Fes glanced at Jayell. Was it something about himself that was unique and that allowed him to detect it, or was it merely that the Deshazl of Javoor, the Damhur Deshazl, were Called in such a way that prevented them from reaching the full extent of their abilities?

  He didn’t think that was the case. If it were, they would not have been able to help Fes understand his abilities. Instead, he had learned how to fully control his Deshazl magic because of the Damhur Deshazl.

  “Is this all you wanted to show us?” Fes asked.

  “This is but one.”

  “And the atheran?”

  “They destroy everything they come through,” Valenahr said.

  “And by that, you mean the garden here.”

  Valenahr turned his gaze toward the palace. “Not only the garden.”

  “How many people died?” Jayell asked.

  “More than should have. We recognized that the atheran was emerging, and we brought our strongest to it, intending to suppress it, but we failed. The creature was unleashed and many were lost. Including one of the Trivent.” He continued staring at the circle.

  Fes glanced at Jayell before turning his attention to Valenahr. “How many circles are like this?”

  “There are perhaps a half dozen throughout the city. Other places have several. This is more than have ever emerged from their hiding before.”

  Fes thought of how many circles he had seen in the forest. There had been a dozen at least, possibly more. Based on what Valenahr was saying, there would be at least a dozen here, maybe even more than that. And only in Javoor? Why would that be?

  That was the puzzle that Fes didn’t fully understand. There had to be some explanation as to why they were here, though whatever it was did not involve only the Damhur. It also was tied to the Deshazl, as the Asharn had been attacked, essentially destroyed, the same way the Damhur had been.

  “Do you have any records about these creatures?”

  “Our scientists have studied the atheran for centuries, but as they only emerge every several hundred years, the opportunity to understand the creatures is limited. Most of the time, only a few managed to emerge, but occasionally there are more. In all of our history, there have never been this many before.”

  Fes glanced at Jayell. The first thing they had to do was figure out what they were dealing with. Then they could figure out what had triggered them, and perhaps even why there were so many now.

  But how?

  “We have to find one that’s emerging,” he said, turning his attention to Larshon.

  “I fear that you are right.”

  “You want to go to one of these?” Jayell asked.

  Fes shook his head. “Not if I had any other choice, but we have to understand what’s going on here. They are cropping up throughout Javoor, but the same creatures seemed to have destroyed the Asharn.”

  “They have what?” Valenahr asked.

  Fes glanced over at the Trivent leader. Now that the Asharn were gone, it no longer mattered if he shared where their location had been. “As far as we can tell, the Asharn have been destroyed. I imagine that pleases you.”

  “The Asharn have been troublesome,” Valenahr said.

  “The Asharn have opposed you. I’m sure that’s more than just troublesome to you.”

  Valenahr shrugged. “Perhaps.”

  “That’s where we first encountered these circles,” Fes said.

  “That is where you learned to suppress them?”

  Fes stared at Valenahr for a moment before nodding. “We recognized that there was something unusual taking place, though we didn’t understand the extent of it.”

  Jayell stepped forward. “You said that you are able to detect these crossings?”

  Valenahr glanced from Fes to Jayell for a moment. “We can pick up on when a crossing might occur. There is a certain signature that is triggered.”

  “Have your scientists been aware of any recently?” She turned to Fes. “If you want to find them, the answer might be in using the assets of the Damhur.”

  Once they found evidence of a crossing, then what? Fes and Larshon had barely survived an attack once before, and if another one came, would he be prepared for it? Would there be anything that he could do to counter it?

  Did he dare not try?

  They needed to understand this, and they needed to understand if there was anything tied to the fact that dragons had returned at the same time as there were so many of the atheran.

  It seemed like it couldn’t be a coincidence. There had to be something more to it, but what was it?

  “If your dragon will allow me to travel with him again, I will show you to the scientists.”

  Fes turned to Larshon, making his way so that he could stand in front of the great elder dragon. “What do you think about this?”

  “It is dangerous, and I share your concern that it is tied to the emergence of dragons.”

  “But you don’t remember facing creatures like this before.”

  “I don’t.”

  “Maybe they didn’t exist in your time?”

  Larshon growled, his voice a low rumble. “It is possible, but creatures such as we are describing sound to be ancient. It would be unusual for them to have not existed before now.”

  “Will you let Valenahr ride again?”

  “If it will provide us the answers that we seek, then it might be necessary.”

  “That’s my concern, too.” Fes climbed onto Larshon, waiting for Jayell, and then looked at Valenahr. “When you’re ready, Trivent, the dragon will take us to your scientists.”

  Valenahr glanced up at the palace for a moment, a strange expression burning in his eyes that left Fes wondering if perhaps he was keeping something to himself, but then Valenahr climbed onto the dragon, and they took to the air.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  The Academy of Science at the heart of Javoor was an enormous building. It rose up from the ground like a gigantic mountain of stone, as if the scientists themselves had called it forth from the ground. It stretched toward the sky all alone. There was nothing other than it for leagues all around.

  “Why is it isolated like this?” Fes asked Valenahr as they approached.

  “Some of the work that they do is dangerous,” Valenahr said.

  “What sort of work?”

  Valenahr met his gaze for a moment. “The sort of work that I will not share with someone from the empire.”

  “You will if you intend me to help.”

  Valenahr stared toward the distant form of the academy. “They experiment on better understanding the powers that flow through the dragon relics. And they experiment on trying to better understand ways that we can use our other abilities.”

  Fes frowned at the last, suddenly understanding why Valenahr was reluctant to share with him. This was where they tested their Calling.

  He shouldn’t have been surprised that they would have a place devoted to better understanding their magic, and yet, he still was. The Damhur had had centuries of time to understand how to use their magic, and in that time, they had apparently continued to experiment, honing their magic to get to the point where they could exert it with exquisite control.

  “Who comes here to train?” Jayell asked.

  “Those who show potential are offered the opportunity to train here.”

  Fes looked from Jayell to Valenahr. Were Jayell born here, would she have come to the Academy of Science? More than likely, she would have. Given what he’d seen of the Damhur understanding of their abilities, she likely would have grown incredibly skilled.

  “Which means that you came here,” Fes said.

  “As did all of the Trivent.”

  “What will they say about you bringing us here?”

  “They will understand that there is need. The Academy has been a part of the discussion from the very beginning.”

  Fes watched the enormous tower as they circled around it. It was a circle of stone, and from this vantage, it appeared to be perfectly smooth, as if it truly had been brought out of the ground in a single sheet of rock. It had to be thirty stories high, and as they descended, the tower loomed over them, casting a strange shadow across the ground.

  Valenahr jumped off the back of the dragon and waited, glancing from Fes to Jayell. “If you want to understand the creatures, then you will need to come with me.”

  Fes glanced over at Larshon. “Take to the air. Keep the bond secure between us and let me know if you detect anything unusual.”

  “Such as the Calling that is flowing through here now?”

  “Such as that,” Fes said, nodding.

  After climbing off the dragon’s back, he took Jayell’s hand, moving away from Larshon, and watched as the dragon took to the air. He ascended far more rapidly than he normally did, at least more rapidly than he did when Fes was riding with them. Had the dragon been conscious of the fact that they couldn’t tolerate such a rapid ascent? Larshon sometimes dropped to the ground as if unmindful of the fact that Fes’s body was more fragile than the dragons’.

  Valenahr headed toward the entrance to the Academy. Fes and Jayell followed, finding an enormous arched doorway leading inside. There was a trail leading up to it, and a road running alongside that would have revealed travelers leagues in advance of their arrival. There would be no hiding an approach, unless one came by dragon.

  Before Valenahr had a chance to knock, the door opened, and a short, portly woman opened the door. She was dressed in a black robe with symbols embroidered on it. Her flat gray eyes darted from Valenahr to Fes and then to Jayell. “What is this?”

  “We need to know where the next atheran might emerge,” Valenahr said.

  “You can’t simply bring one of them here.”

  “I can, and I did, Hilda. I remain the head of the Trivent.”

  “For how much longer? Your failures have been noted, Valenahr.”

  Valenahr straightened and took a step toward her. Power surged from him, and Fes could feel the irritation rising within the other man. It was almost as if he were connected to Valenahr… or Valenahr was sending it as a Calling.

  Strange.

  “Will you step aside, or will you make me force my way in?”

  Hilda moved off to the side, and Valenahr strode into the room. Fes and Jayell shared a look before following him. Hilda watched them, and a part of him half expected her to attack—or at least attempt a Calling.

  Once inside, Fes expected a darkened room, considering the windowless building, but a soft white light glowed from everywhere. It cast the room with an almost artificial sense, and he glanced from Hilda to Valenahr. When she closed the door behind them, Fes could feel the way she sealed it, locking them in place. He suspected that he could overpower that, but it would require a significant drawing of his Deshazl magic to do so.

  “Where is the rest of the senior council?”

  “They have witnessed your arrival, and they await you in the Red Room.”

  Valenahr clenched his jaw and started toward the end of the room. Fes and Jayell followed. As they did, Fes took a moment to look around. The entrance to the Academy was mostly empty. He saw no decorations along the wall, nothing other than a few sculptures, one of them reminding him of a dragonglass sculpture, though from what he could tell, it was not dragonglass. Beyond that, there was nothing. It wasn’t until they climbed a flight of stairs, an enormous set of stairs sweeping around the inside of the tower, that they began to see some adornments upon the walls.

  Most of them were portraits. There were figures staggered every few feet, many of them incredibly ancient, based on the fading paint and the dust coating them. In a couple, there were scenes of fighting, and it took him a moment to realize that these must have come from the ancient war. In one of them, there was a scene of someone fighting a dragon, an enormous dragon bone sword held aloft, red swirling around it indicating power that radiated from the sword, and a dragon flying high overhead attacked by the swirling colors.

  Jayell tapped him on the shoulder, motioning for him to continue onward.

  There were other paintings much like the last. On each of them were scenes of the war. It was strange seeing it from this side, so different than what he had encountered within the empire.

  “Why are these here and not at the palace?” Fes asked.

  “You question why we would place such important artwork in our Academy of Science?”

  “I suppose that I do.”

  “Because we exult learning. It is different than in your land, a place where so many have mingled with your kind and learning is difficult. Here we have kept the Damhur separate from the tarshel, as they are incapable of fully grasping complexities.”

  Fes gritted his teeth, ignoring the barb, but not sure how long he would be able to handle comments like that from Valenahr. Once they reached the next landing, it opened up into a paneled room. A thick plush carpet spread across the floor. Tables lined the walls, and above each table hung a strange orb that glowed with the soft white light that filled everything around here. Several tables had vases of flowers that gave off an aromatic aroma, the fragrance one that Fes didn’t recognize. Valenahr made his way to the center of the room and stopped.

  “Which one is the Red Room?” Fes asked.

  “One more level,” he said.

  “And why are we waiting?”

  “I have not been given permission to proceed.”

  “I thought you were the head of the Trivent. Why would you need to be given permission?”

  Valenahr shot him an annoyed look. “You would not understand the complexities of our society.”

  “I’m beginning to think your complexities are unnecessary, as are you.” Fes grabbed for Jayell, and they continued forward, reaching a stair at the end of the hall.

  Power surged, swirling around him, and he turned to see Valenahr shaking his head.

  “You will not proceed without permission.”

  “I am not going to deal with your attitude any longer, Valenahr. With everything that you’ve said—and continue to say—I’m half tempted to leave you to deal with the atheran by yourself. Oh, that’s right, you don’t think that you can. You had brought others of the Damhur to your border to try to summon the dragons.” Fes pulled on his Deshazl power, drawing a hint from the dragon, and blasted free of the barrier that Valenahr tried to hold him in. “Try that again, and you will have my sword through your belly. I have a feeling that you aren’t quite as in control here as you would have me believe.”

  Fes turned away, heading up the stairs. When Valenahr followed, his feet thundering off the stone, Fes didn’t even glance back at him. They reached the next landing, and rather than a massive open room, they encountered a doorway. Beyond the landing, the stairs continued upward, and Fes was tempted to continue climbing, to see what else existed within the tower. Even here, he could feel the sense of a Calling, and there came the occasional flash of power, a reminder of fire mage magic used around him. What would Azithan think were he to know how much the Damhur experimented with their abilities?

  “Is this the Red Room?” Fes asked without looking back at Valenahr.

  “It is. If you enter without—”

  Fes pushed open the door.

  He was unsurprised to find that it was not locked. Given Valenahr’s resistance to the idea of entering without permission, he doubted that anyone would have tried.

  Inside the room, an enormous table occupied the center, drawing his eye. A huge plank of wood rested on what had to be a dragon’s skull. The skull glowed with a soft reddish light, pulsing slowly, making the entirety of the room glow with the same light. It was that glowing that had to give the room its name.

  Five men and women sat around the table, and they all jerked to their feet at Fes’s sudden arrival.

  “What is this?” one of the nearest men asked, looking past Fes to Valenahr. He was short, gray-haired, and had a sharp gray goatee. “You were not given permission to enter yet, Valenahr.”

  “It’s not my choice,” Valenahr said.

  “You can’t control this tarshel?”

  Fes took a step forward. “Let’s get this out of the way right away. I am Deshazl. If you continue to refer to me by that insulting title, you will find that I am not only not susceptible to your Calling, but I take significant offense to you using your power around me—and on me.” Fes swept his gaze over the collection of the Academy. “Valenahr tells me that you can detect an atheran emerging. I would know when the next one will be emerging.”

  “You do not get to speak here, tar—”

  Fes slammed power into the woman, forcing her back and crashing her into the wall. He held her gaze for a moment, and when she started to Call him, he pushed even harder. When the Calling faded and then finally retreated, he relaxed his hold on her. “Now, is there anyone else who would like to challenge what I can and cannot do? Your friend here just discovered that I’m not susceptible to your Calling. I have no interest in battling you one at a time, but if it is necessary, I will do so.”

  Fes sensed Jayell watching him, probably disapprovingly, but he ignored it for now.

  He turned, sweeping his gaze around the room again. None of them spoke. The two men present trembled, as if with barely suppressed rage, and Fes smiled to himself.

  “Excellent. At least I understand your priorities. You would prefer to have the people of Javoor fail, destroyed by the atheran, rather than work with someone you believe to be beneath you. Considering how easy it has been for me to overpower your magic, I wonder who actually is beneath who?” He turned to Valenahr. “It is why you brought me here? Did you think that they would be able to overpower me?”

  “I brought you here because you wanted to know how to detect an atheran emerging.”

  “And?”

  “And they were attempting to do so before you disrupted them.”

  Fes looked around the room, watching for a moment. As he did, he realized there was something on the center of the table that he hadn’t noticed before. It looked to be a bowl, and surprisingly, it was made out of bone. Within it was some strange milky liquid.

 

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