The Forger relaxed, lying back on the cot. He glared up at Haern. “You have made a mistake.”
Could Haern be responsible for leading them to the city? The Forgers should have known about the city before now. It wouldn’t have anything to do with him leading them anywhere.
“What mistake is that?” he asked.
“You can’t hold us. And now that we’ve attacked, you will lose your control over the Elder Stones.”
“Why?”
“Because we will control them. And then we will decide where they are used.”
“My father will stop you.”
The man glared at him for a moment. “Father… yes. I see it. You do have some of his features.” He glanced over to Haern’s mother, and a dark smile parted his lips. “And hers. That would make you Jessa. We have looked for you for quite some time.”
His mother stiffened but remained silent.
The Forger continued to smile. “It’s a shame that you continue to fight. With your natural gifts, you could be quite talented. It’s the same offer we’ve made to your father over the years, and yet he continues to refuse.”
Haern glanced at his mother. Could that be true? Could the Forgers have offered some sort of truce to his father? Why would his father refuse them if it meant they would have peace?
“Rsiran knows what requirements your gifts have. It’s not an obligation any of us would take on.”
“Obligation? You speak as if there is something dangerous to the gifts we’ve been given.”
“I’ve seen the way you use your gifts. I know exactly how dangerous they are. You won’t corrupt any of us.”
“No? None of your people would succumb to the promise of taking on additional talents?” He turned his gaze to Haern, managing a darker intensity than Haern would have expected considering how weak he was. “What about you? You may not have the strength of your father, but you could. If you came with me, I could show you power that you can barely imagine.”
“What kind of power?”
His mother looked over at him. “Haern—”
He ignored her. “What kind of power?”
The Forger smiled. “See? Perhaps the great Rsiran hasn’t shared with your people all that we could offer. Venass and the Hjan were but a part, but the plan is much greater than this.”
“I’ve seen everything you do. I’ve seen your offer and the way that it’s twisted. I’ve seen—”
The Forger coughed, and blood burbled from his mouth. “Return me, or you’ll never see him again.”
“What was that?”
The Forger smiled. “As I said, return me or you won’t see him again.”
His mother took a step toward the cot and grabbed the sides of it, leaning down over the Forger. “Where is he?”
The Forger grinned. “I’ve already named my terms.”
“Where is he?”
“You think we would have been able to attack had the threat he posed not been removed? I’ll admit, Rsiran does pose challenges to my kind, and it has taken us many years to come up with a way to mitigate that, but everything is solvable in time.”
“What did you do to him?” she asked.
“If only you could know. I’ve already named my terms, and if you would have nothing to do with them, then you will remain in the dark.” He closed his eyes and coughed again. Blood burbled once more. “Ah, perhaps it’s already too late. Now only your Great Watcher can lead you to him.”
He took another breath, and then no more.
9
Haern
His mother stood, gripping either side of the bed, looking as if she might shake the Forger, but she didn’t. She staggered back, and Haern was there, catching her, lowering her back into a chair near the hearth opposite Darren. The Healer sat quietly, his eyes closed, breathing deeply.
Heat emanated from the hearth, the coals glowing softly, making the air stink of medicine and blood. Haern wanted nothing more than to get out of here, but he needed to help his mother.
“Mother?”
“If it’s true, and if they have your father, then—”
“Then we need to be ready.”
She looked over at him. “No. We need to find him.”
Haern stared at her. His father had continued his battle with the Forgers on his own, never bringing anyone else into it. How could they find him? The only person who might know enough to figure out where his father had been spending his time was right before him.
“Find him? There’s no way.”
“No way that we can, but there’s someone who might be able to help.”
“Who?”
“Come on.”
She headed out of the building and stopped in the middle of the clearing, taking a deep breath. Sunlight poured down, but it wasn’t enough to push away the cold that had begun to creep over Haern’s mind.
The Forgers had come once. As easily as they reached the Aisl, he had to believe they would be able to attack again. What sort of defenses would they be able to mount? Probably not enough. Doing so would require more power than they possessed, and he wasn’t sure they were capable of stopping the Forgers. Their attackers had been few in number, only enough to damage the Elder Trees, but even that was more than they had been able to manage.
What would happen if they decided to come in real numbers?
“Shouldn’t we do like he suggested?” Haern asked, glancing back to Darren’s home.
“What’s that?”
“Go to the Great Watcher. Isn’t there some way of reaching him?”
His mother eyed him strangely. “The only person who has ever sat alongside the Great Watcher and had any sense of what they were seeing was your father.”
“There has to be some way for us to reach out to the Great Watcher.”
“Haern, the Great Watcher doesn’t simply respond to us. You’re talking about trying to reach one of the gods.”
“What do you mean, one of the gods?”
“The Elders are believed to be gods, and they left items behind for their followers. Those items are what we have used to gain power. Those are the Elder Stones.”
She guided him through the forest over to the guild tree for the Sliders. Lucy remained near the others and stood near the back. Despite her ability to Slide, she had never really felt a part of the guild, Haern knew. Something about living in the palace had made her feel apart from those who lived in the Aisl, regardless of how much time she’d spent here.
Jessa stopped and nodded to Elsa. “I need you to transport me to the city.”
“Jessa, I’m not so sure that you’re in any shape to go anywhere.”
“This is time-sensitive. Rsiran has been captured.”
Elsa’s eyes widened. “Is that how they were able to attack?”
Jessa nodded. “I think so. I’m not sure how they managed to find us, and we might not ever know that, but we need to go after Rsiran.”
“You are going to go after him?”
“I was going to gather those who might have some ability.”
“I don’t think we can spare anyone after the attack.” Elsa looked around the heart of the Aisl Forest, an anguished look on her face. “If there’s another attack…”
“I’m not asking you to come with me. I just need to go and speak to someone.”
“For Rsiran, I will do this,” Elsa said. “Where would you have me go?”
“The palace.”
“Oh.”
His mother took Elsa’s arm, and the three of them Slid. It was a blur of movement, a swirl of colors, and it happened even faster than when Lucy Slid him.
When they emerged from the Slide, they stood in a courtyard outside the palace. Rows of flowers grew in long raised beds, their colors vibrant and their fragrance filling the air. A thick carpet of grass was neatly trimmed. A half dozen soldiers stood guard, barely reacting to their sudden appearance.
Haern had been to the palace before, but he had not visited very often. The few times
he’d come with Lucy, they had stayed outside of the palace. The other times had been for formal occasions, and he hadn’t attended many.
“You need me to return for you?” Elsa asked.
“I don’t know.”
“I can wait.”
“I’m not sure that you can.”
Elsa breathed out. “Good luck with whatever you plan.”
With another shimmer, she disappeared.
When she was gone, Haern glanced over at his mother. “What is it that you intend to do here? Who do you intend to meet with?”
“There’s someone who might be of use to us in trying to understand where the Forgers could be found.”
Haern looked around, his gaze lingering on the windows. He could only vaguely detect the alloy of lorcith that prevented Sliding directly into the palace. “And they live in the palace?”
“Not the person we need, but someone who knows how to find her.”
They started forward and were met by a pair of guards. Haern wasn’t surprised that the guards seemed to recognize his mother, and they waved her in without saying a word. They strode through the halls of the palace. The floor was made of a plain white marble, and pillars of it rose up on either side. Lorcith was worked into the walls, more decorative than anything else, and every so often he came across an ornate sculpture completely made out of lorcith. He paused at the first one, studying it. It looked something like a tree that would be found in the Aisl, but the detail was incredible.
“Your father made that long ago,” his mother said, grabbing his arm and pulling him along the hallway.
Haern glanced back at it. His father had made that?
If only he had learned how to manipulate lorcith so skillfully. Maybe becoming something of an artist would be interesting to him. Simply working at the forge day after day, hammering at the metal, didn’t appeal to him the way it did to his grandfather and his father.
“Where are we going?”
“We have to find Cael.”
“Cael Elvraeth. As in the leader of the council?” If he had known they were doing this, he would have asked Lucy to join.
His mother nodded.
“How will she know how to find the Forgers?”
“She won’t. Her husband will.”
Haern knew very little about Cael’s husband. He was mostly hidden from the public’s eye, though everyone knew he wasn’t Elvraeth. It was that fact that made her more beloved. She hadn’t felt obligated to marry within the family to keep power focused within the palace. She had been willing to step outside traditional power lines and had found someone different. But Haern had never suspected her husband was powerful. He’d seen him from a distance but had never spoken to him. Few people did.
Hurrying along the hallway, his mother leaned on the cane less and less as they went. Either she was feeling better, or she was simply trying to hide her injury. Either way, Haern doubted that he would know. His mother was strong—possibly the strongest woman he’d ever met.
At the top of the stairs, she guided him along the hallway until they stopped in front of a set of double doors. She knocked and waited.
“Why does Galen know how to find the Forgers?”
“Galen has access to someone who can help.”
“And who is that?”
“The most dangerous person I know.”
The door opened, and Cael Elvraeth stood on the other side. She had to be twenty years older than him, but with her raven hair and the elegant deep blue gown she wore, she was stunning. He hadn’t seen her for a long time, and never up close like this. There was something imposing about her, and she radiated a sense of power.
When she saw them, she frowned for a moment until she recognized his mother. Only then did a smile spread across her face. “Jessa Lareth.” She glanced over to him, studying him for a moment. “And her son, Haern. To what do I owe this honor?”
His mother shifted her feet, tipping her head down to sniff the flower tucked into her dress. She was anxious. “The Aisl was attacked by Forgers.”
“Attacked? I thought Rsiran—”
“Apparently, Rsiran has been captured.”
Cael cocked her head to the side. A pressure built in Haern’s head, and instinctively he slammed his mental barriers into place to prevent her from Reading him. Would it be enough? Cael Elvraeth was rumored to be the most powerful Reader in all of Elaeavn.
“Oh, no. I’m so sorry, Jessa. Is there anything I can—”
“I need Galen.”
Cael blinked once, tipping her head back to glance from Haern to his mother. “He no longer fights. You know that.”
“I know he doesn’t, and that’s not what I’m asking of him.”
“I don’t care that you think he might have some ability, but against the Forgers?”
His mother stomped her feet anxiously. “Cael, that’s not why I’m here.”
Cael attempted Reading them again. Haern was able to fortify his mind with lorcith, something he’d learned when he was younger and knew to be a boon when it came to dealing with powerful Readers, but his mother didn’t have the same ability.
A slow frown spread across her face. “Then why are you here?”
“Because I need to find Carth.” The name hung in the air for a moment. “Galen is the only person who has any contact with her.”
“She cares about him. That is no secret.”
“I know she cares about him. Well, I care about my husband. Please, Cael. Let me at least speak with him.”
Cael watched her for a moment before sighing and stepping off to the side. “Come on in. I suppose there’s no choice but to welcome you. Even if I didn’t, you’d probably push your way past anyway.”
His mother flashed a smile. “I wouldn’t push my way past. I’m more into sneaking.”
“I’m not sure how much you can sneak around in the palace.”
His mother smiled tightly. “You’d be surprised.”
The inside of Cael Elvraeth’s room was incredibly ornate. It was nothing more than a sitting room, a barrier between this room and the next, and even that was well decorated. A multicolored carpet rolled across the floor. A desk sat in the middle of the room, with two lanterns glowing with a faint blue light on either side. Stacks of paper were piled up on top of the desk. Bookshelves on either wall were stuffed with various volumes. Even the decorations, mostly exotic sculptures and paintings, were incredibly well made and likely valuable.
“Wait here,” Cael said.
When she disappeared into the next room, Haern glanced over at his mother. “Who is Carth?”
“She’s the person Galen knows.”
“The one you said is the most dangerous person you know?” His mother nodded. “Even more than Father?”
His mother laughed bitterly. “Ask your father that question.”
“And what would he say?”
“Your father is gifted with his connections to the crystals and the Great Watcher, but even he would say that Carth is the most dangerous person that he has ever met.”
“Even more than the Forgers?”
“Even more than them. She’s the only person who has ever beaten him.”
The door to the other room opened and a tall, slender man with dark hair streaked with gray stepped forward. He had medium-green eyes, and he glanced at them briefly, taking in everything in the blink of an eye.
Sight.
Haern was certain of it. It was the only way someone would barely take notice of others, and he did much the same thing. What other gifts might Galen have? He had traveled to Elaeavn with Cael—and one of the crystals, which meant that he would have had the opportunity to hold it. He would have to have some additional ability, but whatever it was remained a secret. Few spoke about Galen other than as Cael’s consort.
“Jessa,” Galen said, bowing his head. “Cael has told me of your request.”
“She hasn’t told you of my request. She told you what I’m after.”
�
�You seek Carth.”
“The Forgers have Rsiran, and we need to get him back. Without him, the entirety of Elaeavn is in danger.”
“We have ways of protecting the city,” Galen said.
“Not as well as what Rsiran can do.”
Galen glanced from her to Cael, who had emerged from the back room trailed by a small child. “Those of you who live in the forest still believe that Rsiran is the only one capable of protecting the city, but there are others, I can assure you. We have ensured that others have the necessary training and skills to defend us from the outside world.”
“This is more than just the outside world. This is the Forgers.”
“The same Forgers we have not seen in decades.”
“Because of what Rsiran has done.” His mother let out a frustrated sigh. “Rsiran is the reason we haven’t encountered the Forgers in the last two decades. If you want to blame him for anything, blame him for being gone.”
Haern was drawn to look at his mother. He hadn’t known that she felt the same way as him, but then why should that be a surprise? She would have wanted to have her husband the same as he wanted to have his father.
“Jessa, Galen is a part of the city’s protection,” Cael Elvraeth said.
“What do you think Carth can help you with?” Galen asked, watching Haern’s mother closely. He stood with his arms crossed, but the more Haern watched him, the more he had the sense that Galen was ready to attack at a moment’s notice. There was something almost coiled about him, as if underneath his finely cut jacket and pants, every muscle in his body was tensed. He’d never seen anything quite like it, not even from his father, and his father always seemed to be on edge.
“She has connections, and you know as well as I do that she has been tracking down the Elder Stones.”
Galen stared at her hard for a moment. “We don’t speak of that here.”
“Where would you have me speak of it? It’s not as if it’s any sort of secret. We know what we have here, and we know the Forgers search for the same thing.”
Galen took a deep breath. “I can’t.”
“You can’t, or you want?”
“I promised Carth that I would keep her secrets.”
The Darkest Revenge Page 12
