The Shadow Accords Box Set: Books 1-3

by D. K. Holmberg

  Carth watched him. She hadn’t done anything with the knife, only stabbed the attacker. “Then there was no magic through the blade.”

  Jhon considered her for a moment before handing the knife back. “Have you ever had a similar experience when you’ve used the knife?”

  She thought back to the other times that she had flashed the knife. Not enough to know with certainty. “Maybe once, but I thought you said the blade was poisoned.”

  “There is poison on an A’ras blade, but that is not what makes it powerful. It is the A’ras magic that does.”

  “What is the A’ras magic?”

  Jhon leaned forward, crossing his arms. “That is something that we have never understood.”

  “We?”

  Jhon met her eyes. “There are those who study, who seek knowledge. The A’ras are enabled in ways that we don’t fully understand.”

  “Why do they want children?”

  “What?”

  “There was a girl I rescued when I stabbed the man. There are others as well. What are they after with them?”

  Jhon stared at the knife before standing. He started pacing, tracing a small circuit through the room. “Children?”

  “They go missing. Vera and Hal help the Reshian, but they don’t want to help all the strays.” It had taken Carth’s insistence to convince them to help Taryn.

  Jhon sighed. “Is that why they have come?”

  “Why who have come?”

  “It would make sense. They would claim them early, and then they could use them, but why here?” Jhon spoke to himself, ignoring the way Carth stared at him. “What do they seek to know?”

  “What are you talking about?” she asked him.

  Jhon stopped pacing. “Where did you see this?”

  “Near the docks. They’re fighting with the Thevers for them.”

  Jhon frowned. “They wouldn’t fight the Thevers. They would care little about them.”

  “I don’t understand. Who are you talking about? Why is that important?”

  Jhon closed his eyes and his frown deepened. “Can you show me where?”

  “I think so.”

  “Can you shroud us?”

  Carth bit her lip and thought of the last time she had been at the docks. The shadow cloaking had worked at first, but then it had faded as she became fatigued. If Jhon needed something longer lasting than that, then she wouldn’t be of much help. Would she have to hold the shroud while moving, or would she be able to release it while sneaking along the street?

  “I can try, but I don’t know how long I can hold it.”

  Jhon nodded. “It will have to be enough. Are you ready?”

  “Ready for what?” she asked. “What lesson are you going to teach me?”

  “Movement,” he said.

  “I can’t. I’ve tried…”

  Jhon smiled and patted her on the shoulder. “We will try again. I have faith in you, Carth of Ih-lash. You are one of the shadow blessed. And if you want answers about your parents, and maybe to help others like you, then you must do this for me.”

  22

  The night pressed around her, almost a physical presence. When a gust of wind kicked up over the water, sending her heavy cloak fluttering, Carth shivered. Jhon stood unmoving in the shadows near her, shrouded beneath the cloak she’d formed. Within the shadows, she heard his breathing and could practically hear his heartbeat. Why should it be so noticeable?

  “When are we going to move?” she asked. It wasn’t the question she wanted to ask. She wanted him to tell her what he knew about her parents, and why they had been killed, but Jhon had ignored her basic questions. She doubted he’d answer the harder ones.

  He shook his head, his gaze fixed on the docks and the ships moored there. When they had arrived, Carth had pointed to the ship where she had detected movement, where she’d heard the northerner and the other men on board the night before. For some reason, the ship interested him.

  Carth continued to hold the shrouding, wondering how long she would be able to cling to it. Jhon seemed convinced she shouldn’t have grown as weak as she had, but Carth had felt the way her control over the darkness had faded, weakened no differently than muscles used too long.

  Nothing moved on the ship tonight. Lanterns glowed on the neighboring ships, but not on the one they studied. Somehow, she had seen the ship more clearly the last time. What had she done?

  There was something about the way she had used the shadows. Could she pull on the cloaking, drawing it to her even more?

  Taking in a deep breath, she used the sense of the darkness, feeling it as it wrapped around her. How could she draw it away?

  Jhon described it as cloaking, and when she did it, there was a sense that the shadows became something real. Could she shift the cloaking somehow?

  She pulled.

  There were no other words to describe what she attempted, and she grabbed at the air, almost like there was a physical thing that she could touch, and dragged the shadows, swirling them around her.

  Jhon looked over at her, his eyes narrowing. “What are you doing?”

  She noticed how the shadows eased away, leaving the night lessened somewhat. No longer did the ship appear as gradations of darkness. Now she managed to see the distinct outline of the ship and that nothing moved on the deck.

  “Can you see it?” Carth asked.

  “I do not need to see it. I can feel it.”

  “What can you feel?”

  “There is power in the air when you use the shadows, much power.” Jhon studied her for a moment before turning his attention back to the ship. “As to what I can see… there is nothing but the night.”

  “I thought that when I pulled the shadows, others could see them.”

  Jhon glanced in her direction. “As I said, I do not need to see anything to know that you are here. My eyes might not show me anything, but other senses reveal you to me.”

  “You can’t see me?”

  “You are shadow blessed, Carth. You are shrouded in shadow. That much I know.”

  “When I wrap myself in the shadows, I can see the ship easier. Like the night disappears.”

  Jhon frowned. “There are stories of those shadow blessed who can become a part of the darkness itself. A rare ability, perhaps rarer even than the ability that you possess. What is it you see on the ship?”

  “Nothing.”

  Jhon nodded. “Then we go.”

  He started across the street, not waiting for her. Carth slowly released the shadows, letting them unfurl. As she did, she moved within them. Every few steps, she paused and gathered the darkness back to her before releasing it again, letting it ease away so that she could remain within it.

  “You will need to learn caution in using your abilities,” Jhon said.

  “You said that you can’t see me.”

  “I cannot. But I do not need to see you to know that you are there. I can feel you, as would anyone else sensitive to it. Every time you pulse”—he waved his hand up and down as if to emphasize what she did—“I detect it again. There is a signature to it, if you listen.”

  “Can anyone detect it?” She had thought herself protected by the night, and by the shadows, but if that wasn’t true, then her ability would be much less useful than she had thought.

  “Only those attuned to such things, and those shadow blessed.”

  “Like you?”

  “As I said, I am not shadow blessed. My ability is with the detection only. It is much like the A’ras. Only another of the A’ras can detect when their magic is used.”

  Carth released most of the shadows without taking another step. “That’s not true. I can tell when the A’ras use their magic.”

  Jhon frowned and pulled her to the side of the street. “What do you mean?”

  “I feel it when the A’ras use their magic. It’s like after a lightning strike and my skin gets all tight. I feel it. Is that what you feel when I gather the shadows?”

  “No,�
�� he said carefully. “When you pull on the shadows, I feel a pulsing within my blood. It is an ability tied to me, and my kind.”

  “Your kind?”

  Jhon nodded without answering. “You should not be able to detect the A’ras magic. I do not know what it means that you can.”

  They stood in the shadows off to the side of the street, near a warehouse much like the one where Carth had rescued Jhon, keeping the A’ras from discovering him. Jhon cupped his hands together and brought them to his face, breathing slowly, like a Assage priest meditating. Carth decided not to interrupt, but wondered why she should be able to detect the A’ras magic.

  “I think,” Jhon began, tearing his eyes off the ship and looking over at her with a blank expression on his face, “that it is time for you to return to the tavern for the night.”

  She wanted to hide the disappointment she felt. She hadn’t found him for three days, and now when she finally did, he wouldn’t work with her. What had she said that offended him? “I thought we were going to practice.”

  “And we did. You demonstrated the strength of your ability. That is enough for tonight.” He took her by the elbow and guided her back onto River Street. “You must be careful practicing with the shadows. I had not thought it an issue before tonight, but it is too easy for me to detect when you do. Such a thing places you in danger.”

  “From the A’ras?”

  Jhon shook his head. “There are worse things than the A’ras.”

  They reached the Wounded Lyre, and Jhon released her elbow. “Remain careful until we meet again.”

  “I thought you were going to tell me about my parents!”

  Jhon’s mouth tightened. “It is not what I know about your parents that’s important, but about how they died. And that… that I think is too dangerous to share with you right now, especially with what you have demonstrated. I will continue to look for you as often as I can, but I may not be as available as I have been.”

  She nodded, wanting to snap at him that he hadn’t been available to her the last few days at all, but decided not to risk angering him. “If I can’t practice, how will I continue to learn?”

  “I did not say not to practice, only to be careful. Practice in the daylight. It will be safer that way.”

  “There aren’t enough shadows in the daytime.”

  “No? I think you have yet to find the right places. Have you never stood in the shade of a tall tree under the summer sun? Have you never eased against a cool building to relax? There are places of shade even under the brightest sun, Carth Shadow Born. Practice, but do so with caution until I see you next. Hopefully by then I will have the answers I need and we can progress.”

  “Progress to what?”

  “To keeping you safe.”

  “What about what you wanted my help with?”

  “I am no longer certain that is wise.”

  “But you said you needed me!”

  “I was wrong. Be careful, Carth of Ih-lash. I will find you again soon.”

  He left her and quickly disappeared into the night, heading along the shore, as if leaving the city. Carth watched, tempted to pull away the shadows so that she could watch him go, but decided against it. If he was right, if she could somehow be detected when she used her shadow magic, she shouldn’t risk the A’ras—or whatever Jhon thought might be worse—detecting her.

  Carth considered returning to the streets, wandering back into the night, but Jhon’s words left her concerned. How many nights had she risked herself unnecessarily, thinking herself hidden when she used the shadow cloak, when in reality, she made her presence known to those with the ability to detect it, those who would be dangerous for her to find?

  She didn’t want even to stand in the shadows now. If she did, would she be able to resist the temptation to pull the cloak?

  With a sigh, she entered the tavern.

  Lanterns hung from two of the posts, giving some light to the dining portion of the room. A crackling hearth provided additional light and warmth, pushing back the chill she’d felt while out in the night, a chill that her cloak hadn’t managed to dispel. She counted seven people still sitting in the tavern, taking up three tables. There was no sign of Kel or Taryn or Etan.

  She headed toward the kitchen, wanting to find Vera or Hal. Instead, Etan greeted her on the other side of the door, a dark sneer parting his lips.

  “About time you returned,” he said.

  “What’s that supposed to mean? I’ve collected all the scraps I needed for today.”

  She hadn’t collected anything today, but she still had enough from a coin purse full of silver that she didn’t really have to collect for a while. Etan didn’t need to know that, though. For that matter, Kel didn’t need to know, and she hadn’t told him.

  “Means that you’ve been gone a long time. The others have noticed.”

  “Kel knows I left.”

  His sneer faltered a moment. “I’m sure he does. Since you came, you’ve been pulling him away, haven’t you? Now you’ve even got your new friend working on him. Those of us who used to do fine with our scraps now get nothing. I suppose you had something to do with that, too, didn’t you?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  A thudding of footsteps came from the back hall and Etan glanced over his shoulder. “Doesn’t matter. Pretty soon it won’t. I’ve got all the protection I need now.”

  Etan started past her and she noticed the streaks of wetness down his cheeks. Etan had been crying. She hadn’t seen him display any emotion other than his joy when she’d nearly been caught. He had barely expressed any fear when Kel had been hurt, not bothering to ask why he hid a bruise. What would make him cry like this now?

  “Etan,” she said, trying to catch his arm as he reached the door out of the kitchen.

  He jerked his arm away. “Best stay back from me. Of course, that won’t matter soon, will it?”

  “What are you talking about? Have you been dipping into Hal’s ale?”

  He hesitated. She thought he might say something more, but he sniffed and shook his head, pushing out of the kitchen and back into the tavern.

  Carth watched the door swing shut before making her way toward their room. A lantern glowed through the cracks in the door, and she pushed it open, wondering why Kel would still be awake. She found him sitting on his bunk, staring blankly.

  “What is it, Kel?” she asked.

  He didn’t move. He didn’t even look over at her. His eyes remained fixed straight ahead of him and he stared, unblinking.

  Carth closed the door and approached him carefully. “Kel?”

  He swung his head to her, his wild hair brushing the top of the bunk—Taryn’s bunk—and he blinked, as if seeing her for the first time. “Carth?” His voice came out as a whisper.

  “What happened?” She stood on her toes and peeked into Taryn’s bunk but found it empty. “Where is Taryn?”

  “She’s gone,” he said.

  “What do you mean, she’s gone?”

  He shifted his focus back to the door, still staring blankly. “They came for her.”

  Carth’s heart sped up. She grabbed Kel’s chin and turned him so he met her eyes. “Who? Who came for her?”

  “Doesn’t matter.”

  “Yes, it does! You need to tell me what happened!”

  “We were… we were in the street. Taryn said we needed to return to the tavern. Insisted on it. I thought she’d made a mistake trying to collect scraps, but she told me she didn’t. They followed us here.”

  “Who followed you?”

  “Hal tried to intervene.”

  A terrible sensation started to rise in her stomach. “What happened to Hal?”

  “When he… when he did, they knocked him to the ground with barely more than a flick of their wrist. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

  Kel started trembling and pulled himself away. “You should have been with us, but you left! Always sneaking off into the city. She was
your responsibility, Carth!”

  Even though she thought she knew what had happened, she still needed him to say it. He had to tell her; otherwise it wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real.

  “Who came to the tavern?” she asked carefully.

  Kel turned his focus back to the door. “I don’t know. I hid from them.”

  “But you have an idea, don’t you?”

  Kel’s eyes closed. “I think it was the A’ras, Carth. They attacked Hal and they took Taryn.”

  23

  Carth couldn’t sit still. She tried resting, but her mind raced. Why would the A’ras have come for Taryn? It had to do with the Reshian and their stupid fight outside the city, didn’t it?

  Maybe it was something else. Jhon thought there was something to the Thevers smuggling children. Was that tied somehow to the Reshian? Was that why the A’ras had come for her?

  She hurried through the streets, searching for Jhon.

  She hadn’t found any sign of Hal—nor of Vera, for that matter. The tavern had been nearly empty by that time, and the street outside desolate. She’d searched along the shore but found no sign of Jhon, which made her change her approach and head into the city.

  The A’ras had Taryn.

  The girl was her responsibility. Carth had rescued her and had thought that would bring her safety, that Vera and Hal could protect her, but what was protection other than an illusion?

  Why did the A’ras keep ruining things in her life? Her parents first, then chasing her, and now… now Taryn.

  Carth wanted answers. No—she wanted revenge, but she doubted even her shadow ability would help with that. First, she needed to find Jhon.

  Had she not brought Taryn to the Lyre, Hal would have been unharmed. She didn’t need to see him to know that he was dead. Everyone she cared about died, especially when the A’ras got involved. What if the A’ras sliced him with their blade? If that happened, he would be dead. The poison from their magic would have leached into his body and blackened it, the same as had happened to the man Carth had stabbed.