Endless Night

by D. K. Holmberg

  “You would study me, Bishop?”

  “Not study. Train. And you would learn from others like yourself who were not able to learn traditional techniques for shaping.”

  As he waited to hear her answer, curious what questions she might ask next, a loudly tolling bell began to ring at the edge of the city.

  To his ears, enhanced by his connection to the wind, the bell sounded terribly loud. “What is that?”

  Reyanne stared into the distance, into the growing darkness of the night. A frown furrowed the corners of her mouth. “We have not heard the bells here in many years. Before I came to Jornas.”

  “What is it?” he repeated.

  “An attack, Bishop. Jornas is under attack.”

  36

  Ciara

  Hyaln traditionally studied four aspects of contact to the elements. The enlightened reach spirit and many would believe they are the most potent connection within Hyaln, but each branch makes a similar claim.

  —Rolan al’Sand, Enlightened of Hyaln

  Ciara stood in the clearing outside the camp, staring at the draasin. She barely had to tap the j’na now for the connection to it to return. Had she finally learned what she needed to know well enough that she no longer had to struggle to reach the summons?

  She tapped the spear again and light surged once more.

  Strange that she had managed to learn what she had without any teaching. When Cheneth had returned, he had forced her to go through the different patterns, and she had managed to complete them without the same difficulty she had before. Only, she still had not attempted to reach the lizard. She didn’t dare. If she called Tenebeth again, even if it was accidental, she wasn’t sure she would be able to suppress him. She had done all that she could so far and still barely survived. How would she ever be able to defeat Tenebeth?

  And now Cheneth wanted her to go with Jasn Volth beyond Rens. The idea once would have appealed to her. Not only because it was Volth, and there was something so captivating about him and the strength she had seen from him, the way he was almost as hard as a man raised in Rens—certainly harder than what she had seen in Fas—but because the opportunity to return to her homeland should appeal to her. Only, it did not.

  When she had seen what happened to her father, and to Fas, and to all the others she cared about, she had been afraid. Truly afraid. That was not the mark of a nya’shin. And now Cheneth claimed she was more than nya’shin, that she was to be ala’shin.

  The draasin looked at her with deep orange eyes that seemed to know what she was thinking.

  “I don’t want to return to my home,” she whispered.

  The draasin snorted.

  Ciara wished she had the ability to speak to the draasin in the same way Alena did. From what Alena had shared, this draasin—the one Alena referred to as Sashi, a name that sounded too much like an insult in Rens for Ciara to use it to refer to the elemental—had been summoned from far across the sea.

  Had it been by her father?

  The draasin would likely have given some sort of reaction were that the case. But then who? Another of the ala’shin? Ciara didn’t know enough about the other villages, only that they existed, that their people still communicated, though infrequently. Had she remained in the village, it was possible she would have joined the elders and she could have made the crossing to the maorl, the annual meeting place.

  Water sensing revealed Jasn Volth coming near.

  She might be able to use her strange summons in ways she still didn’t understand, calling to the elementals, but she could not use those powers the way Jasn Volth so easily did. She could still sense water, though her time here had blunted her ability somewhat, but she had much practice in reaching water.

  “I’m not certain you should do this,” Jasn said to her.

  He wore a long brown cloak that covered his sword, which was his constant companion. His mouth was a hard, flat line, but his eyes were soft, giving lie to the annoyance that he displayed.

  “Cheneth told us that you would not make this journey alone.”

  “He made it.”

  “I am not sure Cheneth is like us, Jasn Volth.”

  He was stronger and more knowledgeable, and Ciara wondered if Cheneth would be able to defeat Tenebeth were he to come. The scholar claimed he had immunity to Tenebeth’s call, something Ciara would like to have, especially with his strange, seductive cry. There were nights when she lay in the bed staring at the ceiling, thinking she heard the same call trying to draw her away from the barracks. She had refused, but would she always? How many times would Tenebeth attempt to reach her?

  “No. But that doesn’t mean that he’s right every time.”

  Ciara tapped her j’na on the ground as she approached the draasin. Spending time with her had made her less nervous around the elemental than she had been before. That and the fact that the summons seemed to work as she needed made her much more comfortable. And at least this draasin hadn’t simply abandoned her when they had traveled to Rens, not like the first time she’d ridden.

  “I have asked, Jasn Volth. She will take you.”

  Jasn stopped and stood in front of the draasin, his hand raised. Somehow, through the summons, she was able to detect the shaping he used. She might not know which of the elements he controlled, but she could feel the effect on the draasin. It was a soothing sort of sense, one that led the creature to lower her head.

  Ciara snapped the j’na on the ground.

  The sound and the summons attached to it broke through the shaping Jasn used. The draasin sat up, shaking her head from side to side, flashing her spike as if in warning.

  “I don’t think you should do that,” Ciara said.

  Jasn considered her a moment and then nodded. “Are you ready?”

  “I am, but then, I am not the one searching for my lost lover.”

  Jasn blinked. “Not lost,” he said softly. “She’s supposed to be dead.”

  “And you fear that Tenebeth claimed her.”

  “I fear that might be what happened,” Jasn agreed.

  “And Cheneth has convinced you otherwise?”

  “He’s convinced me there’s the possibility that alternatives exist. I will take any alternative I can.”

  “What if she has been claimed by Tenebeth?”

  “Then I hope you will find a way to help her.”

  He watched her in that intense way he had, his dark eyes piercing through her. Ciara felt her heart flutter and wished she had some way of shaping to slow it. A flush washed over her, starting in her toes and building, rising up through her, and she looked away, afraid to stare too deeply into his eyes.

  “Cheneth asked that we stop before taking you beyond the waste,” she said.

  Jasn frowned. “He did?”

  “He thinks there’s a place you need to see before you go.”

  As she told him, Jasn only nodded.

  The draasin settled them to the ground outside K’ral, the cool Tsanth air billowing against her cloak. At least this time she was dressed better for the weather, nothing like the last time she’d been here, dressed in only her elouf, the thin fabric not enough to keep her warm.

  Dew dampened the ground. Water pressed all around her, but now so did a connection to fire. She had barely to set the j’na to the ground to reestablish the summons for the draasin. At least now she had the hope that she would not be left here, not as she had the last time. Even if she was, she was with Jasn Volth.

  The thought made her flush again. Thankfully, he wasn’t watching her, instead looking all around. During the flight, Jasn had kept his hands on her hips, afraid to hold on to the draasin itself. She hadn’t been able to hide the heat flowing through her or the way that her heart pounded. At least she had the excuse that they rode the draasin. She wouldn’t have to explain the reason her heart raced or the way the blood pounded in her veins or the warm flush that filled her cheeks.

  “I have been here only once,” Jasn said. “And that was whe
n we found you.”

  Ciara tapped her j’na. The draasin watched her, and she sent an image of the draasin staying where she was, wanting her to remain in place rather than flying off. If she could convince the draasin to do that, she would feel better. As much as she might like having Jasn Volth around, she didn’t want to have to rely upon him staying with her.

  “I had not been here before either.”

  “I never asked how you ended up in Tsanth.”

  “The draasin,” she answered.

  “You summoned the draasin to bring you to Tsanth?”

  “I summoned the draasin, but I had never managed to do it before. And once I was here, the draasin flew off, leaving me. I thought that I would die here.”

  She remembered too well the first night she had been here, the cold air biting through her elouf and her chained to a post, unable to move. Olina had claimed it was a test, a way to prove she hadn’t been tainted by Tenebeth, but Ciara still didn’t know if that was true or if it had been fear that had driven the wise woman to leave her. That had been the second time she’d faced Tenebeth and the first time she really understood the darkness he controlled.

  “You didn’t come here to learn?” Jasn asked.

  “I don’t know why the draasin brought me here.”

  Jasn stopped next to her, staring down at the village as he did, and sighed. “Perhaps they knew you needed to come to the barracks. That you needed to find Cheneth.”

  Ciara hoped that was true. The alternative—that the draasin she had summoned had somehow been controlled by Tenebeth—made her more afraid.

  She hadn’t shared that concern with anyone, not wanting to reveal her fear. She had proven she could ride the draasin, and she was a nya’shin. Ciara should have control over her fear. Only, that wasn’t as true as she wanted.

  Such as when she stood next to Jasn Volth, close enough to feel the warmth radiating from him and smell his strong, masculine scent.

  Ciara pushed down the flush that came over her again. She could not let herself think like that, not now that she knew she was ala’shin and that she needed to somehow reunite the people of Rens. Even more than that, she suspected. She had to help not only Rens, but somehow all the lands threatened by Tenebeth… only, she didn’t know if she could.

  37

  Ciara

  Those who study the rune traps can hold massive amounts of elemental power. Volth triggered a trap with barely any training. He intrigues me nearly as much as Ciara S’Shala.

  —Rolan al’Sand, Enlightened of Hyaln

  The inside of Olina’s home had a certain warmth to it. The fire blazed in the hearth, and Ciara sat in the same chair that she’d sat in when Olina had welcomed her, holding a steaming cup of broth that had once been too hot for her to drink. Now when Ciara brought the cup to her mouth, she sipped, tasting the heat but not overwhelmed by it.

  “Cheneth has taught you much,” Olina said.

  “What has he taught me?” Ciara asked, her other hand holding on to her j’na. Were she separated from her spear, she would not have the ability to summon the draasin, let alone any of the other elementals.

  “You came atop the draasin again. I can feel her presence.”

  “Do you speak to the draasin?” Ciara asked. With what Cheneth said about the wise, she had wondered if that were how they controlled them.

  The older woman shook her head. “I do not have such a talent, not as the other you went with possessed. And she might speak to them, but there is a different sort of connection to the draasin when you summon them, different than what the wise possess.”

  She’d noticed that the draasin had treated her differently than Alena. Alena spoke about the draasin struggling to find herself, to understand what had happened after she had been healed, but Ciara saw none of that. She had simply flown with her, had used her connection to the draasin and the summons to return. How did the wise communicate with the elementals? She suspected there was more than what Olina let on.

  Carth took another slow drink of the broth. The woody flavor rolled along the sides of her mouth and seared her throat, but still she managed to drink. “You sent me to Cheneth so that I could learn, but he didn’t teach me anything.”

  “There are many types of learning, nya’shin.”

  “Did you know that Cheneth taught my people?” That was the reason that Ciara had wanted to come to Tsanth and find Olina again. She needed to know whether the woman had known about Cheneth when she met her the first time.

  “I knew Cheneth long ago, before he ever left Hyaln.”

  “What was he like then?”

  “Observant,” Olina said softly. “A dangerous man, at least to some. When he left, he was given the assignment to remain in Rens, but he chose to offer guidance to the people. Few expected him to survive for long.”

  Ciara leaned forward. She hadn’t heard that.

  “The war between Rens and Ter had only begun, but it was obvious even then that Ter and their shapers would overpower Rens. A few of us understood what that meant, especially to the elementals in Rens.”

  “And what would that mean?” Ciara asked, but she already thought that she knew. There was a reason Cheneth had taught her father and the others like him how to summon the elementals. He hadn’t wanted them attacked and had wanted to do what he could to prevent their destruction. Doing so meant teaching the ala’shin how to summon.

  Olina took a sip of her broth and then set it on the ground. “Ignorance doesn’t suit you well, ala’shin.” She said the word with the same inflection that Cheneth had used, something between a command and a request that sent her heart fluttering slightly.

  “Who intends to release Tenebeth? Who has been drawing him?” Cheneth hadn’t discovered the answer yet.

  Olina leaned back in her chair and rested her head. “The answer to that is both longer and shorter than I can explain. Know that there are those who know and still have risked drawing him forth. Arrogant men and women who think that they can command rather than be commanded.” She closed her eyes. “You saw what happened with Nevan. Even here, when he knows the dark touch of Tenebeth, we have those who have risked what they should not for power. Now imagine if you already had knowledge and went searching for power.”

  Ciara took the last sip of her broth. “The riders. That’s who you mean, isn’t it?”

  Olina opened her eyes and turned her attention to the fire. “They are riders now, but they should not be.”

  “Why?”

  “Long ago, riders filled the sky. The draasin were summoned, but not only the draasin. Other elementals answered the summons, as well.”

  “The wise.”

  Olina turned away and nodded.

  “What happened with them?”

  “Elementals were turned, and those who once rode were defeated. The others chose to leave.”

  “You mean from Hyaln?”

  “Hyaln is not the place it once was.”

  “Why would Cheneth want Jasn to make the journey if it would place him in danger?”

  “There are those who still understand the darkness that threatens the world. There are those who still could help, were they only coaxed.” She sighed. “I do not know what Cheneth thinks this other could do, but would not doubt that he is right.”

  “And what of me?”

  “You must continue to understand your power. You must continue to understand why you can reach not only the draasin, but nobelas.”

  “And other elementals,” Ciara said softly.

  Olina’s eyes widened slightly. “Even more reason that you should focus on learning. When you do what Cheneth asks, you must return, demand that he teach, and prove your willingness to learn.”

  Ciara stood, leaning on her j’na. “You sent me to Cheneth, but I don’t think that he wants to teach. I could have returned to Rens and—”

  “And what? Your father would not have been able to teach you what you need to know. He might be ala’shin, but he is not enlightened.
”

  “And even the enlightened has not proven to be helpful.”

  “You ride the draasin. You have called other elementals. I think that you have shown much growth in the past month.”

  Ciara nodded, not willing to argue. How much of her growth was simply because she had practiced, and how much had been actual teaching? To her, it didn’t feel as if there had been much actual teaching. She had spent more of her time alone, especially at first. It had taken her helping in another attack for the shapers of Ter to welcome her, and even then, the welcome had not felt particularly warm. There had been Jasn and Alena, but other than them, none of the other shapers were pleased that she was in the camp.

  And now she was afraid to even attempt any summoning other than with the draasin. At least with the draasin, she had the connection to her, she had the experience of riding her, but the others… they were unpredictable, regardless of what Cheneth might think.

  “Why did you return, ala’shin?” Olina asked. “If you feel there is nothing for you to learn, why did you return here?”

  Ciara shook her head. “Because Cheneth asked it of me.”

  “He asked, and you came?”

  “He asked, and I brought another with me. That is the reason that I’m here. I’d hoped that you…” Ciara tapped her j’na softly, shaking her head as she did. “It doesn’t matter what I’d hoped. But Cheneth thinks that you can help another.”

  “The one you will take to Hyaln.”

  She nodded.

  Olina stared at the fire for a moment and then stood. “Show me to him. I will see what Cheneth the Enlightened thinks that only Olina the Wise can do.”

  38

  Jasn

  The ala’shin would learn more if they trained with summoners, but the summoners of Hyaln do not care to teach. They feel their knowledge must remain within their sect, though those of the other branches each know something about it.