The Dark Ability: Books 1-4

by D. K. Holmberg

  “We need them if we’re going to get the smiths back to Elaeavn.”

  “What if they don’t want to come back to Elaeavn?” Brusus asked. “You know what it was like with your father. He was half-mad and angry that you took him from there. What happens if they support the Forgotten as well?”

  Rsiran hoped that wasn’t the case, but if what Ephram said was true, they had been abducted. Much like the Forgotten had abducted him.

  “We need to take them back,” Rsiran said.

  Brusus shook his head and grunted. “I’ll go with you, I’m just saying that I don’t like it.”

  Rsiran looked over at Sarah. Since learning that she didn’t want to hurt him, a change had come over her. He couldn’t explain the change, nor could he explain what it was about her, only that she was different.

  “We don’t have to like it. But it’s my fault, Brusus. If they find the guildlord—”

  “It’s not your fault,” Haern said. Rsiran shot him a look, but Haern ignored it. “You might have taken those pages from the Alchemist Guild, Rsiran, but it’s my fault that they reached the Forgotten. Had I not gone around showing them to others to try and understand what was on them, they would never have discovered them.”

  “They were already after the guildlords before the pages were stolen,” Sarah said.

  Rsiran hadn’t noticed her coming toward them. She moved silently, nearly as silently as Jessa, and stood shadowed against the night.

  “Their plan may have changed, but they had already begun.” She nodded to Rsiran. “His father was one of the first of the master smiths they took. They might not have known the others then, but they would have found out. That would be why they took Lareth.”

  Rsiran hadn’t considered that. Within Elaeavn, there were master smiths, and there were master smiths. Few knew the difference. Rsiran had never known that his father was of the latter. In order to be a full member of the guild, a smith had to be a master smith.

  Sarah considered Rsiran for a moment. “Are you certain this is where we must look?”

  Rsiran nodded. “It is where I found my father. There was a place here, one where there must have been others.” He thought of the smith where he’d discovered lorcith. Better here than returning to the Forgotten Palace. They didn’t have the numbers, or the preparation to go there yet.

  “They could have moved to any number of places by now,” Brusus said. “Especially if they know you are after them, they would have no reason to remain in place.”

  The comment made him check his mental barriers. Rsiran didn’t think Brusus knew he’d returned to the Forgotten Palace. “The smiths were here.”

  Brusus climbed to his knees and peered toward the distant city. “So what’s your plan, here?”

  “There is a place,” he said, thinking of where he’d first found his father. “I don’t know if there will be others there, but it’s a start.” He looked up to Sarah. “You can follow?”

  “I can follow if you don’t obscure your travels,” she said.

  Rsiran nodded. Getting Brusus, Haern, and Jessa here had taken multiple Slides, only the last of which he stepped into the Slide. It hadn’t taken a long time for Sarah and the others to reach him.

  “How many can they carry with them?” he asked, motioning to Valn and Usal.

  “Valn is strong. He can take himself and possibly two others. Usal will only be able to take one more.”

  Strong. What did it mean that Rsiran could fairly easily take three, and likely a fourth? He hadn’t tried, not wanting to weaken himself for such a long Slide, but this close to Asador, he wouldn’t trust the others to Slide with his friends.

  “Fine. Then you will follow me.”

  Valn stepped forward. “I will take Sarah. How many can you take?”

  Rsiran nodded to his friends. “All of them.”

  He grabbed Brusus and Haern, and Jessa held onto his arm. He focused on the street outside the building where he’d found his father, and pulled himself there.

  The Slide drew him slowly. He had only carried three with him one other time, and that had been with Lianna after she’d died. That had nearly incapacitated him. This Slide, while difficult, was less challenging. Rsiran didn’t know if it had to do with the way that he Slid, or whether his practice had truly strengthened him so much, but either way, when he emerged, he didn’t struggle as he had.

  He stepped briefly into a Slide, enough that Sarah would be able to detect, and then studied the street.

  The last time, it had been empty. This time was much the same, though voices drifted down the street, carried on the wind to him. The long, low building appeared much the same as when he’d been here before, and the strange pull of heartstone remained.

  A swirl of colors emerged out of the corner of his eye, and he felt a slight pressure against his skin, then Sarah and Valn emerged, with Usal trailing behind.

  Usal studied Rsiran curiously and Slid to him. “Just how many can you carry?”

  Rsiran focused on the building, running his hand along the door as he searched for a way in. He sensed the alloy as he had before. Had he Slid past the alloy or had he forced the lock? He couldn’t remember. Now it didn’t matter.

  “I don’t know.”

  “How many have you carried?”

  “Four.”

  “And you’re not exhausted.”

  Rsiran shook his head. “Not like I was the first time I did it.”

  Usal glanced over at Sarah. “What did you detect when he Slid?”

  “Now is not the time,” she said.

  “What did you detect?”

  She sighed and shook her head. “Nothing. Not until he made a small Slide here.”

  “How?” Usal asked, looking to Rsiran. “Tell me how you did that without detection.”

  He grabbed Rsiran’s shoulder and pulled on him. The bracelets on his wrists went cold.

  “Rsiran!” Jessa cried out, but she didn’t need to. Rsiran felt the building effort of Usal trying to Slide with him.

  It was the same sense he’d detected before, when his Sliding had been influenced. This time, with the direct contact, he thought that Usal might actually be able to Slide with him.

  He did the only thing that he could think that might work: he focused on the inside of the building, and pulled himself with Usal inside.

  They drew through the alloy around the building. The Slide was more effort than it should have been, likely because of the recent Slide. He’d have to be careful and avoid over extending himself tonight, especially if he wanted to get everyone home.

  Once inside the building, the sense of lorcith flared.

  He shrugged Usal off him and pushed on a pair of knives.

  Usal Slid, emerging behind Rsiran.

  “What are you doing?” Rsiran asked.

  Usal Slid again, not answering.

  Rsiran thought he understood. The guilds had been infiltrated. Ephram had known, but not who. “You’re with the Forgotten, aren’t you?”

  Usal shrugged. “Can’t help but get recruited when you’ve got this ability,” he said.

  Rsiran pulled himself to the end of the room where he detected lorcith. He left his knives hovering behind him, the soft white light glowing from them lighting the way for him to see. “And the smiths?”

  Usal Slid, colors swirling moments before he did.

  Rsiran nearly lost focus. Was that what Jessa saw when he Slid?

  “They don’t share plans like that with me,” he said.

  Rsiran flicked the knives toward Usal, but they missed. Usal Slid, emerging nearly in front of Rsiran.

  The streaks of color around Usal as he Slid revealed him. Rsiran Slid to the side, sending a pair of knives flying as he did.

  Usal unsheathed a sword and, in one smooth motion, sent the knives flying off to the side. “They warned me that you’d be skilled. They tried drawing you to them like they did me, but there’s something different about you. That’s why they sent me.” He lu
nged with his sword, and Rsiran Slid back a step. Usal grinned. “Thought I might have a chance to grab you earlier, but this will do.”

  Rsiran focused on lorcith, Sliding back as he did, making a point of staying away from Usal, checking on his friends outside. He detected Brusus and Jessa, but where was Haern?

  He would have to figure that out later. For now, he focused on Usal.

  With another Slide, this time emerging behind Usal, he sent a knife streaking toward his back. Usal turned, starting to Slide. He wasn’t sure how he managed to see the Slide, or what it even meant that he did, but when Usal Slid, the colors around him shifted.

  Rsiran anticipated where Usal would be.

  With a flash of lorcith knives, he caught the man in the chest.

  Usal grunted and started to fall toward him. Rsiran darted back a step, getting away from his sword. Then Usal Slid away.

  Rsiran tracked him. The lorcith knife was still in his chest. He could follow him, maybe use him to learn where the other Forgotten had taken the smiths, but not without checking on Jessa and the others first.

  Focusing on the street, he emerged to chaos.

  Haern battled another scarred man, his knives sweeping quickly. Brusus used his lorcith sword and fought a shorter man. Even Valn and Sarah fought, Valn Sliding from place to place, knives flashing each time he emerged. Sarah used a slender sword—surprising since she came from Elaeavn.

  Where was Jessa?

  Another half-dozen men closed in from down the street.

  Rsiran jumped, sending knives flying, sweeping toward the approaching men.

  Three fell quickly.

  He pulled his knives back and sent another pair of knives at two more men. One ducked, but one wasn’t quick enough, and the knife caught him in the face, slicing through his eye. Rsiran forced himself to watch.

  Rsiran hesitated.

  “Damn, Rsiran! Don’t stop!”

  This was Brusus.

  “Where’s Jessa?”

  “Some dark-haired woman appeared and grabbed her,” Brusus said.

  Dark-haired and Sliding meant Inna.

  Rage surged through him. He pulled on the lorcith he sensed from the knives he’d already used, and Slid, appearing briefly above the street, and pushed on the knives. Then he Slid again, focusing on the street behind the remaining approaching men, and sent the knives flying toward them.

  The three men fell, knives slicing completely through them.

  Rsiran Slid again, appearing behind the man fighting with Haern. With a sweep of his knives, the man fell. He did the same with Brusus, finishing that man.

  Valn and Sarah didn’t need his help.

  The street fell silent.

  “What happened?” he demanded. “Did you know that Usal worked with the Forgotten?”

  Sarah shook her head. “Do you think we would have fought with you had we known?”

  “Rsiran…”

  He glanced up the street. More men approached, some carrying lorcith, but the nearest had crossbows. He could avoid swords and knives, but he’d already seen how crossbows could catch him even if he Slid quickly.

  Focusing quickly on the charm Jessa wore—and feeling a relief that he could still sense it—he grabbed onto Brusus and Haern and locked eyes with Sarah. “Follow us.”

  Chapter 35

  The Slide was a slow, drawing sensation and seemed to move more slowly than it should. Within the Slide, he was aware of colors and the oozing sense of movement, and he caught the odor of lorcith.

  Had he not needed for Sarah and Valn to follow him, he would have pulled himself in the Slide, but he needed their help. In that moment, he prayed to the Great Watcher that they would help.

  Then they emerged.

  There was nothing but darkness all around. Rsiran noted the stink of blood, and something else, a sickly odor that he’d smelled before. Haern sucked in a quick breath.

  Rsiran pushed one of his knives away from him to better see. The light was bright enough for him to make out a figure lying unmoving on the ground.

  Jessa.

  He started toward her, but Haern raised his hand, holding him back.

  “Hold on,” he whispered.

  The air whistled. Had Haern not warned him, he doubted that he would have realized the danger. Lorcith flared with it.

  Rsiran jerked back in a quick Slide, pulling Brusus and Haern with him.

  A crossbow bolt streaked through the air, just missing where he’d been standing. Rsiran sent a knife streaking after it. He pulled on it as it flew, changing the direction of the knife and sending it sweeping around the room. From the light off the blade, he saw that there was no one else in the room.

  The lorcith that he’d sensed disappeared, fading as if it hadn’t been there.

  Rsiran rushed to Jessa’s side. Her skin was cool and blood trickled out from a spot on the back of her head. Glassy eyes looked up at him.

  He choked back an anguished sob.

  In that moment, he thought her dead.

  Then she took a single breath, barely more than the tiniest movement of air, but enough that he knew she still lived. She blinked once, but then her eyes fell closed. Rsiran held his breath, waiting, until she took another breath on her own.

  He needed to get her to Della.

  He looked up at Haern and Brusus, already preparing to Slide, when Sarah and Valn emerged. They glanced down and saw Jessa lying motionless.

  “I’m sorry,” Sarah said.

  “Don’t,” Rsiran warned.

  Haern crouched next to her and touched her forehead, sweeping her hair back with a more gentle touch than Rsiran would have expected from the man. He checked her neck and leaned to her, listening to her chest, placing a hand over her nose. “She breathes. I can help her—”

  “I can get her back to the city,” Rsiran said. “We’re in the same prison where the Forgotten held me before. I won’t have her stay here and die.”

  Haern nodded. “You can take her back to the city, but you don’t need to yet. The head wound bleeds a lot and looks worse than it is. The rest,” he said, motioning to her, “is more about herbs and medicines than anything Della can do.”

  “Haern—”

  “This is what I did, boy. Trust me on this.”

  “I… I want to, but it’s Jessa,” he whispered.

  Haern glared at him. “You think I don’t care for her too?”

  “No. I know you do—”

  “Then finish this, Rsiran. I told you that you can’t let your feelings for her disrupt what must be done. Brusus can stand watch while I do what I need to with her.”

  Rsiran stared at Jessa. He couldn’t leave her, could he?

  “We need to find the other smiths. If Usal told the Forgotten we were coming…” Sarah started. The urgency in her voice was clear.

  “Can you See anything?” he asked Haern.

  “Not when it comes to you. You know that. Now go!” Haern urged. “I can keep her alive. Find them.”

  “I need your help,” Rsiran said to Haern. If he was hunting for someone like Inna, he needed more than simply himself and the skills that he’d picked up over the last few weeks. Without Jessa… He couldn’t let himself think that way.

  Haern crouched on the ground and reached into his pockets, pulling out a few powders and setting them next to Jessa. “Not from what I saw back there. You’ve been practicing, haven’t you?”

  Rsiran nodded. “Not much good it did me.”

  “It did us good,” Haern said. “Now go.”

  Rsiran looked over at Sarah and found her watching him. He nodded. “I’ll be back. How long can she hold out?”

  “As long as I’m left alone,” Haern said.

  Rsiran turned to Brusus.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure he’s got the time he needs,” Brusus said. “Besides, we all care about her.”

  Rsiran touched Jessa again, praying that it wasn’t for the last time, and stood to face Sarah. “Come on.”

/>   He Slid forward, reaching the door, and then sent a knife floating down the hall. Nothing moved.

  “Where is this place?” Sarah whispered.

  A flash of lorcith appeared before Rsiran could answer.

  Rsiran Slid toward it, pushing with his knife as he did, angling toward the sense of lorcith. The last time he’d been here, he’d been weakened, poisoned with slithca syrup. This time would be different.

  A soft grunt sounded nearby, and he knew that his knife had struck. Rsiran pulled it back to him, not bothering to check on the man that he’d injured.

  Sarah and Valn reached him. “This is a place of the Forgotten. This was where they poisoned me and tried to Read what was in my mind,” he said.

  There was a whisper, nothing more. By the light coming off his knife, he noted a shifting of shadows. Without thinking too much of it, he grabbed Sarah and Valn, and pulled himself toward the shadows, sending a knife flying from him as he did.

  It sank into a man’s back, and he fell to his knees. The crossbow in his hands dropped to the stone with a soft clatter.

  “You’re more dangerous than we knew,” Valn noted.

  Sarah shook her head, and Valn fell silent. She took the crossbow from the fallen man. “He won’t need this,” she said as she stood. “Where next?”

  If Inna was here, she would know that he’d follow, but why grab Jessa? What would she have hoped to gain separating him? Based on what happened the last time he’d been here, she would have known how Rsiran would respond to Jessa’s capture, and she would know that he would have come for her…

  “Damn,” he whispered.

  “What is it?”

  “They wanted to pull me away,” he said.

  Sarah frowned. “How do you know?”

  Rsiran grabbed Sarah and Valn and Slid them back to Jessa. As they emerged, he realized that Brusus was under attack, fending off a man Sliding in his attack, while Haern tried to minister to Jessa. But each time he did, a man appeared, swiping at him with a short sword.

  Rsiran split two knives and sent them at the two attackers. They both fell before they would even have known he appeared.

  He considered his options. Jessa needed to get back to Elaeavn to keep her safe. Inna was using this time to move the smiths; he was certain that was why she had drawn him here. And he couldn’t do what he needed alone.