Remnants of the Lost, page 3
part #3 of The Elder Stones Series
Thoren nodded and grabbed Haern and Galen, Sliding them.
It happened with a flicker of colors and a sense of jarring movement. When they emerged, they were within a darkened forest. The Aisl forest was home to a great number of people from Elaeavn, though fewer now than even a year ago. The attack on the Elder Trees had changed things, making it so that fewer and fewer people felt safe.
Once they were back, the pull of lorcith came everywhere around him. Haern said nothing as Galen strode toward the darkened shape of the Elder Trees in the distance, and he dreaded where Galen was leading him.
“I’m sorry, Haern,” Thoren whispered.
Haern shook his head. “It’s not your fault. It’s mine. Why don’t you head back to the city?”
“Are you sure?”
“You don’t need to deal with this.”
“What’s going to happen?”
“Who knows? Maybe nothing.”
Thoren glanced up to Galen for a moment before disappearing with a flicker of colors, indicating his Slide. When he was gone, Galen slowed a step, waiting for Haern to catch up.
“How long?”
“How long what?”
“How long have you been up to this? Has it been since your father disappeared?”
“You say that like he had a choice in the matter.”
“Has it been?”
“Not right away, but shortly after.”
“All while you’ve been telling me you were off on your own.”
“I was off on my own.”
“You understand how dangerous all this is? If something had happened to you, no one would have known.”
“My father went off like that.”
“Your father was better prepared to go off like that. And even he should not have.”
Galen locked eyes with him for a moment before spinning and continuing through the Elder Trees. As Haern followed, a strange tingling washed over his skin. It hadn’t always been that way, but ever since the attack on the trees, there was that sensation, a strangeness that he hadn’t been fully aware of before. Perhaps it was nothing, but it didn’t feel like nothing when he detected it. There had to be some meaning behind it, some purpose.
The trees were fading, changing the longer that they had the strange implants, and no one knew what exactly it meant for those to be present. It was possible that it meant nothing, that regardless of what the Forgers had done while attacking the trees, they had not changed anything, but he couldn’t help but feel as if there was something to it, and it was something that he failed to grasp.
“Where are you bringing me?”
“Back to your home.”
“Are you going to tell my mother?”
Galen stopped, turning to look at him. “You’re old enough that you shouldn’t be even worried about such things. The fact that you are tells me you aren’t ready for the challenges that you’re throwing yourself out into, even if I hadn’t Seen what happened to you tonight.”
“You Saw it?”
Galen nodded. “They held you. You depend so much on lorcith, thinking it will be the key to defeating the Forgers, despite knowing they have the same ability over the metal. You need something more, something they aren’t able to do.”
Haern swallowed. He didn’t know whether or not he should thank Galen for not reporting him to his mother. It was foolish for him to fear her still at his age, but after losing his father, he doubted his mother could stand losing someone else to the Forgers. It was part of the reason he had kept this to himself, but Galen was right. He couldn’t keep doing that.
“What you keep working with me?”
“Will you keep running off on your own?”
“Not without telling you first.”
Galen fixed him with his hard stare. His eyes were not a deep green like most of the Elvraeth, but there was something in the way that he looked at him that intimidated Haern much more than any of the other Elvraeth he’d been around. “I think it’s time for me to be harder with you.”
“Harder?”
“If you think you can run off like this, perhaps it’s time for me to take a different approach. We need to change your dependence upon lorcith.”
“Lorcith is what sets me apart.”
“No. It’s a crutch for you. Had you another way of fighting, you wouldn’t have been overwhelmed by the Forgers tonight.”
“I tried using the steel knives.”
“After they were already aware of you. You can’t simply act. You need to think, to plan, to strategize. And I’m going to break you until you do.”
Haern met Galen’s gaze, suppressing a shiver. Galen had already been hard on him, and if he intended to be even harder, Haern wasn’t sure what that meant for him.
“Do you still want to work with me?”
“My father is still missing.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“I do.”
“Then be ready for a challenge. I will no longer take it easy on you.”
2
Daniel
Daniel crouched near the shore, the camp in view, and stayed as low as he could, trying not to draw any notice. He’d been here for the better part of an hour, and all that time, he’d remained nearly motionless. His body ached, but he was determined to uncover anything he could.
Wind gusted out of the north, carrying cold and a few flakes of snow. He still hadn’t managed to get over the fact that there was so much snow in the north, though he’d Slid far enough through these lands to have seen quite a bit of snow. Each time he Slid, he attempted to move farther and farther from familiar lands, wanting to be able to explore, but there was something else he was after. He wanted to find evidence of the Ai’thol, needing to know where they were moving.
He’d found nothing usable so far, though that wasn’t for lack of trying. He continued to Slide, traveling from place to place, exploring the entirety of the continent in a way he never would have considered before. As he went, he found cities that were different than any he had been to, villages that had welcomed him, and he’d found remnants of a time long ago, buildings that were no more. Those interested him the most. Partly it was because he didn’t know if any of these represented places that Carth had come from. He knew she had come from a land in the north but not exactly where. She considered Nyaesh part of her home, though even that wasn’t completely accurate.
One of the men down on the shore moved. Daniel watched for evidence of Sliding, anticipating anyone who might be flickering in and out of existence, a telltale sign that the Ai’thol might have traveled here. There was nothing. He maintained his mental barrier, prepared for the possibility that if he did encounter the Ai’thol, they would be able to Read him somehow, though so far, he hadn’t come across anyone like that.
As the day stretched on, the overcast sky darkening, it was time for him to go. He took a step, preparing to Slide, and found that he couldn’t.
Settling himself, Daniel grabbed the hilt of his sword. He had Slid here to begin with, so he knew that he had been able to reach this place once. Whatever had changed had happened over the last hour or so that he’d been here observing.
It was possible they didn’t know he was here, but it was equally possible they did and had placed some sort of barricade around him to hold him.
There was a time when he would have been more concerned. Were he honest, Daniel would be concerned about coming here in this way, but he had been training, developing his ability to fight with the sword if necessary, to overpower various strategies designed to suppress his Great Watcher given abilities. And Carth had been teaching him how to strategize. More than anything, that had value, especially as it allowed him to think through alternatives in a way that he never would have before.
If he couldn’t Slide, there wasn’t anything holding him from walking.
More than that, the fact that he couldn’t Slide suggested that whoever was here had knowledge of that ability, and possibly knew how to suppress it—unless this was an accident. Daniel doubted it was accidental. When it came to suppression of his Great Watcher–given abilities, there weren’t many accidents.
He backed away from the small ridge he’d been looking down. As he did, he unsheathed his sword. It was a well-made blade, forged entirely out of lorcith by Lareth, one of the finest swordmakers in Elaeavn.
Perhaps he shouldn’t have been bringing lorcith blades with him. Knowing what he did about the Ai’thol, it was likely—and probable—that they had some way of detecting it, and possibly using it.
Maybe they didn’t know he was here at all. Maybe what they knew was that someone carried lorcith.
He crept toward a tree, jamming the blade into the trunk before grabbing a pair of knives in his pocket. These were simple steel blades, nothing more than that, and he held them ready. It wouldn’t be nearly as easy to fight with knives as it would be with the sword, but he also wouldn’t have to fear someone uncovering his connection to lorcith this way.
With every step, he attempted to Slide, trying to move small distances. There was no restriction on him Sliding here on this island, so whatever it was somehow contained him.
He Slid toward a cluster of trees. Within them, shadows stretched, and he hesitated, looking around and searching for anyone within who might have the ability to control shadows. It was a rare enough ability, but now that Nyaesh had fallen—at least, the Ai’thol had managed to acquire stone infused with the Elder Stone—he worried they might have gained the ability over shadows. He needn’t have feared that, though. The A’ras within Nyaesh had a connection to fire and not the shadows. He still didn’t know what had happened to the Elder Stone that represented the shadows and whether the Ai’thol had somehow acquired that ability, but seeing as Carth was still able to use it against them, he doubted they did.
Sliding into the trees, he looked around. There was no one here.
How were they able to prevent him from Sliding?
There were a few metals that prevented it. In Elaeavn, heartstone limited his ability to Slide, and while he had never managed to overpower it, there were others who could. It was unlikely the Ai’thol would use a metal like heartstone to defend themselves against someone who could Slide, especially knowing that it was ineffective against Rsiran Lareth—a man they feared as much as they feared Carth. That meant there was likely something else.
It would be useful for him to learn what that was.
He scanned the area outside the edge of the trees, finding no movement. Sliding back to the ridge where he’d been watching the men, he looked around. The movement down on the shore was less than it had been before. Small dinghies made their way toward ships anchored in the deep water, and he stayed where he was, observing. The other men on the shore did nothing but wait. Some had a fire burning, as if they were readying to camp for the night, but others were sitting along the shoreline, watching the water as it splashed and caressed the rocky shore.
It was odd.
Then again, tracking the Ai’thol was often odd. He hadn’t managed to uncover evidence of them in the months he had tracked them. That troubled him as much as anything else. Carth seemed reassured by the fact that he hadn’t come across any Ai’thol, but he was less comforted by that. They were out there—he knew they were—and if they weren’t in the north, the only reason he suspected that would be was because they already had everything that they needed from these lands. Any Elder Stones that might be here would already be captured.
These men didn’t look like they were with the Ai’thol. None of them did, though he hadn’t been able to determine exactly what—or who—they were. The Ai’thol would come to places like this—at least, he suspected they would—but they wouldn’t need the ships like these men had.
It was time for him to question.
He found a man making his way along the shore. He was heading toward a distant cluster of rocks, and during his time watching, Daniel had seen others doing the same thing, each time returning to the rest. They had used it as their latrine.
It was unlikely they would notice one man missing very quickly.
When the man reached the rocks, Daniel Slid, grabbing him, and then Slid him to the trees. He pushed him away before the man had a chance to react, pointing his knives in the direction of the man.
“What? Who are you?” the man asked. He was thin and of average height, and he wore tattered clothes. His face was deeply tanned, and the tattoos on his exposed skin reminded Daniel of so many of the smugglers he’d encountered. There was something about those tattoos, as if it branded them in a way, tying them to a certain group of men, though that was something Carth had not yet taught him.
“I’ll do the questioning.”
“What is this?” the man asked again.
Daniel took a step toward him, flickering in a Slide, wanting to be as intimidating as possible when he did. He jabbed one of the knives at the man, drawing just a small droplet of blood. He Slid back, getting away from the man and making sure that no one else neared. As far as this man knew, they were someplace far from the island.
“What are you doing here?”
“Nothing. We’re sailors.”
“Smugglers.”
The man frowned. “We aren’t smugglers. We’re—”
Daniel shook his head. “Smugglers. I recognize the style of ship.” If nothing else, the time spent with Carth over the last few months had taught him about sailing and about ships, things that he never would have learned had he remained in Elaeavn. While there were plenty of people in Elaeavn who sailed, it wasn’t something any of the Elvraeth did. “And what are you smuggling?”
“Like I said—”
“Are you going to keep going through this? I’ve already told you that I know what you are.” And he knew they weren’t with the Ai’thol. At least, he didn’t think they were. The fact that he wasn’t able to Slide off the island was troubling, but this man had none of the scars of one of the Ai’thol and didn’t seem to have any connection to magic the way the Ai’thol did.
“This was a job. Nothing else,” the man said.
“What kind of job?”
“The kind that paid.”
Daniel Slid toward him, jabbing the knife again. He poked the man in the shoulder, drawing another droplet of blood before Sliding back again. “You’ll find that I don’t have time or patience for such glib responses.”
“We were hired to drop some stones in the water around the island. That’s it.”
“Stones?”
The man nodded. “It was a strange job, but the pay was good. Who were we to argue?”
As he tried to think through what purpose there would be in the stones, the fact that he wasn’t able to Slide left him wondering if perhaps these stones weren’t the reason.
“How many did you drop?”
“You’ll have to ask the captain.”
Daniel glanced beyond the man, toward the edge of the forest and even beyond there. More likely than not, the captain had already returned to the ship, and since he was unable to Slide, Daniel wouldn’t be able to easily travel to the captain and question him. “Seeing as how he’s not here, I’m asking you. What can you tell me?”
The man shook his head. “I can’t tell you anything more than what I have. We brought rocks, dropped them in the water, and we were getting ready to leave.”
“Where was the last one dropped?”
“From where you grabbed me.”
That would explain why he had been suddenly unable to Slide. It had to. And if they were placing something that prevented the ability to Slide, it had to be on behalf of the Ai’thol. Why protect this island, make it so that those with the ability to Slide couldn’t reach it?
Unless that wasn’t the purpose of the protection. Maybe it was less about preventing someone from reaching it and more about containing them once they were here.
He shook away the thought. “I need you to show me one of the stones.”
“Like I said, the last one we dropped was—”
“I don’t want to see the last one dropped. I want to see one where you don’t have quite so many men.”
The man licked his lips and swallowed. “I’ll show you, but can I do something first?”
“It depends. What is it?”
The man looked around, shaking his head. “Well, seeing as how you snatched me as I was heading to take a piss, I…”
Daniel stared at him for a moment. “Are you kidding?”
“I wouldn’t kid about something like that. I really have to go, and you kept me from it.”
“Go near the tree.”
The man sauntered over, heading toward the nearest tree. He started relieving himself, humming under his breath, and Daniel averted his gaze. There was no point in watching the man do his business, and seeing as how he couldn’t go very far, he—
The man suddenly appeared in front of him, a sword in hand.
Not just any sword, but the sword Daniel had left.
He brought his knives together, blocking the thrust, twisting off to the side. The man flickered, Sliding as he twisted, and Daniel cursed himself as he Slid, emerging near the edge of the forest.
Had he made a mistake?
Somehow he’d underestimated him and had failed to realize that he was one of the Ai’thol. Daniel had seen no evidence of scars like most of the Ai’thol had, their way of marking themselves, giving themselves increased abilities.
Daniel Slid, watching the other man emerge from his Slide, and he jammed a knife into the man’s shoulder. He dropped the lorcith sword, and Daniel kicked it, but the sword came streaking back, forcing him to duck and roll to avoid being impaled.
Not only could he Slide, but he could control lorcith.
Daniel Slid, emerging only a step away, jabbing his other knife into the man’s other shoulder. He pinned him down, holding him to the ground. Sitting on the man’s chest with his knives in his shoulders, he glared down at him.
“What are you doing here?”
“Seeing as how you felt the need to grab me, I’m guessing you already know.”
“What are these stones?”
