The Guild Secret (The Dark Ability Book 6) (21 page)

R
siran paused
on the other side long enough to draw the strength from the Elder Trees,
pulling
on so much of it that he filled himself, letting it pour out of him, spilling with bright white light as it burned away the taint of the shadowsteel.

He Slid, emerging in the Barth. No musicians played at this time of night, and the fire in the hearth had already started to fade. A few servers moved between the tables, cleaning up from what Rsiran suspected was the rush from earlier. Only a few tables had anyone sitting at them, mostly men gaming or sitting quietly sipping their drinks.

Brusus was there, and saw Rsiran’s face. “What is it?”

“We need to leave the city. Now.”

“But the Barth…”

“The Barth won’t be safe. Get Alyse, and get out of here. Have someone you trust run the tavern until we can return.”

“What happened?”

“Later, Brusus. Please, trust me on this. Anyone who knows us is in danger.”

He paused, listening for Jessa. He detected her in the smithy, and that would be the next place he would go.

“Rsiran, there’s something you should know.”

“We’ll have to talk about it later, Brusus. With what’s happening in the palace, we need to move those we care about away from the city. We can go to the Aisl. I can keep us safe there, but first, we have to reach it.”

Brusus nodded curtly. “And I’ll get Alyse moving, but this can’t wait.” He nodded to a man sitting by himself at a table where the shadows of the tavern were thickest. “Ship came in tonight, Rsiran. I nearly killed him when he walked in, but he managed to convince me to let him live.”

Rsiran
pulled
on the knives Brusus had on him, and
pushed
them toward the man. Firell sat watching him carefully.

“Why did you return?” he asked Firell.

“You came to me first, didn’t you?” Firell said.

“Is Shael with you?”

“Not this time. Something happened, Rsiran. When you left, Jonas went searching for proof of what you said. We found something in Nalthin.”

“Where is Nalthin?” he asked.

“South,” Brusus said. “Far to the south. And inland. Firell wouldn’t have been able to reach it by ship.”

“Not by ship,” the smuggler agreed. He hadn’t moved, fixing Rsiran with a steady gaze, ignoring the knives that floated in front of him. “Shael heard rumors of something there, so Jonas Slid us to Nalthin.”

“Heard rumors?”

Firell shrugged. “You’d be surprised to hear it, but the Forgotten aren’t as destroyed as you might think. Oh, they don’t have any interest in returning to the city, not like the others that I worked for, but they’re keeping together for protection. Between the Hjan and…” He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. That’s not why I came here. Wanted to tell you about Nalthin.”

Rsiran frowned “And? What did you find?”

“The damnedest thing. Found a man with collections of lorcith that looked a lot like what you made, but none of them had your mark. Knives, a couple of swords, even other decorative items. Maybe not the same quality, but close.”

“You returned to tell me that?”

“Not that.” Firell swallowed. “Shael disappeared on me.”

Brusus grunted. “Probably someone paid better than you.”

Firell shot him a questioning look, then shook his head. “I’m not paying him this time.”

“No? Seemed like Jonas had you pretty well controlled when I found you in Asador,” Rsiran said.

“Jonas thought he could use us. Shael was pissed about what happened to him. Blamed you for a long time, and considered coming after you, but I think he knew that would have been a mistake. When I found him again, he decided that we needed to find out why the Forgotten used us.”

“You were using Jonas?”

“Not so much using, as we wanted information. Damn, Rsiran, Shael almost died. I ‘bout lost not only my life, but my daughter. We needed to know what all that was about.”

Rsiran couldn’t remain here for long. With Danis establishing a presence in the palace, they didn’t have too long before the city became unsafe for them. “We can talk later. So Shael is gone. That’s why you came. I don’t think I can help you, Firell. Not right now with what we have going on.”

Firell stood, trying to ignore the knives that Rsiran held in front of him. “Thought you might feel that way, but think on this, Rsiran. Who made those knives if it wasn’t you?”

Rsiran glanced at Brusus, and he could tell from the way his friend’s jaw clenched that he had the same thought as Rsiran. “You think my father did this?”

Firell shrugged. “Don’t know. Nalthin is known to have mines. Not supposed to have lorcith mines, but not many really know. The city keeps it closed off from the outside, not letting anyone else get too close.”

If it was his father, he might finally have a place to look. He’d thought him in Thyr, but what if Venass had moved him, thinking that Rsiran might go after him there?

But now wasn’t the time to think about going after his father.

“Found this there, too.” Firell pulled a small rounded shape from his pocket.

Rsiran recognized it immediately.

He
pulled
on the sjihn tree sculpture that he’d made for Brusus, and it flew to him from across the tavern. Holding it up, power surged from it the same way that it had when Alyse had somehow used it to confine the Hjan when they attacked, only this time, Rsiran used it to prevent the shadowsteel sphere from harming him.

“Damn, Rsiran!” Firell shoved the sphere back into his pocket. “What are you doing?”

“Where did you find that?”

“Like I said, it was in Nalthin. Man had it, said that he could get me others. Didn’t think he was supposed to have them. They make a ton of this stuff there.” Firell shrugged. “I thought you might know what it was. Help me know if it was valuable.”

Rsiran looked over to Brusus. He hadn’t had the chance to tell him about Danis and the shadowsteel throughout the palace. If what Firell told him was true, then he might have found the source.

But now, Venass was in the city.

Elaeavn had been lost… but Danis might be distracted as they secured the palace. That could give Rsiran time to Slide to Nalthin, discover if the shadowsteel forge was there, and then return. If he could disrupt the production of shadowsteel…

But he would have to move quickly. And he couldn’t go alone.

He turned to Brusus. “How quickly can you reach the Aisl?”

“Rsiran—”

“I won’t have much time to do this, Brusus, so I need to know that you’ll be safe. Get Della. Haern. Send word to the guilds. Get them to the Aisl.”

Brusus looked around the Barth. “I hate to leave this place.”

“You’re not leaving it for good. Just for now. We need to regroup. But trust me that it needs to happen now.”

“It’ll be done. You know I can do this, Rsiran.”

Rsiran nodded. He
pulled
the knives away from Firell and handed them to Brusus. “Good luck.”

“The same to you.”

Rsiran grabbed Firell, and Slid to his smithy.

Jessa sat on their bed, sharpening her lock picks. When Rsiran emerged with Firell, she jumped up and unsheathed a long knife, holding it away from her.

Rsiran
pulled
it from her. “No time, Jessa. We’re leaving the smithy and the city. I’ll explain later. Grab what you need.”

She nodded and quickly rolled the lock-pick set back up, stuffing it in her pocket.

Rsiran
pulled
on all the knives that he had remaining in the smithy. About half were lorcith and the other half were heartstone. He kept them separate, wanting to be able to easily determine which he had with him.

“What are you planning?” Firell asked.

“The council has allowed Venass to enter the city,” Rsiran answered quickly. “The council thinks to destroy the guilds. But from what you told me, I think I can find a way to eliminate some of Venass’s strength, but I have to act while they are occupied.”

“I didn’t tell you anything like that.”

Rsiran nodded toward the pocket where Firell hid the shadowsteel sphere. “What you possess? That’s what they intend to use. Pull it out.”

Firell did, and Rsiran
pulled
on a lump of lorcith. “Set it on there,” he told Firell when he’d positioned the lorcith on the ground in front of him. Firell did so, and Rsiran
pushed
lorcith
around the shadowsteel orb, fulling encasing it.

It would hold, and hopefully long enough for him to return and deal with it fully.

Rsiran roused Luca from the cot near the back. When the boy sat up, he looked at the knives strapped to him, and glanced to where Firell stood by the bench and where Jessa finished her preparations.

“You’re leaving.”

“For a bit. I need your help with something. Can you gather all of the Smith Guild? Tell them the guildlord wants them to meet in the Aisl at the tree. All should go, including apprentices. The masters will understand.”

“Why should they believe me?”

“Because I’m the guildlord,” Rsiran said.

Luca’s eyes widened. “I’ll do as you ask, guildlord.”

He scrambled away and raced out of the smithy. Rsiran watched, feeling a moment of amusement. “That’s the fastest I’ve ever seen him move when I’ve asked him to do something,” he said to Jessa.

“Stupid secrets. You could have told him you’re the guildlord before now. Everyone else seems to know,” she said. “What now?”

“Now we get the rest of our help.”

T
he Slide took
them to a rocky expanse of barren landscape. A half moon shone overhead, giving enough light for Rsiran to see without the need of using any of his knives. He would have hesitated anyway, until he knew what they might face.

In addition to Firell and Jessa—she refused to allow him to leave her behind—he’d also recruited Valn, Sarah, Tia now recovered from the attack in the Hall of Guilds, and two other Sliders that Rsiran had met before, Marin and Hester. Both wore steel swords, though both carried lorcith knives with them at Rsiran’s urging. They had served as constables, and had fought Venass during the first attack on the city.

“We should be back in the city helping with the evacuation,” Valn muttered.

“The others are helping. Lareth is right in this,” Tia said. “We can use this diversion.”

Valn shook his head. “Yeah, Lareth might be right, but that don’t mean I have to like it.”

“None of us like this,” Tia said. “The council actually thinking to attack the guilds. I would never have believed it.”

“The attack is my fault,” Rsiran said. “So thanks for coming with me.”

“Yours?” Tia asked. “You might have been what prompted it, but the attack would have come, regardless. The council has resented our role for a long time.”

“Still. Thanks.”

“Just get this over with quickly,” Tia said. “We need to return and ensure that the Aisl is safe.” She looked over her shoulder, as if looking back toward Elaeavn. “Can’t believe that we’re returning to the forest after all this time.”

“Who said we’re returning?” Valn asked. “We’re kicking the damn Elvraeth out of the palace. That seems like as good a guild hall as any, don’t you think, Lareth?”

Rsiran smiled. “Do this first.” He turned to Firell, who had been quiet since Rsiran Slid him from the city. The quiet made him uneasy, as if Firell hid something more from him. Did he intend to cross him again, or was it simply the fact that they were outside the city, and drawing Firell into a fight that he wanted nothing to do with? “Where now?”

He pointed over the rock they hid behind. “That’s Nalthin. Not much of a city. It sits at a crossroads of sorts. Eshand Mountains behind it. To the north is Eban, but far to the north. South is beyond the mountains, but places that aren’t profitable to sail to. Don’t know those lands.”

Rsiran focused on Nalthin, searching for any lorcith that he might detect within the city. Surprisingly, he discovered significant quantities, and as Firell had described. Knives and swords and dozens of other shapes. But there was something about the lorcith that was different, muted in some way, so that he couldn’t clearly hear the song from it that he thought he should.

That change was important, somehow. Was it simply because it was mined elsewhere?

He Slid partially, so that he could access the power of the Elder Trees. As he did, he used that power and
pushed
on all the lorcith at once. Had he not managed to access the power of the Elder Trees, he doubted that he would have been able to do it all at once, but with that connection, he
could
use that energy. The
push
was soft, subtle, but enough that he had to draw on significant power from the trees.

The lorcith shifted.

Rsiran had no other way to describe what he felt as he
pushed
. The song changed with it, becoming clearer.

With that connection, he understood why it had been muted before; the lorcith in Nalthin was all tainted by shadowsteel. Or had been, before he used the power of the Elder Trees to burn it off.

“What did you do?” Jessa whispered.

“Why?”

“There was a flash of light around you. It’s gone now.”

Could she see it when he used that power? Had Danis seen it? If so, then he might not have been nearly as secretive as he had hoped.

“We need to hurry,” he said.

“What of the lorcith?” Firell asked.

“I’ve restored it.”

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t know. But this is the place we needed to come.”

Rsiran focused on the lorcith within the city, searching for something that sang to him the most clearly. He found it in the form of a strangely curved sword.

He
pulled
.

From the distance, he wasn’t sure what would happen.

There was resistance, but he
pulled
even harder.

“Watch out!” Jessa said.

“Not an attack. That’s me.” Rsiran stood, and grabbed the sword out of the air.

He held onto it and listened to the soft song from the lorcith. He should be amazed by the fact that he had managed to pull it from the city from behind the rock, but he didn’t have the time. They had to find and understand what Venass might have done, and destroy the forge if they could.

The lorcith in the sword told him its history. Rsiran knew how it had come from the mountain, and how the metal had been turned into something else, added to in a deep and angry fire, forced to take on darkness. Shadowsteel. Rsiran had somehow managed to burn away that shadowsteel, but the sword remembered it, and could tell him what had happened.

Where is the forge?

He posed the question of the metal, not certain that it would even know, but he had done a similar thing once before when trying to understand if he used the potential of lorcith, exhausting it by calling upon it. Then lorcith had given him a vision. Could it do the same again?

He waited, clearing his mind as he thought about what he wanted of the lorcith, much like he did when working at the forge, something that he hadn’t done in far too long.

Slowly, a vision came into his mind, resolving into focus.

Not a city—so not Nalthin—what he saw reminded him of the Ilphaesn mines.

In the vision, there were massive amounts of lorcith, but other metals were there as well. Rsiran could tell iron and copper and precious metals like gold and silver, but there were others that he didn’t understand.

Where would he find the forge?

The sword wasn’t able to provide that to him, but he could use lorcith. Listening for it, he prepared himself for the possibility that it would be tainted by shadowsteel as well.

When he found it, Rsiran felt surprise.

A deep mine of lorcith, nearly as extensive as the one in Ilphaesn, stretched in the mountain near him. Why hadn’t he detected it earlier?

Something obstructed his ability to detect lorcith. Probably shadowsteel, used in the same way that his grandfather had used it to prevent him from detecting the heartstone with him.

But focused as he was, he could reach past it.

Rsiran listened, searching for what seemed similar to the vision that he’d been given by the lorcith, and couldn’t find it.

Straining, he Slid partway to the Elder Trees power before he realized what he even had done, and
pulled
.

Connected to their power, he extended his reach, stretching even farther from him, and found lorcith in the quantities that he expected from the vision. More than that, he detected something blocking his ability. Rsiran wasn’t sure what it was, and sent a pulse of power through it.

Lorcith flared in his mind.

He looked at the others with him. They could follow—especially with Sarah guiding them—if he stepped into the Slides, but doing so opened him to Venass realizing that he was here, but then after what he’d already done, they might know he was here anyway.

Could he carry all of them with him? He’d never Slid with so many before, and would never have considered it, but he could use the power from the Elder Trees to restore himself, couldn’t he?

“Gather around me,” he said. “We won’t have much time.”

When they reached him, he
pulled
them into a Slide.

It went slower than any Slide Rsiran had ever attempted, but then he had never even considered trying to bring so many with him at one time. The colors that swirled around him were streaks of blue and white, and for the first time, he thought he saw and understood the connection to the metal, but then it was gone.

Pausing in the space between, he
pulled
on the power of the Elder Trees, replenishing his strength. Rsiran
pulled
on even more, drawing enough so that he could complete the Slide. And then they emerged.

The cavern reminded him of Ilphaesn, only the walls did not glow with the same steady light. The massive pile of lorcith did, giving more than enough light for Rsiran to see. Other metals were piled nearby. Iron as he had seen in the vision. Grindl piled next to iron as green bars. Smaller quantities of copper, silver, gold, and titanium. But no forge. Nothing that would make the shadowsteel.

“It’s not here,” he said softly.

“How can you see anything?” Valn asked.

“Lorcith lights the way for me,” he answered.

“I see it,” Sarah said. “Apparently, not as clearly as you, but I see it.”

“I thought the forge would be here, but I don’t find anything.”

“Look around,” Jessa suggested. “If it’s here…”

They shouldn’t spend too much time here. If the shadowsteel forge
wasn’t
here, then he should return to the city and help with the evacuation, preparing the guilds for whatever Venass might have planned. Rsiran knew that he could use the power of the Elder Trees to protect the guilds—and that the trees might already protect the guilds without him doing anything—but if they could find a way to limit Venass, and prevent them from a future attack… that was valuable.

He focused on the lorcith. Now that he was in the mine, he sensed a much larger quantity than before.

Did shadowsteel use so much lorcith?

Ephram hadn’t known. The alchemists once knew the formula, but it had been a long time since they had attempted to create it, and he hadn’t remembered.

Rsiran
pulled
on the lorcith, moving it to the side.

When he did, another opening appeared, one that had been hidden by the lorcith before.

Light emerged from the opening, but this light was bluish, the same as the Elvraeth lanterns.

“What is that?” Valn asked.

“That’s where we need to go,” Rsiran said.

Jessa unsheathed her knives and took a step toward the opening. “Careful,” she said.

Rsiran
pushed
on the heartstone knives that he carried with him. Here, with the connection to lorcith being what it was, heartstone might protect him more than lorcith.

They entered the opening. Stairs led down, with heartstone lanterns set along the walls. The stone was smooth here, and had no lorcith buried in it. If this had been a lorcith mine, it was no longer.

“Where do you think this leads?” Tia asked. She stood near his shoulder, the steel sword she carried unsheathed and reflecting some of the bluish light.

“Down,” Rsiran said.

He
pulled
them down the stairs, emerging in a narrow hall. More lanterns lined the walls, but more than that, he noted doors along the walls as well. They were made of a dark metal—shadowsteel.

Rsiran considered the walls around him, realizing that
everything
appeared made—or at least coated—in shadowsteel.

What was behind the walls?

Shadows separated from the wall.

Rsiran jumped forward,
pushing
on his knives, using heartstone as he went.

Two of the shadows fell from the heartstone knives that he’d used on them. Two more remained.

Valn Slid behind them, followed by Tia.

They attacked, but the Hjan were quick.

Rsiran Slid partway, and
pulled
on power from the Elder Trees.

He sent it surging at the remaining shadows. Where it touched the walls, color burned through, as if he exposed lorcith hidden beneath. The remaining Hjan fell. Valn and Hester finished them off.

“How did you see them?” Jessa asked.

“Shadows.”

“I can see that now, but before. How did you notice them?”

Rsiran shook his head. “I don’t know. I saw them as shadows.”

“Guess we’re in the right spot,” Valn said. “What do you think is behind the door?”

He stopped at the first one and stared at it. The entire door was made of shadowsteel, and appeared to be thick enough that he couldn’t risk opening it. “I won’t be able to open the door,” he told Jessa.

She studied one of the nearest doors and nodded. “I’ll do it.”

They stopped at the nearest door, and she used her lock-pick set to open it. After she was done, Rsiran
pushed
on the lorcith in the door, burning away the taint from shadowsteel.
Pushing
on his lorcith knives, he held them out while Jessa opened the door, but the room was empty.

She did the same at the next door. Again, the room was empty.

“This is a waste, Lareth. Venass has left,” Valn said. “We should return to the city. The guilds will need our help. You’ve said as much yourself.”

They did need his help. And if there was no one here, then even this had been a diversion.

Rsiran glanced at Firell, but he remained tense, and his face neutral. Firell wanted to find Shael, but what if he wasn’t here?

The next door was the same.

“There’s only the one left,” Jessa said.

They had come to Nalthin thinking to find the shadowsteel forge, but he had hoped that maybe he would find his father as well. Now it seemed they would find neither.

“We should return,” he said. “Our time is better spent in the city.”

“Let me open this door,” Jessa said.

Rsiran nodded. “Fine. Then we go.”

She crouched in front of the door and picked the lock.

When she pulled the door open, instead of an empty cell, there was another hall, this time stretching into blackness.

Rsiran
pushed
a knife into the darkness, and the light quickly faded.

Shadowsteel, and with enough strength that it overwhelmed his connection to the metal.

He couldn’t go down there, not safely at least. Doing so risked his connection to lorcith.

Even without someone from Venass here, the shadowsteel would prevent him from going any farther.