Serpent of Fire (22 page)

That surprised Tan the most.

A shaping of wind and earth told him that Roine arrived.

Tan looked up, facing the sky, noting Roine descending on a controlled shaping of wind. Zephra was with him. Ferran came on a shaping of earth, flying above the ground with a shaping that once would have seemed impossible.

“Tannen?” Roine asked, his eyes taking in the Chenir shapers and the Supreme Leader. “What is this? Why have you attacked the Chenir delegation?”

Tan turned toward Roine. He would pay a penalty for what he’d done, but he would not regret it, either. He’d done what was needed to find the hatchling. That Chenir had hidden the hatchling had as much to do with Chenir as it did with anything that Tan had done.

“Your Athan was making a point that we should have come more openly, Theondar,” the Supreme Leader said.

Roine turned to him, frowning. “Explain,” he said.

“It will require much explanation, but what is important is that your Athan did what was needed to protect your people.”

“Tan?” Roine asked as he turned to him.

Tan met the Supreme Leader’s eyes. What should he say? Admitting the reason that Chenir had come would put Roine on edge. Already, he feared that he needed to protect the resources of the kingdoms, but the elementals were not meant to be resources.

“We found the hatchling,” Tan said simply.

The Supreme Leader nodded. “I did not know that you offered protection to the draasin. It seems your Athan is particularly attached to them.”

Roine glanced from Tan to the Supreme Leader, then nodded. “He is bonded to one. Any who choose to harm the draasin will face his anger.” Roine surveyed the destroyed Chenir wagons. “I will provide an escort from our lands.”

“That will not be necessary,” the Supreme Leader said. “There is only minimal damage to our wagons. And I have committed to helping your Athan reach this wild elemental to pay for the mistake.”

Tan nodded at the Supreme Leader. Roine made his way over to Tan. “What is this about? You summoned—”

“I summoned. Chenir shapers attacked me because I came for the hatchling. They protected the hatchling because they thought they needed to keep it from kaas. We both were mistaken.”

Roine sighed. “And now?”

“I know where to find kaas. It’s in Incendin, heading for the Fire Fortress. If it reaches there…”

Roine’s face took on a pained expression. “They don’t need our help.”

“You know that’s not true.”

“You can’t do this on your own.”

“No,” Tan agreed. “I will need strength with shaping. Cora will help. Cianna too, I think. And if the Supreme Leader comes, it might be enough for me to capture the elemental.”

“Why must you do this, Tannen? We can raise the barrier. We’re close. Once it’s in place, the kingdoms will be safe.”

“And let Incendin deal with this? When the Fire Fortress falls, what will withstand Par-shon? What will happen to the elementals of their land? This must be done. If I need to do it alone, then I will.”

Roine took a deep breath and looked at Tan with a resigned expression. “I can’t risk losing you to this elemental. With what we will face in the upcoming months, I need the strength that you can offer. I can’t risk losing your shaping ability.”

“Roine, I have to do this.”

“Why? Because you think that the Great Mother gave you the ability to speak to the elementals so that you can protect them?”

“Yes.”

“What if that’s not it at all? What if you were given your abilities because the Great Mother knew what was coming for the kingdoms? That she wanted us protected?”

Tan sighed. “I think it has more to do with making amends for mistakes made long ago. This elemental kaas,” Tan said. “This is the kingdoms’ doing. When I showed you the tunnels beneath the city, you remember when we saw the massive rooms?”

Roine nodded. “Where you’ve been hiding the draasin?”

“I’m sorry about that. But those rooms, those were where the ancient kingdoms shapers trapped the elementals and held them. That was where they used the elementals in experiments. That was where fire was joined to earth, a combining that was never meant to be, one that is unstable and destructive.”

“What are you saying, Tannen?”

“I’m saying that the kingdoms are responsible for what’s happening.”

“How? I don’t even understand how that would be possible,” Roine whispered.

Zephra had come up to them. She studied Tan, her eyes an impenetrable mask. “The artifact, isn’t that it?” she asked. “That’s why they created it?”

“I don’t know,” Tan admitted. “The artifact was part of it, but I’m not sure that it’s the only reason.”

“You can’t know that,” Roine said. “We’re talking about one thousand years ago. There are no records, nothing remains—”

“Except the draasin,” Tan said.

“But they were learned. They spoke to the elementals,” Roine said. “Why would they have done something like that?”

Tan couldn’t begin to understand what would have driven the ancient shapers to attempt to join elementals together in some sort of experiment. Sadly, what he had learned while holding the artifact let him see
how
it had been done. There was immense power there, so much power, almost like standing in the pool of liquid spirit. With that power, Tan had known that he could do anything, that he could shape anything. But he’d resisted long enough to inadvertently destroy the artifact. The ancient shapers had not.

“Kaas exists because of the kingdoms,” Tan said. “And because of that,
I
am taking responsibility to capture it.”

“And then?” his mother asked.

“Then I will do what is necessary,” Tan answered. Even if it meant destroying an elemental.

T
an traveled into Incendin on a shaping of fire, burning as brightly as possible as he searched for kaas. For the first time coming to these lands, he didn’t want to obscure his shaping. For them to have a chance at success, he needed Incendin’s help. If only he managed to make it in time. For all he knew, kaas had already reached the Fire Fortress.

Cianna floated within his shaping. She held onto his hand, sliding closer than would make Amia comfortable, practically thrusting herself onto him. He doubted that she feared traveling like this—riding with the draasin would be more frightening than the warrior shaping—but she had always been a little more familiar with Tan than Amia would like. Tan suspected that came from the way fire required a certain level of seduction.

He could have added spirit to his warrior shaping, but that required knowing the destination. This shaping was louder, leaving wind rushing around him, catching his hair and shirt and making tears stream from his eyes. It was nothing like the smooth shaping he managed when using a warrior shaping, but with that, he had to know where he traveled before using it. With this, he could feel his way along, search more easily.

Cianna remained silent as they traveled, her eyes focused on the ground. Honl flowed around him, now so easily visible where he had not been before, remaining with them as promised. Tan still didn’t know what it meant for Honl to have changed as he had. Had he changed so much that he was no longer even one of the ashi elementals? Had Tan somehow done something similar to what the ancient kingdom shapers had done, changing one of the elementals?

It is not the same, Tan.

Honl tried to comfort him. That alone told Tan how much the elemental had changed. Never before had Honl thought to try and offer comfort. Tan had always tried to encourage the wind elemental, urging him to attempt more than he had wanted. The change was as much Tan’s fault as anything.

You’re different,
Tan said.

All creations of the Mother must change. Think of how you have changed since your first bond.

He thought of the change he’d undergone often. He was not the same boy who’d left Nor so many years ago. Now he was someone else, a person that boy would have found amazing. The Tan of today still felt weak, but mostly because what he now faced seemed as impossible as stopping the lisincend.

I’m not sure this is what she would have intended.

Honl swirled into greater focus, a figure of dark shadow flying along next to him.
You think to know the Mother now?

Tan laughed.
I think she had no more hand in this than she did in the ancients creating kaas.

Honl turned so that his smoky face focused on Tan. There was slowly becoming depth to his features, almost as if Tan could make out the expression the elemental wore. Whatever change had happened was still not complete.

You claim the Mother does not guide you? That she does not direct you?

No, I—

It is much the same, Tan. You are her creation as much as I.

He fell silent, not certain how to answer. He still couldn’t get over the fact that Honl seemed so different, changed so much from the hesitant wind elemental that had first found him. There was a confidence to him now, almost wisdom.

What will happen when we find kaas?
Tan asked him.

You will do what the Mother requires,
Honl answered.

She does not want me to harm the elementals. And I can think of nothing else that will save us.

Then you must find another way.

There is no other way,
Tan said. Not that he could think of, and not that would keep the kingdoms safe. Not only the kingdoms, but Chenir. Doma. Even Incendin. If kaas was not contained, the elementals all through the land would suffer.

You will still do what is required,
Honl said.

Tan wondered if he could. At least he would not have to do it on his own. Cianna would help. The Supreme Leader and the two other Chenir shapers he sent to the north offered their assistance. Roine agreed to help, though Tan wasn’t certain whether he should. Roine was needed to rule. If anything happened to him, there wouldn’t be anyone to ensure the kingdoms remained secure.

Then there was Cora. Tan had summoned her, but he still wasn’t certain that she heard the summons. Since she’d bonded to Enya, he’d summoned her twice already, and both times she had seemed reluctant to respond. This time, he needed her to. Incendin needed to know about the threat kaas posed.

Through the fire bond, Tan saw the ground as streaks of orange and reds, brightness that burned beneath them, making it look much as it did when he looked through Asboel’s eyes. Incendin spread out beneath him, the stunted wasteland alive with heat and life, so different than what existed in the kingdoms, and different than what he’d ever believed. Tan once had thought Incendin devoid of life, but it was anything but lifeless.

How much did the Sunlands suffer because the kingdoms separated them from the elementals with the barrier?
Tan asked Honl.

He shimmered, quickly taking a little more shape, the shadowy darkness becoming more substantial.
Ashi remained in these lands. Saldam as well. A few others. But there was little joining of the elementals. That separation restricts us.

How does it restrict?

Tan sensed Honl struggling for the way to explain.
We must share experience. Understanding. It is why the draasin remain as powerful as they do. They have no restrictions. The Eldest knows each of the other elementals: saldam, inferin, saa. They know him, but they do not know each other. Much is lost, I think.

Had Lacertin known what would happen when the barrier was placed? They had been forced to do it to protect the kingdoms from Incendin, but Tan still didn’t know why Incendin had been attacking, especially if Par-shon attacked along their eastern border. What would Incendin have gained by attacking the kingdoms?

The shifting of convergence made all suffer,
Honl went on.

What do you mean?

Honl twisted in the air. This time, his face appeared quite distinct and Tan could see him frown.
You have been to the place of the Mother. It is not what it once was.

The place of convergence? That’s what you mean, isn’t it?

Honl nodded and then drifted ahead, fading into a dark cloud.

Tan had known that the ancient shapers had claimed land from the sea. And because of that, the place of convergence had moved, drawing it toward Ethea.

What had changing the convergence done to the other elementals?

He sighed. Nothing that would not have happened a thousand years ago. Nothing that would explain why Incendin attacked, or why Par-shon bonded the elementals as they did. Nothing that would change the fact that Tan had to stop Par-shon, but first, he had to somehow capture kaas.

“I’m not sure you’ve thought this through,” Cianna said over the wind, straining to see to the south. “When we reach this creature, what is it that you intend?”

Tan pulled his attention away from Honl. “We need to trap kaas first, then I will have to decide what to do next.”

“Do you sense her yet?” Cianna asked.

Tan shook his head. There was no sign of Cora, or of Enya. He held onto the fire bond, reaching deep within him as they traveled, thinking that if he could find the draasin, he might be able to find Cora.

“And the summons?” Cianna asked.

“I’ve tried,” Tan said. “It would be easier than this.” Cora hadn’t answered. That would have troubled him more had she not answered so quickly the other times. Incendin faced the same dangers as the kingdoms, and as Chenir. Their shapers had a different way of dealing with Par-shon, though. What would be required of Cora? How must she support the Fire Fortress?

“Sashari is distracted by the hatchling’s return. Is it the same with Asboel?” Cianna asked.

“He will come when needed,” Tan said.

Cianna laughed softly. “The draasin would come if you called them to attack Incendin. For what you think to do, there is reluctance. They are afraid.”

The draasin had helped capture and banish kaas the last time. Tan still didn’t know what they’d been asked to do, but whatever it was, Asboel didn’t think it would work again. That left Tan and the shapers he could gather to be responsible for attempting to contain kaas. They needed strength with fire, but he still didn’t know what else might be needed.

“If they fear this creature, how are you sure the draasin will help?”

“They’ll help.”

Cianna laughed again and Tan glanced over. The wind caught her bright red hair, and sunlight glistened off it as well. She radiated shaped heat, her control increased since she had bonded to Sashari. Tan wondered if she realized how much she had changed in the short time since bonding. But did he even know how much he had changed since bonding?

“You don’t think we should work with Incendin?” They had been over it before, but he thought that if any would agree with him, it would be Cianna. She understood what fire demanded. She had seen through draasin eyes. She had seen how Asgar had nearly fallen. Without Incendin, the kingdoms would have little choice but to separate themselves again, throw up the barrier as Roine intended, and hide. From what he could tell from the Chenir shapers, that would expose everyone else to danger. The barrier was not the answer.

“With Cora?” Cianna said. “She has shown that she possesses a certain insight. And the draasin chose her to bond, so there must be a reason for that.”

Tan didn’t correct her and tell her that Enya had practically
had
to bond or the Utu Tonah would have managed to take her. So far, Cora’s bond was different than what he shared with Asboel. Or even what Cianna shared with Sashari.

“But I’m not sure that we should be working with the rest of Incendin,” Cianna went on. “Growing up in Nara, you see a different side of Incendin. Many I knew growing up left the kingdoms and made the crossing to the Fire Fortress, thinking to learn. None ever return. There is darkness in Incendin, Tan, even if you choose not to see it. Think of the lisincend and all that they have done. Do you really think you can bring them to help?”

Tan didn’t know if he could. That was the part of all of this that he worried about most. If Incendin didn’t control the lisincend, there might be no way to truly unite Incendin against Par-shon and join with the kingdoms.

Still, he had to try. Tan didn’t want to think of what would happen to all the people—and all the elementals throughout Incendin—if he did nothing.

Beneath him, the ground grew increasingly more desolate the farther to the east that he traveled. While in Nara, there was evidence of life, some flashes of greenery, however small, unlike Incendin. The plants in Incendin were harsh and hard, much like the people. One wrong step could lead to a poisonous plant attacking. At least from the air, he didn’t have to worry about that.

They passed the place where the Aeta had been attacked. The remains of the wagons were little more than charred boxes, mostly unrecognizable. Had Tan not known where they were, he doubted he would even have recognized it.

Holding onto his connection to fire as he did, he sensed a sudden change. He slowed, looking toward the source of what he sensed. But he found nothing.

Cianna tensed next to him. “What is it?”

“Fire, I think.”

“You think this is the elemental? This kaas?”

Tan sighed. “It faded too quickly to know.”

“You sense this with spirit?”

“No. With the fire bond.”

“Sashari finds it impressive that you have managed to join the fire bond, though I think she feels it was inevitable. They have great respect for Maelen.”

Tan hoped that he would continue to deserve their respect. If he didn’t manage to stop kaas—or worse, if he did and it require destroying the elemental—what would the draasin think of him then?

Cianna nodded toward the ground. A flash of darkness swirled there. Tan slowed enough for him to recognize what Cianna had seen. Hounds. That must have been what he had sensed, as well. As he reached through his connection to fire, sensing as he did, he felt the strange draw of fire from the hounds. They pulled on the elemental energy, but it was wrong in some ways. Twisted.

“I sense them as well,” Tan said softly.

“I think that my connection to the elements is quite different from yours,” Cianna said. She didn’t take her eyes off the hounds.

From what Tan could tell, the hounds didn’t seem to notice them, either. They would have his scent from the first time they’d hunted him. Roine had made it clear that once the hounds caught your scent, they would not let it go. He doubted they had forgotten about him.

“You can learn to reach through the fire bond as well,” Tan said. “I think it is different from sensing, but not so different that a skilled shaper could not do it.”

Cianna laughed as they moved past the hounds. The tension that had filled her at the sight of them eased, leaving her a little more relaxed. “When you first came to me to learn, you had much that you didn’t know. I think it came easy for you, but there was no real control.”

“Because it wasn’t shaping that I used. Even then, I used the elementals to aid my shaping. It wasn’t until I was separated from them that I learned how to reach for the shaping within me.”

Cianna nodded thoughtfully, one hand holding onto her hair. “Perhaps that is it. You were stupid then. You would try to draw fire from an elemental itself. You are lucky that you have connections to the other elementals.”

“I wouldn’t be here otherwise,” Tan agreed.

Cianna grinned at him. “But now? You have gained much skill in the time that I have known you. You are able to reach fire in a way that few I have met could manage, even those of Incendin. That is what you have learned from the draasin, yes?”

Working with the draasin had certainly strengthened his connection to fire, but he had a draw to fire, something that he wondered if his near transformation had strengthened.

Then again, maybe it was only him. Maybe it was time to believe that the Great Mother chose him because he had the potential to master these shapings.