The Paper Dragon (The Chain Breaker Book 5)

by D. K. Holmberg

  Anna was calling on power, but Gavin could already tell that there were limits to what she could do. He focused on the energy of his core reserves, on the El’aras magic that filled him, and he pushed out. But this time, he channeled it through the ring as well. Rather than using that energy, though, he let it stay inside him, simmering, a power that flowed within.

  He had to master the ring.

  When he had tried before, Gavin had only intermittently succeeded. He had to guarantee success this time, to ensure he had that power. If he could not, then not only would he fail, and not only would Theren succeed, but much more would be at stake.

  He reached for the energy of the ring. It flowed within him, coming gradually, but with an increasing intensity as it built up through him. Everything started to slow.

  Gavin turned toward the dozen El’aras. Without the power of the ring, and the power within himself, he might not be able to handle this. But he was wrapped in magic, with power similar to a Toral ring.

  His strength wasn’t even going to come from just him, though. It would come from his willingness to look for other sources of power, from his willingness to fight with his varied skills. Gavin didn’t use just one technique. He wasn’t a master of only a single fighting style.

  He was the Chain Breaker.

  Gavin reached for his sword. He borrowed from the Leier style, he borrowed from what he had seen of Theren, he borrowed from everything Tristan had taught him.

  Everything slowed around him.

  He darted through the El’aras, filled with the power he held on to through the ring. The energy flowed from deep within and radiated from him. He slammed into one after another, driving fist or knee or elbow or sword into the El’aras.

  As he fought, he was aware of something.

  Power. Coming from Anna. Gavin recognized it and wondered why he should feel it so strongly now. Perhaps because he had taken the sh’rasn, which gave him even more energy.

  Gavin let the El’aras circle around him, and then he exploded outward. The magic within him slammed into the others and threw them backward. He darted forward and worked his way through the remaining El’aras, knocking some out, killing those he had to, and then he turned to Theren.

  He had Anna.

  Theren wore a victorious expression as he held on to Anna, keeping her in front of him with her arms pinned behind her back. Her attempts to use her power failed, somehow extinguished by whatever Theren had done.

  If she had the Shard, she might have succeeded, but without it…

  She was powerful, but power had limits.

  Theren had found that limit, and he had overwhelmed her.

  “You see, Chain Breaker?” he taunted. “Do you see what you have failed to do? And you have brought the Shard to me.”

  “You cannot use it,” Anna said.

  She was rigid, and Gavin couldn’t understand why she was held in place the way she was, but then realized that bands of dark energy swirled around her.

  He’d seen that energy before. It was what had attacked them in the clearing outside of Yoran.

  Did Theren have the Toral ring?

  Gavin thought about how hard Theren had been for him to stop. Even his El’aras abilities had seemed greater than what most had. And there was how quickly he had managed to return to the city. Gavin had assumed that Theren had enchantments, but what if that wasn’t the case?

  He was the Toral.

  All this time.

  Gavin now understood how Theren believed he would be able to control the hyadan. And with the Toral ring, it was possible he could have.

  “You targeted her,” Gavin said.

  Theren chuckled. “Unfortunately, you intervened, but not for long. You also provided me with another opportunity.”

  “You’re not strong enough to handle this,” Anna said. “You cannot take in the power of the Shard.”

  “Take it in?” he said. “I don’t intend to do that. The Shard will be used the way it must, the way our people need it to be used—to stop the sorcerers. All of this will return to us what is meant to be. I’ve done all of this for our people.”

  “No,” Gavin said.

  Theren turned to him, dark power continuing to swirl around him.

  Gavin blinked and steadied himself. His energy was starting to fade. He’d drawn upon the sh’rasn, the ring, and had used too much to fight Theren.

  “And you,” Theren said. “So easy to manipulate. That is your downfall. And to think he thought you were his prized champion. It will be his great failure.”

  Gavin tried to start forward, but couldn’t.

  Whose champion? Could it be Tristan?

  No. Tristan had attacked him. At least, that was what Gavin had believed.

  He had to find a way to survive all of this, to get his answers.

  Gavin looked at Anna, and her face was rigid. She was trying to resist, but Theren was stronger than her. The Toral ring he possessed gave him that power.

  “And here you thought I was only your warrior,” Theren said, glaring down at Anna. “Do you realize what I have trained to do my entire life? What I have been willing to do? How much I have sacrificed to get to this point?”

  “You have sacrificed yourself,” Anna said. She cocked her head, looking over to Gavin. “And you still will not have what you desire.”

  “Who will stop me? You? The champion?”

  “Yes,” she said.

  Theren laughed, and there was no mirth in it the way Gavin had once thought he had. There was nothing but anger filling his voice. “I have seen your champion, how weak he is. He’s a man who thinks himself a great warrior, but he is nothing.”

  “He’s learning, which is more than can be said about you.”

  With that, Anna broke free and pulled her arms apart. Power began to flow from her. Gavin expected it to target Theren, but instead it looped backward, into him.

  As soon as it hit Gavin, something changed.

  The ring started to vibrate, and power began to flow out of him.

  Theren focused on Anna, and seemed completely oblivious to the fact that Gavin was now filled with a different sort of power. All he had to do was move forward.

  Theren wanted to destroy. Gavin had to stop him.

  Too late, Theren turned toward him. He brought his sword up, but Gavin twisted off to the side, then jammed upward with his sword. He caught Theren in the throat, no differently than he would with one of the hyadan.

  Theren’s eyes opened wide as blood bubbled out from his throat. He collapsed, and blue energy consumed him.

  Gavin sank to the ground. He tried to get up, but his strength had faded. Too much had poured out of him. At this point, he didn’t know if he would have enough left for what he needed to do.

  “Easy,” Anna said, holding her hands out to stop him from standing.

  “The stone,” he muttered. “He has the keystone.”

  “Yes,” she said. “I will take care of it.”

  “Destroy.”

  “Yes.”

  Gavin looked up, and for a moment, he feared she would not. He knew how the El’aras felt about sorcerers. The dark power within the stone would grant them the ability to destroy all with magic, but it was more than just that. It would permit them to reclaim these lands, something he wasn’t sure was possible without hurting too many people, destroying too many lives. He hoped he hadn’t misread Anna.

  She crouched down, reached into Theren’s pockets, and held out the dark stone. She wrapped her hand around it, whispered a soft word, and the stone exploded.

  “That’s much easier than what I did,” Gavin said.

  She chuckled. “Yes. You can learn to do it too.”

  His strength continued to wane, and as much as he wanted to figure out what else he needed to do, he didn’t know if he could.

  “Rest,” she said. “When you awaken, we must talk about the next step.”

  “The next step?”

  “In your training. It’s ti
me for you to fully understand what it means for you to be El’aras.”

  Gavin looked up and held her gaze, and then he faded, his strength gone. As he drifted off, he wondered if perhaps she was right. Perhaps it was time for him to understand. At the same time, he was left with questions that lingered in his mind.

  What if Tristan had not betrayed him?

  What if Tristan had prepared me for all of this?

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The city had changed.

  There was a strangeness to everything, and it took Gavin a while to try to understand just what it was. Mostly it had to do with the fact that he couldn’t feel the energy of his core reserves, even though he had recovered as much as he needed to tap into that power. It existed within him, but it also had hints of the lingering sh’rasn that had helped replenish him.

  As far as he knew, he should have been asleep for the better part of several weeks, but he had only slept for a few hours before rejoining the others in the Dragon.

  It was as it had been before he’d left.

  Gavin had worried about that. When he’d returned the city, he had not had the opportunity to check on the Roasted Dragon, or the people within it, only knowing that they were still alive.

  But now…

  Now he knew the Dragon had emerged from this unscathed.

  He found Wrenlow sitting with the book in front of him, Olivia across from him. As Gavin approached, she got to her feet, brushing her dark hair out of her eyes as she tipped her head to him politely.

  “You don’t have to go,” Gavin said.

  “I think the two of you have something to talk about.”

  “Is it serious?” he said, chuckling.

  She glanced over to Wrenlow, then back to Gavin. “Did my enchantment serve you well?”

  “Your enchantments always serve me well. How are you managing, with access to magic shut off?”

  She smiled. “It’s only shut off for some.” She didn’t elaborate, and nodded to him before making her way toward the kitchen, disappearing from the main tavern area.

  Gavin sank down into the booth, across from Wrenlow. His eyes had dark rings around them, and he made a note in his book before closing it when Gavin took a seat.

  “I wasn’t expecting to see you so soon,” Wrenlow said. “When you mentioned that you had to use that powder again, I guess I thought you’d be sleeping for a lot longer.”

  “Me too,” Gavin said.

  “Where did you sleep?”

  “I used the lair.”

  No point in denying it, and certainly not to Wrenlow. Wrenlow knew that he had been using that space to rest and recuperate and to isolate himself from others.

  “You could’ve let me know,” Wrenlow said. “I would’ve come and watched over you.”

  “You didn’t need to.”

  “I see. Anna did?” There was just a hint of a smile on his lips, though not nearly as much as what Gavin would’ve expected out of him normally.

  “No. She had quite a bit to coordinate following the attack.”

  “Did she leave?” Wrenlow asked.

  Gavin didn’t miss the note of eagerness in his voice.

  “Not yet,” he said.

  “I see. Well, I imagine you intend to go with her this time.”

  Gavin had given it some thought. It was probably time for him to leave. The city was protected now, after all. The constables had done their part, and the enchanters were working with them to keep the city safe. There was no real reason for him to stay, other than his friendships.

  Surprisingly, that was more than enough reason for Gavin to feel like he needed to wait.

  “Eventually,” he said, holding out the ring, “I’m going to have to learn how to control this. Right now, I just don’t know how to do so. I can feel the power within it, and there are times when it works the way it should, but other times when it fails on me. I don’t fully understand why that would be, but I want to understand.”

  “I think you need to,” Wrenlow said.

  “If I go…”

  Wrenlow leaned forward. “I know what it means.”

  “I’m not decided. Not yet.”

  Gavin glanced up as the door to the Dragon opened. A younger couple came in, and they took up a table near the door. He had seen them here before, and he relaxed. The minstrel who was performing had a harsh, raspy voice. Gavin chuckled to himself.

  “What about Gaspar and Imogen?” he asked.

  Wrenlow shrugged. “I don’t know what they’re doing.”

  “They’ve been keeping in touch with you, haven’t they?”

  He shrugged again. “A little bit. I know that Imogen has been looking for somebody. They don’t tell me much. She thinks that some person from her homeland might be here? Again, I don’t know what to make of it.”

  The girl. Amitha. That had to be who Imogen was looking for.

  “Do you want to tell me how the enchanters are able to use magic in the city?” Gavin asked.

  Wrenlow shifted nervously, and he glanced past him, looking toward the kitchen door.

  “I don’t know that it makes a difference in your access to magic,” he said.

  “They have an enchantment on them, I presume,” Gavin said. He didn’t want to force Wrenlow into deciding between helping Gavin and protecting the woman he cared about. “I’m curious if I could get one.”

  “I could see what I can do.”

  “I don’t intend to use it unless needed,” Gavin explained.

  Wrenlow arched a brow at him. “Unless you need it?”

  “Well, it really depends on what I encounter in the city before I leave.”

  “You’re the one who wanted to get the constables working with the enchanters.”

  Gavin nodded. “I am.”

  “And now you’re disappointed that the enchanters are giving them a way of protecting the city?”

  Gavin chuckled. “Not exactly.”

  He tried to tap into his core reserves, reaching for that energy, and found that it evaded him again. It continued to do so, despite every attempt he made.

  Could I use the ring?

  Keeping his hand below the table, Gavin twisted the ring and focused on the power inside.

  “I’m going to need you to do something for me,” Gavin said, looking across the table at Wrenlow. “I discovered something while we were gone, and it raised even more questions after we returned, as we were fighting the El’aras. There is some sort of prophecy they have. I think it involves Anna, in some way.”

  “You can just ask her, I would imagine,” Wrenlow said.

  “I’m sure I could.”

  “Why don’t you want to?”

  “Because she’s been concealing something from me. I’m not exactly sure what it is, so don’t ask, but it’s tied to this prophecy. Maybe it’s related to whatever it means for her to be the Risen Shard, but it might be something else.”

  And there was something else about it that troubled Gavin.

  There was somebody else involved in the prophecy.

  Could that be what Tristan was after?

  He wouldn’t put it past Tristan to have tried to position himself to fulfill some prophecy. Maybe that was the reason he had Gavin serve him the way he had all those years. Could he have been eliminating people who stood in the way of him fulfilling the prophecy? Or better yet, could Tristan have been trying to ensure he achieved what was necessary for him to be seen as a part of that prophecy?

  Those were the answers Gavin needed before he questioned Anna. He wanted to have some information so that when he asked, he wouldn’t have to worry about her concealing something from him.

  “I can look into it,” Wrenlow said, shifting in his seat again. “I don’t know how much I’ll be able to uncover, though. The constables have access to some records, so we could dig there as well, but—”

  Gavin leaned forward. “I’m not asking you to do something you don’t want to do.”

  “It’s not tha
t,” Wrenlow said quickly.

  Gavin studied his friend, and for the first time, he started to wonder.

  Wrenlow had been with him for so many years now. For a long time, Gavin had felt as if Wrenlow couldn’t do anything without Gavin, but maybe he hadn’t been giving Wrenlow enough credit. Maybe Wrenlow had decided that it was time for him to do something without Gavin. They had wandered long enough.

  “See what you can come up with,” Gavin said. “That’s all I ask.”

  “If I find out something, does that mean you’re leaving sooner than you plan to otherwise?”

  Gavin watched him, unable to read whether there was a hint of excitement laced in the question, or if there was concern. Either way, there was something more there.

  He shook his head. “I just need to understand. If it involves Anna, I need to know.”

  Gavin looked over toward the kitchen as the door opened. Jessica strode out, carrying a tray, her chestnut hair pulled back behind her, an apron covering her pale blue dress. A twinkle flashed in her eyes, but it faded when she saw him, though the smile on her lips remained.

  It seemed like more and more people were ready for him to move on. And maybe it was time. Gavin swallowed.

  Am I ready?

  Something vibrated in his pocket, and he reached in and pulled out the marker Anna had given him. He hadn’t expected that it would signal to him, or that she would reach out so soon. He figured that she would have many loose ends to deal with, though it was entirely possible that with her powers, she had already managed to do so.

  And it might indicate that she was leaving.

  Which meant Gavin would have to make a decision.

  He had been working on the belief that he was in control of what choice he made, but maybe that wasn’t the case. Maybe others had decided on his behalf, the way it always seemed. First Tristan, then Cyran leading him to Yoran and forcing him to do whatever he wanted of Gavin. And then there were others—the Fates, the enchanters, and now the constables—all wanting Gavin to do one thing or another.

  He thought he had his own choices to make about what he would do.

  Perhaps that was his mistake.

  The marker stopped vibrating, and Gavin squeezed it for a moment before sticking it back into his pocket. Anna would call him again, he had no doubt about that. Eventually, and maybe even now, he was going to have to go with her. He was at least part El’aras. Soon it would be time for him to understand what that meant.