Cloud Warrior 05 - Forged in Fire

by Holmberg, D. K.

  “I’m not saying we align ourselves with Incendin. Only that we need to use them. They have experience facing Par-shon. We can take advantage of that.”

  Tan looked down the hall to Amia and wondered if it needed to be more than that. She wasn’t from the kingdoms originally. She owed nothing. What she did, she did on behalf of Tan, wanting him to be safe, to be happy. Yet she had helped the kingdoms as much as any shaper since he had met her. If not for her, Incendin might have the artifact. Now, when he looked at Cora, he saw another outsider, another person with a unique perspective, but one who understood the dangers they faced in Par-shon. She was a survivor. If they could move beyond the fear of Incendin, they could learn so much from each other.

  “Doma is the first to fall on this continent,” Tan said, “but Doma won’t be the last. Once Par-shon reaches Incendin, they will only be a border away. We need to do whatever we can to protect ourselves from them.”

  Roine clasped Tan on the shoulder. “The kingdoms has survived for over a thousand years. We will weather this as well.” He took a deep breath, glancing past Tan. “And Incendin moves again. For now, let them attack Par-shon. Let them bloody and weaken themselves. We can grow stronger, set our barrier. We can have the time we need.”

  “How do you know that Incendin is moving?”

  Roine’s mouth tightened. “You’re not the only shaper who doesn’t listen to me.”

  “Mother?”

  Roine nodded slowly. “Zephra has shown that Incendin readies for attack. Because of that, we need to be ready. Now. Know that we will do everything we can—and I will do all that I can—to keep the kingdoms safe, but we can’t sacrifice our ideals to do so.”

  With that, Roine gave Tan a firm nod and took his leave.

  Tan wasn’t certain what ideals the kingdoms valued. He didn’t know what they risked. From what he’d seen, the kingdoms had committed many of the same atrocities as both Incendin and Par-shon. The archives contained records of these events, records detailing how the elementals had once been forced to serve, much like what Par-shon did now. They may have used a different term, but did harnessing make it any better than the forced bonding that Par-shon did?

  Tan sensed Amia waiting for him as she waited with Cora. He didn’t know what he needed to do, only that if he were to serve the kingdoms—if he were to be the Athan that Roine had bestowed upon him—he might be forced to act in ways that went against the king regent.

  The change he knew would be needed for them to survive would be hard, but it had to start somewhere. He thought of all the changes he had gone through since leaving Nor, how different he was from the naïve boy who had left his village with the intent to lead the king’s Athan through the mountain passes. Each choice had seemed so small at the time, but looking back, he recognized how significant each one was. Now he was a warrior, able to shape all of the elements, able to speak to the elementals, and a rider of draasin. Now he was the Athan. But each step had taken change. Each one was only a small change, but it led to such a great effect.

  Tan considered the door Roine had vanished behind. What changes would the king regent have to make? And the other shapers, could they change as well? What changes would Tan still have to undergo? Even were he to want to avoid them, could the kingdoms afford it?

  13

  A New Bond

  The air around Tan was hot and dry, burning with the elemental power of the draasin. Asboel streaked through the air with his powerful wings pumping, his breath steaming out from him in great gusts. Tan focused on what Asboel could see beneath him, the steadily changing landscape now becoming increasingly barren.

  “We’re going to cross into Incendin soon,” he said to Cianna, who rode behind him.

  Tan suspected Asboel knew his reason for bringing Cianna with him, more than simply for her to meet the draasin. For them to survive Par-shon, they would need to have strength equal to Par-shon. That meant shapers augmented by the power of the elementals. Everything he’d learned searching through the archives had told him that shapers had once bound to the elementals, though some had been harnessed rather than given freely.

  “You shouldn’t have brought me,” Cianna said.

  Tan twisted to see a wide smile on her face.

  “I might be tempted to take the bond from you myself.”

  “I doubt he’d allow it, but you could try,” Tan suggested.

  Cianna laughed. Her flaming hair was wild in the wind and she seemed not to care. The longer they flew, the more comfortable she became, to the point where she no longer even held onto Asboel’s spikes, clinging to his back with only her knees, riding him much like a skilled equestrian.

  Perhaps I should have chosen her, Asboel sent as they crossed the remains of the barrier.

  Tan felt the barrier as a soft tingle across his skin. Each time he passed over, he had felt its lingering effects wane further. Now, for the first time, he noted that it was stronger than it had been. Roine was rebuilding the barrier.

  You would have her assume the bond?

  She is bold.

  Tan had already seen Asboel’s approval of her shaping ability and now sensed a new appreciation. It was this reason that he’d chosen Cianna for what he intended. And Sashari? Does she approve?

  Asboel looked up to Sashari as she soared high overhead. The female draasin was smaller than Asboel, but quicker and nearly as powerful. Tan had not seen her in battle, but the fierce way she protected the hatchlings made him suspect that she would be as formidable as Asboel. Had the draasin bonded a thousand years ago, the ancient shapers might have better understood them rather than feared them.

  Understanding does not eliminate fear, Maelen. Sometimes understanding only furthers fear, provides justification for it.

  Small steps, Asboel. We must begin with one. Then another. In time, we can reach the rest.

  Cianna yelled with delight behind him as Asboel banked, twisting back toward the kingdoms. They wouldn’t push too far into Incendin until they knew more about what the movement of within Incendin his mother had seen meant. As much as Tan wanted to investigate Incendin himself, he would honor Roine’s request for now and remain within the kingdoms while trying to figure out how he could help Elle.

  He still had not reached her again, and this in spite of trying twice more. Neither time had produced anything resembling the flare of connection he’d achieved when he first managed to reach her. Tan didn’t know what it meant. Possibly nothing. But what if Par-shon had captured her? What if she had bonded and they were separating her from it?

  Tan felt Cianna move and looked back to see her standing on Asboel’s back. She had her arms outstretched and a look of joy spread on her face.

  “What are you doing?” He had to yell over the wind.

  Cianna only laughed. “If I fall, it will be worth it. I never thought to ever see one of the draasin and here I am standing atop his back, flying!”

  Tan pulled her back down so that she settled between the spikes again. “Now you’re sitting.”

  She only laughed at him.

  She is fearless, Asboel noted.

  She’s having fun, Tan said. But there are other ways to express it.

  Asboel snorted and sent flame shooting from his mouth. They arced in a wide circle. As they did, a massive shadow drifted toward them. Tan looked up to see Sashari dropping quickly before spreading her wings and catching the wind, slowing as she did.

  Sashari would allow her to ride, Asboel said.

  Tan sensed that if Cianna didn’t take this opportunity, it would be lost. “You’re to switch to the other draasin,” he told her.

  “He’s offended by my presence?”

  “I don’t think so. Impressed is more accurate. But she’s jealous she has no rider.”

  Cianna grinned at him. “How do you expect me to reach her?”

  “Jump.”

  Cianna stood and faced Sashari as the other draasin dropped below Asboel. With barely a hesitation, she jumped, press
ing with a shaping of fire to guide her over to Sashari, landing smoothly atop her back. Cianna settled in and Sashari soared, climbing in the air with a powerful beating of her massive wings.

  You chose well, Maelen.

  Was it that transparent?

  I know you. I know what you would ask of the draasin.

  They soared above the forested mountains of Galen. Somewhere below them was the lake where Tan had once freed Asboel. Now that place of convergence had been abandoned, but the memory of the draasin was still there.

  I don’t know that it will even work. Not all are able to speak to the elementals.

  All have the capacity to know the Mother. That is all that is required.

  You think any can learn spirit?

  Asboel flicked his tail, a gesture Tan had come to know as a sense of frustration. Not spirit. The Mother is not spirit any more than the draasin are fire.

  Tan wondered what that meant as they flew over Sashari. She seemed intent on either dumping Cianna from her back or impressing her; she banked and swooped, each time in ever-impressive tricks. Every time Tan saw Cianna’s face, the smile had spread.

  You once told me that the draasin are fire.

  The draasin are fire and are not. Much like the Mother is spirit and is not.

  You’re confusing me, Tan said.

  Only because you don’t have the capacity to understand. At least you recognize your ignorance.

  Tan considered what Asboel told him as they started back toward Ethea. Asboel would leave them outside the city, trusting Tan to return them the rest of the way. He still hadn’t learned how the draasin got into the tunnels beneath the city. If he truly wanted to know, Asboel would likely share, but for now it didn’t matter.

  Will it work? he asked Asboel.

  The massive draasin started their descent. He let them coast, wings tilted in such a way that the wind buffeted off it, bringing him to the ground with speed and control. Claws gripped the ground as they landed.

  It will depend upon Sashari. She was willing to meet. That was a start, I think.

  There may not be time for delay. The risk is great for all if we don’t begin to reforge the bonds that were lost.

  You will not stop with the draasin, Asboel noted.

  To save the elementals, I don’t think I can. Tan thought about his ability, about how he possessed gifts so rare, they might never have been seen before. There was a reason the Great Mother had given them to him. This is my purpose, Asboel. This is the service the Mother demands of me.

  Asboel said nothing for a while. Then, You have earned our trust, Maelen. I will tell her what you said.

  The landing was in a rocky overlook to the west of the city. The air was still and cool, carrying a hint of rain. A few scrub trees grew along the rocks, but nothing else. Ethea could be seen, but it was distant, far enough that those living within the city wouldn’t fear the sight of the draasin soaring overhead. Eventually, the rest of the city would come around to the idea that the draasin were not the enemy, but Tan knew it would take time.

  Asboel tilted his head back, watching as Sashari landed next to him. She was nearly as long as Asboel, but leaner and sleeker. Where he had a thickened scaly hide so red it was nearly black, she had streaks of gold and bright red mixed along her flanks. Much like Asboel, massive spikes protruded around her back and neck. Her tail had barbs, though they were not as pronounced.

  Cianna jumped from Sashari and bowed to the massive draasin, making a point of maintaining eye contact as she did. Sashari snorted, smoke billowing from her nostrils, and then she leapt to the sky in a quick fluttering of wings.

  Hunt well, Asboel, Tan said.

  Always, Maelen.

  Asboel lifted to the air and followed Sashari. They circled around to the north before fading from sight. Both Tan and Cianna watched them until they disappeared to nothing.

  “Thank you for that,” Cianna finally said.

  “I promised that I would.”

  “There is no other reason?”

  Tan shrugged as he prepared a shaping that would bring them back to Ethea. “Does there need to be another reason?”

  Her smile split her face again, and she reached up to smooth down hair that flew wildly around her. “Not really. But I think there is.”

  Tan hesitated. Cianna deserved to know his intention, especially if she was to be a partner in what he had in mind. For all he knew, she might refuse if Sashari offered to bond. And there was no guarantee that the draasin would even agree to it.

  “With Par-shon threatening in Doma, we will need shapers of strength to keep the kingdoms safe,” he said.

  “You look beyond Incendin already? Theondar says—”

  “Theondar is wrong,” Tan said, interrupting her as gently as he could. “He sees only the threat he knows, not the one that he doesn’t understand. That doesn’t make them any less dangerous.”

  Cianna crossed her arms over her chest. Heat radiated from her as it usually did, sliding away and dancing around him. Connected to fire as he was, he barely noticed anymore. “What does this have to do with me? You think I should ignore what my king has asked and help you rescue your friend in Doma?” She arched her brow. “Don’t think I haven’t heard about your little trip there, especially after that shaping you sent throughout the city.”

  “How many know about that?” he asked. He hadn’t intended for everyone to be aware of his actions, but if he’d used enough power to reach Elle, he should have expected something like this.

  “How many? I think all of Ethea felt what you did. Most probably didn’t know what it was, but likely they felt it. The shapers knew. Those who were unsure that you should be Athan are now convinced. I don’t know the last time I felt a shaping that strong.”

  The last time would have been Althem, but Tan didn’t want to remind Cianna of that. “I needed to know if she was safe. When we were trying to heal Cora, I heard her.”

  Cianna raised her hands to fend off discussion. “You don’t have to convince me, Tan. I’ve been with you enough to know what you’ve risked. The others may need more convincing, but this was a start.”

  Tan glanced down at the ring Roine had given him. “They probably think Roine mistaken in giving me this title.”

  Cianna laughed. “You can be stupid sometimes, you know that?”

  “What?”

  “It doesn’t take a skilled shaper to recognize how powerful you’ve become. And to think it has only been a few months since you first came to the city! Besides, Ferran voiced support. For most, that was enough.”

  That the earth shaper would support him meant quite a lot. He had been one of the first masters Tan had met. When he’d met him, Ferran had been focused on trying to understand where each student came from, testing to see if anyone had ties to Incendin. Now he seemed different. He was focused on repairing the university.

  “Only Ferran?”

  Cianna grinned again. “I supported you too, but there is little love for fire.”

  “I like fire just fine,” he said.

  Cianna studied him. “There aren’t many who understand it. I think what you’ve been through has shown you the dangers of fire, but also its uses. There is power to it, but destruction. Using fire means balancing between the two. You have to be willing to risk everything for the reward.”

  “That sounds like what the lisincend would have claimed.”

  Her smile faded. “I didn’t say you would do anything. I know how it nearly consumed you. You’re lucky you speak to water, that the elementals restored you. Others would not be so lucky.”

  “You knew of Cora before. What was she?”

  “Those of us from Nara have known of a fearsome shaper for many years. Corasha Saladan is a name many knew. I did not know she was a warrior too, but her ability with fire is renowned.” She crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes hardening. “Had I known it was Cora you returned from Incendin, I would have killed her the moment she stepped foot in the kingdom
s.”

  The Cora that Tan had come to know didn’t strike him as anyone he needed to fear, but then again, Tan didn’t know her reputation or what she’d done.

  “Thank you for supporting me. I will do what I can to prove I deserve it.”

  She laughed. “Do you really think you must do more? It seems you’ve already done enough. You have shown me the draasin and convinced it to let me ride. That is enough.”

  “There is more, if you would be willing.”

  Cianna clasped her hands in front of her, her eyes twinkling as she nodded. “Of course there would be more. I think I’ve already said I’m not interested in working against Theondar. He has made it clear that a rescue in Doma is too dangerous. In that, I happen to agree with him.”

  “Rescue isn’t what I have in mind for Doma,” Tan started, “but that’s not what I want to ask you about.” Her brow raised as she waited. “You are right that there was another reason I brought you to meet the draasin. You saw what we faced when the Par-shon shapers attempted to separate me from my bond with the draasin. And you saw again what we faced when their shapers came to Nara. There are countless more from Par-shon—”

  “You’ve said this before, Tan. I understand the danger. We are working to get ready, to rebuild the barrier. Theondar has many ways that he is attempting to protect the kingdoms.”

  “As am I,” he said. “If Par-shon manages to somehow bond one of the draasin, they will have enough elemental strength to overpower us completely. There might be nothing we could do to stop them.”

  “You have kept the draasin from them,” Cianna said.

  “The hatchlings only. They are young and still weak. In time, they might be strong enough to help him in his plans, but now they are more helpless than anything. It’s the others I worry about. If he forces them to bond, not only the draasin will suffer, but the kingdoms as well.”

  Cianna cocked her head, studying Tan. “I take it from what you’re implying that you expect me to form a bond with one of the draasin? That’s why you brought me here?”