The Tower of Venass (The Dark Ability Book 3)

by Holmberg, D. K.

Evaelyn nodded slowly. “Could she really think she’s found the blood of the smith?” she said to herself. She fixed Rsiran with an appraising eye. He felt a momentary assault on the barriers in his mind, but they held. With heartstone, he made certain that they held. “That is what I thought I heard. It is a name I haven’t heard for many years.”

  “You know her?”

  “That is your question?”

  Rsiran had dozens of questions, but it was the one he suddenly wanted the answer to. “Yes.”

  “Very well. I knew her. I no longer claim that I do.”

  “How?”

  She shook her head. “Why did you come here?”

  “I came looking for Shael.”

  “Shael?” She frowned. “He is the smuggler? Why would you risk coming here for the smuggler?”

  “That is my business, but I wanted answers.”

  “Then you will get no more answers from me.”

  Rsiran glanced over at Jessa. She shrugged.

  “Shael asked something of me once. I wanted to know why.” And he had thought that the exiled Elvraeth and Venass were connected, but he saw that wasn’t the case. The exiles would not prevent Venass from summoning him again.

  “That is all?”

  He ignored her follow up question. “What did Inna want?” Rsiran asked.

  Evaelyn laughed. “You’re learning,” she said, touching her hair where the heartstone pin rested. “She wants the same as most. To return. What did Shael ask of you?”

  “That’s not what Inna wants,” Rsiran said. “She wants into the palace. Why?”

  “What did Shael ask of you?” she said again.

  Rsiran considered pushing, but he wanted to know why Inna wanted into the palace. “He wanted me to forge something for him. What is within the palace?”

  “Memories,” she said. “What did this Shael ask you to forge?”

  “Some kind of device. What are the memories that Inna wants?”

  Evaelyn hesitated. “I think we are finished with our questions.”

  Rsiran shook his head. “No. I don’t think we are. What is it that she wants?”

  “It is time for you to leave. If you traveled here, you may travel away again. Do not return.”

  “Wait—why won’t you answer?”

  She looked at him. “Ask Della.”

  “Della? Why would she know the answer?”

  “Because she’s the reason I am here.”

  Evaelyn pushed up from the chair and started away from him. She reached the far wall and pushed open a hidden door, disappearing from the room without saying anything else.

  Chapter 32

  Rsiran looked at Jessa. “We should leave.”

  “Can you get us back out?”

  Rsiran listened for lorcith but couldn’t hear anything to anchor to. Even heartstone alloy was blocked, only the walls of heartstone surrounding him pressing on his awareness. With enough time, he might be able to push past it, but he didn’t want to remain here any longer than was needed. Not after what Inna had tried.

  “Not this way.”

  “Then we go through the door.”

  “Once we’re past the heartstone, I can try Sliding.” For the first time since they became close, he hesitated explaining more and telling her how the heartstone interfered with his abilities. He’d probably told her before, but if Evaelyn could use her against him—could Compel her as easily as she’d seemed—then she could Read her. It put them both at risk.

  Jessa frowned at him a moment before nodding.

  Rsiran almost explained more but did not.

  Jessa started toward the door where Evaelyn had just left. As they reached the wall, he looked back and considered the wall of shelves all around them. A library, but one unlike he’d ever seen before, one that exuded formality and wealth. Could the Forgotten have a palace the same as the Elvraeth? If that was the case, were the cells where Firell had been held in the same building or different? And why would they want to return to Elaeavn?

  “Rsiran?” Jessa held one hand on the door. Once they were through the door, he would try Sliding them again.

  He shook off the questions and stepped into the hall.

  Massive walls stretched on either side of them. Pale white marble reached high overhead, arching with a smooth grace unlike anything he’d ever seen before. Deep etchings worked into the stone in various carvings. Light spilled through colored glass overhead, leaving the carvings on the wall awash with color. A few lanterns hung from high overhead, glowing with a steady blue light.

  Rsiran had never seen anything so beautiful.

  Jessa pulled on his arm. “Can you Slide?”

  He blinked and released his connection to the heartstone. The sense faded, but not before he felt where Evaelyn had gone, how she made her way far down the hall. He considered pulling on the heartstone pin and dragging it back to him, but doing so would likely anger her. What would she do to him—to Jessa—if he tried?

  Then he listened for lorcith. It called all around him, practically a chorus of sound. After being separated from it within the Forgotten library, the suddenness of it nearly overwhelmed him. Most was unshaped, massive amounts that reminded him of Ilphaesn. Others had distinct shapes. If he listened long enough, the lorcith promised to tell him all about what it could become.

  “Rsiran?”

  “It’s everywhere,” he whispered.

  She frowned. “What is?”

  “Lorcith. It’s in the walls, in the windows, in everything here.”

  Jessa shook her head. “Why?”

  “I don’t know. But I think Evaelyn does.”

  Jessa gave him a dangerous look. “You can’t go after her. You saw what she did to me. I had no control over myself. If she’d wanted, I would have stabbed you with that knife.”

  “You would never have stabbed me.”

  Jessa sighed. “I don’t know that I could have stopped her.”

  “I would have pushed the knife out of your hands,” Rsiran added.

  Jessa turned to face him and punched him on the shoulder.

  He shrugged. “Then I would have dragged you from here and back to Della to fix your mind. I have a few other suggestions for fixes she could make while she’s working.”

  She looked as if she might punch him again. “Can we go?”

  Rsiran nodded. “It will be easier if we can get outside these walls. The lorcith interferes with my connection to the smithy.”

  It didn’t, not entirely, but he wanted to see more of the Forgotten palace before they left. Now that he sensed lorcith, he had no fear of Sliding. It would be as easy as anchoring to… well, to anything.

  Jessa took his hand.

  He Slid them down the hall, emerging at the far end, thankful that his ability had returned. The walls towered over them, still the same white gleaming stone. The carvings in the wall were different here, and the colored glass overhead made of a pale blue rather than orange. The hall ended in a steep stairway leading both up and down.

  “Which way?” he asked.

  She looked back. “I don’t know. Should we go down?”

  He held her hand and Slid. They emerged on a massive stair landing. Polished stone gleamed under his feet. The stairs continued down. Rsiran Slid again.

  Each Slide took them farther and farther down. The light streaming through the colored glass high overhead began to fade, leaving them with only the glowing blue Elvraeth lanterns hanging over their heads. And then they emerged onto a wide landing.

  A massive arched metal door—pure lorcith, he noted, just like in Venass—was closed in front of them. Shadowed halls led away from the stairs in both directions. The lanterns down those halls were dim, the blue light barely visible.

  “Have you noticed?” Jessa asked.

  “Noticed what?”

  “There’s no one here.”

  Rsiran had been thankful they hadn’t encountered anyone else. Had they come across more of the Forgotten, he didn’t think he w
as skilled enough to get them to safety. Not after what happened when they were trying to escape after being held captive.

  “We didn’t find out where we are. Where the Forgotten are hiding.”

  “That’s what you wanted to know? Is that why you don’t just Slide us out of here?”

  “Part of it,” he admitted.

  Jessa turned to him and pulled him close to her, wrapping her arms around his neck. “You’re keeping things from me.”

  He swallowed. This close, her breasts pressed against his chest and he felt her heart beating. He could no more lie to her than he could Slide from the library upstairs. “What if they use what you know against us?”

  She laughed softly and kissed his cheek. “I have faith in you, Rsiran. Even if they know what we know, they can’t do what you can do. It’s why they want to capture you. Why Venass wants to study you. The Great Watcher has given you a great gift.”

  He hugged her tightly and nodded.

  “Can we go home?”

  Rsiran sighed. “We need to talk to Della. She needs to know what happened here. And I have a question for her.”

  Jessa pulled away, letting her arms slip apart as she ran her hands down his arms. “I don’t trust anything that woman said to us.”

  “I don’t, either. But she knew Della, and we need to know why.”

  Jessa frowned. “Why would you believe what Evaelyn said? Della has only wanted to help us. That’s all she’s ever done.”

  “The Forgotten want into the palace. Venass wants to know how I can Slide past the alloy. That’s the only connection, isn’t it? They want something there.”

  “Does it matter?” she asked.

  “Knowing can keep us safe. It’s the not knowing that’s dangerous. Right now, it feels like we’re always getting chased, always a step behind and always in danger. If we know what they’re after, maybe there will be something we can do to keep ourselves safe.”

  Jessa kissed his cheek. “That’s what I love about you. Always thinking you’ll find safety.”

  “You don’t?”

  Jessa shrugged. “I’ve seen enough of the world to know safety is fleeting.” As she said it, steps echoed toward them, the first sound they’d heard since leaving the library. Jessa looked up at him and smiled. “See?”

  Rsiran Slid them just past the doors, leaving the Forgotten Palace.

  * * *

  They emerged in darkness. The air had a familiar bitter scent of unmined lorcith.

  Jessa pressed against him. “Why did you take us to Ilphaesn?”

  He shook his head. “I didn’t. I meant to Slide us just past the doors.”

  He turned, listening to lorcith around him. It created a sort of map within his mind, painting the image of tunnels all around them. It was just like Ilphaesn, only no part he’d ever visited.

  Could his Slide have been altered? That was what Inna feared, the reason Sliding was so dangerous for the Forgotten, but Rsiran had never worried about Sliding outside of Elaeavn. Did he need to fear where he’d emerge?

  He hadn’t anchored his Slide. Could that be the difference?

  “This looks like when you took me to Ilphaesn. Like when he took me to Ilphaesn.”

  Rsiran tried listening to the lorcith. Could they be in another mine, one he hadn’t come across while working in Ilphaesn? As massive as the mountain was, it seemed possible. But how would the Forgotten Palace hide here as well, this close to Ilphaesn?

  Unless his Slide had been altered. It was the only explanation that made sense.

  “I told you how Della influenced my Slide? How she pulled me toward her?”

  “You did. Said she could sense when you were Sliding, sort of how I can see it, the slight shimmering as you begin your Slide.”

  “What if someone pulled us here?”

  “Or pushed?”

  “I guess.”

  “Why here? Why would they bring you to Ilphaesn, unless it’s only to show you that they can.”

  “But I already know my Sliding can be influenced.”

  “That’s the reason the Forgotten fear Sliding too.”

  “Yes, but who is influencing it? Della didn’t seem to think there were many with that ability.”

  “Does it happen when you…” she paused, searching for the word “…when you anchor?”

  He shook his head. “Not then.”

  “Maybe this is another mine. Someplace other than Ilphaesn.”

  If that were the case, then why would Josun have gone to such effort to mine lorcith from Ilphaesn and sneak it from the palace?

  “Can you Slide us from here? Can you find another anchor with all this lorcith around?”

  Rsiran took a deep breath and listened. The lorcith called to him, some asking for him to pull it from the walls around him, others seeming to tell him what the nugget could become, as if bargaining with him. Rsiran pushed it away, ignoring the sense of the unshaped lorcith.

  With as much as he sensed around him, it was difficult to do.

  This was not the same as Ilphaesn.

  “Where are we?” he muttered.

  Jessa gripped his hand, tensing. “Not Ilphaesn then.”

  He shook his head. “Within the mines, I can sense other lorcith. This is different.”

  “How?”

  “I don’t know. But it’s not Ilphaesn.”

  But where had he ended up? And how could this place have as much lorcith as in Ilphaesn? Did the Forgotten have their own mines? Why would they have needed what Josun mined if they did?

  Without knowing where he was, he hesitated Sliding blindly. Likely, he could get them back to Elaeavn. He knew it well enough that he could Slide there without an anchor, but what if someone influenced his Slide again? What if the next time, they ended up back with Inna? Or in Venass?

  No—he needed an anchor to Slide them safely. With it, he didn’t think he had to fear outside influence on his Slide. But how to reach an anchor with all this lorcith filtering his ability to sense one?

  He’d need to use a different type of anchor. The alloy. As he’d used the lorcith-forged sword before, could he use the heartstone alloy-forged sword as an anchor as well? If he could sense it, he could get them back to Elaeavn, and finally back to his smithy.

  He pushed away the sense of lorcith he felt all around him, focusing on his breathing. When he had control of the lorcith, when it was pressed into a corner of his mind, he listened for the heartstone alloy.

  Not pure heartstone. That he could sense it like he sensed lorcith still surprised him. He had none of the same connection to heartstone, not as he had with lorcith. Except, he had been working with it more often. As he’d folded the heartstone into the alloy, he’d worked it. How was that any different from how he first worked with lorcith, slowly growing his connection to it?

  The alloy in Jessa’s necklace called to him first. He pushed it away and listened.

  For long moments, there was nothing. Silence. Rsiran wondered if it would even work or if they would be forced to Slide blindly through the mines searching for a way out.

  Then he felt a distant thrumming on his senses, like a pinprick of light burning in his mind. Could this be his sword?

  Rsiran grabbed onto it and pulled it toward him.

  As he felt himself Slide, he realized he might have made a mistake.

  What if the alloy he felt was from the Floating Palace? What if he Slid them back to Elaeavn only to end up in the palace?

  Chapter 33

  Sliding with the connection to the heartstone alloy was different from his usual Sliding. That was a blur of motion and colors and a hint of lorcith. With the alloy, movement seemed slower. The colors more vivid. The scents around him different. Rsiran didn’t know why that would be.

  They emerged from the Slide into shadows.

  He tensed, releasing his connection to the alloy and listening for lorcith as he readied the broken knife. Lorcith bloomed around him, but different than it had within the mines. Unsha
ped lorcith stacked together. A row of forgings—all done by him—were nearby.

  They were back in his smithy.

  Jessa let out a shaky breath and let go of his hand. “That was… different.”

  “The Slide?”

  “What did you do that time?”

  He looked around, his eyes slowly adjusting. Using what he felt of the lorcith as markers for him, he made his way toward his bench and fumbled until he found the Elvraeth lantern. Flipping it open, blue light spilled around them.

  Rsiran shifted a pair of boards in the floor and lifted the heartstone-forged sword out from where he’d hidden it. “I used this as an anchor.” He carried the sword to Jessa.

  She took it carefully and twisted it. “This isn’t the one you made before. This is different. The color is wrong and the metal feels,” she frowned, turning the sword, “slippery and warm.” She looked up at him and handed it back to him. “Why would you make another sword?”

  Rsiran wasn’t sure how to explain the reason that he’d felt compelled to do it. He had wanted to see why Josun wanted the sword, to learn what the heartstone blade might do, but now?

  When he put the swords together, they had a strange connection, like they were paired, meant to exist together. He didn’t have an explanation for why that should be.

  He took the sword from Jessa and slipped it back into place beneath the boards. Hidden alongside the sword were four cubes of heartstone, each large enough to mix into a large nugget of lorcith for the alloy. Once, he’d thought the heartstone he had precious, that the metal was rare. What he’d seen in the Forgotten Palace made him wonder if that was true.

  A tapping at the door startled him.

  Jessa looked over and jumped to her feet. She grabbed a pair of knives off the bench and turned to the door. “Who would come looking for us? Brusus wouldn’t bother until we searched for him. And Haern… well, Haern finds us when he wants to,” she whispered.

  “I’ll check.”

  “Be careful.”

  He smiled but nodded in agreement, pulling three of his small blades from the bench to him and pocketing them. After what happened with the Forgotten, he didn’t want to be caught unprepared again.