Changed By Fire (Book 3) (5 page)

She waited, looking down from her saddle at him. “Why here? What do you hope to find?”

Tan turned and surveyed the city from this vantage point. It hadn’t been long since he’d been here, but it felt ages ago. How much had changed in the weeks he had been gone? How much had
he
changed? It seemed each time he faced Incendin he changed even more. How much of that change had been for the good?

Tan turned to the low, squat stone building of the archives. Fires that had swept through the city had not harmed the archives, not like the surrounding buildings. Golud had helped build the archives, and the elemental power still protected them.

Tan sighed. What
did
he hope to find here?

“Answers,” he finally said.

Cianna frowned, hesitating for a moment as if she considered what she would do.

Would she try to stop him? She was a Master shaper. She could stop him from accessing the archives, prevent him from accessing the hidden demesne of the archivists.

“What do you think to find in the archives?” Cianna asked.

Tan stared at the building. If not for his ability to sense, he wouldn’t even know golud pressed beneath him, supporting—and protecting—the archives. What he wanted to know wasn’t even in the archives, but below it. Answers had to be there, else why would the archivists work so hard to protect it?

Cianna waited for his answer, sitting in her saddle and staring down at him.

Tan sighed. “I don’t want to go into the archives.”

She frowned.

“What I want is below it.”

A flash of understanding turned back her frown. She nodded and hopped from the saddle, barking an amused laugh. “Nothing there but more mysteries,” she said. “But I’ll go with you. Not much I can do—or you, I’d wager—but seeing as there aren’t many archivists to stop us, it doesn’t hurt to look.”

C
ianna lit
the small lanterns hanging around the archives. Once the flickering orange light began glowing, Tan saw how the place appeared deserted but not abandoned. Books were stacked atop tables, picked up from where they must have fallen in the explosion. A few shelves were tipped to the side, but someone had been through and stacked the contents that had fallen.

“Who was here?” he wondered.

Cianna shrugged. “Archivists, likely.”

“They were exposed. They would not have stayed. And you said they were gone.”

“You think
all
the archivists were to blame? How many spirit shapers do you think there are hidden in the archives?”

Tan shrugged. “How many fire shapers have come from Nara?”

She cocked her head. “Why?”

“We don’t have any idea how many spirit shapers the archivists hid. Besides, had this been archivists, they would have righted the shelves.”

Tan made his way toward the door at the back of the archives. Behind the door were restricted works and then a staircase leading down. It was there that the valuable works were kept.

Cianna moved to block him. “Those are restricted.”

“They are, but I’ve been there before. I’ve been
trapped
there before.”

“That was you?”

Tan nodded.

“Roine—Theondar—never said who reported the attack in the archives.”

“The archivist wanted Amia and brought the fire shaper to capture her.”

Cianna frowned. “Are you sure they wanted her?”

He nodded. “She was the one captured by the archivists.”

“But you’re the one who speaks to the draasin.”

Tan hadn’t considered that. What if the archivist hadn’t been after Amia? What if they had wanted him instead? Had they used her to get to him? Could he have done exactly what they wanted?

The idea gave him shivers. What would have happened had they succeeded? If they would have reached—and accessed—the pool of spirit in the cavern at the place of convergence?

Now that Cianna suggested it, the idea made a twisted sort of sense. Amia might have shaped the draasin, but he was the one who spoke to them. Would they have known?

Of course they would have known. Jishun would have heard from the king what Tan had done.

Maybe he
was
as stupid as Cianna teased.

She opened the door to the restricted section of the archives. With a quick shaping of fire, all of the lanterns here suddenly blazed brightly. The air smelled musty but there was another scent to it, like that of rot and decay. Her nose wrinkled at the smell.

“Was it like this before?”

The shelves were intact here, not tipped like they were in the main section. A few small tables rested at the end of rows of shelves. Stacks of paper and a few rolls of parchment perched on the tables.

“It looked the same. Didn’t smell like this.”

“Well? What did you want to see here?”

Tan pointed toward the door along the back wall. The last time he’d been here, Roine had to shape it open.

Cianna hurried toward the door. She touched the lock and performed a quick shaping.

Tan felt the pull of the shaping differently this time, almost as if he could see what she did. With a jab of fire, she shaped through the lock on the door, destroying it. Cianna pulled it away and dragged the door open. Darkness greeted them.

“Any lanterns?” she asked, peering into the darkness.

This might be a shaping he could do. Shapers lanterns only required there be a shaper, not any particular shaping. With a focus of effort, Tan lit them. A steady white light lit the way down the stairs.

Cianna snorted. With a quick shaping, she flickered the lanterns on, then off. “More than I’m used to seeing.” She turned and looked over at Tan. “There are a couple in the university, but not many. How do you know how to light them?”

“They lined the cavern in the place of the cavern…” He trailed off, not wanting to remind Cianna of that time.

Cianna’s face tightened for a moment and then she nodded. “I think I remember. Too much of that time remains blank for me. Ever since your girl lifted the shaping, there are gaps.”

Tan frowned. “Was it like that for the others?”

“Don’t know,” she said, shrugging. “Most of us didn’t talk about it much. Too proud. Too stupid, maybe.”

Tan wondered what would happen when Amia lifted the shaping from the king. Would he have gaps like the others? If he did, could they use those to determine how far back the archivists shaped him?

But what if he forgot too much? What would it mean for the kingdoms?

Cianna started down the stairs, moving into the shadows between the lanterns. After a few steps, she looked back at Tan. “You’re the one who wanted to come down here. Aren’t you coming?”

Tan forced a smile and started after her. The last time he had been down these steps, they had found the body of the only archivist who had been kind to him. They made their way quickly down the steps. Cianna paused at each door, looking into each. When she reached the room where Tan and Amia were captured, she paused and studied the ceiling.

“Incendin do that?”

Tan shook his head. “Me.”

Cianna regarded him strangely and stepped into the room. She climbed onto the shelving and reached the top, where she ran her hand along the stone. Her eyes drifted shut and a soft shaping built. When she opened her eyes, she let out a soft whistle.

“Fire. And strong enough to melt stone.” She jumped down. “With focus, too. You didn’t bring the entire ceiling down on you.” She laughed. “Probably knew that, though.”

“I didn’t really know what I was doing. All I could think about was escaping the shaper.” And Amia’s shaped command that still lingered in the back of his mind, the request for him to protect her. When they were chased, the command had practically overwhelmed him again, the same as it had when they ran from the lisincend through the mountains of Galen.

Cianna frowned. “Theondar does you a disservice. You need better teaching.”

Tan snorted. “From who?”

She shrugged. “Me, for starters. To melt stone like that means you’re a strong fire shaper. Makes sense you can speak to the draasin.”

“I can speak to the other elementals as well. And I was an earth senser first.”

Cianna grinned at him. “But look what you reached for when you needed to escape.” She smacked him on the shoulder as she passed, moving back onto the stairs. “It’ll be good to teach again. Not many come looking to learn fire.”

Tan didn’t know what to say. None of the other masters had seemed particularly interested in teaching. Only Ferran had offered, though hadn’t made much of an effort during their return to the city. Even Roine hadn’t really wanted to teach. Finally, he had a willing instructor, but why did he wonder if his time would be better spent elsewhere?

“Well?” Cianna asked.

He needed to learn. That was the reason he returned to Ethea. “I’m ready to learn.”

Cianna started down the stairs again, not waiting to see if he would follow.

Tan frowned, a thought crossing his mind. He raced down the stairs to catch her. “How many fire shapers are there?” he asked.

Cianna looked back at him and shrugged. “Not many. Kingdoms probably only have ten or so. Most are deployed along the border to fortify the barrier. Not nearly as many as wind and water shapers. Earth shapers are less common, but not quite as rare as fire shapers.”

“Why were you here?”

She laughed. “What—don’t like me now that we’re down in the dark?” Her red hair seemed to glow with the lantern light.

“I like you fine,” Tan said hurriedly.

Cianna laughed. “Some compliment. If I wasn’t sure before, now I know why the Aeta girl is drawn to you.”

Tan ignored the comment. “How is it decided who stays at the university?”

She nodded. “Not sure how it is with the others, but with fire, we rotate. Each serves along the barrier for three cycles before returning. Keeps suspicions at a minimum.”

“Suspicions?”

They had nearly reached the lowest level where the strange doors ringed a circular area.

Cianna paused and looked back at him. “Fire shapers along the border raise questions, even with other shapers.” She shrugged. “Most feel it best we return to Ethea regularly to prove our loyalty.”

What would it have been like had his parents returned to Ethea during his childhood? Would he have learned about his abilities sooner, or wouldn’t it have mattered? Would his father have still been called to service? Probably sooner. And his mother might have been drawn back into service as well. Instead, they served in a different way, working to preserve the barrier.

“How many fire sensers do you think there are?”

Cianna shrugged. Her braid bobbed as she did. “Not always easy to determine who can sense fire. How many earth sensers do you think there are?” She shook her head. “Get to your point. What are you trying to determine?”

“I’m only wondering why there are so few fire shapers.”

“Only here. Incendin has more.”

She turned, as if that answered everything, and reached the lowest level.

Tan wasn’t as certain. If Incendin had more fire shapers, why hadn’t they attacked before now? Maybe Incendin had as few fire shapers as the kingdoms. But why would that be the case?

“Great Mother!” Cianna said.

Tan hurried down the last few steps and reached her. The shapers lanterns gave the circular area a warm glow, but shadows remained in between them, drifting back toward the doors, almost as if drawn there.

“What?” he asked.

“You know what this is?”

“Roine said it was the first archive.”

She whistled softly to herself. “First Archive,” she said, emphasizing it like a title. “Ethea is old, but this place?” She shook her head again. “This place is
old
. Most of the buildings in Ethea are hundreds of years old. Much of the archive overhead is even older, somehow shaped into being.”

Golud helped create the archive above. Did Cianna know that?

“But this? This place is even older than that. A thousand years? Maybe more? And look how well preserved it is!”

Tan touched the nearest door. A humming sense came from it, working through his fingers. He focused on it, wondering where it came from, and started building a shaping.

Then he released it. He didn’t know what type of shaping would work. Doing anything blindly only risked wasting his energy.

“Roine said there should be a key.”

Cianna looked over. “Probably. And I imagine the archivists would never admit if there was.”

“What do you think is behind the doors?”

Roine had offered his ideas about what might be behind the doors but hadn’t really known. None but the archivists truly knew.

Cianna crouched before one of the doors. The ends of her fingers glowed, giving gentle light.

Tan studied the shaping and thought he understood how she did it, pushing fire to the tips of her fingers and holding it there, but how did she keep from burning herself?

“Look at the markings on the door,” she whispered. She traced her finger along them.

Tan leaned over her shoulder to see better. With the light coming from her fingertips, the shadows around the door dispersed. Some folded into the markings on the door, as if pulled there. His eyes traced over them but were drawn to a particular set of shapes.

“I’ve seen these before,” he said, framing them with his fingers, not quite willing to touch them.

Cianna shot him an appraising expression. “These were made by the earliest scholars. When would you have seen them?”

Tan reached over Cianna and touched the runes. They felt cool, but not like the stone of the higher level shaped by golud. This was different, heavy and ancient, as if drawn from the depths of the earth.

“Incendin had something with these on them,” he said. The dark obsidian bowl had runes like this. Amia had known that he shouldn’t touch it but hadn’t said anything more.

Cianna’s eyes widened slightly. “I remember a shaping,” she started, “but it’s unclear, more like a dream than a memory.”

“She used the bowl for her transformation. She pulled her shaping through the bowl.” And through the artifact, but he didn’t know how much Cianna knew about the artifact.

Cianna jerked her hand back and the light at the ends of her fingers died. “You’ve been here before. How did you intend to open the doors?”

Tan hadn’t known. When he had come before, he had been with Roine. Any exploring they might have done was cut short when they found the body of the archivist. “I didn’t really know, but there has to be a way to open them. If the ancient scholars could open these doors, then we should be able to.”

Cianna stood and gave him an amused look. “You think we should be able to recreate what the ancient scholars did? You’ve been to the cavern. The place they
shaped
a forest into existence?”

Tan began to understand her point.

“Great Mother,” she swore, looking up at him. “And I thought I was backward coming from Nara. Didn’t realize Galen was worse. We might have their records, but they lived in a different time. They knew so much more about shaping than we’ve ever managed to learn. Those scholars were more skilled than us in nearly every way.”

“Because they spoke to the elementals?” Tan asked.

Cianna shrugged. “Don’t know. Maybe because they could shape spirit, too. No warrior has shaped spirit in hundreds of years.”

She moved on to the other doors, leaving Tan staring at the door in front of him. The runes must have some meaning, if only he could determine what it might be. Incendin must know about the runes, at least enough to use in their shapings like the one on the obsidian bowl Alisz intended to use in her shaping.

But there was another place he had seen runes like this—Roine’s sword.

Tan closed his eyes, trying to visualize what he remembered of the sword. Roine must have known they were the same, but why hadn’t he said anything?

And then there was what Cianna suggested. The earliest scholars were nothing like the shapers of today. They were warriors able to shape all the elements, including spirit. Could spirit be the key?