Journey of Fire and Night (The Endless War Book 1)

by D. K. Holmberg

  The lizard pushed on her again, and Ciara touched its head. It sat down and rested beneath her arm.

  “Was that you, then?” The idea seemed impossible, but what else was there? The crust on her arms and legs remained and no longer itched as it had. And there was the question about whether the lizard had brought her the gourds. Without them, she would have died, but instead, she sat near this ledge, sensing the enormity of the water beneath it, afraid to get too close.

  Unless the shadowy figure she’d seen had been real. That person could have brought her the gourds.

  She looked down at the lizard. And what if the shadow man had sent the lizard?

  Ciara shivered with the thought.

  Her eyes drifted back to the sky, to the circling draasin. They didn’t dive or do much of anything other than make wide, slow loops in the sky. Nothing like the attacking way they had come at the village. But then, the draasin had always left her people alone before. Having one attack meant something had changed. Though finding someone riding on the draasin had meant that as well.

  One of the circling creatures was larger than the others, a massive being that a part of her longed to see up close. Even after what had happened, she was still drawn to the draasin, wanting to see the enormous creatures of fire.

  Ciara shoved that thought aside. Anything she did that revealed herself risked their attack. Other than the lizard, she hadn’t seen much activity within the waste. That meant she would be food for the draasin.

  The other two were smaller. Sunlight trailed off their hides, and a haze of heat rose around them, the same haze that made them so difficult to see when burrowed in sand. They were powerful creatures.

  An explosion echoed suddenly, booming off the rock, and one of the draasin tumbled.

  The lizard made a soft hissing noise, a painful sound that came from low in its throat.

  Ciara sat upright. What had happened?

  The larger draasin tilted and dove toward the smaller, catching it in outstretched talons. Another explosion split the air, and the third now tumbled. The large draasin touched down to the ground, then jumped to the air again, but the other fell too fast. From where Ciara sat, the draasin collided with the ground in a swirl of dust.

  The lizard pushed on her, nudging her forward.

  “What do you want me to do?” she asked. “They want to eat me.”

  It wasn’t as if she could help it. They were creatures of fire. Unstoppable and an extension of the Stormbringer himself. But what could harm the draasin? Was there anything she could learn that could keep her village safe?

  Lightning exploded from the cloudless sky. Ciara had seen something similar, had felt it, and recognized the source: shapers.

  The draasin roared. The sound echoed across the rock, louder than anything she’d ever heard. There was an unmistakable fury in its voice, and she shivered.

  The lizard pushed on her again, nudging against her j’na.

  “If I go out there, I die.”

  The lizard hissed again.

  Ciara shook her head and stood, dropping the pack holding the gourds with her j’na. She didn’t have any idea what the lizard wanted her to do—and there was no question it wanted her to do something—but she wasn’t about to lose the gourds if something went wrong. Pulling the draasin glass out, she started toward the ledge.

  A scraping across the rock caused her to turn. The lizard nudged the j’na toward her.

  “It won’t help,” she said. “It’s not even finished. I haven’t found osidan for the tip.”

  The lizard ignored her and pushed the j’na toward her again.

  Ciara stepped on the j’na, not wanting the lizard to push it or the gourds off the ledge and into the water below. “I need those,” she said, pointing to the gourds.

  The lizard nudged its head against the carved spear.

  “Fine,” she said, “but I’m leaving these here.”

  She pulled the roll of gourds off the top of the spear, separating them and dropping the bundles of gourds to the ground. She tossed the spear over her shoulder and watched the lizard, wondering if it would push the gourds again or if it only wanted her to do something with the shaft of spear. It sat looking up at her. When she didn’t move, it nudged her again.

  Ciara couldn’t believe that she was taking direction from the lizard, but maybe it had saved her, so didn’t she owe it something?

  But this? Pushing her to go after the draasin, risking herself when there were shapers? If the lizard had wanted her dead, it could have left her from the beginning, but what did it think she could do?

  She couldn’t see the draasin from the ledge anymore. Either the heat rising up off the rock or the draasin veil prevented her from knowing what had happened. But she heard them.

  And she sensed the pressure of the Ter shapers.

  The lizard nudged her again, and she started down the rock. Ciara reached the ground and paused at the edge of the water. No sense in going into the waste unprepared. She cupped her hands into the cool water and took a quick drink, then wiped water across her face. After wetting her shaisa, she pulled it into place and started across the rock at a quick pace.

  The first steps she took were the hardest. Parts of her remained stiff from the fall, but the longer she ran, the more her muscles eased, and the more she picked up her pace.

  She gripped the j’na tightly in one hand, the draasin glass in the other, uncertain what she would find.

  The lizard raced after her.

  At first, Ciara didn’t think it could keep up. Always before, when she’d followed it across the rock, the lizard had a sauntering sort of walk that made her think it wasn’t built for speed. Most lizards could move quickly, but not for very long. When the lizard ran next to her, Ciara couldn’t help but stare at it.

  “Keeping me company?”

  The lizard tipped its head up and glanced at her before continuing to run across the rock, racing past her.

  Ciara breathed out a surprised grunt and hurried after it. What did the lizard want her to see? Did it know that she needed to understand a way to keep the draasin from the water so that her village could have access? Was she supposed to discover some way to hunt them?

  They reached one of the draasin before she had any answers.

  It was one of the smaller ones, and it lay on the hot ground with one wing folded overtop it, the other bent awkwardly behind it. The long, barbed tail curled around its side and switched toward them as they approached. It took irregular breaths, and a bloody wound dripped along its maroon-colored scales, the blood leaving a stink in the air. The lizard climbed up the draasin’s tail and scampered toward the wound on its belly.

  “What are you doing?” Ciara hissed.

  The lizard ignored her—not that she should expect the lizard to actually listen to her—and began licking the draasin’s side. The draasin roared softly, but the sound carried none of the strength the creature normally had, and its voice died out quickly.

  Ciara had rarely been so close to one of the draasin. This one might be small, but it was large enough to fly, and she suspected it would have no trouble devouring her if it decided that’s what it wanted.

  She made her way around it, careful as it watched her with deep, golden eyes. The draasin were known to have keen intelligence, but few people of Rens ever dared come close enough to understand how intelligent. Even injured, this one watched her as if debating whether it would slash at her with its sharp talons.

  The lizard finished licking the side of the draasin and climbed higher on its back. It dipped its head again and started licking a spot where the draasin’s wing met its body. The draasin snorted, spraying steam that forced Ciara to raise her hand to protect her face.

  The draasin suddenly jerked its head toward her, and fire spewed from its nostrils.

  Ciara dropped to the ground, pulling her hand over her head. Stormbringer, but she was a fool for risking coming out here. All she wanted was to find a way to keep the draasi
n at bay, and the only thing she’d be able to do would be to die.

  When the heat coming off the draasin eased, she looked up. It lowered its head back to the ground and propped one eye open as it stared at her.

  Not at her, she realized, but past her.

  She rolled carefully and saw a burned body lying on the ground. A long, wide sword lay useless on the ground next to it. She recognized the sword. All within Rens had seen swords like that from Ter shapers.

  Had the draasin just saved her?

  Ciara moved to the burned body and was surprised to see it still breathed. Much of the skin had been burned from his arms and legs, leaving open, weeping wounds. As she watched, they began healing, the flesh knitting into place.

  She’d seen something like it before, but that had been when her father had called to water, asking for its help. Fas had healed, but doing so used water. Was this shaper using water?

  Ciara glanced toward the enormous pool in the distance. Could the shaper have some way of accessing it, even from here? She knew nothing about their abilities, only that they came with thunder and left people dead and dying, destroying entire villages as they did. If the shaper could pull on water from here…

  She needed to move before he recovered.

  Yet she couldn’t. Rooted in place as she was, she didn’t move, almost as if she couldn’t move. A soft hissing from the lizard made her spin, and she saw another shaper in the distance. Through the haze hanging over the desert, she realized that the shaper attacked another draasin, the other small one, and lashed a chain over its wing.

  The steady hissing from the lizard left her with a sense of urgency and a desire to do something. She wasn’t sure what.

  “You don’t want me to harm the draasin. That wasn’t why you pushed me here, is it?” Ciara asked softly. She didn’t expect an answer.

  The lizard hissed again.

  The fallen shaper moaned. If she left him any longer, he would heal completely. Would he attack her then?

  That thought finally got her moving. She grabbed his sword and hesitated. A sword did her no good; she barely knew how to use the j’na, so taking a sword wouldn’t help her. But she could hide it. Moving carefully, she took it to the draasin and stuffed it beneath the long, barbed tail.

  “Don’t let him hurt you again,” she whispered, doubting that it understood, but after speaking to the lizard the past few days, what did it matter that she now was speaking to another desert creature?

  She held her j’na and the draasin glass as she ran across the rock, hurrying toward the other draasin. The lizard’s hissing followed her, to the point where she wondered if the lizard was still running with her, but it sat perched atop the first draasin, licking slowly at the creature’s hide.

  There had to be a way to stop the shaper ahead. That seemed to be what the lizard wanted, and maybe for good reason. If the shaper thought to lash the draasin in chains, would they attempt to ride it as well? Was that why the draasin had suddenly attacked?

  She had nothing to stop the shaper. Were she a full nya’shin, she could throw her j’na, but without a tip, it wouldn’t do her any good. If only she had something to tip the spear with…

  Stormbringer. She did have something, but would it work?

  Ciara stopped and crouched, hoping her elouf would shield her from the shaper and that he would be so distracted with capturing the draasin that he wouldn’t notice her. Filled with water as she was, she sensed the way his heart pounded, the flow of blood through his veins, the steady pulsing so much like the rhythm her father had long tried to teach, but she had no gift with water, not like he did, not like Fas.

  Using the draasin glass, she cut another thin strip off her elouf. Much more, and she wouldn’t have decent coverage. Returning to the village would be embarrassing, but less so if she could lead them to water. She wrapped the strip of cloth around the draasin glass, binding it to the end of the spear. The curve of the glass looked similar to a carved osidan tip, but would it fly the same way? And would Ciara have the strength needed to toss it?

  The distant draasin roared, and Ciara looked up.

  A chain wrapped around the draasin’s wing and bound the creature, keeping it from moving. What sort of power must the Ter shapers have to be able to control the draasin like that? If they had learned to control the creatures, how much longer would it be before they attacked fully and destroyed all of Rens?

  And what was she thinking running up to someone with that much power? Did she really think there was anything she could do?

  Behind her, the lizard hissed louder, more intently. Ciara felt the urgency, almost as if she understood words within the hiss: Help him.

  She shook away the thought. It was too crazy to consider, but wasn’t that what she was about to try?

  She held her j’na at shoulder height as she ran forward, keeping her grip more relaxed now and wishing she had more time to test whether it would work. She would have one chance, and if she failed… There was no doubt in her mind that the shaper would turn his attention to her.

  The shaper turned. He was a wide man, and muscular, with deep blue eyes and an angular chin that reminded her in some ways of Fas. One hand held the chain, and Ciara almost stumbled as she realized the chain used to bind the draasin appeared to be made entirely of stone. He turned slowly, and when his eyes locked on her, she threw.

  The j’na sailed, streaking through the air. Ciara stumbled with the throw and hurried to her knees, afraid that if she missed, the shaper would come for her.

  The spear flew true and struck the shaper in the shoulder.

  He dropped the chain and spun back to the draasin, jerking her j’na free and tossing it to the side. Power built as he raised his hands in front of him.

  The draasin snapped, now free of the chain. The shaper somehow stopped the attack and reached for the chain, but the draasin attacked again, this time swinging his tail toward the man. A large spike struck him in the thigh, and blood bloomed. The man staggered to the side but managed to stay standing. When the draasin darted its head forward again, jaw open in attack, lightning streaked from the sky, followed by a long peal of thunder.

  When it faded, the shaper was gone.

  The draasin tried shaking itself free of the chain but was unable.

  Ciara approached carefully, keeping her head bowed low but her eyes always fixed on the draasin. It didn’t move and didn’t make any attempt to attack.

  “Let me help,” she said softly.

  She had to step over her j’na and saw that the tip remained intact. She had figured it would have been damaged from the way the shaper had tossed it to the side, but other than the blood staining it, the spear appeared unharmed.

  Touching the chain, she tried lifting it, but it was too heavy. Ciara pulled on it, grunting with effort. The chain moved, but slowly. She pulled, dragging it slowly to the peak of the creature’s wing, and then the draasin shook suddenly.

  The chain lifted free and Ciara went sprawling, landing on her back next to her j’na, staring up at the draasin as it spread its leathery wings, blotting out the sky. The massive creature had blue-green scales. It flexed long talons, and steam hissed from its nostrils. Free of the chain, with a powerful leap, it took to the air.

  Ciara lay in place for a few moments before remembering the other shaper. Making it to her feet was a challenge and required her to push up with her j’na, but she finally managed. She ran back across the rock, wondering what had happened to the largest, and nearly stumbled again when she found the place where the first draasin had fallen.

  The creature had disappeared, leaving the rock stained with blood. The fallen shaper had disappeared as well. The lizard lay in the sun, asleep as far as she could tell, resting its head on the shaper’s sword.

  23

  Jasn

  The coordination between the elementals increased near the beginning of the war. This cannot be coincidence. I fear what I might be missing.

  —Lren Atunal, Ca
rdinal of the College of Scholars

  As Jasn turned away from the infirmary, Bayan came out of the trees and made her way toward the barracks. She saw him carrying Wyath and ran toward him. Jasn didn’t wait and hurried toward Cheneth’s dorm.

  Bayan caught him before he reached Cheneth. “What happened?”

  “Draasin.”

  “Wyath got hit by a draasin?”

  Jasn nodded. “Street noise distracted him, I think. Caught the tail.”

  Had it been more than that? Had Jasn’s shaping on the draasin distracted the creature and caused her to strike Wyath?

  He couldn’t think like that. Not until Wyath was well.

  Bayan quickly shaped, making no effort to hide it this time. She layered water and fire over Wyath, and it settled through him with a sigh. She was skilled with water, but not nearly as skilled as Jasn.

  “You took care of the worst of it,” she commented.

  “I did what I could,” Jasn agreed. “He wanted to go to Cheneth.”

  “You did well,” Bayan said.

  Jasn grunted. Now was not the time to tell her how he’d studied with Oliver, learning the secrets of healing that few would ever learn. Maybe later he could, but for now, he needed to get Wyath to safety.

  They stopped at Cheneth’s house and knocked. When the door opened, Cheneth glanced from Jasn to Wyath and frowned. “What happened?”

  “The draasin. We were in the larger pen and talking. He… got distracted. It caught him with its tail, and the chain landed on him.”

  “Wyath doesn’t get distracted,” Cheneth said.

  “This time he did.”

  Cheneth watched him for a long moment, the darkness in his eyes reminding Jasn of when he’d been alone with him before, and the strange unsettled feeling returned. It was like being plunged into cold water, and a chill worked along his back and settled in his chest before disappearing. It happened so fast that he wasn’t sure whether to believe it, but then it was gone.