The Coming Chaos

by D. K. Holmberg

  It made it more likely that the Elder Stone was tied to water.

  “What do you want to show us?” he asked Alistan as he approached.

  He brought them to a section of the rubble that had what appeared to be old stairs. “What do you see here?”

  “I see stairs.”

  “What about the stairs?”

  “Wherever they lead is gone,” Daniel said.

  Alistan circled the pile of debris. As he had suggested, it did look a bit like stairs, though whatever it framed was not visible anymore. The staircase stretched high overhead, quite stout, and not made of the same stone as much of the rest of the building.

  “Indeed. Wherever they lead is gone. There are some who speculate that this was once an altar, though if it was, whatever they stood upon was gone.”

  “This was a temple?”

  “The very first temple in Keyall,” Alistan said. He continued to make his way around the stairs, smiling to himself. “For so many years I came here, trying to understand what it was about this place that brought people to it after all those years. You see, the original descendants of Keyall continued to come here. I never understood.”

  “It’s the water,” Daniel said.

  Alistan turned to him, steepling his fingers together. “You’ve been here for an evening, and already you identified that? That is faster than Carth managed in her time here.”

  “She didn’t realize it was the water?”

  “She did, but it took her quite a bit longer to recognize.”

  “What is it about the water?”

  “You wanted to understand the power of Keyall, and that’s why you came.”

  “That’s not the entire reason I came, but it’s part of it.”

  “Why, then, did you come?”

  “We are looking for information about Elder Stones.”

  Alistan smiled. “You are much more like Carthenne than I realized.”

  “Did she come looking for Elder Stones?”

  “I don’t know if she understood what it was when she came. We looked into it together, and I helped her to see that the Elder Stones are a way to power. She didn’t believe one existed in Keyall, and then she found it.”

  “The water.”

  Alistan nodded. “It seeps up from deep below us in this location, though there are other places where it’s much more plentiful. That was where Carth found it. Swam in it, really.”

  “Carth swam in the water that represents the Elder Stone of Keyall?” Daniel asked.

  “I suspect she didn’t intend to, but it did give her an opportunity to have a better understanding of Keyall.”

  Daniel had to wonder what change Carth had experienced by having swum in one of the Elder Stones. Would she have been altered? Considering the way even experiencing the shadows had altered him, it was likely she had. He remembered the way she’d been able to use the wisdom stone in order to free Lareth, so there had to be something to it that would grant her some knowledge and increased ability.

  Daniel considered Alistan for a moment. It was likely that he not only knew of the things Carth had done when she was here, but that he knew what Carth had gone through. She had dealt with someone called the Collector, and yet wasn’t that also the time that she had dealt with Olandar Fahr?

  “What do you know about a man Carth might’ve encountered when she was here?”

  Alistan studied him for a moment. “What man might she have encountered?”

  “He would have gone by the name Olandar Fahr?”

  Alistan’s eyes widened. “Tell me she isn’t still chasing him.”

  “She’s not still chasing him,” Daniel said.

  Alistan let out a relieved sigh. “That’s good. It would be dangerous for Carth to try to confront him. He’s one she should leave well enough alone.”

  “She’s not chasing him so much as she’s chasing the Ai’thol. And she’s after knowledge he might already have.”

  Alistan studied him for a moment. “What sort of knowledge?”

  “The knowledge of Elder Stones.”

  The other man frowned, and he began to pace around the ruins of this old temple. In the dark, he disappeared from time to time, blending into shadows. Daniel wondered how much of that was because of his connection to this place and how much of it was some ability he might have of his own. As he watched, Alistan reached the opening in the temple, and Daniel glanced over to Rayen before Sliding to him, following Alistan. Once out of the street, the other man made his way beyond the wooden buildings, outside of the city itself, continuing to meander along the cliff. Far below, the sound of waves crashing drifted to Daniel’s ears, a reminder that the sea and its power were beneath them. Daniel kept waiting for Alistan to say something, anything, but the other man made his way silently.

  Wind whipped around him, pulling at his hair and his cloak. Rayen took his hand, holding on, and he glanced over to see her watching him. There was a nervousness in her eyes, and he understood the reason behind it. Neither of them knew quite what Alistan was doing. Leading them outside of the city like this was almost a way of bringing them to danger, and yet, he didn’t have that sense of Alistan.

  In the distance, he caught sight of a wooden platform hanging off the edge of the cliff. Enormous ropes stretched from the platform to a small shed. It was here that Alistan went.

  “Where are you taking us?” Daniel asked.

  Alistan looked over at them. “Wait on the platform.”

  He frowned, but holding on to Rayen’s hand, he made his way over to the platform, standing on it carefully, watching. Alistan headed inside the shed, and did something, and they began to descend. The other man hurried out from inside the shed, and when he appeared, he jumped onto the platform, alongside them.

  “What is this?”

  “This is where Carthenne was imprisoned long ago,” he said.

  “If you think that you can hold us in a prison—”

  Alistan cut him off. “That’s not my intention.”

  “Then what is your intention?”

  “To show you to the Elder Stone.”

  47

  Daniel

  If Daniel had normal eyesight, he might have panicked at this point. Darkness swallowed them, blacker than any night, and even with his enhanced eyesight, he didn’t like crawling through the tunnel the way Alistan went. The other man seemed to make it through the tunnel almost as if there was no concern, and perhaps there was none to him.

  Rayen stayed behind Daniel, and with the darkness around them, he wondered what she might be able to see, but he suspected most of this was comprised of the same stone as the rest of the city that prevented Rayen’s abilities from working as they should.

  They had been crawling through here for the better part of an hour, taking tunnel after tunnel, and through it all, Alistan told them to wait. He promised they would reach this Elder Stone soon, and yet the longer they went, the less certain Daniel was that he was telling them the truth. He had begun to wonder if this man might in fact be senile.

  “The next part is the hardest,” Alistan said.

  “The next part?” Daniel’s mouth was dry. Had he known they were going to take a climb like this, he might have brought water or other preparations, and he certainly would have been more ready than he was.

  “The next part involves a little bit of faith, if you will.”

  Daniel frowned, glancing back at Rayen. “What sort of faith?”

  “Well, in this case, the faith should be in Carthenne.”

  “Why?”

  “Because she’s the one who discovered this in the first place.”

  Daniel let out a tightly held breath and looked back at Rayen again. She was quiet, and he didn’t blame her for the silence, but he would have liked her to be more vocal here. “You’ve been quiet.”

  “I don’t like this,” she whispered.

  “The tunnel?”

  “All of it. I have no access to the shadows in this place.”

/>   “Just remember that Carth went through it, too.”

  “If you think that will inspire me to move onward…”

  Daniel shrugged. “I was just saying that if Carth can do it, then you certainly can.”

  “I am not Carthenne Rel,” she said.

  “No, but you are Rayen Shadow Born. I think that’s more than enough.”

  Rayen was quiet for a moment before taking his hand and squeezing it. “For someone who was as foolish as you seemed to be when we first met, you often know the right thing to say.”

  “Are the two of you going to come? I know it’s nice to have the darkness, but I would be a little uncomfortable if you began to… well, you know.”

  Daniel held Rayen’s eyes for a moment. He wasn’t sure if she was even able to see him in the dark like this. The only reason he could was because of his enhanced eyesight, and she wouldn’t have that advantage. Normally Rayen had as good or better vision as him in the darkness, but when it came to this place and the shadows, that advantage was diminished.

  “Show us,” Daniel said.

  The man spun around and stepped forward.

  And then disappeared.

  “Alistan?”

  The other man didn’t answer, and Daniel frowned to himself. He wouldn’t have any way of knowing how to get out of here without Alistan. Then again, they could simply Slide. It might be difficult hunched over as he was, but he suspected that he could just step forward in a Slide and return to Keyall before deciding what more they would need to do.

  “He said we had to go by faith,” Rayen said.

  “I didn’t expect that he meant we would simply have to disappear.”

  “Maybe there’s something to where he’s going,” she said.

  Daniel crawled forward, looking to see if he could uncover where Alistan might have vanished. He couldn’t tell anything. That didn’t mean anything to him, but it was possible there was a section within here where Alistan was able to hide.

  Daniel crawled forward a step, and then another.

  Then he was falling.

  He spun around, trying to see if he could make out what had happened, trying to Slide, but he couldn’t.

  Then he splashed.

  Daniel swung his arms, frantically trying to gain purchase, trying to understand where he was and what had happened. As he did, he realized there was a faint bluish glow all around him.

  The Elder Stone.

  “This is where you wanted to bring me?” He turned toward where Alistan swam nearby.

  The other man smiled softly. “You might want to move out of the way.”

  Daniel started to swim toward him when Rayen splashed down next to him.

  She gasped, beating at the water. As she surfaced, she turned toward him. “That was unexpected.”

  “He could have given us a warning,” Daniel said.

  “Had I given you a warning, would you have believed?”

  “It’s not a matter of faith.”

  “Perhaps not for you.” Alistan swam toward a ledge, pulling himself up from it, and waited for Daniel and Rayen to join him. “This is the place that Carth found, and she might have been the first person in ages to have done so.”

  “This is your Elder Stone?”

  “This is Keyall’s Elder Stone. According to the myth, the elder of Keyall granted us this place as a way of shielding from outsiders.”

  “Keyall has quite a few traders. There isn’t any shielding from outsiders.”

  “Now they do, but there was a time when trade with Keyall was uncommon.”

  “Why?” Daniel asked, trying to smooth some of the water out of his cloak. It would take a while to dry, and he didn’t like being sopping wet like this. Rayen seemed less bothered than him, and after a moment, he realized that she seemed to be using the shadows to wring water off her. If only he had a similar ability.

  “According to legend, the first people of Keyall came here to hide from something.” Alistan made his way to the edge of the ledge, looking down at the water. “I haven’t been able to determine what they were trying to escape from, only that whatever it was terrified the people. They spoke about it in vague terms, and even in the ancient writings, there isn’t much I can uncover.”

  “Do you have any suspicions about what it is?”

  He shrugged. “Some, but I am not sure. As I said, it’s vague.”

  “How is it that you know so much about the Elder Stones?” Daniel asked.

  “It has been my passion. I’ve searched for information about them for my entire life.”

  “And Carth knew this?”

  “Carth understood that my passion was tied to the understanding rather than the possession.”

  “What’s the difference?”

  “The difference is that I did not seek knowledge of the Elder Stones in order to become powerful like Olandar Fahr. I sought knowledge so I could understand. There is a difference, and it’s not inconsiderable.”

  Daniel shared a glance with Rayen. “We’ve been looking for knowledge about a fifth stone.”

  “Fifth?” Alistan asked before smiling. “Perhaps this isn’t the best place for us to be talking about it. It is interesting, that is certain, and you have been given a great gift to have experienced the Elder Stone of Keyall, but maybe we should return to my home before it gets too late.”

  How would Daniel change now that he had plunged into the Elder Stone? He’d tasted it in the temple, but this seemed different. This was concentrated, surrounding him, and reminded him of what he had experienced when going to the chamber of shadows.

  “Hold on,” he said. He grabbed Rayen’s hand, reached for Alistan, and Slid them back to the library. When they emerged, water dripped off him, and he glanced over to Alistan. “Sorry about that.”

  “What an ability!” Alistan said.

  “I apologize for dripping all over your carpet.”

  “Carpet dries, but perhaps you would take off your cloak and hang it away from the table?”

  Daniel looked over to perceive that he was standing close to the Tsatsun table where he had defeated Alistan. In the time they’d been gone, someone had come and reset the game board. Daniel reached forward and made a play on the other side of the board.

  Pulling off his cloak, he hung it on a hook near the door. Rayen took one look at him and shook her head. Shadows streamed off her, working along his body. It felt almost as if there was pressure, and when she was done, his clothes were merely damp, not sopping wet.

  “Carth would do it better,” she said with a shrug, “but I don’t have her potential with the flame. You’re stuck with me using the shadows alone.”

  “Perhaps you wouldn’t mind doing that with me?” Alistan said, moving to stand in front of Rayen.

  She sent the shadows swirling around him, working along his arms and legs, squeezing the water out of him as well.

  When she was done, he motioned for them to sit. He went to the table at the back, refilling his glass of wine, and took a seat. “Ah. Perhaps I should offer you some wine as well. How rude of me not to have done so.”

  “I’m fine,” Daniel said.

  Rayen shook her head. “I prefer ale.”

  Alistan tipped his glass toward them before taking a drink. “You might prefer ale, but there is something about wine that is simply exquisite. When it’s made correctly, you get the flavor of where the grape was born. You can practically taste the soil.”

  He took a long drink, leaning forward to set the glass down.

  “Now, I think that we need to have a conversation about the elders.”

  “Not the Elder Stones?”

  “They are tied together, I suspect, and depending on which mythology you believe, you may take something from those conversations.” He glanced from Rayen to Daniel. “What do you know about the elders?”

  “Not much,” Daniel said. “I know about the Elder Stones and have heard about the power they possess.”

  “The stones are merely a rep
resentation of the elders. According to legend, the elders of each land left an edge of their ability behind. In doing so, they enabled the people to know their power. Some know it more directly, such as the people of Keyall understanding the power here, but only if they follow the ancient teachings and worship in the temple. Others are more indirect, such as that of Ih or Lashasn.”

  “Lashasn?”

  “Perhaps you know it by a different name, but it’s a place of power and flame. It’s the other half of Carth’s homeland, and it is how she has become so powerful.”

  Daniel turned to look over at Rayen. He had thought that the other part of Carth’s homeland was Nyaesh, where she’d trained with the A’ras.

  “Lashasn is gone,” Rayen said. “As is Ih.”

  “The lands may be gone, but the people are not. The power is not.”

  “For how much longer?” Rayen asked.

  “You can’t destroy the power of the elders,” Alistan said.

  “You can destroy the people. You can scatter them, and when that’s done…”

  Alistan frowned. “What happens when that is done?”

  “The power begins to wane,” Daniel said. That was what Rayen was getting at.

  “Perhaps,” he said.

  “There’s no perhaps. I’ve seen it.”

  “Or perhaps that power moves,” Alistan said. He took another drink of his wine before setting the glass down. “Lashasn may be gone, but the people are not. Those people took their power with them. How else do you think the A’ras exist? Ih might be lost, but they have reformed, calling themselves the Reshian. Shadows are not lost. Neither are flames. If Keyall were to disappear, the power of this place would move to wherever the descendants of this land go.”

  “You mentioned three of the Elder Stones,” Daniel said.

  “I have.”

  “How many of the Elder Stones do you know about?”