Ashes And Spirit (Book 3) (32 page)

With the help of Sumara and her green, Keta, the city grew each day. The wall surrounding it was more than double the height it had been when he left for Galdrilene in the fall. Several mages from the Tower of Earth and the Tower of Wind and Water also helped with the building. Though the Earth mages couldn’t sculpt the earth the way Sumara could, they were still able to seal blocks of stone together, negating the need for mortar. And the Wind and Water mages, by linking themselves together, could pick up two of the large stones at a time. It made a difference.

Kellinar carefully lowered three blocks into place and reached for another group with his magic while the Earth mages sealed the others. Not far from where he worked on the wall, Sumara slowly raised the outer walls of a house. Her hands pressed to the ground and sweat rolled down her face despite the weather being cold enough to send a few late season snowflakes swirling through the air. Liquid earth flowed in a whirlpool in front of her. As Kellinar watched, it began to ripple like water over rocks. It wouldn’t be long before it solidified into a dwelling.

He glanced over at Nira who placed a healing weave on a man with a strained back, her rich black skin a contrast to the heavy yellow cloak she wore. Her dragon, Saria had mastered Sliding only the week before. Kellinar was glad. With Serena busy in Kanther helping Taela, and Nolan taking over Serena’s duties in Haraban, the border needed a Yellow Rider. She bent to say something to the man, her long black ringlets falling over her shoulder. For a moment, he saw the Yellow Rider who should have been on the border with him but now resided in Maiadar. Then Nira straightened and brushed her hair back, shattering the illusion.

Kellinar rubbed his eyes and looked away, concentrating on locating each of the mages. He would see Anevay again, until then his life still needed to be lived.

His eyes swept the rising buildings and wall. He couldn’t see all of the mages from where he stood; the city had grown too much for that. The people of New Sharren had named the city Salendar, in honor of those who had died in the War of Fire when Old Sharren and its capitol had been reduced to the nothing that gave rise to the name Ash Plains five hundred years before. He focused on locating as many mages as possible to allow the emotions that had welled up in him time to drift into the background.

When Sumara laid her hands on the ground to begin again, Kellinar started toward her. “Sumara, hold!”

She shot him a startled look, confusion in her tilted green eyes as she called, “Is there something wrong?”

He ducked under one of the large square stones being lifted by the Air and Water mages, and climbed over a low, partial wall before reaching her side. “You’ve already raised three houses this morning with little rest between. Take a break.”

“I will take one as soon as I do another. Beneath the soil are the remains of the old buildings that once stood here, and I’m incorporating those into the new.” She placed her hands on the ground again.

Kellinar reached down and grabbed her arm, pulling her hands away. “Take a break, now.”

Sumara stood, propped her hands on her hips, and leveled a look at him. “Who are you to boss me around? Are we not both full-fledged Guardians?”

“We are. However, I’m the senior rider here, and you are pushing yourself too hard. It won’t do anyone any good if you lose control of a weave due to exhaustion. Take a break before I have Shryden sit on you. He’s bigger than Keta; she would have a fine time trying to move him.”

She stared at him for a long moment before crossing her arms. “Fine.”

When she didn’t move, he motioned toward the large tents still set up for resting workers and raised an eyebrow. With a disgusted sigh, Sumara stalked past him, her face set. She could be irritated with him all she wanted, he wasn’t about to have an exploding weave wipe out structures and people nor let any of the riders or mages in New Sharren come to harm. Magic was a great tool, but it took a lot of energy to use. A rider or mage could kill themselves by overloading their system and draining their body’s energy too far. Maleena had come close to doing that when she pulled Rylin from Spirit Lake.

Clarene shuffled over to his side and offered a cup filled with steaming coffee. He accepted it gratefully and took a sip of the strong brew, thankful for the dragons’ ability to Slide that made small things like coffee in New Sharren possible. “How are things around the city, Clarene?” Without a Silver or a Spirit mage present at the moment, she was the best gauge of the general feelings within New Sharren.

The old woman smacked her gums and looked at the rising buildings crawling with people busy at whatever best suited their skills. “Things are good, young man. Winter were a bit difficult with so many crammed in each home, but all in all, the mood is good. With the nice weather you say is coming, people will be able to go outside more and homes will be built faster. That’ll make things easier. Not healthy for so many to be cooped up together close like that. Those Healing mages, though, they did a fine job with those herbs of theirs and soon this first winter will be past us.”

“A new season for the people here.”

Clarene nodded. “A new season for the people, a last for me.”

Startled, he searched her face. “How do you know this will be your last?”

She looked away, a troubled expression on her face as she looked at her new home. “I’ve dreamed it, several times. I think it’s something to do with what little power I have. These dreams, they show Shadow Dragons and Dragon Riders. Fire and death.” Clarene turned her pale blue eyes on him, and the sadness in them struck something deep inside him. “I see’d New Sharren deserted. This home the people work so hard for, it won’t stand against the battles that come. I see’d my own death in those dreams, over and over again, always the same.”

Kellinar glanced at the city again and the industrious work going on around them as fear coiled deep in his gut. “Even if we are attacked, it doesn’t mean you will die, Clarene or that we will be overrun.”

“When dreams come like that to me, they have always come true. I dreamed of the Mallay, burnt to the ground many times for months before you showed back up. It will come.”

His mind wandered to Anevay’s weave, but he quickly cast it aside. Not even New Sharren and its people were worth that price. “New Sharren will be defended, you may rest easy.”

Clarene nodded. “As you say, Di’shan.” She motioned to his coffee. “Better drink that before it grows cold. I have duties of my own to be about.”

Without a backward glance, she shuffled away, her shoulders appearing more slumped than before. Kellinar stood rooted to the spot, his desire for the hot drink in his hand gone. As much as he wanted to deny her dreams, he knew only too well how Spirit magic worked. What Clarene saw would come to pass. All he could hope for was that the people had a few years to live in their new home before it happened. A fruitless hope. Clarene saw it happening during the warm season. How many times could the New Sharrens suffer the loss of their home and the heavy loss of life that went with it?

Sumara brushed past him. “There, I have taken both food and drink and feel plenty rested. Do you still have an objection to me working?”

He glanced at her. “No. Just be careful.”

Huffing, she turned away and knelt to place her hands on the ground again. He stared, lost in thought as the earth began to liquefy and pool beneath her palms. What was the point in continuing if it was assured it was a lost cause?

“Hope, my rider. Hope. It will sustain a being of any species long past anything else,”
Shryden sent.

“What hope will they have when they lose everything again?”

“When the time comes, you must keep them looking forward into the future. Keep them planning on how they will resurrect their city once it is all over.”

“And what if, once it is all over, the Guardians have failed?”

“Then we will have done all we possibly could. However, the Guardians won’t fail. Maleena will never let that happen.”

A flush of anger washed through Kellinar.
“And you are all right with that? Is the price that will have to be paid truly worth it?”

“Yes. Two lives lost in place of thousands? It is worth the price, no matter how hard it is to pay.”

With a sigh, Kellinar turned and walked away from the work. He picked his way past the construction until he was free of the city. The open Ash Plains spread out. Brown, waist-high grass waved in the wind like the sea. He rubbed his hands over his face and found a place on a broken stone to sit while he watched the makeshift army of Calladarans, Shaderians, and the few Ke’han who had agreed to stay near New Sharren, train new recruits.

Several women were among the trainees. He watched them for quite a while then looked back at the city wall. Even if New Sharren fell, these people had learned how to live. They had come such a long way. Perhaps they had strength to go farther, even in the face of what the future brought.

“They are stronger than you give them credit for,”
Shryden sent.

“And you are wiser than anyone I know,”
Kellinar returned.

H
e paced the wide width of the anteroom to his personal chambers. Fear coursed through his system as he contemplated the alliance he hoped to make in only a few short moments. One he was wary of and hopeful for at the same time. There was no choice. Kovan was right; setting Shadereen straight without too much destruction was going to take more than one man.

Tonight, the moon would be new again. He was running out of time before Kovan returned.

A sharp knock at the door interrupted his thoughts. Taking a deep breath and composing his features, he raised his voice to be heard through the thick wood, “Enter.”

His manservant opened the door. “Mannoc to see you as requested, sire.”

“Send him in.”

Mannoc strolled through the door, arrogant as always. “Why have you called a private meeting with me? If it has to do with Arlenyi, I can be of no help to you. The Dragon Riders have assured me I have no right or say in the behavior of my wife.”

“It indeed has something to do with that and the fact you have no say.” He turned and studied the books lining one wall. “Do tell me, am I the only one who longs for Shadereen the way it was? Am I the only one who sees the way of our people slowly being destroyed through the peace the Guardians offered us?”

“No, you are not; however, I fail to see how our personal wishes play into anything when the majority of Shadereen and the Council favor the changes.”

He turned back to Mannoc. “Perhaps we were too quick to align ourselves with the Guardians. It is entirely possible that misplaced fear coerced us into accepting a bargain that we should not have. Perhaps we should rethink our alliances.”

Mannoc shifted, a wary look seeping into his golden eyes. “I fear I do not understand the meaning of this conversation.”

This was the moment of truth. If Mannoc would not stand with him, none of them would. “The Shadow Riders have offered their protection of both our way of life and our nation. They have promised to reinstate all of the Shaderian laws cast aside in favor of Dragon Law. They have promised to leave us alone as long as we pay a certain amount from our coffers and allow them to select servants and craftsmen from the common people.”