Serpent of Fire (14 page)

T
an settled to the ground in the mountains where Par-shon had attacked the night before. In the daylight, the rocks had some remnants of the bloodshed, but it was difficult to see, blending into the stone and disappearing, looking like nothing more than shades of darkness among the rock. The ground was disturbed and the plants that had grown up throughout this part of Ethea were trampled but had already begun to press up from the ground again, a day in the sun giving them renewed life.

Why had he chosen here to visit? This should have been the last place that he wanted to come. He felt drawn here although he didn’t quite know why.

After leaving Amia, he needed a moment to think and determine what he needed to do first. Why, then, had he chosen here?

There was little other evidence of the attack. The Par-shon woman had been buried, claimed by Cianna’s urging and Tan’s shaping. The draasin had devoured the others. He surveyed the small clearing, and a glint of metal caught Tan’s eye. Impaled into a massive boulder, Tan found the curved sword the Par-shon warrior had attacked with. He grabbed it and pulled it free with strength enhanced by earth shaping.

The sword had a long, curved blade, the end much wider than the warrior sword he carried. It tapered toward the ornately carved hilt capped with a blood-red stone. Tan turned the sword from side to side and studied the runes worked along the surface.

There was a sword much like this in the lower level of the archives. If the fallen Par-shon warrior had one, then maybe the swords weren’t as unique as he’d thought.

What did it mean that there was another shaper able to divert his most powerful shaping? When he bound together each of the elements, it created a shaping strong enough to sever the bonds forcing shaping on the elemental. Whatever he had faced had managed to deflect that. What else would Par-shon be able to throw at them that he still didn’t know about?

A great shadow circled overhead and Asboel settled to the ground next to him. He looked upon Tan with golden eyes and then blinked slowly.
You return to the hunt?

I don’t know why I returned,
Tan admitted. How to explain that he felt compelled to come back here? How could he explain that a part of him felt the need to return, to understand why Par-shon had risked so much as they attacked?

You have avoided me since the summons,
Tan said. Asboel flicked his tail, and Tan pressed.
Honl says they were bound to an elemental called kaas. It’s an elemental of fire, but one I’ve never heard of before.

The draasin snarled suddenly and fire steamed from his nostrils.

Tan stared, surprised. That was a more pronounced response than he’d expected.

That would not be,
Asboel said. He stood on his hind legs, his nostrils flaring as he sniffed at the air.

Why? What is kaas?

He hadn’t heard of another powerful fire elemental and Asboel had never offered to explain that there might be another, only that the draasin were strongest. Saa was strong, but not as strong as the draasin. Tan suspected that saldam and inferin were strong where they were found, much like ashi was strongest in Incendin. Only the draasin weren’t limited by which land they claimed.

Asboel’s body tensed and his tail twitched. Tan knew him well enough to recognize the tension in the draasin.
Asboel. What is kaas?

Asboel swung his head around and stared at Tan.
Kaas should not be here. These lands belong to the draasin.

I don’t understand.

Asboel snuffed loudly and steam billowed out and around Tan.
Kaas is elemental of fire, but of earth and fire, much like draasin are of fire and wind.

At the description, Tan sat upright. There had been both earth and fire in the shaping used against him. Tan thought it a bonded shaper, and maybe it was, but what if wasn’t? What if kaas had been the one who had shaped earth, much like the draasin could move through the wind?

What does this mean?
Tan asked.

I don’t know. These lands are of the draasin. Kaas has others.

I don’t understand.

Because you cannot. You are not of elemental powers, Maelen.
Asboel spread his wings wide around him.

Explain it, then. Tell me what you fear.

Asboel flicked his tail, nearly catching Tan.
The draasin do not fear.

All creatures know fear, Asboel. There is nothing wrong with it.

If kaas has come to these lands, you must be ready. They were banished by the Mother.

Banished?
Was that Par-shon’s plan? To bring a dangerous elemental to the kingdoms? But why? What purpose would that serve?

Not all elementals are harmless, Maelen.

I think few would find the draasin harmless.

Kaas is different. They are devourers.

What do you mean by devourers? Of people?

Of everything. Man. Beast. Elemental. If one has come, and a bond forced upon them, these lands are in danger.
Asboel made a point of lowering his head and fixing Tan with his golden eyes.
You fear this man, the one you call Utu Tonah.

Yes.

But you have faced him. You can see him.

He is powerful, Asboel. More than I can face on my own.

The draasin snorted.
You are never alone, Maelen. After all that you have seen, you cannot see yourself as weak. You must be strong to survive him, and you are stronger with others.

And kaas?
Tan asked, ignoring how similar Asboel’s comment sounded to what Amia had said.

Kaas is like draasin.
Tan sensed the reluctance with which Asboel admitted that.
They are powerful and can hide deep beneath the earth. It was difficult to rid this land of them.

Something about the way Asboel said it told Tan that there was more to the elemental than he let on.
You faced them before.

Asboel snorted and the tips of his wings curled slightly.
That was my task. We are hunters, Maelen. And kaas was dangerous.

You know I will help, but what can I do?

You must hunt, Maelen. We must hunt. If the hatchling remains in these lands, I must find her before she falls to kaas. If we do not, much will be lost.

I don’t understand.

Pray that you will not, Maelen.
The draasin looked to the sky, his bright eyes flashing at the clouds, his tail swishing around him.
I will need your help with this.

Tan rested his hand on the draasin’s flank, wishing there was a way to comfort his friend but hating that even more was asked of him. How would he manage all that had already been asked?

What happened when you faced kaas the last time?

Asboel twisted so that he could look at Tan.
All were nearly lost.

All of what?

All the draasin. Ara. Udilm. Golud. All the elementals. All.

Tan shivered. As he did, a fearsome thought came to him.
How long ago was it? How long ago since kaas has been seen in these lands?

What does it matter, Maelen?

It matters.
If what he was beginning to suspect might be true, then it definitely mattered.

Asboel looked away and his tail twitched, slapping at the ground.
We cleansed kaas from these lands so long ago that I no longer remember.

With that, he took to the air, circling a few times before disappearing completely, only the connection between them letting Tan know where he’d gone.

T
an sat in the lower level of the archives, the hard chair beneath him keeping him uncomfortable enough that he remained awake. Shapers lanterns scattered around the room gave off a scant amount of pale, white light. He could see the big elements in the room, but the letters written on the page had become a blur. Even with the gift of knowledge Amia had given him so that he could understand the ancient language of
Ishthin
, his tired mind would no longer allow him to focus.

He’d returned to the archives after leaving Asboel with a renewed focus to understand what the draasin refused to share. Something told him that the draasin had known the other elemental, kaas, far more intimately than Asboel let on, but when? And why?

The only thing that Tan could think of was the possibility that cleansing kaas from these lands had been tied to what had happened to the draasin. Scholars had wondered about the fading power of shapers and about the weakening connection to the elementals, but what if that connection had been weakened centuries ago? And what if the draasin
had been part of the reason they were saved?

That was the reason he’d come to the archives and had been reading through the texts stored here since his return. Tan was determined to understand what role the draasin might have played and what this strange and terrifying elemental kaas might have done.

So far, he’d come up empty. There had been nothing that he could find that explained anything. He found information on hunting the draasin, but if the draasin had been helping, why had they been hunted?

Tan put the book down with a frustrated sigh. He wasn’t getting anywhere searching through it this way. And maybe he wasn’t meant to find any answers. As far as he could tell, the ancient scholars had intentionally made it difficult to find anything that they had done. Their records were incomplete and everything that might have been helpful was written in the confusing style of that time. If only Asboel would simply explain what had happened.

Then there was his need to understand what Par-shon intended. It wasn’t just about the elementals anymore, at least not about the need to protect them from Par-shon, but from kaas as well. If there was a wild elemental roaming the kingdoms, Tan needed to do what he could to stop it.

On top of that, he needed to understand Incendin. He would have to go to them and find answers, possibly allies, but Cora had not answered any of his summons. Perhaps she was busy reacquainting herself with Incendin. She’d been gone so long that Tan didn’t doubt that she would need time to understand her role with her people, but that was time he didn’t have.

And then Chenir.

Since their arrival, a steady rolling thunder seemed to echo through the city. He hadn’t managed to discover its source, and golud didn’t seem unsettled. Rather, there was almost an edge to the elemental, but one that Tan couldn’t completely explain.

So much for him to do, and not enough time.

He stood and faced the shelving aligned along the wall of the lower level of the archives. The light from the lanterns didn’t fully reach here, so he shaped a ball of light. Fire blazed above his hand, drawing saa to it. Tan released the shaping to the elemental, letting it take control.

His eyes were drawn to the intricately carved trunk set atop a shelf. Inside the velvet-lined trunk was the ancient artifact, a device that had been created for some unknown reason, but one powerful enough to draw upon each of the elementals, to pull more strength than Tan could fathom shaping on his own, even augmented by the elementals and the warrior sword.

Before he knew what he was doing, he tipped the lid of the trunk back. Firelight held in place by saa lit the artifact, casting a soft glow over the silver cylinder. Runes, much like those used throughout the lower level of the archives, and so similar to those used by Par-shon, marked along its edges.

Tan lifted the artifact, holding it in his hand. There was power here that he had so far managed to ignore. Had he attempted to use the artifact when Par-shon attacked Doma, or when they had abducted the archivists, how much differently would things have turned out? Would he have managed to stop the Utu Tonah? Would he have been able to avoid kaas ever coming to these lands?

Or would he have been tempted like Althem?

The ground rumbled softly, pulsing as if with his heartbeat. The steady sound seemed to call to him, as if it wanted to draw him out. Tan didn’t know what it was, but there was something so compelling about it.

He twisted the artifact. The runes were familiar now. Always before, they had been something mysterious, leaving him with questions. He thought of what it had taken to find the artifact, how hard he had searched, racing from the lisincend and struggling to remain only a step or two ahead, if not more.

Now, he didn’t fear the lisincend as he once did. They were still terrifying and there was darkness that twisted within them, but he thought he understood some of what they went through. Understanding granted him a sort of immunity to the fear that had coursed through him when thinking of them before. Somehow, he would have to find a way to bridge the kingdoms and the lisincend.

Couldn’t the artifact do that as well?

There were other answers that he needed. Would the artifact be able to tell him what had happened to the hatchling? Tan had no doubt that it could, and even debated reaching out to Asboel to suggest it, but the draasin remained distant. Whatever the mystery of kaas, it had turned his friend silent.

Holding the artifact could lead Tan to the other hatchling. And then? Then he might even understand why Chenir had come. There had to be a reason, something more than simply meeting the new king regent.

The temptation was great. If he had that power, he wouldn’t feel pulled in so many different directions. He might be able to focus on one problem at a time. With the artifact, he might be able to solve all of his problems. Then he would be able to be with Amia, and at peace. Wasn’t that the dream?

You can’t control it.

The thought came through the connection with Amia. She had been distant, but surged to the forefront of his mind. Tan needed for her to understand
why
he even considered it.

I don’t have to control it. I think that’s where Althem failed.

He sensed Amia’s disappointment and hated it.
Althem failed because he tried to use it, not because he thought to control it. You know better than any what could happen were you to use the artifact.

Tan envisioned a future for he and Amia, one where they didn’t have to worry about Incendin, or about Par-shon. In that future, they lived a simple life, one where they could climb through the mountains of Galen, where Amia could walk the mountain trails with them, where they might raise a family…

I want all those things as well, but that is not the way to reach them.

A shaping had built within him while envisioning that future. Without intending to, he’d pulled shapings of each of the elements and added spirit to it, drawing from Amia through him. She didn’t fight. He sensed that were he to attempt to use the artifact, she would not oppose him.

Reluctantly, he released the shaping. It went away from him in a torrent, the pent-up energy more than he’d realized he’d drawn.

The glow in the silvery metal of the artifact faded.

Tan would have all the things that he wanted, but he would not do so this way. There was danger in it. The artifact was too much power, dangerous in a way that even the ancient shapers—at least some of them—recognized. He would not make that same mistake.

He sensed Amia’s relief and she faded to the background of his mind once more, leaving him standing in the archives.

What would he do, if not use the artifact? Where would he start?

He sighed in frustration. There would be no easy answer, nothing that would help him know what must be done first. Asboel might help, but he was nearly as distracted as Tan, wanting only to find the hatchling.

There was a part of him that considered using the artifact only to find the hatchling, but he pushed the thought away. If he were to start a shaping, he doubted that he would stop. He might think he had the necessary control, but the simple act of lifting the artifact—and the shaping he’d very nearly unleashed—told him how little control he actually possessed.

No, he needed to understand this on his own.

He considered returning to the city. There would be a festival and celebrations for the Chenir delegation that he could attend. Roine likely
wanted
him to attend. But Tan was in no mood to put on a show for ambassadors, not with so much at stake.

With Asboel out and Chenir in the city, it left only one thing for him to do.

But so far, Cora had ignored his attempts to reach her. Why would now be any different?

He turned the artifact over in his hands a moment more before setting it back into the velvet-lined box. Saa still created a soft ball of light that illuminated the interior of the box. Tan started to replace the lid, but something caught his attention.

His hand froze, holding it open slightly, letting only a little light into it.

A long, jagged line ran through the artifact.

Tan ran a finger along the line, horror beginning to run through him.

He’d done this.
He’d
damaged the artifact.

It had come when he released his shaping. That much energy had to go somewhere, and it had gone back into the artifact, splitting it. Tan could attempt to repair it and could attempt to still use it, but doing so would be more dangerous than using it had been when it was whole.

Even if he wanted to attempt to use the artifact to find answers, he no longer could.