He lowered Elle to the ground and checked her for obvious injuries. There were none. Then he tipped her head to the side. Some of the thick mud had gotten into her mouth and started to harden. Tan pulled it free. It came out as a long, thick string.
She sucked in a deep breath.
He put an arm beneath her neck, cradling her to him. Elle shook for a moment, each breath becoming easier before she finally opened her eyes.
She blinked. Redness rimmed the whites of her eyes. A weak cough came from her chest. “I thought you didn’t know how to shape,” she said.
He laughed nervously. “Apparently I don’t.”
“Maybe you don’t shape the stone into mud the next time?”
Tan laughed again. “I hope there isn’t a next time. I don’t think I want to travel like that again. The last time I did, I nearly drowned. If not for the nymid, I might have. And this time, I thought to help by trying to shape water. Instead, I think I shaped earth.”
Elle pushed herself up and spit more of the mud from her mouth, her lips making a sour expression as she did. “Roine—Theondar—was right about you, wasn’t he? You are able to shape all elements. You can be a warrior.”
“I don’t know what I am,” he admitted.
“At least you’re honest.” She leaned forward, looking around. “Now, where are we?”
They weren’t in Galen as intended. The were nowhere near the place of convergence and the nymid. And now… would Elle’s illness overwhelm her before they could find help?
Tan stood and looked around. The bleak landscape was familiar. It took a moment for him to realize that it was because he’d seen something like it through his connection to the draasin. The air had a heavy sort of haze to it, much like the smoke they’d seen in Ethea, though this felt different. Heat radiated up from all around. The bright sun burned overhead, making them sweat in their thick jackets. It dripped from his forehead to run into his eyes, burning them.
There could be no doubt where they were. Now he only had to figure out where to go.
“This is Incendin.”
Elle looked over at him and nodded. “I’ve been to the border a few times. Most from Doma do though it’s not quite this bleak. At least along the border we see some life, even stunted as it might be. This… this is barren.”
A sense of oppression radiated from the landscape. They could die here and no one would know. What happened? How had the shaping gone wrong?
“Is this where Sarah wanted you to bring me?” Elle asked.
Tan shook his head. “I was supposed to bring you to the nymid. She placed a shaping on me that would draw us to them.”
Elle blinked. Already the color faded from her cheeks. How much longer before Sarah’s shaping failed and the convulsions returned?
“Looks like you drew us to the draasin instead.”
Tan blinked.
The draasin.
Had the draasin drawn him here the same way the nymid once pulled him to the place of convergence? But why? Did it want him to remove the shaping Amia placed on them, or could there be another reason? The last time Tan spoke to it, the fire elemental wanted Tan to find it.
And now he had.
But they were stranded in dangerous Incendin. Anything could be deadly here—and likely was.
He took a step away from Elle. The movement triggered something in a nearby plant and sharp barbs spat away from it. Tan jumped away before they struck his leg.
Apparently even the plants were deadly here.
Tan stretched out with earth sensing. They would need water. Perhaps he could find the nymid even here. And then he would find the draasin.
As far as he reached, he found no water nearby.
That meant no nymid. No healing for Elle.
He sensed something else looming large not too far from them. It resonated off the deep connection in his mind. The draasin was out there, somewhere. And it waited for him.
CHAPTER 21
An Offer of Help
They started across the barren rock, slowly weaving their way down the slope. A wide, open valley spread before them, a flat bottom near the center making it look like a river had once run through here. Elle moved slowly, wincing each time she touched the rock, and needed to stop often. So far, the tremors had not returned.
Tan didn’t seem as affected by the heat as her. He didn’t feel cool but wasn’t as painfully uncomfortable as Elle appeared.
They avoided the plant life growing around them. Thorny bushes seemed to spring from the rocks themselves. A few stunted brush trees grew in the shade of larger rocks. Nothing else. After their first experience with the plant trying to kill them, Tan sensed each one, trying to gauge what the plants would do as they passed. Some, like the twisty, stick-like plant rising up between a pile of huge boulders, seemed benign. Others, like a low, brown clump of grass gave off a dark sense and Tan knew to avoid.
The sense of the draasin moved ever closer to them.
The sun rose steadily overhead. In Galen, Tan had known several phases of sunrise. There was the initial lightening, when the sun first crested the horizon. The air still carried with it a crispness and bite, regardless of the time of year. Then, when the sun peeked overtop the trees, it would stream down toward the forest floor. In Nor, that sunlight would slowly warm the town, burning off any fog that might have rolled in off the nearby streams. The sun wouldn’t last for long before falling again behind the towering trees throughout the forest.
In Ethea, the sunlight had been different. Always warmer, Ethea was farther south and much flatter than most of Galen. Once the sun pierced the horizon, it began warming everything. Only the city buildings blocked the early morning light, and they did so poorly.
Here, the sun shone hot and bright. Somehow, it also seemed closer than in the kingdoms. As they made their way along the rocks, it continued climbing, rising both higher and closer at the same time.
Elle slowed. “I need to rest.” Her voice came out in a harsh whisper and her cheeks were nearly white.
Tan nodded, and they took shelter behind a tall finger of rock. Everything around them looked much the same, but as they came down from the rocks, more and more of the stunted scrub plants grew. Tan sensed danger from most of them and didn’t risk going too near.
“I think we’re getting close,” he said.
Elle nodded. She hadn’t asked where he led them. She stared at the ground, her lids growing heavy as she did, and rocked slowly in place.
The walk drained her. And when she fell, beaten by the sun and heat and whatever shaping he had accidentally placed on her, he would have to carry her.
Would he have the strength he needed?
They seemed to be moving west. If that were right, they would eventually reach the kingdoms. There they would have to pass through the barrier, though they would have passed across it on their way to Incendin.
Tan leaned against the rock. The heat had finally caught up with him too, leaving him drained and tired. He could lay here, wait for the sun to fall into darkness…
A low howl erupted.
Tan tensed and looked around. He recognized the sound. Hounds.
When they got his scent, they would track him until they caught him.
What could he do? He was too tired to shape, too tired to go on, but if he didn’t, they would both die here.
What other choice did he have?
He reached toward the sense at the back of his mind and listened for the draasin.
Draasin!
He sent the call with as much strength as he could generate, but after climbing along the rocks all morning, it wasn’t much.
When there was no answer, he sent another call.
Draasin!
He hesitated before sending the next message. Showing weakness to the draasin was dangerous, but if he did nothing, they would either succumb to the heat or the hounds would find them.
Tan needs your help.
At first, there was nothing but silenc
e.
And then, softly, like a great stretching of wings and claws, came the sense of the draasin. It crawled toward the front of his mind, the sense of claws digging painfully into his mind. Much like the first time he’d spoken to the draasin, he felt them painfully, nothing like the harsh, quiet presence he felt while in Ethea.
The draasin was close.
Little Warrior.
The thought came like a terrible burst of thunder and ripped through his mind.
Tan grabbed the sides of his head, squeezing, pushing with his palms as if to press the sounds of the draasin back and away. The voice echoed through his mind before fading.
You have come as required.
Tan shook his head, squeezing his eyes closed against the pain of the draasin’s voice. If he couldn’t push it back—if he couldn’t get some control of the power behind the sending—he might not remain sane.
What had he done the last time he had been this close to the draasin?
Nothing. Amia had helped him then. It had been her shaping that kept the draasin from attacking them. But had her shaping protected his mind?
He pushed against the sense of the draasin, forcing it toward the back of his mind.
It slid away slowly, reluctantly, and with so much pain, it felt as if the creature’s talons dug into his mind as it did. Tan continued to push, creating a separation in his mind until the draasin no longer threatened to overwhelm him.
Only then could he turn his attention to the creature.
You came to Incendin. He didn’t want it to come out as an accusation, mostly wanting to get a sense of whether the draasin understood where they were. Such things didn’t really matter to the draasin. But there was more to it for Tan.
After what Roine suspected, he needed to know if the draasin worked with Incendin.
We spent many years beneath the cold and ice. We sought the warmth and the sun.
This is the land of Twisted Fire.
The draasin seemed to grunt. As it did, it threatened to push a greater presence on him, pressing toward the front of his mind. This is the land of the Mother. Twisted Fire cannot claim it.
Tan glanced at Elle. She stood in place, rocking slowly.
Why did you summon me? He no longer doubted the draasin had summoned him, pulling him away from Sarah’s shaping. Did they fear being hunted by Roine?
The draasin snorted. You will hunt with me. It has been many years since a warrior joined the hunt.
Tan blinked. Others hunted with you?
The draasin laughed again. You think yourself the first to speak with us? Draasin have existed before nearly everything else and will exist long after everything is gone. Such is fire.
Tan had a fleeting sense of time, almost like a flickering flame that rose brightly in his mind, starting as a tiny spark, quickly spreading and growing, consuming everything around it.
In response, he pushed an image of water and wind mixed with the hard earth he stood upon.
The draasin laughed. Nearly everything. The others as well. Such is the will of the Mother.
Tan thought of how the nymid worked to hold the draasin in the lake, freezing them in place. The shaping had been augmented by the other elementals, golud and ara serving alongside the nymid to restrain the draasin. How must it feel, spending nearly a thousand years in captivity, a thousand years spent freezing at the bottom of the lake in the place of convergence, held there by the nymid, golud, and ara?
Are you angry for what they did?
The draasin seemed to pause and consider before answering. Tan sensed a simmering rage coming from the draasin.
We… accepted the necessity. The others went willingly, but they remained for the same millennia.
You don’t… Tan didn’t quite know how to ask what he wanted. …want revenge for what happened?
Would revenge serve the Mother?
Tan suspected there was more to the answer, but couldn’t tell what.
Elle crumpled to the ground.
The motion startled him and he reached for her, lifting her motionless form. Her eyes rolled back in her head. Dried sweat smeared across her face, mixing with dirt and remnants of the mud they’d landed in. At least she still breathed.
Tan looked toward the south, toward where he felt the draasin. He couldn’t tell where they were any more directly than that.
I did not come to hunt.
Why come then, Little Warrior, if not to hunt?
Before he asked for help, he needed to know if the draasin were responsible for what happened in Ethea. He flashed an image of the attack in his mind. He showed fire burning through the city, the destruction taking place, and then, last of all, the fleeting image of what appeared to be one of the draasin soaring overhead.
Was this you?
The draasin was silent. It tried to claw its way to the front of Tan’s mind, but he pushed back, holding it there, keeping it in place deep in his mind.
Was this you?
Tan repeated the question with more force.
The draasin seemed to stretch, attempting to pull away from him. Tan held on, refusing to let it disappear.
Answer this question!
There came a low rumble.
Not only in his head.
Tan looked up. A heavy-throated roar echoed around him. Massive wings beat at the sky, blotting out the sun. The draasin’s long, sinewy body slipped through the air. Spikes rose from it like thorns. It twisted its head and golden eyes stared at Tan.
He stared back.
Feeling the draasin in his mind did not capture the enormity of the creature. He should feel afraid. Flying over him was a hunter unlike the world had seen in a thousand years. A predator capable of destroying him in a single snap of its enormous jaws. The last time he’d seen the draasin—really seen them, not like the shadowed image he had of it flying over the city—they had chased the lisincend, easily catching and swallowing one of the powerful creatures. Before that, he’d seen them crawl out of the ice after being trapped there for a thousand years.
In spite of that, Tan could not feel fear.
The draasin might destroy him, but flying as it did seemed more like posturing than any real threat. And then there was the shaping placed on it by Amia so long ago.
Tan reached across the connection. The shaping held.
The draasin laughed.
We may not hunt man. But if we are threatened…
Tan almost smiled at its clever solution.
I am no threat to the draasin.
Another burst of laughter, this time in sync with the beating of its massive wings. Hot, dry wind swirled each time it did, pounding at the air. You confine the draasin. You seek to use the draasin. How is that no threat?
Tan shook his head. I seek only to understand.
He stood, waiting for the draasin to decide. Either it would attack him or it would not. Nothing Tan could do would allow him to survive an attack. His survival was up to the Great Mother now.
And then the draasin settled to the ground.
Massive wings tilted slightly, letting it glide slowly down. As it landed, huge claws pinched the rock, piercing the stone. Steam rose from its nostrils as it snorted.
Why have you come?
The tone of the draasin had changed.
Was it you?
He had to know. If Roine was right—if the draasin attacked Ethea—nothing else mattered. Not him or Elle’s illness.
The draasin’s head tipped back and it looked down at Tan with its bright golden eyes. That is draasin.
Tan’s heart sunk. Roine had been right. The draasin had attacked Ethea.
But that meant Amia’s shaping no longer held. Why did it seem to him it did?
Why? Why attack the city? Why fight against the shaping?
The draasin lowered its head until it could look at Tan, meeting his eyes. When you released us from the ice, there were but three draasin who remained. The youngest had lived only a few cycles.
The younges
t?
Tan thought of the smallest draasin that had pulled itself from the ice. The creature had still been massive.
Why would the youngest attack Ethea?
The draasin tipped its massive head. The youngest would not. She had barely learned the art of the hunt. But Twisted Fire… The draasin trailed off and snorted softly. Twisted Fire captured the youngest. I do not know what happened.
The lisincend captured one of the draasin—it might explain the attack—but how had they twisted her into following them?
There was much pain from the draasin, anguish over what happened with the youngest. If the lisincend—Twisted Fire—captured one of the great elementals, what would it do to it?
Could she be coerced into attacking?
Another snort that seemed so much like a sigh. I would not have believed it possible for draasin to be controlled by another but the Daughter…
A shaping of spirit, but how would Incendin have learned? How would they have a shaper capable of shaping the draasin?
Where is she now? Will she attack again?
She is elsewhere.
Tan had the distinct sense the draasin didn’t share something with him.
Elle moaned softly and started to shake.
Tan lifted her and pulled her against his shoulder. She trembled violently. After a moment, the trembling eased.
She will not last long.
Tan looked up. The draasin had stepped nearer to him, moving silently across the stone. The creature’s hot breath steamed toward him and he blinked.
You know what’s wrong with her?
The draasin dipped its head. A darkness burns in her.
What had he done to her? What had his shaping done?
If the draasin could sense the darkness, could it undo it?
What is it?
I… do not know.
She said I shaped her. Can you undo it?
This is not your shaping, Little Warrior, and I can do nothing to save her.
Tan swallowed. Then Elle would die. He couldn’t get her to safety quickly enough and had no way of healing her without the nymid.
This land is not appropriate for one such as her. She requires water.
An image of massive waves crashed through his mind. Within the waves was a face, driving the waves forward.
Bound by Fire (The Cloud Warrior Saga Book 2) Page 17
