The Tower of Venass (The Dark Ability Book 3)

by Holmberg, D. K.

  The knives hung in the air in front of Thom. He watched them, a curious expression shining in his eyes. Rsiran pulled them back and caught them out of the air.

  Thom smiled. “See? You aren’t the type.”

  Rsiran frowned. Had the attack been to prove his point? He glanced at the sword lying on the ground. Definitely one of his. Above the hilt was his mark. “I could have killed you!”

  “But you didn’t. Me? Someone comes after me with a sword like that, I put them down so they don’t try it again.” His smile widened. “But like I said, you’re not the murdering type. Otherwise, from what I heard, you would have put a knife into your father long ago. Not like you haven’t had the opportunity. From what I see, not much slows you.”

  Rsiran looked away, tucking his knives back into his pocket. He held onto the connection, prepared to push them at Thom if he made any movement toward him again.

  But Thom simply grabbed his sword off the ground and sheathed it quickly. “Interesting ability you have there. Useful, I should think. Man who can slip anywhere, send his knives at a target… such a man has value.”

  “Thought you said I wasn’t a killer.”

  Thom laughed. “I said you weren’t a murderer. Being a killer is a different thing altogether.”

  Rsiran shook his head. “You’re right. That isn’t me.”

  Thom made his way toward the door. “Too bad. Brusus might have found you useful.” He reached the door and twisted the handle.

  Rsiran Slid to him and pushed on the door. “What do you mean?”

  Thom looked over. “If what I’ve seen and you’ve told me is right, Brusus is dying. Were it you, I know what he’d be doing.”

  “And what is that?”

  Thom smiled again. “Brusus would be getting revenge.”

  Rsiran shook his head. “That’s not the Brusus I know. If it were me, he’d be doing everything he could to find a cure.”

  “You think so? So that’s what you’re doing, then?”

  Rsiran thought of the way Brusus had made sure Rsiran had the healing he needed when they’d first met, the way he hadn’t asked anything in return. He’d given him access to a smithy, a place to work and learn to listen to the lorcith, never asking for anything. “I know he would.”

  “Hmm. Then what are you going to do?”

  Rsiran sighed. “He’s already with a healer. There’s not much more I can do.”

  “But you said your healer isn’t sure she can save him.”

  “I said she didn’t know what poison was used. She’ll figure it out.”

  “And if she don’t? You think with your abilities, there’s nothing you can do to help?”

  “I’m no healer.”

  Thom’s smile returned. “Maybe not. But there are places where such things are learned.”

  Rsiran frowned. “What sorts of things?”

  “Poisons. Healing. There might be a price, but if you could help him, wouldn’t it be worth it?”

  Rsiran considered what Thom said. Wouldn’t Della know if there was a place to find a cure? As a Healer—one gifted by the Great Watcher—wouldn’t she know if there was something more that could be done? Why would Thom know and not Della?

  “Where is this place?”

  Thom shook his head. “Not a place I can describe. Got to show you. You can take another along with you when you… travel?” he asked.

  “You know the answer to that.”

  “Ah, that’s right. Your girl.” His smile had a dark quality to it. “It’s a place in Thyr. Not easy to reach, but with your ability…”

  “I’ve never been to Thyr,” Rsiran said.

  Thom studied him for a moment and then nodded. “Then take me with you, and I’ll show you.”

  Thyr. The last time he’d left Elaeavn—really left the city and Slid to Asador—he’d found his father. Only he hadn’t known it was his father at the time. What Thom suggested meant he would need to Slide blindly again. Doing so was difficult work, draining. And taking another would be hard.

  But if there was a chance to save Brusus? If Thom knew of a place where a cure could be found, shouldn’t Rsiran take it? Thom was wrong about Brusus; Rsiran knew he would do anything if Rsiran or Jessa were in his place.

  “What is this place?” Rsiran asked.

  “I told you. It’s a place you might find an antidote.”

  “But we don’t even know what poison was used.”

  Thom shrugged. “For some cures, that don’t matter.”

  Rsiran sighed. He already knew what he’d do. What he had to do.

  “Does this place have a name?”

  “Near Thyr. A place called Venass.” Thom watched Rsiran as he said it.

  Venass. Rsiran had never heard of any place like that, but he wasn’t nearly as worldly as Brusus or Haern. He could ask Della, but he suspected she’d tell him not to go. She knew everything Rsiran had been through.

  Then there was the issue of what to do about Jessa. When she awoke, she’d be angry if she learned he went without her. Leaving her behind would keep her safe… but bringing her might keep him safe. With her Sight, she helped him as often as he helped her.

  As much as it might put her in danger, he needed her.

  “You will show us Venass? If I Slide us there, you will show us to it?”

  “Us?”

  Rsiran nodded. Taking both Jessa and Thom might be more than he could manage, especially over great distances. But he had to try. Hopefully all the practice Sliding he’d done recently had strengthened him.

  Thom seemed to consider before answering. Then his smile returned. The scar seemed to writhe again as he did. “For you, I think I will.”

  Rsiran let out a relieved sigh. At least he was doing something that might help Brusus.

  Chapter 7

  They emerged in the pale blue light of his smithy. Shadows seemed to slip along the walls. Had he not known better, he would have wondered whether the smithy was empty.

  The bitter scent of lorcith assaulted him as soon as they emerged. Jessa released his hand and hurried to the long table and grabbed a pair of long slender steel knives. Rsiran touched her hand and shook his head.

  “Lorcith blades.”

  She frowned.

  “They’re larger than your charm. I’m more attuned to them.”

  “What if…”

  He knew what she wondered. He’d wondered the same. “I don’t think there’s another who can use that ability. Certainly not where we’re going.”

  She took one of the long-bladed lorcith knives and tucked it into the waist of her pants. Then she took a steel blade as well. “You don’t know that. Better to be safe.”

  Rsiran laughed as he grabbed ten of his small lorcith blades. He stuffed them into his pockets, wishing he’d thought ahead and fashioned something to hold them. That could come later, if they saved Brusus.

  “Ready?” he asked her.

  Jessa took a quick look around the smithy. “You don’t want the sword?”

  Rsiran didn’t have to look to know where it was. Tucked beneath a floorboard, he kept it hidden. Something about this sword was different from anything else he’d forged. He felt a connection to it even stronger than what he felt to the knives. “I don’t even know how to use a sword. The knives I can push.”

  She took his hand and they Slid, emerging near the wooden hut.

  The air smelled different here, cleaner and with less of the bitter odor. The sjihn trees had a distinct smell, a mixture of pine and jasmine that left a perfume on the air the steady wind couldn’t quite blow away.

  “How do you want to go about this?” Jessa asked. “Did he tell you where to meet?”

  Rsiran shook his head. “Only by the cabin, nothing more.”

  Jessa knelt before the lock, unrolling her lock-pick set. “Maybe I just pick the lock. Keep your strength this way.”

  “Don’t want to just appear inside again?”

  Rsiran spun and saw Thom grinning at him,
one hand hovering over his sword. Moonlight gleamed off the long scar atop his head just as it had the night before.

  “You left him alone?”

  Thom shrugged. “He’s not going anywhere. That door is as stout as any I’ve seen. The lock too.” He narrowed his eyes. “So you get what you need?”

  Jessa tucked her lock-pick set back into her pocket as she approached. “Didn’t even have it locked,” she whispered.

  Thom smiled again. “Like I said, he’s not going anywhere.”

  “Why did you want to meet us here?” Rsiran asked.

  “Thought we could move more easily from here. Besides, didn’t you want to see him again?” A dark smile pulled on his lips.

  “No,” Rsiran said. He glanced at the wooden building before turning his attention back to Thom. “Are you ready?”

  “I thought you’d be bringing Brusus with you.”

  “Like I said, he’s with a healer. I thought you said you knew a place we could find an antidote.”

  Thom nodded, slowly, looking through the forest, back toward Elaeavn. “Be easier if he came—”

  “He can’t,” Rsiran said. If he tried to bring Brusus, he would have to leave Jessa behind, and he wasn’t willing to do that. Besides, once they found an antidote, he could Slide back to Elaeavn. “And what about him?” Rsiran asked.

  Thom’s smile returned. “He won’t go anywhere. Besides, there are others who know where he is.”

  “Lock the door,” Rsiran said to Jessa. “If everything goes well, we’ll return before morning.”

  Thom eyed him. “You can travel that fast?”

  Rsiran nodded. He wouldn’t explain to Thom the limitations of Sliding. He didn’t need to know that Rsiran had to know where he traveled; otherwise, he risked them during the Slide. Reaching Thyr would take the longest. The return would be easier.

  “Hold onto my arm.”

  Jessa grabbed one hand and Thom watched for a moment before grabbing his other arm. Rsiran considered for a moment before Sliding. He needed to go north, but that was all he knew. Maybe he was making a mistake by trying to Slide all of them there. It would take multiple Slides to reach Thyr, and once they were there, he’d be almost too weakened to do much of anything.

  But he would try.

  He Slid, emerging as far north as he dared Slide in a single step. The Slide took more effort than he expected, straining him with the transition. The sense of movement was slower—probably from pulling two others with him—and colors streamed passed in swaths of browns and blacks. He’d often wondered whether the colors meant anything. Another question for Della someday.

  A wave of fatigue threatened him, but he ignored it.

  A cool breeze pulled at his clothes, filled with the scent of grasses and flowers. A wide plain stretched around them. In the distance, now to the south, Ilphaesn rose. The last time Rsiran had Slid this far, he was chasing the sense of the sword Josun had stolen.

  Thom gasped. “You’ve taken us past Ilphaesn in a single step?”

  “Which way?” Rsiran asked.

  Thom seemed to sense the urgency and looked toward the east. “East. We can reach the Thyrass River and follow it.” He pointed. “See that copse of trees over there?”

  The moonlight caught them like a smudge of darkness in the distance. Jessa probably saw them clearly. “I see them.”

  “That way. The Thyrass should be just beyond there.”

  After making sure they both held onto him, Rsiran Slid toward the trees.

  They emerged just at the edge of the trees. Rsiran made certain to keep them out of the shadows, not wanting to plunge too deep into darkness. After his time in the near perfect darkness of the mines, he hated anything that reminded him of it. At least in the mines, he had the sense of lorcith around him. Out here, the only lorcith he sensed was what he brought with him. And the distant pull of Ilphaesn.

  Moonlight streamed from overhead, filtering through the upper branches waving in the wind. Shadows stretched across the ground, dancing and flickering. Rsiran felt the same uneasiness he’d felt in the smithy.

  Jessa squeezed his hand. He wondered if she saw his unease or whether he’d tensed and she felt it. “See anything you recognize?” she asked Thom.

  Thom released Rsiran’s arm. He strode toward the trees and into the shadows, moving with a lithe grace that reminded Rsiran of the Neelish sellswords. Rsiran suddenly understood how dangerous Thom would be with his sword.

  “Moving this way will take too long,” Rsiran said. “Della said we have the night, but I’m not sure we have even that long.”

  Thom paused and looked back at them. “Della?”

  Rsiran nodded. “She’s the Healer helping Brusus.”

  He looked south, toward Elaeavn, and then nodded before turning toward the trees again.

  “What do you mean that we might not have the night?” Jessa asked as Thom disappeared into the trees.

  He shook his head, looking after Thom. Why was he going into the trees? “I saw the strain on her face after the short time we were there. It’s different for you. Sight, I think, works differently. You never get tired from it like I do when I Slide.”

  “You said it’s not as bad since you started practicing.”

  He nodded. “Not as bad, but not gone. It’s worse when I Slide farther distances.”

  “Or when you bring too many with you?”

  He nodded silently. “It’s the same for Della with Healing, I think. The more she does, the more she strains. And what she’s doing for Brusus is difficult. When she took her hands off him for long enough to grab the book, he started fading again.”

  “That’s why you want to hurry.”

  “We can’t lose them both. I worry about Della. For Brusus, she’ll push herself until…”

  Jessa squeezed his hand again and leaned into him.

  Thom reappeared from the shadows. The moon glimmered off his scar. His mouth tightened into a grim line, and one hand gripped his sword. A finger width of steel reflected the moonlight.

  “You said the river is through there?” Rsiran asked.

  Thom nodded. “Can’t see anything through the trees, but the Thyrass should be just beyond here. Can you move us past here?”

  Rsiran looked around, considering where to Slide next. He could see to the northwest or south, but both directions left them farther from Thyr than they were already. Going beyond the forest meant that he would Slide blindly. That was dangerous. “How far do these woods stretch?”

  Thom shrugged. “I couldn’t tell. Not just a copse of trees, though.”

  From where they’d come, it hadn’t seemed like any sort of forest, but Rsiran didn’t know the geography around Elaeavn well. Maybe he should have asked Della for a map. That might have been useful. But could he Slide based on a map or would it not be reliable enough?

  Thom shrugged again. “Not like your Aisl. But…”

  Rsiran sighed. Everything was taking too long. Time they didn’t have. Time Brusus didn’t have. And if he couldn’t get them to Thyr and back before morning, Brusus would die.

  Chapter 8

  Rsiran considered Sliding them to the north. Doing so might bypass the forest, but would also take more effort on his part. Already, he felt the strain each Slide took. How many more would he be able to make? Taking a detour might require more energy than he could spare, risking not being able to get them back safely. Had he been by himself, he might not have the same issue.

  The other option—Sliding blindly—worried him. If they emerged somewhere dangerous, it wasn’t just him he risked. It was Jessa and Thom.

  The ground was too flat for him to get a good vantage. He glanced to the trees, thinking about whether he could reach one of the upper branches, but decided against it. The branches wouldn’t support his weight, and he still wouldn’t be able to see where he needed to go.

  That left one option that made sense. He didn’t like it; doing so meant Jessa would be left alone with Thom. But he had t
o trust she could handle herself. Wasn’t that what she’d been asking him to do?

  “Thom—stay with Jessa. I’m going to scout the next spot.”

  Jessa frowned at him. He could tell from her expression she knew what he planned. “Are you sure that’s the right thing to do? Maybe we should stay together—”

  “I’ll find you.” With a soft touch, he pulled on the knife tucked into her waistband.

  Thom studied Rsiran’s face. “How long?”

  “No more than a minute or two.”

  Thom glanced at Jessa. His face was unreadable. “You’re looking for a wide river. When you reach it, go north to Thyr, Venass lies just outside Thyr. Once there…” He shrugged.

  Rsiran leaned toward Jessa. “Wait in the trees,” he whispered. “I won’t be long.”

  She smiled at him and punched his shoulder. “I’ll be fine.”

  He released her hand and Slid.

  Gauging the distance was difficult. From what he’d learned, moving blindly like this left him open to the possibility that he could emerge within a tree or a massive boulder, or buried in a hillside. Sliding required him to be able to move somewhat on his own.

  This time, he paid careful attention to the colors blurring as he Slid, trying to mark the distance traveled. Sliding by himself went more quickly, but when he’d traveled what he thought was the same distance as the last Slide, he held his breath as he emerged.

  Trees spread around him, one near enough that if he swung his arm he’d hit it. Had he emerged only a step later, he’d have been buried in the tree. His heart thumped loudly and sweat slicked his palms.

  No light made it through the dense canopy overhead. All around him were gradients of shadows. Rsiran sucked in a breath, tasting the air. Different from the scent of the sjihn trees, the forest here smelled of earth and decaying leaves. Skin on the back of his neck crawled, and he had the vague sense of something moving behind him.

  Rsiran didn’t wait and Slid again.

  He emerged at the edge of the forest. The darkness of the forest reached behind him, and a wide rolling plain stretched in front of him. A few small trees dotted the plain, but nothing else, and no sign of the river. He glanced behind him, and considered returning, but if he could find the river by himself, they would be that much closer to Thyr… and help for Brusus.