See.” He stared at one of the darkened tunnels. “Can you tell which direction we need to go?”

  She watched him for a long moment, and then closed her eyes, sending shadows rolling away from her. There was no change in the way the shadows had shifted before, and he could more easily make them out. They rolled off, heading down each tunnel, before she snapped her eyes open. “Interesting.”

  “What is?”

  “These two would seem to be heading in that direction, but this one,” she said, pointing to the middle tunnel, “ends in a difficult to reach section. The other dead-ends, and there’s no other way to go. This last one seems to head in the wrong direction, but it works its way around before making its way once more toward the forest.”

  “Give me a moment.”

  Daniel Slid, heading down the tunnel, now taking smaller Slides, afraid to go more than a few steps at a time. It was almost as if he were running, and he grew tired the same as he would if he had been. The tunnel narrowed, becoming far more difficult for him to navigate, and he slowed, squeezing through, forced to walk, and then to drag his way through. If he got stuck, there would be no way for him to Slide free, so he needed to be careful. He didn’t have others’ ability to Slide without moving. For him, the step took him into the Slide.

  He reached his hand out, probing into the darkness, and as he did, he found a wider opening. All he had to do was get through here.

  Taking a deep breath, drawing in everything around him, he forced himself forward.

  For a moment, he was trapped. In that second, his heart raced, sweat poured off him, though that was just as much from the effort of Sliding through the tunnel as it was from fear. Wind whispered across his face, a strange breeze he didn’t think should be within a tunnel like this.

  And then he was free.

  He staggered forward, stumbling into a small clearing. It was wide enough for only a few people to stand easily, and from here, he expected to find more branch points, each of them leading off into the darkness, but there was a single tunnel heading away.

  Sliding back to the others, he grabbed Jessa first, Sliding her. “Stay against the wall,” he said as he emerged from the Slide. He returned for Rayen and Neran, Sliding them into the small chamber. Once there, he waited.

  “We’re almost there,” Rayen said.

  “How much further do you think we have to go?”

  “Not much.”

  “Then maybe we stay together.”

  Jessa turned to him. “If you’re too tired to keep going, we should rest.”

  “It’s not that I’m too tired, it’s—”

  She tapped him on the chest, forcing him to take a step back. “Daniel Elvraeth. So help me, if you have trapped us here—”

  “I haven’t trapped us here. I just didn’t like the way I almost got stuck.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He guided her to the section of wall that he had forced himself through. “I don’t have Rsiran’s ability to Slide without moving. When I got stuck, I was a little scared.”

  He turned away from her, looking down the rest of the tunnel. From what he could tell, it appeared large enough for all of them to move, but how long would it stay that way? Would it narrow like the other had?

  “I’m sorry, Daniel,” Jessa said, touching him gently on the back. “You’ve done well.”

  “Let’s just keep moving. I want to find this place.”

  He started into the tunnel, with Rayen behind him, Neran behind her, and Jessa bringing up the rear. They stayed close together, and with Rayen pressing so close to him, he could feel her breath on his neck, and every so often, he would pause abruptly to startle her until she finally pushed him out of annoyance.

  He started to laugh, when he realized that something had changed.

  He should have noticed it before, but he hadn’t. The change had been gradual, subtle, and now that he was here, now that he saw it, there was no way to regard it as anything else.

  It was lighter.

  “Do you see that?” he whispered.

  Rayen nodded, leaning over his shoulder. “We’re close.”

  As they continued forward, their feet scraping along the stone, another sound came to him.

  He stopped, startled, and frowned.

  Voices.

  40

  Daniel

  The sound of voices echoed through the quiet in the cave, and Daniel made a point of raising his hand, keeping the others from moving too quickly or too loudly. He needn’t have worried. Almost as soon as the voices revealed themselves, Rayen had wrapped shadows around in a way that created something of a barrier, though it was one Daniel could see through.

  He would have to try and understand what it was she did with the shadows later. For now, all he needed to know was who was here.

  None of the guild would come this far.

  “We are near enough the space beneath the crystals that this could be it,” Rayen whispered.

  Daniel tried to look through the darkness. He was hesitant to move too far forward, and the tunnel was narrow enough that he couldn’t allow anyone else past. “I can’t make anything out.”

  “I can’t either,” Rayen said.

  If neither of them could, he would have to continue forward—which meant risking exposure.

  This was why they had come. They had wanted to reach the space beneath the crystal chamber, but none of them anticipated coming across anyone here.

  “I’m going to head out there.”

  “Let me do it,” Rayen said.

  He shook his head. “I don’t think that you can move past me, and even if you could, I’m going to have the easiest time Sliding away if it comes down to it.”

  She reached for her sword.

  “There’s no need for the two of us to argue about it,” Daniel said.

  “I’m not arguing. I am merely preparing.”

  He smiled. “Watch over me.”

  “And why would I do that?”

  “I don’t know, I think you want to make sure nothing happens to me.”

  “You had better be careful, or I might end up letting whoever’s on the other side have their way with you.”

  “And what if they’re nothing more than members of the guild?”

  “You wouldn’t hesitate as much if that were the case.”

  “Unfortunately, I don’t think they’re members of the guild.” His gaze darted behind Rayen, looking to Neran, who had remained silent. Jessa tried to push forward, looking over his shoulder, but he was too large for her to see anything. “Keep me covered by the shadows.”

  Rayen didn’t have to answer, and the shadows began to swirl around him, a steady sense he was fully aware of. He could feel them and wondered why that should be. He slipped forward, careful with each step. His foot dragged along the stone, louder than
he intended, and he froze.

  Rayen tapped him on the shoulder, motioning him to silence, and he glared at her.

  She would be far better equipped at moving in silence than he was, though he was better able to escape if it were necessary. It had to be him.

  As he continued forward, he realized that he wasn’t moving alone.

  Rayen stayed with him.

  “I need you to watch over the other two.”

  “Watch over them while they do what? There’s nothing else in the tunnels with us. They’re safe as they can be.”

  He didn’t think that was quite true. There remained the possibility that whoever was down here would come through the tunnels, and if Rayen wasn’t there, it required Jessa and Neran to protect themselves. He suspected she had enough skill that she would be able to if it came down to it, but Neran had said that he was not a fighter.

  In the tight confines, would Jessa even be able to do anything? She might have a knife, but the sword had a much better reach, and squeezed in as they were, it might be easier—and better—for her to have something with a little more reach.

  He unsheathed his sword, reaching past Rayen.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “If they’re caught here, I don’t want her to have to fight with a knife.”

  “What about you?”

  “Well, I don’t want to have to fight at all.”

  “Do you intend to go in there empty-handed?”

  “I do know how to Slide, so there is that.”

  “I’m not sure that you and your ability to Slide can counter the Ai’thol if it comes down to it.”

  “Now you’re trying to convince me this is the Ai’thol?”

  “Who do you think it is?”

  Daniel sighed. He didn’t want to believe that was what was down here, but it made a certain sort of logical sense. If it were the Ai’thol, they would need to be able to move quickly.

  “If this is the Ai’thol, we’ll need fighters. You might not be much of a fighter normally”—Daniel arched a brow and she ignored him—“but you’re certainly better than these two.”

  “Jessa,” he whispered, ignoring Rayen and her sensible comment.

  She squeezed forward and leaned underneath Neran’s arm. “What is it?”

  “Take this. I don’t know what we’re going to find on the other side, but if anyone comes behind you, I want you to jab them.”

  “Daniel, I don’t intend to—”

  He pressed the sword forward, not giving her a chance to continue to argue. She took it, though she seemed to do so reluctantly, and looked at him with annoyance on her face.

  Daniel turned away and started out of the tunnel, heading back along the length of it. Rather than walking, he Slid with each movement, and found that he could do that far more quietly than even trying to walk. Each time he emerged, Rayen was there, almost as if she slid forward on the shadows themselves.

  “You don’t have to do that,” he whispered.

  “Until we know what’s out there…”

  The tunnel ended. It was a little lighter as he had been suspecting, and when it stopped, it did so almost suddenly, and the faint light that he had been following came from everywhere.

  It seemed to emanate from the walls and from the floor. He didn’t see anything that gave him any sense of where the voices had been coming from.

  Daniel stepped forward, and as soon as he did, he realized his mistake.

  The shadows that swirled around him created a sharp demarcation. He turned, trying to warn Rayen off, but it was too late. She was already there.

  Something flickered. Daniel spun, looking to see what it was that had caught his attention, but he couldn’t tell.

  He didn’t think he was imagining it. Whatever had flickered had been real.

  Rayen joined him, stepping forward, and she held her sword unsheathed, turning slowly in place.

  “There’s no one here,” she whispered.

  “I Saw something.”

  “What?”

  He opened his mouth to answer when there came another flickering.

  This time as he tracked it, he realized it came from further down the chamber. He Slid, not waiting, and when he emerged, there was another flickering.

  It was behind him.

  He spun, turning back toward the sense of the flickering. Rayen was swinging her sword. Her shadows swept out from her, and each time they did, they seemed to catch something, and she tossed it off before the invisible attack struck again. It came relentlessly, striking again and again, and were it not for Daniel’s ability to see the shadows swirling around Rayen, he wasn’t sure he would be able to make out what was happening to her. As it was, he wasn’t entirely sure what he was seeing.

  Movement at the other side of the cavern caught his attention, and he realized that Jessa and Neran had come from the end of the tunnel.

  Sliding over to them, he turned, trying to push them back into the tunnel. “No. This isn’t—”

  Something tried to push out from the tunnel, a shape he couldn’t quite see.

  Had the Ai’thol managed to figure out how to make themselves invisible?

  Every time he had faced the Ai’thol, there had been no attack that had been anything like this. Somehow, Rayen managed to hold off the attack, but for how long? At what point would she be overwhelmed by whatever it was she was dealing with?

  “I need my sword back,” he said to Jessa.

  “You never should have given it to me.”

  He grabbed it and Slid, joining Rayen, slashing at whatever it was that swirled around her. He carved, Sliding, emerging from the Slide to cut again. With each attack, he was met with nothing more than air. Rayen continued to swirl the shadows around her, using them in an ongoing attack, and he tried to help, swinging the sword, finding empty air as he did.

  “What is this?” he grunted in between attacks.

  “I don’t know. I can detect some of their power, but…”

  She didn’t have a chance to finish. She was forced to swing her shadows.

  Then the shadows caught something.

  He spun, sweeping the sword, and brought it up at the last moment.

  It connected.

  It was the first time that he had been successful against whatever this strange attack was, and blood dripped, but nothing else was visible.

  “Can you wrap your shadows around it?” he asked.

  “What do you think I’m trying to do?”

  “Is there anything more that you can do?”

  “I am trying, but—”

  She was cut off, silenced with a sudden attack, and her eyes went wide.

  Daniel tried to figure out how he could help, but without knowing what attacked her, he wasn’t sure he could—or what there was for him to do.

  Rayen didn’t say anything. She continued to thrash, the shadows swirling around her, and they became more erratic.

  Daniel grabbed her, Sliding, and slowed.

  He wasn’t exactly sure how to describe what he did, only that he managed to pause in mid Slide. He caught a faint shimmering and realized there was a man holding on to Rayen, hands wrapped around her neck, and he swung his sword around, carving at the man as he emerged from the Slide.

  The sword cut deeply, and when it did, Rayen gasped, stepping forward, but more than that, the man attacking her suddenly became visible.

  Taking his sword, he jammed it into the man’s chest.

  “How were they able to disappear like that?”

  “I don’t know.” Her voice was ragged and painful sounding.

  “There is another here,” he said.

  “Are you sure?”

  “I saw them.”

  “How were you able to see them?”

  “Not easily, but I could—”

  He realized that Neran and Jessa had been silent.

  Sliding, he found Jessa, but she wasn’t breathing, at least not easily. He grabbed her arm and clutched Neran to make
sure he wasn’t overlooking anything, then Slid.

  The Slide went slowly, almost painfully, and once again he paused. It was the same thing he had done before, and he found another person with him. When he emerged, he swept the sword around, but the Ai’thol attacker had somehow known what he was doing—and blocked.

  “Rayen—I need you to use your shadows and try to hold them around the attacker.”

  “I’ve tried that already, but it wasn’t effective.”

  “Try holding them in a way that seals them inside. Don’t fight when they move. Let them bring you with them.”

  “It would be easier for me to do if I were able to see where they were.”

  “It makes it awfully difficult to fight when you can’t see what you’re fighting, but I have faith that you can manage it. Besides, I’m going to give you a target.”

  “Should I be thankful?”

  “It depends on what it looks like when we bring this target out.”

  “Be careful.”

  Daniel Slid to the middle of the corridor. He waited. He would be the bait, trying to draw out whatever it was that was attacking them, but there was a real risk they would go after one of the others.

  He made his way in a small circle, trying to bring out the Ai’thol attacker, and nothing happened. Rayen remained where she had been, standing in place, but near Neran and Jessa, sword at the ready, with Daniel watching.

  It gave him a chance to look around this small chamber, try to understand what it was and, better yet, where it was, so that he could comprehend what he was facing. The Ai’thol had figured out some way of making themselves invisible, a move he had not anticipated. It was the kind of gamesmanship he shouldn’t be impressed by but couldn’t help it.

  Could he do something similar?

  The person had been visible during a Slide.

  Even if he couldn’t replicate it, he at least had the ability to See it. One thing he had picked up on over the years was a way of detecting when someone was Sliding, mostly so that he could be better equipped to know what they were doing. It was how he had learned to control his Slide. Within the palace, teaching someone to Slide was not nearly as welcomed as it was out in the Aisl.