The Shadowsteel Forge (The Dark Ability Book 5) (20 page)

BOOK: The Shadowsteel Forge (The Dark Ability Book 5)
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Chapter 27

R
siran thought
that he might be too exhausted to Slide them all to the Aisl, but there was something energizing about the tea that Della gave him. After a few more sips, his strength had returned enough that he felt confident in attempting to Slide again.

With Della on one side of him, holding onto his arm, and Jessa on the other, he stood from the cot and glanced briefly around the room. As Rsiran had suspected, Brusus had put him up in Lianna’s room. Most of her belongings had been pushed to the side of the room. The air had a sickly odor to it—from him, he realized. A basin of water sat on a table near the door.

Della prompted him to take another drink. “Are you certain that you are strong enough to do this?” she asked him.

“I don’t know. Sliding doesn’t take the same strength from me as it once did, but…”

“You have Traveled. There is much strength required for that.”

He thought about how much strength he could manage. “I think I can carry all of us.”

Jessa pulled him close, squeezing on his arm. Whatever else, she didn’t seem like she was about to let him go without her.

“I’m not,” she whispered.

He rubbed his arms, realizing what was missing. “The bracelets,” he remembered.

Della’s mouth puckered. “I have removed them—”

“I would like them back. I don’t want to risk having someone Compel me.”

“You have already decided that smith born cannot be Compelled.”

Rsiran didn’t know if that was true or not, but it seemed possible, even likely from what he had seen. “It’s not only the Compelling.” He didn’t want to tell Della that he hated the idea of someone Reading him, but that was the greatest benefit of the bracelets. And likely, given that she’d been Reading him throughout his recovery, she already knew his feelings.

Jessa pulled his bracelets from a pocket and handed them to him.

Rsiran slipped them on and found the heartstone in the bracelets much warmer than he remembered. “Are you ready?” he asked.

Jessa squeezed. Della nodded.

Rsiran focused on the Aisl Forest and
pulled
them in a Slide.

Sliding came as a whistle of air and a flurry of movement. Warm, sweetly scented air swept past. And then they emerged in the Aisl, near the Elder Trees.

Rsiran hadn’t wanted to Slide all the way into the middle of the clearing, not certain whether he could, anyway, so he’d chosen a place outside the edge of the trees for them to emerge.

The air immediately took on an earthy, humid note, and a solemn silence seemed to fall all around them. Della released his arm and stared at the trees rising up from the ground. Jessa remained locked onto his arm, unwilling to let him go.

“How do you feel?” she asked.

“I’m fine.”

“Not too tired?”

Surprisingly, the Slide hadn’t bothered him, not even taking both of them with him. “Not yet.”

Jessa finally seemed to see the first of the Elder Trees, and her breath caught. “Oh.”

“I haven’t seen them for... years,” Della sighed. “It’s easy to forget how enormous they are, until you stand in front of them once more. Great Watcher, but they are impressive.”

Rsiran stood next to Della, staring at the massive trunks. From here, they were larger than Della’s home, larger even than the Barth. “Do you know which tree belongs to which clan?”

Della stared up, but her eyes were closed. “The trees belonged to all of the clans.”

“That’s not what Sarah said.”

Della took a deep breath. “Perhaps they claim differently now, but when our people lived among the trees, the clans did not claim a specific Elder Tree. How could they, when the Elder Trees served all of the people?”

“Why would it be different,” he asked. “What would have changed.”

Della turned to him. “They discovered the crystals.”

“You sound like you know it better than the guilds,” Jessa said.

“Because I do.”

Della started around the nearest massive tree, her hand trailing along the trunk. She paused at the clearing, and a slight smile spread on her face. “Imagine what it would have been like. Imagine bridges spanning the space between these trees, and homes built along the branches. Children scurried high above the ground, and those with talent, those able to Travel… they would not need the bridges.”

“Della,” Jessa started slowly, “were you alive then?”

Della turned to her and shook her head. “Girl, I’ve lived a long life, but most of mine has been spent in the city.”

“Then how do you know all this?”

She sighed. “I’m a Seer.”

“But that only means you can See what might happen.”

Della shook her head. “Not all, but some Seers can See both directions. What has happened, and what
can
happen.”

“That’s why you know about this place?” Rsiran asked.

“This isn’t the first time I’ve been here,” Della said, “only the first time in many years. I was a younger person when I last visited, and had not lived the life that I have. Now… now I feel a different sense as I stand here.”

“What sense is that?” Rsiran asked. Did Della know which trees he’d seen in his vision? Could she know which of them had been dim, and which one was darkened?

“Hope.”

She strode into the middle of the trees, leaving Rsiran and Jessa staring after her.

“What now?” Jessa asked.

“I don’t know why she wanted us to come here,” Rsiran said. “But I need to find out what Venass plans.” They knew Venass was after something—everything that they’d seen so far indicated that, from the attack outside the city to the attack on him in Elaeavn—but what?

“That is why I wanted us to come,” Della said.

She stood near the center of the clearing and stared up to the darkness. The Elder Trees rose so high overhead that their lowest branches were nothing more than shadows. No sunlight made it through, though Rsiran didn’t know whether it was daytime or night. Maybe there was no sunlight to drift through the branches.

“Why?”

“When you mentioned what you saw when you Traveled.”

Rsiran Slid him and Jessa to Della. “What? The bright lights that I saw?”

Della shook her head. “That is what
should
be when you visit a place of power, especially
this
place of power. For someone like you, the Elder Trees should be bright.”

“What do you mean for someone like Rsiran?”

Della looked to Jessa. “Do we have to speak of this again?”

Jessa shrugged. “Seeing as how I don’t know what you mean, I guess the answer is yes.”

Della looked up. “These Elder Trees. What do you feel, Rsiran?”

He looked around the clearing. “I don’t know. The trees are impressive. And enormous. But am I supposed to feel anything else?”

“Think of your abilities. What do you feel?”

Rsiran frowned and shifted his attention to lorcith. As he did, he felt a throbbing, but realized that came from the bracelets and from the charm that Jessa wore. Even the knife tucked into her waistband. They were there, and he could feel them, but that wasn’t quite what he detected.

The sense of lorcith was indistinct. Or his awareness of it was imprecise. Once, he would have thought that impossible, that his connection to lorcith was too potent for him not to know what he detected, but the injury had changed something for him. Since recovering, he was aware of lorcith, both near and far, and could
push
on it, but there was not the same constant awareness of it all around him, not like there had been before, and not with the same bright intensity that he once had known.

Strangely, heartstone
did
blaze in his mind, though he still wasn’t sure what to make of that. Normally, heartstone was something that he had to focus on, that he had to push away the awareness of lorcith for him to detect, but now… now he felt the constant warmth from the bracelets he wore, and he easily sensed the heartstone in the Barth back in Elaeavn, and even the heartstone used in the palace to prevent Sliding. All of that lit up in his mind, much like lorcith.

Maybe the lorcith spikes really had changed something in him. Had he lost some of the control of lorcith, yet somehow become more connected with heartstone?

Rsiran would have to study it later to find out.

But those familiar pieces weren’t the only sense of heartstone around him. Buried in the trees, or growing within the trees, he detected a deep and powerful vein of heartstone running within each. His eyes widened.

“Heartstone,” he finally answered.

Della nodded. “Heartstone. And with it, you might note that other metals are present. Perhaps not now, but you will.”

“What other metals?” Jessa asked.

“There are others besides lorcith and heartstone with potential, but they have been lost to time.” She smiled at Rsiran. “There is something unique about you, Rsiran Lareth, and that is what the others fear.”

“What the Seers know?” Jessa asked.

Della nodded. “Possibly something more than that as well. Rsiran
hears
the potential of the lorcith. The ancient smiths were able to do that as well. But he’s gained an ability to
see
that potential as well. That is much like the alchemists. From the sculpture of the sjihn tree that now rests on the mantle in the tavern, I gather he has gained an even greater ability to manipulate lorcith. Perhaps even heartstone.”

“What are you getting at?” Jessa asked.

Della finally pulled her attention away from the trees and focused fully on Rsiran. “Do you not see a connection to the other abilities? Those that you view as traditional ones?”

As he thought about it, he wasn’t sure that he understood. “They’re different,” he said.

“Different, but similar enough that those ancient clans saw the connections. Some wanted the abilities kept separate from the talents, while others wanted to merge them, a joining of the power of the Watcher and the power of the Elders.”

Della’s eyes were closed as she spoke, and she turned slowly. Rsiran realized that she attempted a Seeing.

“Over time, they came to mingle, but only with those of weak talent. The same could be said for those with strong abilities. For some reason, those with the Blood of the Elders could not hold the crystals. But a time would come, a time when the Blood of the Elders would join with that of the Watcher. We must prepare and be ready, or both the power of the Elders and that of the Watcher will be lost. If one of the trees has gone dark, we might already be too late.”

Della staggered to the side.

Rsiran Slid to her and scooped her before she struck the ground. Wrinkles etched deeply at the corners of her eyes. She stared up at him blankly.

“We should get her back. Whatever she detects here is too much for her.”

Jessa took his arm, and together they Slid, returning to Della’s home.

Chapter 28

R
siran stood
next to Brusus outside of Della’s small home, thinking that perhaps he’d made a mistake in bringing her back here. Ephram and Sarah had come, along with a few others Rsiran had not met before. Now only a few remained.

“Will she be okay?” Rsiran asked.

“This is temporary,” Ephram said. “But she’s very weak. Whatever happened there… it was almost too much for her. If nothing else, it has galvanized the guilds to work together again. That is something.” A grim expression pulled the corners of his mouth. “And now we must return to the Hall of Guilds to make our preparations.”

Rsiran looked at Della’s house, feeling numb. “I didn’t know what would happen when we went there.”

Brusus nodded to Ephram and Sarah as they departed, then patted Rsiran on the shoulder. “Of course you didn’t know. No one blames you for what happened. Damn, Rsiran, I think most of us are just happy that you’re standing. Can’t believe that she managed to Heal you. Between that, this Traveling that you described, and whatever happened when you went to the forest…”

Rsiran still hadn’t explained to Brusus about the Elder Trees. It didn’t seem as if Brusus needed to know, but more than that, he wasn’t sure that Brusus
should
know. He had explained his newfound talent with him and Haern, but neither had heard of Traveling before.

Jessa crouched against the side of the house and didn’t look up as they spoke. She’s said little since their return. Seeing Della weakened had taken a surprising toll on her.

“I need to return to the Barth,” Brusus said to him. “Alyse does a fine job with the tavern, but she gets a bit twitchy when I’m not there.” He shrugged. “I’ll count on you to let me know as soon as something changes.”

Rsiran nodded. “I’ll let you know.”

Brusus glanced to Jessa and continued in a lower voice. “Take care of her, too, will you? Not sure what’s bothering her, but she’s been moping.”

“I don’t mope,” Jessa said.

Brusus grinned. “Good. Then you can help your man. You’ve already seen what trouble he gets into when you’re not with him.”

Rsiran thought that she might smile at the comment, or make one of her own, but she didn’t do anything. She barely even blinked. But she nodded toward Brusus and stared at the knife she held in her hand, running the flat of the blade along her pants.

Brusus frowned and leaned into Rsiran. “Know what the problem is?” he whispered.

“Probably me. She saw what happened when Rhan attacked me. I think she’s afraid of what I might do next.”

Brusus grunted. “And what will you do next?”

Rsiran shook his head. “I’m not sure.”

“Well, whatever you do, just… Just be careful. And know that you have help.” Brusus patted his shoulder again and started toward the Barth.

He and Brusus stood in silence with Jessa watching him, as if trying to determine his thoughts. The door opened, and Haern popped his head out and nodded to Rsiran.

“She’s awake. And she wants to see you.”

He helped Jessa stand, and then they went into the house. Haern nodded toward the back room. Rsiran had rarely visited the back room, but had spent more time there in the last twenty-four hours, since returning Della from the forest. A candle flickered next to the bed, wax dripping down the side. There was a hint of a medicinal odor that he didn’t understand until he saw a thick paste smeared across her forehead. Rsiran frowned at it before deciding that Haern must have mixed it. He had some knowledge of herbs and medicines as well. Not the same as Della, but then, Rsiran doubted that anyone had that level of understanding.

A mug sat on the table next to the candle. And Della lay covered by thick sheets, only her head and her nest of gray hair visible. The wrinkles around the edges of her eyes hadn’t changed. If anything, they had deepened. But her eyes were open, she seemed alert.

“You don’t have to look at me like that,” she said to him.

“Like what?”

Della pushed herself up onto her elbows. “Like I’m dying. I will heal. Just tired, is all.”

“I guess it’s my turn to ask you what happened.”

Della took a deep breath. “The Elder Trees are powerful. They hold the memories of our people. That was part of the reason I wanted you to take me there, but I didn’t expect it to overwhelm me the way that it did.”

“You Saw something, didn’t you?”

Della nodded. “You told me about the darkened tree that you saw when you Traveled.”

“The one that I didn’t have a connection to.”

“Perhaps. But what if it’s something more than that?” Jessa pulled a chair into the room and took a seat next to the bed. Della smiled at her. “I’m all right. You don’t have to fear for me.”

Jessa swallowed. “We’ve lost enough already.”

Della’s eyes narrowed. “We’ve lost some, but we’ve gained much as well. And I’m not gone yet.” She sighed. “When the vision overcame me, I understood what happened, and why you saw the trees the way you did.”

“Because I don’t share a connection to them?”

“When you first mentioned that, I believed it might be a possibility. But the more I see of you and the more I realize what you have done, I think you are somehow connected to both the Elder Trees
and
the crystals. If what you described was real, you have held two of the Great Crystals. And yet you also were able to
see
the Elder Trees.”

“What do you mean that he saw the trees? They’re massive.
I
can see them,” Jessa said.

“Not like he did. There is a different connection—one that I suspect the guilds hold secret. Seeing the Elder Trees is much like holding one of the Great Crystals. I have never known anyone to hold a crystal more than once, much like I have never known anyone to see the potential of more than one of the Elder Trees.”

Rsiran realized that she didn’t mean seeing them as the trees that they were, but as the power that flowed through them. That was what he’d witnessed in his vision. “I saw three.”

“But there are five,” Della said. “And the forth was there, but dimly for you?” Rsiran nodded. “Yet the fifth was not.”

“What does that mean?”

Della sighed again. “I thought I might See the answer when we visited the forest, but that was not the vision that came to me. I Saw our past, much farther into the past than I have ever glimpsed. It was… it was overwhelming, even for someone accustomed to such visions.”

“Maybe Rsiran hasn’t made a connection to the fifth tree,” Jessa said.

“That is a possibility, but he can see each of the Great Crystals, and he does not have each of the abilities. Were it only the dimly lit tree, I would not have the same concern, but you described one of the Elder Trees as dark. And you were
aware
that it was dark.”

Rsiran nodded. “Only because I knew the tree was there because of my visit with Sarah. I wouldn’t have found it otherwise.”

“That is my concern.”

“What happened to the fifth Elder Tree?” Rsiran asked.

Della sighed. “That is what you must find out.”

“Venass,” Jessa said. “You think it’s Venass that did something to the tree.”

“I think that Venass possesses knowledge that most have lost. I think they understand connections in this world that many others cannot imagine. They have shown a great power in their attack on Rsiran—power that I have never seen before. And I think that they search for power that they have not been able to possess. Would that involve the Elder Trees?” She shook her head. “Once, I would have said that it would not, but I am no longer certain. When the smiths were abducted, I think Venass realized that they overlooked something. That must be why they wanted your father, Rsiran.”

“So if what you’re saying is true, then Venass did something to the last Elder Tree.”

“That’s what I fear.”

“But what? What could they do to one of the Elder Trees?”

“The Elder Trees aren’t protected the same way the crystals are.”

Rsiran considered what he’d seen when he Traveled to the Aisl when injured and thought he knew what Della was concerned about. “But this isn’t about just reaching and accessing that power, is it? It’s what they will do with the power.”

Della nodded. “We’ve seen that Venass doesn’t want a power to exist that they can’t understand. More than that, they don’t want a power to exist that they can’t access. And the Elder Trees represent both. If they are somehow able to harm the trees…Once they are gone, Venass must believe that they will be able to reach the crystals. And from there… there I do not know. Much as they have with lorcith, they will pervert the intent and the power stored within the crystals.”

Della fell back in her bed, and her eyes drifted closed. “Do what you can, Rsiran. You might be the only one who can do something.”

“I… I don’t know how to stop them. Every time I’ve faced Venass…”

He didn’t have to finish. Every time that he’d come into contact with Venass, either he or someone he cared about had been hurt. Would he—could he—risk that happening again? But could he risk doing nothing, especially if he knew that Venass intended to destroy the Elder Trees?

Rsiran knew that he couldn’t.

But he needed help. Not only from his friends, but from the guilds. All would suffer if Venass succeeded. And what of his friends? Would Rsiran use them? Would he ask them to risk themselves?

“Is that your choice?” Della asked.

He glanced to his wrists to check that he still wore the bracelets to avoid her Reading him, and did, but she
had
Read him. “I… I don’t want anyone else hurt.”

“Much like they don’t want you hurt,” Della said. “I know it’s hard for you to see that, Rsiran, but there are others who care about you besides this girl. They all want you to be safe, and happy, and to live a life that you have dreamt of. But none of you will be able to live in peace if Venass manages to reach what they intend.”

“Why now?” he asked. “What changed for them? Why do they attack now when they haven’t for so many years?”

“The only ones who can answer that are not here. And it may be that they only attack now because of what you have shown, Rsiran. You have demonstrated the power and ability that is possible. You have shown them what they are not able to do, in spite of years spent researching and studying and thinking that they had the answers, that their knowledge would be able to overwhelm the gifts of the Great Watcher.”

Was that it, or was there more to it than that?

But Della was right. The only ones able to answer weren’t here. And even if they were, he wasn’t sure that they would come up with an answer that satisfied.

“How will we know how to find them? How will we know how to defeat them?”

Della actually smiled. “I think we have Venass to thank for that. If not for them, you would never have learned of another aspect of your abilities. You might never have learned that you can Travel.”

A smile began to spread across his face. If he could Travel… and if he didn’t have to be someplace in person, maybe he would be able to find an answer. Then, they wouldn’t be able to trap him, would they?

“Do they know that it’s possible?” he asked.

“There are not many in Elaeavn who remember that it’s possible. But Venass is different. I would not presume to know what they have discovered in their studies. You must prepare as if they might know. You must be ready.”

Jessa stood and grabbed his hand, pulling him around to face her as if he intended to Slide that very moment. “You don’t know anything about this ability, Rsiran. If you think you’re going to use it to defeat Venass…”

“And there is risk,” Della said. “Do not think that nothing can happen to you simply because your body is not there. If you’re separated, and if something happens to your body while your mind has Traveled… I think such a thing would be dangerous. I do not know for certain
what
would happen. The only ones who might know have been gone from this earth for hundreds of years, and they have not left a vision for me to access. But caution.”

Rsiran nodded. He would need to practice. And then, he would need to prepare, knowing that all the while, Venass might attack again.

The next attack might be more than he and his friends could survive.

“There is nothing more I can do to guide you, Rsiran,” Della said. “What you must do can only be guided by the Great Watcher. I pray that you will succeed.”

BOOK: The Shadowsteel Forge (The Dark Ability Book 5)
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