The Paper Dragon (The Chain Breaker Book 5)

by D. K. Holmberg

  It didn’t surprise Gavin that there was a workaround allowing the enchanters to continue making enchantments. How long would his enchantments last under the influence of these protections?

  “Do they realize their enchantments deplete faster when used?” Gavin asked.

  He hadn’t discovered if that was crucial, or what they intended with their current enchantments. They might not deplete quite as rapidly, especially if there were many enchanters working to ensure the stability of their enchantments. Still, with each magical attack, they ran the risk of losing their power.

  “They know, Gavin. They’ve used enchantments for a long time.”

  Gavin snorted. Wrenlow sounded a little annoyed with him. “Did they permit me to bypass whatever they were doing?”

  Wrenlow was silent for a moment. Was he writing in his book, or trying to figure out what else to say? “I don’t know. I can ask Olivia.”

  “I thought that was why you contacted me.”

  “That’s not the reason,” Wrenlow said. “I… just wanted to talk to you.”

  “About what?”

  “About what you and Gaspar intend to do.”

  Gavin chuckled. He looked around him, trying to figure out what Wrenlow was getting at. With Wrenlow, it could be difficult to know whether he was upset or whether he was simply digging for more information.

  It felt strange standing in the middle of the street, chatting with Wrenlow the way he was, but it was a conversation he felt they needed to have.

  “You don’t approve?” Gavin asked.

  “It’s not so much that. I don’t know what to make of it.”

  “You can decide if you want to come along or not.”

  “You’d leave me behind?” Wrenlow said.

  Maybe this was why he was reaching out. Wrenlow had taken the role as Gavin’s scout—his eyes and his ears—seriously, and if Gavin suddenly didn’t need him, it would leave Wrenlow wondering what role he played.

  “We aren’t going to be gone long,” Gavin said.

  “You mean to return.”

  Was that relief in his voice—or disappointment?

  “I do,” Gavin said. “I think there is something about Yoran we still need to uncover. There’s something about the city itself that’s important. I don’t quite know why.”

  “We?”

  Gavin laughed. “Fine. Maybe something you need to uncover. At least while I’m gone.”

  He paused and looked along the roads that stretched out from the city. He crouched down, pressing his hand on the stones. That seemed to be where the most resistance came from. It was almost as if whatever they had done stemmed from the cobblestones themselves.

  It would be a clever way to place an enchantment.

  Enchantments created patterns, which could be imposed on common items. Some enchanters were far more talented than others, yet once an enchanter had mastered their way of placing an enchantment, they could be repeated.

  “What do you need me to do?” Wrenlow asked.

  “I just want you to poke around a little bit,” Gavin said. “There’ll be something here, tied to the El’aras. I should have looked into it before.”

  “Do you think the city is still a target?”

  “I thought I was the target. For so long, I believed others kept coming here because of me, but what if that’s not the case?”

  There was a delay before Wrenlow responded. “It might answer a few questions I have. I can dig even more. You think I should focus on the El’aras.”

  Gavin was starting to feel that way. The city had once fallen under their rule, after all. “It’s a good place to start, especially since I now have this ring of theirs. I’m also going to talk to Anna and see what the El’aras might be willing to do to protect the city while I’m gone.”

  “I figured the El’aras would go with you. Especially her.” Gavin had a feeling that Wrenlow was grinning, especially with the way the sound came through the enchantment. “Not that anyone would blame you. She’s quite lovely.”

  “Don’t let Olivia hear you saying that,” Gavin said.

  “You wouldn’t tell her. Olivia is lovely in a different way.”

  “Different?” Gavin asked, chuckling.

  “You know what I mean. She’s beautiful, and kind, and she’s just been through so much.”

  “I know.”

  “I don’t want her to suffer anymore,” Wrenlow said.

  “I know.”

  Wrenlow sighed. “I… I wanted to do this in person.”

  “You don’t have to do anything. I know you intend to stay,” Gavin said.

  He could imagine Wrenlow fidgeting while trying to talk to him, though there was no need for it.

  “I think I need to,” Wrenlow said. His voice had gotten softer, and as it drifted off, Gavin could picture him staring blankly. “You’ve made such a difference in my life, but…”

  “I know,” Gavin said.

  “You’re not mad?”

  “Should I be?”

  “I thought… because I wasn’t going to go with you, that…”

  “I’ve been alone a long time,” Gavin said. “You deciding to stay in the city is understandable. And I wouldn’t tell you not to do that. I would never tell you not to follow your heart.”

  “What about you?” Wrenlow asked.

  “I don’t know if I get to do that,” Gavin said.

  “Eventually, you have to find a way to move past what happened to you.”

  “I know.”

  And the thing was that he did know.

  Gavin headed out of the city, toward the forest. As he passed beyond the borders of Yoran, he could feel the change in how the enchantment had been working across his skin. The limitation that pressed on him—the one that meant he couldn’t call on his core reserves—suddenly lifted, granting him the ability to navigate more easily. He breathed out a long sigh of relief and started forward.

  “What was that?” Wrenlow asked.

  “That was nothing,” Gavin muttered, tapping the enchantment. He was tempted to mute it, but he had a feeling Wrenlow wasn’t done talking with him.

  “It sounded like you were saying something.”

  “I’m going to silence you for a little while,” Gavin said. It was better to warn Wrenlow than to suddenly fall silent.

  “I thought we were having a nice conversation.”

  “There’s something here I need to do.”

  “Just… well, just be careful,” Wrenlow said.

  Gavin smirked. “What makes you think I need to be careful?”

  “Because you always tend to find your way into trouble.”

  Gavin grunted. Wrenlow wasn’t wrong about that.

  He tapped on the enchantment, silencing it. The sounds of the forest around him began to push toward him. He could hear the chirping of birds in the trees and the rustling of the wind through the branches, and he felt the warmth of the sun on his skin as the light drifted through the gaps in the trees. There was something about it that reminded him of what Theren had said, of the celebration he described for the gods.

  He’d been walking awhile through the forest when he detected someone tracking him. He suspected it was one of the El’aras, wanting to ensure that he did not get too close to Anna unless she chose it.

  He reached the edge of a clearing. When he did, he realized he’d been herded here. The El’aras in the forest had influenced his path, either through magic or because of how they’d followed him. It had been subtle enough that Gavin hadn’t even been fully aware of it.

  Now that he was, he couldn’t help but feel impressed.

  “You wanted me to meet you out here?” he said.

  Anna stepped forward from the shadows between two trees. She was dressed in a dappled green gown covered by a matching cloak, with her dagger strapped to her waist. He’d never seen her fight, but wondered how skilled she would be.

  “It was necessary,” she said. “I figured you needed some guidance.”
/>
  “I needed it?” Gavin asked, laughing softly. “Or you provided it so I could find you?”

  She smiled. “I understand you encountered something unique recently.”

  “We did. Hyadan. I’d heard of them, but I’d never seen them before.”

  Anna’s expression turned into a deep frown. “Dark creatures,” she said quietly. “And it’s unfortunate you encountered them here.”

  “What do you know about them?”

  “I know you defeated them.”

  “Not that. You know what I mean,” Gavin said. He swept his gaze around him, looking at the forest. How many El’aras had eyes on him?

  He noticed shadows moving near one tree, and the more he focused, the easier it was for him to see an El’aras there. He slipped his hand into his pocket and placed the enhanced eyesight ring onto his finger. The augmented vision it granted was enough for him to see that there was more than just the one person within the trees. Two others waited nearby, and he suspected there were far more than three here.

  Anna regarded him while he turned in place. “There is more that I know, but I suspect you’ve learned all you need to about them. Is there a reason you’ve come out here?”

  “I’m trying to see how many of your people are watching me,” he told her.

  They had always met him like this, keeping him from getting too far into the forest. He had never gotten to see where the El’aras were staying.

  “It’s not that I distrust you, Gavin Lorren,” she said. “Unfortunately, my people have decided they must watch over me, despite my assurances you mean me no ill will.”

  “If I wanted to hurt you, I could have done it long before now.”

  “As I have reassured them,” she said. “But then, they reminded me that you were responsible for what happened.”

  “I didn’t do anything to you, though.”

  “You did not.” She motioned for Gavin to follow, and she started walking through the trees. Shadows moved with them. “The hyadan are incredibly dangerous. You will find that defeating them is quite possibly one of the most difficult things you can do.”

  “I defeated them last night,” Gavin said.

  “You defeated one,” Anna said.

  “There were more than that.”

  “There was only one,” she explained. “It’s even more reason for you to learn control and master your connection to your magic. You’ve been trying, but unfortunately you have not been able to become one with the power within you.”

  Gavin chuckled. “You did tell me that you learn how to do it from a very young age.”

  “Indeed,” she said. “And there’s the fact that you will not have the necessary time. I had thought I would be able to guide you and perhaps expedite your learning, but the attack last evening has demonstrated that will not be possible.” She shook her head. “Regrettably, my people feel that my continued presence here poses a greater danger. If the hyadan have appeared, then we must retreat.”

  “You’re afraid of them?”

  That surprised him. He hadn’t known the El’aras to be afraid of much—if anything.

  Gavin looked around the forest. He could feel the pressure distantly, that of the enchantments that had been placed.

  “I told Gaspar and Imogen I was going with them to figure out what happened,” he said. “This wasn’t about me. Or you.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Gavin nodded. He told her about what he’d learned from Imogen about the hyadan, and about the keystone that controlled them.

  “We have long known that they had their origin in dark magic,” she said. “This only confirms it.”

  “What exactly is dark magic?” When Anna frowned at him, Gavin shrugged. “When I faced Jayna—the Toral I worked with before—she mentioned dark magic.”

  “The darkness depends on the intention, I suppose,” she said. “And it depends on the kind of power that is drawn. Some powers are innately destructive, and it is that destructiveness that makes the power dark. Much like the use of El’aras magic can be constructive.”

  “But you can use it to harm as well,” Gavin said.

  “We can, but that is not its purpose. We have experience with dark magic, and we have some experience with these hyadan.”

  “Which means that they are old.”

  “Perhaps,” she said. “They have not been seen often. Only occasionally. And when they are, they cause much destruction.”

  Gavin had only faced one of them, and he couldn’t imagine what it might be like to fight more than that. “Destructive” seemed a fitting descriptor.

  He eyed her. “Seeing as how you know these creatures, I’m wondering if maybe there’s more to it than you want to admit.”

  “This has nothing to do with my admission,” she replied.

  “Regardless, Yoran will be unprotected while I am gone.”

  “Your people cannot defend the city?”

  “The enchanters have placed defenses around Yoran,” he said. “As you have undoubtedly discovered, there is something that now prevents those with magic from accessing it easily.”

  She frowned but said nothing.

  “That’s why the hyadan weren’t able to enter the city last night. They would have been able to get in otherwise, but the enchantment prevented them from doing so.”

  And Gavin wondered what would’ve happened had that not been the case.

  “What are you getting at?” she asked.

  “I’m suggesting that perhaps you should stay in the city while I’m gone.”

  She smiled slightly. “We have no interest in returning to lands we long abandoned. The only reason I’m here in the first place is because of you, Gavin Lorren.”

  Gavin glanced into the trees nearby, and he could just make out Theren sneaking from trunk to trunk. Did he want Gavin to see him?

  “Yoran might be in danger,” he said. “I know the El’aras gave up the city long ago—”

  “That’s not what happened. The city gave us up.”

  He watched her and couldn’t tell whether it bothered her or whether there was something else she wasn’t saying, but either way, she was clearly irritated.

  “Regardless of what happened, I think it would be helpful if you could stay,” he said. “Work with those in the city. Even if you do so in the shadows, like your warrior Theren there.”

  Anna turned toward the trees behind her and frowned. “It seems as if he has been talking to you.”

  “You did tell him to watch me.”

  “Perhaps I did,” she said. “I thought he would have more discretion.”

  “The way you did?”

  Anna smiled. “My people would prefer if I did. I’ve been away for a while, though time does not mean quite the same to our kind as it does to others.”

  Gavin nodded, though he found himself wondering again just how old she was. The way she described herself left him thinking that she was quite a bit older than him. And maybe she was.

  “I won’t be gone long,” he said. “Imogen knows of something in Loruv.”

  “If you intend to go after the hyadan, you cannot make that promise.”

  “I won’t feel comfortable leaving unless I know there’s someone here. Wrenlow intends to stay, and the enchanters have gained enough understanding of their enchantments to limit the magic used in Yoran, but it’s not perfect.”

  “Of course not,” she said. “I have already disrupted it enough to influence the city.”

  Gavin started laughing, and Anna narrowed her eyes at him.

  “I did what I needed to ensure I had access to my power.” She frowned. “You will be going to destroy the hyadan with just the three of you?” When Gavin nodded, Anna shook her head. “That is unacceptable. You will need more help.”

  “Will you come?”

  She pressed her lips together. “I would not be permitted,” she said softly. “But I will send my greatest warrior with you.”

  “I’m not so sure I could handle Tho
mas the whole time.”

  “I’m not sending Thomas.” Anna looked over Gavin’s shoulder and nodded.

  Theren stepped forward.

  “Him?” Gavin said.

  “Does it surprise you?” he asked. “I told you I wanted to test myself against the Chain Breaker.”

  “I suppose we can see while we’re traveling.”

  “I would like that,” Theren said. He turned to Anna. “And you, mistress?”

  “We will need to return.” She glanced around the forest, and there was sadness in her eyes that surprised Gavin. “If the hyadan have come here, it’s dangerous to remain.”

  “Because of magic,” Gavin said.

  She sighed. “Because I am the Risen Shard.”

  Gavin smiled. “I’ve known that from the moment we first met. And I also know that there is some aspect of your responsibility you’re keeping from me.”

  She smiled at him, a hint of sorrow in that expression. “I keep it from you out of necessity, Gavin Lorren.”

  “I could help.”

  “In this case, you could not. This is something I must do, a responsibility entrusted to me by my people. You have your own responsibility, your own destiny.”

  “I never gave much credence to destiny before.”

  “You believe you choose your own fate?” she asked.

  Gavin shrugged. “I didn’t when I was younger, but these days I like to think I’m in control, and not that someone else is controlling me.”

  At least, he had believed that until he had come to realize that Tristan may have been using him all this time.

  It was one reason he had been willing to stay in the city. A part of him worried that Tristan wanted Gavin to go with the El’aras, to master his magic, and to learn what it meant for him to have that power. Staying in Yoran felt like defiance.

  But it was more than just that. Staying here offered him an opportunity to help his friends and protect a place that had become more than just a city. It had become a home.

  She stopped as they reached the edge of the clearing again. Gavin hadn’t even realized that they had been making a circle through the forest.

  Anna looked up at him and cocked her head to the side. “When you return, we can continue your—”

  She froze, then turned and looked toward the center of the clearing.