Shadow Hunted (The Collector Chronicles Book 1)

by D. K. Holmberg

  “It’s not that it unsettled me so much as it made me realize how tenuous all of this is,” she said.

  “Which is why we need to find out more,” Carth said. “If it’s tenuous for us, imagine what it’s like for others who don’t have nearly the same capabilities.”

  Alayna sighed. “It’s just that…” She shook her head.

  “Carth?”

  She looked over at Jenna, who stood along the railing. She pointed into the distance and Carth followed the direction of her gesture. In the distance, she caught sight of the ships, now turned away and heading northward. Another ship followed, moving swiftly—far too swiftly for Carth’s liking.

  “We can’t reach them,” Alayna said.

  “We can try,” Carth said.

  She nodded to the wheel and Alayna took it. Carth took a position near the rear of the boat and started pushing on the shadows, surging them around her. She wasn’t sure that what she could do would even make a difference. Could they move swiftly enough to catch up to the other ship?

  The shadows wrapped around her and she drew them, calling to them. The shadows answered her call and Carth sent them swirling behind her, pushing the ship forward. She solidified them, making them something real.

  The ship slid through the water. They chased the other three—and the one that pursued those.

  “We’re not going to catch it.”

  Carth looked over at Jenna. She looked out at the water, an eagerness to her expression. As was typical for Jenna, she longed for a fight. Carth would protect her from that—protect her from herself—but more often than not, it seemed as if she failed. Jenna wanted a fight, and as likely as not, she would find one. There were enough fools in the world who would agree to fight, regardless of what Jenna might be able to do to them.

  Carth sighed and released her connection to the shadows.

  “Should we turn around?” Alayna asked.

  Carth stared into the distance. The ships began to grow smaller, farther and farther away, but she couldn’t shake the sense that she needed to follow.

  “Not yet,” she said.

  They sailed on, and day turned to dusk before they eventually came upon the three ships.

  Or what was left of the three ships. All were burning. Nothing remained but husks.

  “What happened here?” Jenna asked in a whisper.

  Carth pushed out with her connection to magic, reaching through the S’al as well as the shadows, but she came up with no answer. Whatever had happened was not connected to her magic—at least not connected to her magic in any way that she could detect.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Could this be why we haven’t had much trade in the north?” Alayna asked. She leaned over the railing and stared out over the sea, her deep green eyes flashing. Whether she Saw anything or not, she kept to herself.

  “I don’t know, but it’s time for us to head to Keyall and see if we can’t find answers.”

  Carth sighed, fearing that they had gotten caught up in something much greater than she had ever intended. Did this have to do with the Collector? Could this have to do with the smugglers?

  Either way, she knew she couldn’t leave before she had answers. It just wasn’t in her.

  9

  The port of Keyall was massive, set into a rocky cliffside leading up to a city high above. There were several levels to the slope, each one leading higher and higher until the rest of the city sprawled on the flat cliff. Vines draped over moss-covered rock, giving the cliff much more color than it should have.

  Carth surveyed the port, taking in the line of ships that were arrayed around her. Most were merchant ships, with massive hulls designed to transport cargo, and most of those had decorative markings on their sails. Some had impressive figureheads leaning over the bow. Carth didn’t recognize any of the ships, which surprised her. She had sailed often enough that she thought she should recognize some, but those she saw pulled into the port were unfamiliar.

  “What happens if you find the Collector?” Alayna asked. She joined Carth at the railing, watching Linsay and Jenna tie up the ship. As was usual, Boiyn remained below deck, working and keeping himself protected from the bright sun. It was much warmer here than it was in some of the northern climates, which meant that Boiyn needed to be even more careful than he usually was.

  “I need to find this Collector. If nothing else, at least to understand what this battle is all about.”

  Boiyn had discovered little about the sealant that had allowed the rope to avoid the power of her flames, but he didn’t know what it consisted of, only that it was soluble and could be diluted with enough water—such as when she’d jumped into the ocean to escape. It would have been a prize to the smugglers if they had intended to steal it from the other ship, but Carth wasn’t convinced that was what had taken place.

  None of the other items she had brought to the ship had been useful. They were decorative and might fetch some money were she to trade them, but there wasn’t anything obviously useful about them, certainly nothing that would explain why they had been kept in the storeroom.

  “The city makes me nervous,” Alayna said.

  “Because of the attack?” Carth asked.

  Alayna shook her head. Her eyes had something of a washed-out appearance to them. Carth found it interesting how the color of her eyes would change, brighter at times and others a much lighter green. “Look at it, Carth. If something happens in the city, it will be difficult for us to escape. Imagine if you’re up there”—she pointed to the top of the cliff, motioning to the part of the city up there—”and something happens and we need to escape. You could jump, but the rest of us?”

  “We’ve heard nothing that would make us believe that the city is dangerous. Besides, Linsay thought we should come to Keyall.” That was the reason they had traveled this far south, though the loss of trade had as much to do with that.

  “That was before the attack, Carth. If the Collector is here, we need to be even more careful.”

  It was good advice, and Carth understood the concern Alayna felt. She had been taken captive in the city of Thyr, a city that was much like this one, and equally difficult to escape. “Stay with me, and I’ll do what I can to ensure our safety.”

  Alayna laughed. “I’ve learned that I can’t entrust my safety to you, especially not when you get it in your head that you need to complete some task. Usually, you barrel in unmindful of your own safety, to say nothing of anyone else’s.”

  “I’d like to think that I’m more tactical than that,” she said.

  Alayna shrugged. “You might like to think that you are, but more often than not, you think that you can rescue everyone.”

  “Not everyone.”

  “No? And the three people you had to help in the village?”

  “I didn’t have to help them.”

  Alayna laughed again. She shook her head at Carth. “I know you all too well, Carthenne. You wouldn’t have been able to leave without helping them. I understand that you did. I don’t understand why you risked yourself for three strangers, but I understand that you needed to.”

  Carth couldn’t explain it to herself. Whatever was taking place between those people and the others in the village was beyond her. If the people she had helped had been aligned with the ship that had rammed them, Carth might grow to regret stepping in, but at the time, they had been helpless. Two of them had already been killed—slaughtered as if they were nothing more than animals.

  “You don’t think we should try to understand the people here?” Carth asked.

  Alayna sighed. “It’s dangerous. If there is already conflict, I’m not sure how you will establish your network in a place like this. This isn’t Asador or Cort. I wasn’t with you when you were in Nyaesh or any of the other northern cities, but something about this feels different.”

  Carth couldn’t deny that she felt it as well. There had been discord in some of the other places they had visited and she had managed to g
et herself into danger, but she’d never encountered such hostility simply trying to reach a place. Maybe Alayna was right and she should abandon her plan to try to establish a connection in the city, but that wasn’t something she thought she could do. She had never abandoned a place simply because it was difficult. It made her even more determined to push her way in.

  “I know that look.”

  “What look is that?”

  “The look that tells me that I’m going to regret agreeing to accompany you here.”

  Carth smiled. “Maybe we can find a nice tavern.”

  Alayna shook her head. “You and taverns. You recognize that it’s strange, don’t you?”

  “I recognize that there is much we can learn by visiting taverns. What better place to get people to talk? Most of the time, all you need to do is listen to gossip or get to playing one of the local games and you can find out everything you need.”

  “Such as more about the Collector?” Alayna asked.

  Carth nodded.

  When Jenna and Linsay finished tying up the ship, they climbed back on board. Linsay disappeared below deck for a while before coming back out, this time accompanied by a hooded Boiyn.

  Boiyn handed Linsay a vial, and she glanced at him before nodding. She quickly tipped it back and pulled a pair of knives from beneath her jacket.

  “What are you doing?” Carth asked.

  She shrugged. “A test.”

  “What sort of test?”

  Linsay glanced up at the city over them. “Before we risk ourselves going up there, not knowing what we might find, I asked Boiyn to try and make something extra for me. I’m not the fighter that you,” she said, nodding to Carth, “or the others are, but maybe with the right enhancement…”

  “How do you intend to test this?” Carth asked.

  “With Jenna.”

  Jenna shook her head. “That’s not a fair fight. You might as well fight Boiyn.”

  Boiyn’s face clouded. “I do not fight.”

  “You don’t fight. You have no magic. What exactly are you here for?”

  He snorted. “Linsay? Why don’t you show her?”

  Linsay darted forward. She moved more quickly than was typical for her. She wasn’t completely unskilled, but she wouldn’t fare well against Jenna. Few would.

  Jenna started off taking it easy with Linsay. She used a single dagger and blocked everything that Linsay did. Suddenly, Linsay’s movements changed. She moved faster.

  Jenna grabbed her other dagger, and her mouth clenched in concentration. She continued to fight, but no longer did she hold back. The concentration on her face changed to a smile. “Maybe if you fight like this all the time, you can be useful,” she said.

  Linsay laughed and grabbed Jenna’s wrist, turning it so that she dropped one of her daggers. But she didn’t drop the other.

  Jenna was not easily defeated. She had fluid movements—much more than even Linsay’s enhancements would account for—and her other dagger had managed to make it up to push beneath Linsay’s ribs, though her hilt, rather than the point, was facing toward Linsay.

  “It was a good try,” Jenna said. She stepped back and recovered her other dagger, slipping them back into their hiding place.

  Linsay turned to Boiyn and grinned. “That should work. If nothing else, I can keep myself safe if we come across somebody with even nearly Jenna’s fighting ability.”

  “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Carth said. “I don’t intend for any of us to get into a fight. This is information gathering. We need to find what we can about the Collector and learn why those two ships were out there and why they attacked us.”

  “You might intend for it to be information gathering, but we’ve been around you often enough to know that information often turns into an exchange of blows,” Jenna said.

  “You don’t have to seem so… eager… about it,” Alayna said.

  Jenna shrugged. “What can I say? Any chance I get to use these”—she flicked her daggers out of a hidden pocket and sent them spinning in her hand—“I’m happy to take it.”

  Alayna looked over at Carth, the request plain in her eyes. Both women had tried to get through to Jenna, trying to prevent her from being quite so impulsive, but neither had been as effective as they would’ve liked. It was something that Carth continued to work toward. She needed to settle Jenna down and keep her from rushing into battle, though it was a fault that Carth shared with her. She often rushed into battle herself.

  “Information only,” Carth said.

  Linsay spoke quietly with Boiyn, who pulled a few vials out of his pockets and handed them to her. Linsay pocketed them and turned with a smile to the others.

  Carth stared at Boiyn, but he made an almost pointed effort to not meet her gaze. She didn’t disapprove of the enhancements. They were part of the armaments that she had, but she worried that Linsay would become too reliant upon them. It was the reason she resisted using them herself.

  “If she doesn’t learn how to use them, she won’t know what her limitations are when she needs them,” Alayna said.

  “If she continues to rely upon them, then she will be dependent on enhancements when she fights. What happens if they aren’t available?” Carth asked.

  “I thought you supported the use of the enhancements.”

  “I do.”

  “What is it?”

  Did she tell them about her experience of others depending on enhancements? She’d tried, but they hadn’t listened. Maybe it was better for her to focus on the training she could impact. “We should go before it gets too late,” she said.

  The docks were enormous, and they stretched deep into the sea. The city was situated in a bay, nestled in protected waters that allowed the dozens and dozens of ships to dock safely without concern that waves would slam into them, damaging them.

  They made their way into the city. They passed dock workers as well as merchants, all heading to their ships. Some pushed carts, and Carth smelled fish from some of them, though others looked too heavily laden to hold anything but wares that would be sold in the city. When they reached the end of the dock, Carth hesitated. Each of the docks angled toward a narrow circle of land, and a narrow street wound up from them, heading to one of the upper levels. Some buildings had been built into the cliff’s edge and they pressed together, taking all the possible space allowed. Other structures were cut into the cliff itself as the road led away from the docks. Some of the carts paused at these buildings. Were these places of trade? Were they stores?

  “It’s a strange sort of city, isn’t it?” Alayna said.

  “Keyall has always been a unique location,” Linsay said. “Situated as it is here on this stretch of land, it’s sort of a way station between the lands in the far west and those north of here.”

  The far west. What magics did they have? Each land seemed to have its own, so she suspected the far west wasn’t different, but whatever they did was kept secret.

  “I don’t like it,” Jenna said. “The smells…”

  Carth had only been vaguely aware of the stench from the city, but now that Jenna had said something, she recognized that there was a particular odor to the air. It was more than that of the sea, and more than that of rotting fish or other similar stenches. They were familiar enough from their travels that it wouldn’t draw comment from Jenna. This was something else, and it was something Carth couldn’t quite put words to.

  “Maybe it’s us,” Alayna said. “We have been sailing for quite a while.”

  “Speak for yourself, but some of us have actually tried to bathe.” Linsay grinned as she said it and stepped away as if afraid that Alayna might attack.

  “I know that you do. I’ve smelled the perfumes you think to use afterwards,” Alayna said. “Trust me when I tell you that it does nothing to mask your natural aroma.”

  Alayna laughed. Carth smiled to herself at the lighthearted humor between them. They had become more than friends, had become something of a fami
ly. They needed each other, and each of them served in a slightly different role. Eventually, Carth would have to leave them on their own. She hoped that training them—spending time with them—would allow them to eventually take on a greater role in the network of spies that she had created.

  Some would need less attention than others. Alayna had natural talent for coming up with strategy and combined with her fighting prowess, she would be formidable. Jenna would take more time and would need for Carth to be patient with her, to bring her along until she managed to learn a little more patience and to be a little less impulsive. Linsay needed confidence and would never be a fighter, but that was not her strength. She had a quick mind and had been pivotal in what Carth planned.

  “I see the way you’re looking at us,” Alayna said.

  She had separated from the others, leaving Jenna and Linsay walking ahead of her so that she and Carth could have some space.

  “You’re thinking about abandoning us again.”

  Carth smiled. “You know I would never abandon you.”

  “Not abandoned, not really, but in your mind, you would leave us alone.”

  Carth shook her head. “You would never be alone. That’s the point of the Binders.” The name the women had given themselves was a play on the very first women who had joined with her, women who had been forced to heal others injured in the city of Asador, binding them up so that they could return to the city.

  “What if I don’t want to serve the Binders?”

  “What would you serve?”

  Alayna met her eyes. “For a smart person, sometimes you can be quite foolish.”

  Carth laughed. “You don’t need to serve me. That’s not what I’m asking of anyone. It’s the cause. If something happens to me, I need to know that others will carry it on, helping to protect those who can’t protect themselves.” That had been what Carth had taken upon herself. It wasn’t always an easy task, but it was worthwhile, and it was one that needed doing, especially with everything she had seen and experienced in the world.

  “Have I ever told you about my homeland?” she asked.