Shadows Within the Flame (The Elder Stones Saga Book 2)

by D. K. Holmberg

  The fight was brief, brutal, and bloody, and it was over quickly. The Ai’thol she had commanded ended up injured in the battle, and blood dripped down his arms, the wound causing agony to roll through him. It was almost enough to overpower his connection to her, and yet she sent another command.

  Sleep.

  The Ai’thol dropped to the ground and fell into a deep slumber. Given the nature of his injury, she doubted that he would survive—or ever even awaken. It was hard for her to find any sense of sorrow in that, and yet she would be responsible for what happened to him, much like these Ai’thol—and the C’than they worked with—were responsible for what happened to the women.

  Thinking like that renewed her strength.

  She made her way down the street, ignoring the fallen Ai’thol. She turned a corner, heading out onto the street, near the gathered Ai’thol. From here, she could Read the fact that there were others, and she heard the sound of fighting. She’d neglected her ability to Listen, although during her captivity, that ability had been important. If not for it, she might not have survived as long as she had. It was the one ability that the Architect had not suppressed.

  As she reached a clearing outside the palace, fighting took place all around. Most of it came from the Ai’thol clashing with Binders along with Daniel and others. There was a steady flickering of movement, power that came from people Sliding and disappearing, and as she watched, she focused on that for a moment, wondering if she could have any control over the other Ai’thol.

  She had influenced one, but could she do it again? The attack command had been effective. If she had the opportunity, she would have to repeat that command.

  Three Ai’thol appeared. She focused on the center of them, sending the same command.

  Attack.

  Mixed with the command was an image of the two Ai’thol with him. This one was able to Slide, and he did so, disappearing with a flash and reappearing with his sword unsheathed, stabbing it through the belly of the other Ai’thol. He flickered, disappearing and then emerging again, once more stabbing into the other Ai’thol, but the sword was blocked. They began to fight, pulling apart from the rest of the battle, separating the Ai’thol from her friends.

  Now she needed to focus on another part of the attack. She came across two Ai’thol confronting Binders. The Binders were skilled, and some—like Isabel—were incredibly skilled, likely possessing abilities of their own that she didn’t fully understand. As she fought, she twisted, blocking each of the Ai’thol’s sword attacks. Lucy focused on the Ai’thol attacking her and used the same command as before.

  Much like before, the Ai’thol suddenly changed the focus of his attack. The only difference was that this time Isabel was there, and as he turned away, she jammed her sword through his back, dropping him.

  Turning to the next of the Ai’thol, she found three of them attacking two of the Binders. Again, she sent one of them a command, forcing it into his mind, and giving him the image of the two Ai’thol with him. Unlike the last time, she made sure to use it on the man in the rear, farther from the others. It gave him an opportunity to be more involved, and in doing so, he was better able to reach the first of the Ai’thol, cutting him down before he was dropped with nothing more than a whimper.

  How many Ai’thol were here? The attack seemed even more impressive than the one in Asador, the one she had been a part of. Why would that be?

  The last time, they had been after the power of an Elder Stone, and she had to wonder if the same thing was happening now. This was Nyaesh, after all, and there was the power of the Elders. But in order to reach it, they would need to have some way of digging into the place where the power of the Elder Stone was stored.

  Where would that be?

  Carth would know.

  Three Ai’thol suddenly appeared in front of her.

  Lucy reacted, sending a command, but this time it was unfocused, and she slammed outward, Pushing it at all three at the same time. With the command, she demanded that they fight the Ai’thol. There was no image attached to it as before, making it almost ambiguous, and yet the Ai’thol reacted, Sliding away. When they returned, they started fighting the others like them.

  Could she turn the entire tide of this fight by Pushing on the Ai’thol? Could she force them all to attack their compatriots?

  Lucy focused on the nearest of the Ai’thol and turned that attention against them. With a little more force, she thought she would be able to resolve this.

  The Binders continued to attack the Ai’thol, and as they went, there was an ongoing battle, the Ai’thol attacking near the wall over and again.

  Why would they be attacking there?

  Power exploded near the wall surrounding the palace, and it seemed as if the wall itself had a faint glow to it.

  She’d seen that before.

  Ras.

  The power of the Elder Stone was here, and it was this power the Ai’thol were after. They were somehow using the wall, but what did they want it for?

  A pair of Ai’thol neared her, and she lashed out, Pushing on them, forcing them away. Rather than having them attack something or someone else, she sent the message that they should Slide away.

  Once, she wouldn’t have believed it possible for them, but she’d seen the way the C’than used it, how their strongholds absorbed the power of the Elder Stones.

  Whether or not this was intentional was a different matter. Considering that Carth had been here, and that this was such a place of C’than power, she had a hard time thinking that it was not intentional.

  And if it was intentional, what else did they hope to accomplish?

  Lucy found no evidence of Carth. She circled the Ai’thol, taking control of some of them as she went, sending them off, forcing them to Slide away. Hopefully her Push remained active long enough for them to stay away from her, but she didn’t know if it would.

  Could this be what the Ai’thol had been after all along?

  They had worked with the C’than, bringing test subjects to them, and in exchange, the Ai’thol had gotten closer to the Elder Stone. She had a hard time thinking the C’than didn’t know what would happen if the Ai’thol were allowed such access, and that could only mean that they either felt it didn’t matter, or they were arrogant enough to believe they could control the Ai’thol. Having seen the C’than—and having Read them—she had to believe that it was the latter.

  There were too many Ai’thol for the attackers. Rayen blazed through, shadows swirling, slicing as if made of metal, carving down Ai’thol, and surprisingly, Daniel fought with her, attacking with the same sort of violence, Sliding from place to place, his ability far greater than she had given him credit for. He was incredibly skilled, and his time training with Rayen—and Carth—had increased his skills to the point where he was able to move through here as if there was nothing to it.

  Carth was there. Blasts of heat told Lucy where to find her, but the heat was mixed with something else, the explosion coming from a combination of her abilities. She was close to Lucy even now, somehow masking her thoughts as she fought, and Lucy had to admit she was a little disappointed not to be able to Read Carth better in the midst of a battle.

  The Binders were fighting off the Ai’thol as well as could be expected, and they didn’t do so alone. There were others here, men and women skilled with the sword, using fire to explode around them, heat and flame that was so similar to Carth’s magic.

  The A’ras.

  Their minds weren’t closed to her, and as she surveyed the fight, she Read the struggles they faced. Many of them were conflicted, feeling guilty about what they had done—or nearly done. They had betrayed their city.

  As she circled around, she could feel power building. It came from some deep place, as if it were flowing through her, flowing through the Ai’thol, and as it continued to build, growing stronger and stronger, Lucy wanted nothing more than to retreat, but she didn’t dare do so. She needed to be here, needed to know what was goi
ng to take place.

  More than any of that, she needed to find someone who could help her unlock the chains holding the women.

  The ground began to shake.

  All around her, the battle continued to rage, and Lucy could only keep Pushing, sending Ai’thol after Ai’thol away. But each person she sent away was replaced by another. It was an onslaught, an ongoing deluge of power, and it told her that whatever they were after was just as important as what they had been after in Asador.

  Could they have succeeded there?

  She and her friends had believed that they protected the Wisdom Stone, but what if they had not? What if the others had somehow managed to use that stone, to store its power as she suspected the C’than were storing power now?

  A troubling thought came to her. The cage that had held Rsiran—that had been made of a similar metal, and it had definitely been exposed to the Wisdom Stone. Would it have absorbed some of that stone’s power?

  Lucy Slid from place to place, Pushing on the minds of the Ai’thol she encountered, working her way through them, paying no mind to anyone else around. She was able to Slide quickly, easily, and as she went, she found no resistance to her movements.

  The Ai’thol continued to fight, attack after attack, and she struggled to understand what they were doing, other than the fact that it had something to do with the wall.

  As she continued to watch, it remained clear to her that power flowed from the wall.

  Could that be the Elder Stone?

  If it was, then why would it be out in the open like that?

  No… that wouldn’t be the Elder Stone. More likely, the Elder Stone was somewhere inside here, and she would need to figure out where so that she could help protect it.

  With that thought, the wall exploded.

  Lucy was tossed from her feet. She tried to Slide backward and catch herself, but she was thrown too far away and wasn’t able to get back up.

  She lay there, the pain of the explosion throbbing through her. Slowly she managed to get to her feet, and she saw that the wall had been destroyed.

  The Ai’thol flickered around, Sliding.

  Her head pounded. It reminded her of the pain she had felt when the implant had been placed, and as much as she tried to focus on what was taking place around her, she couldn’t. An attempt to Read others around her failed. She felt as if she were quivering with pain.

  Her eyesight blurred, and she leaned down, crouching next to a fragment of the wall. Lucy looked at it, holding on to it for a moment. Warmth radiated from the stone, and to her eyes, it seemed as if it glowed, reminding her of not only Ras but also the swordsmen they had encountered out near Thyr. As Lucy continued to hold the stone, her vision began to clear. The pain in her head eased. Warmth rolled through her, strangely reminding her of the sensation that accompanied Darren’s Healing.

  The fighting was done, and Carth remained with Rayen and Daniel, but she saw no sign of Haern or Rsiran. They would be needed if she was to help the captives.

  Lucy Slid toward them, readying for the possibility of another attack, and when she emerged, the stone from the wall was gone.

  Carth watched her. “What is it?”

  “Later. First, we need to finish this.”

  42

  Daniel

  A ring of Ai’thol surrounded the destroyed wall. Binders pressed back, attempting to refuse access, though Daniel wondered how long they could hold out. The attack continued to press, and the Binders were crushed against the wall with increasing force.

  Shadows streaked away from Carth. She wrapped them around several of the Ai’thol, squeezing, and men dropped, only to suddenly disappear.

  Someone was Sliding them away.

  Rsiran Lareth Slid, appearing and standing motionless. Knives swirled around him, a combination of metals Daniel had never understood, but his control over it was remarkable. He held on to those knives, keeping them out before him, and glanced over to Carth. “I need something that will be believable.”

  “I have something, but we’ll need the others to hold them back,” she said. Carth glanced over to Daniel. “Are you ready for this?”

  “I’m as ready as I think I can be,” he said. How many others would be there? They had the Binders, but they needed others to fight. He didn’t want to rely upon Haern, not if he was going to be part of the plan with Rsiran Lareth, part of the rescue and removal of the Elder Stone.

  This had to be his fight.

  “I’m not nearly as skilled as the Ai’thol with the sword.”

  “You don’t have to be,” Carth said. “You’ve begun to learn to strategize. You need to use that as much as your fighting prowess. Others might be better fighters, but you have begun to learn how to outthink others. Use that. It matters almost as much as how powerful you might be.”

  Daniel nodded, unable to say anything more.

  Haern clasped his hand. “Good luck. I wish—” Haern didn’t have a chance to finish. One of the Ai’thol came lunging toward him, and Daniel Slid, putting himself in between them and forcing his blade up.

  The Ai’thol turned his attention to Daniel, who grimaced as he pushed off, forcing back the blade, trying to create some separation, uncertain whether he would be strong enough to do so.

  The Ai’thol he faced was powerful.

  Daniel Slid, and he flickered for a moment before emerging back where he’d been before.

  The Forger was facing the wrong way, and Daniel brought his sword around, driving it through the man’s belly.

  He spun, but Carth—along with Rsiran and Haern—was gone.

  He continued to fight through the line of Ai’thol. When he reached Rayen, she grinned at him. “It’s good to have you fighting with us, Elvraeth.”

  Daniel didn’t have an opportunity to answer. The Ai’thol kept coming, one after another, a flood of them. There had to be fifty or more, and there were barely more than a dozen Binders, only those who had been on board the ship. The Ai’thol all had the ability to Slide, borrowed from whatever magic they stole, however they had taken it from the Elder Stones, and they forced their way forward.

  An explosion thundered behind them, though it was distant.

  Daniel hesitated, glancing over his shoulder. “I’ll be right back,” he said to Rayen.

  She had her shadows stretched out from her, and she didn’t answer, but then he never gave her the opportunity.

  Daniel Slid, emerging near where he’d heard the sound.

  Three Ai’thol were attacking the wall.

  He looked past them and saw others attacking another section.

  He Slid, returning to the fight, grabbing Rayen and Sliding away once more.

  When he emerged, she jerked free of him. “What are you—”

  Daniel pointed.

  Her eyes narrowed.

  “Sneaky.”

  “Whatever they want is on the other side of the wall.”

  “That’s where Carth kept the Elder Stone,” Rayen said.

  “Behind the wall?”

  “In the palace. The palace is generally secured by masters of the A’ras, and the masters of the A’ras have a deeper connection to their magic than others, one that is not dependent upon the Elder Stone, so she intended for them to continue to protect it.”

  And now they wanted to break through the wall in order to get to the palace.

  “They can’t Slide past it?”

  “Apparently there’s something in the wall that makes it difficult.”

  Interesting. Lareth didn’t have that difficulty, but then, Lareth didn’t have any difficulty when it came to Sliding. Would Lucy? With her additional abilities, it seemed to Daniel that she might be able to Slide beyond the wall just as easily, but maybe there was something to Lareth and his ability.

  Regardless, the attempt to knock down the wall would give the Ai’thol an opportunity, and they needed to stop it.

  Daniel Slid.

  He probably shouldn’t have, but he emerged in the
middle of them.

  The Ai’thol suddenly turned their attention to him.

  Daniel Slid again and did as he had before, flickering for a moment before returning to the metal. As before, it caught them off guard, and he managed to slide his blade into the belly of the first man, the one nearest the wall. He Slid, drawing his sword away as he did, and when he emerged, the two men spun toward him.

  He wouldn’t be able to get away with that trick again. They Slid, appearing on either side of him.

  Daniel reached the top of the wall. He jumped, flipping as he landed, and swung his sword off to the side. He clipped one man on the arm, not a heavy blow, but enough to force him to drop his sword. As he twisted, the other Ai’thol was bringing his sword down, swinging toward Daniel’s face.

  He wasn’t able to react in time. He braced himself for the impact.

  It never came.

  Shadows jerked the man back, and Rayen kicked, driving with much more force than he would have thought possible. Something cracked, and the man went still.

  “If you’re going to fight like that, maybe you should give me some sort of warning. You know, I can help.”

  “I know you can,” Daniel said.

  “Then you’d rather do it yourself?”

  “I figured you would know what I needed,” he said, smiling.

  “That’s a dangerous ploy,” she said.

  “Only if you hadn’t shown up.”

  He Slid, bringing Rayen with him. They emerged near the wall, and this time when he Slid to the center, Rayen darted forward, wrapping shadows around two of the Ai’thol, leaving Daniel with only one of the three. He twisted, swinging the sword around, sweeping his blade against the Ai’thol. He Slid, flickering for a moment before reappearing, this time behind Rayen.

  The Ai’thol attempted to reach her, but shadows prevented him.

  Daniel Slid, swinging his sword through an arc in the middle of the Slide, so that when he emerged, he was already sweeping his blade toward the Ai’thol.