Fortress Of Fire (Book 4) (20 page)

Amia. Is she safe?

For now.

And Zephra?

Honl didn’t answer. Tan thought he might have disappeared, leaving him alone again.

Honl? What of Zephra?

Ara will be taken from her.

T
he Doman stared defiantly
at Tan, as if waiting to be chastised for what he’d done. Now that Tan knew his mother was here, he didn’t know what else to do. Was there anything that he
could
do? He had wanted to get Amia to safety, but now that wouldn’t be enough.

He shaped the door open and hurried out. Once out in the open, power flooded through him, no longer limited by the runes in the walls. He sensed where Amia hid and ran to her, weaving through the streets. The few out and about gave him a wide berth. Tan doubted he would have long before the Utu Tonah sent shapers with real power after him.

He pushed the woman he’d brought from the holding area along with him. She didn’t resist, but her steps were stiff and slower than Tan would have liked. He pulled on Honl and lifted her on a shaping of wind, scooting her down the street. He looked over and realized the Doman used water shaping to help the other addled man they’d rescued from the courtyard.

“What are you looking for?” the Doman asked.

Tan barely paused to look over at him. “A friend.”

“Another shaper?” Tan nodded. “They’re probably gone, then.”

“She’s not gone,” Tan said. He sensed her, the bond between them vibrant and strong in his mind. How much longer before she
wasn’t
safe?

“Are you certain? He prefers to test all shapers. Those with any connection to the elementals are culled, separated. Those who can only shape are killed.”

That must have been why most failed the testing. What did it do? And how had he known what Tan could do, unless the Utu Tonah was somehow connected to the runes used in the testing.

“I’m certain,” Tan said.

They turned a corner that led down a street darkened by the flat roofs stretching over it. He paused at the door he sensed Amia behind and shaped it open. The other side was dark, but his sense of her blazed brightly inside.

“Amia?” He stormed in, readying a shaping of fire and wind were they needed. Spirit lingered just out of reach, but Tan wouldn’t have to strain to add it if that’s what it took to keep her safe.

She stepped out of the shadows and looked past him to the others. “Tan? What is this?”

“There’s no time to fully explain. Are you safe?”

“I am now. There was violent wind and… that was you, wasn’t it?”

“It was the elemental. I sent him for you.”

She stepped up to him, pitching her voice so that only he could hear. “How did you know I was in danger?”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t do more than I did.”

She bit her lip. “I was forced to shape. I sensed what they intended for me. What they wanted for you.”

He knew how much that had cost her. After everything she’d been through, the one thing she didn’t want to do was use her shaping against others. And now she’d been forced to do it. He could feel her struggle with her actions, the way they tore at her. Tan wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in a tight embrace.

As she relaxed, he turned to the Doman. “What’s your name?”

The man eyed him a moment before answering. “I am Vel. Velthan.”

He tipped his head toward Amia, who met his eyes. “Can you take Vel and these two? You won’t have to shape anyone again. The wind elemental will keep you safe and take you from here.” Tan glanced around the darkened room. “Where’s the sword?” He thought of what he’d managed with it when facing the shapers the last time. As much as he hated it, he might need it again.

Amia shook her head, her eyes tightening. Anxiety surged through their bond. “They took your sword away. And you’re coming with us,” she said. “I’ve sensed what you’ve been through, Tan. There are too many shapers here.”

“They’re not shapers. They force bonds between elementals. That’s how they get their power.” He leaned into her ear, sweeping loose blond hair away as he brushed her cheek with his lips. “Zephra is here,” he whispered.

Behind him, Vel gasped. Tan turned back, half-expecting another attack.

Vel stared at him. “Zephra lives?”

“How do you know of her?” Tan asked. Vel’s eyes were clearer than they’d been seen since they left the courtyard. Madness still danced in them, but not as it once had.

“I’m from Doma. All know of Zephra.”

Someday, Tan would have to learn more about his mother. It seemed more and more he learned, the less he really knew.

“She’s here?” Vel asked.

“She shouldn’t be, but she’s here.”

Vel looked toward the street. A shaping of water built from him, almost as if he tried to reach for Zephra. “You will try to help her?”

“I have to,” Tan said.

Vel studied Tan a moment, sweeping his eyes over him. Then he nodded. “I will come.”

Tan opened his mouth to object, but another shaper might be useful. “If wind will take you away from here, can you watch these two? See if you can help them?” he asked Amia

Amia glanced at the other two shapers. Neither had spoken. Neither had really even moved since they reached Amia. Her shaping built with a pop and then eased. “I… I don’t know that I can keep them safe.” Not without shaping, she didn’t have to say.

“You did what you had to,” Tan said.

“Did I? Wouldn’t the First Mother have said the same?”

Tan held her in his arms for a long moment, stroking her hair. If something happened to him, he wanted this last moment with her. Even more than facing Incendin, he feared the Par-shon shapers. They were powerful in a way even the lisincend couldn’t match. “Then watch over them. Keep them as safe as you can for me.”

Amia took a shuddering breath. “There might be little I can do.”

“I have to—” Tan started.

Amia silenced him with a kiss. “I know what you have to do. There isn’t anyone else able to do it.”

Tan hesitated, looking at her and feeling the knot form in his throat. Putting her at risk was his fault. “I shouldn’t have brought you here. Had I not come, you would’ve been safe.”

“You’re only doing what Theondar asked.”

“But he wanted allies. Instead, we’ve found a new threat. I’ve exposed the kingdoms to a new threat.” And because of the draasin—because of his connection to the draasin—Incendin had been weakened, giving Par-shon the opportunity to attack.

“Had you not come, we would never have known what we face.” She turned to the door. “The wind elemental has done well so far. Without him, the others may have ignored my shaping and claimed me. He helped hide me.”

Tan wondered if Honl was still with him. He couldn’t see the elemental but felt his presence in his mind. If he didn’t ask Honl to attack, would the elemental help?
Honl. Can you do this?

The wind elemental swirled around him, fluttering at his clothes.
You wish them to reach safety?

There was a sense of eagerness as he spoke of safety. The wind elemental was so different than the draasin. Where Asboel wanted nothing more than to attack, Honl sought to avoid conflict. Would he be able to count on Honl if needed?

I wish them away from the city. I will join you when I can.

They will be safe, Tan.

Tan hugged Amia one more time, wishing there was the time to tell her his feelings, for her to understand everything that she meant to him. Every moment of delay was a moment someone else he cared about suffered.

I feel the same,
Amia sent.

Tan smiled and opened the door, pulling the woman and the other man along with him. Amia touched his cheek and then wind lifted her and the two into the air. They streaked up and away from the city. Tan watched until they were little more than specks in the sky.

“You’re certain they will be safe?” Vel asked.

Tan tore his eyes away and turned toward the obsidian tower. Would they have to go there to reach his mother? “As safe as they can be.”

“You’re bound to a wind elemental? Like Zephra?”

Tan shook his head, surprised that Vel would know about the elemental. Tan didn’t think Roine had even known. “Not like Zephra. She’s bound to ara.”

Vel turned toward the sky. “That was not ara?”

“Ashi.”

Vel tensed. “But you are from the kingdoms, no?”

“I am. Why do you ask?”

“Why would you be bound to an Incendin wind elemental?”

Incendin? Could that be true? If so, why would Honl not have told him?

It made a certain sort of sense. The elemental was drawn to warm air, drawn to Asboel, but was there something more to it that Tan didn’t know? Could that be where his fear came from?

“Because I’m also bound to fire,” Tan answered.

He pulled on saa, letting the elemental fill him. Here in Par-shon, it was easy to use saa. There was something about this place that allowed the connection to strengthen, much like there was a reason Tan had bonded to Asboel when he had. Could it be the reason he spoke so easily to the nymid in the lake near the place of convergence?

What if that were the key to reaching the elementals? All he needed was to find where they were strongest. He suspect ilaz was the strongest wind elemental here, but Honl still had some strength. And what of the draasin? Tan couldn’t imagine Asboel being weak anywhere.

“You are formidable, warrior, but the Utu Tonah has bonded dozens of elementals. You cannot hope to defeat him by yourself.”

“But I’m not by myself,” Tan told him. Vel tipped his head, waiting. “You’ll be with me.”

Vel smiled, again showing his ragged row of teeth. One hand twisted absently at his beard, twirling it between gnarled fingers. “For Zephra?” he asked.

Tan nodded. “Then away from here, back to the kingdoms.”

Now that Honl was gone, he wasn’t certain that he’d be able to get them away easily, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try.

T
hey made
their way around the outside of the obsidian fortress. The shape and color were so much like what he saw from a distance of the Fire Fortress. The entire place seemed designed to repel power.

How long had Par-shon and Incendin battled? As long as Incendin and the kingdoms? Longer? The threat of Incendin would explain why Par-shon sought power, but not why they wielded it as they did. Had the kingdoms ever known about Par-shon? If they had, how had the kingdoms been spared from attack?

Maybe he had it backward. Had the threat of Par-shon been why Incendin chased power?

“What does it do?” Tan asked, nodding toward the fortress.

“You’ve felt what it does,” Vel said. “He uses power to maintain power. There are none with the strength to oppose him who can enter. It’s why he has remained in control so long.”

“They steal the bonds from those they capture?”

“Some bonds are stolen. Others they force. Not many bonded any longer. The elementals choose safety.”

“They elementals choose this?”

“Not the bond,” Vel said. “They avoid shapers. Bonding shapers places them at risk. When I bonded Ul… the udilm,” he said, catching himself as Tan often did when speaking of Asboel, “she knew the risk.”

Maybe that was the reason the kingdoms had not faced the threat from Par-shon. There were no longer any bonded shapers. “Why bond at all, then?”

“There are benefits to the elemental. Surely your elementals have shared that with you.”

Tan continued to stare up at the tower. “I’ve not bonded the wind for long. And the draasin does not share anything.”

Vel nearly tripped and grabbed Tan’s arm. “You have bonded to one of the draasin?”

Tan nodded.

“But they have been gone from this world for centuries.”

“Not any longer,” he answered, thankful he hadn’t asked Asboel to bring him to Par-shon. What would have happened had the draasin carried him across the water? The bonded shapers had nearly broken their bond while in Incendin. Had Asboel come here, there would have been nothing Tan could have done. “They’re free.”

“You managed to find one young enough to bond?”

“Not young. Old enough to bond,” he said. Tan didn’t know quite how old Enya was, but her youth made it unlikely that she would bond. Even Asboel resisted the bond, claiming the Great Mother wanted it, though he didn’t seem to know the reason why she would. “I think age grants the draasin a certain wisdom.”

“That is not—” Vel cut himself off and looked up at the obsidian fortress. “Does he know?”

“I don’t know. He tested me. When I lived, I think he intended to steal those bonded to me. He knows of the draasin. It’s the prize he seeks.”

Vel’s eyes widened. “If he gains a bond to one of the draasin, he will have greater elemental power for each. Dangerous. So very dangerous. Then only Incendin opposes him. They have held Par-shon back for centuries, but with strength like that…”

Vel twisted along the street, grabbing at his head and pulling at his beard. His eyes twitched as he flickered his gaze around the street, widening each time he glanced up at the fortress.

“What do you mean only Incendin opposes him?” Tan asked.

The Doman stopped and turned to Tan. “You don’t know?” He shook his head and madness flashed through his eyes. “Of course he doesn’t know. None understood. That was Incendin’s fault. They are too arrogant. Had they only asked for help, maybe all would be different. Arrogant and foolish. Now they can’t request help. They have to force it.”

“What are you saying about Incendin and Par-shon?”

“Why do you think they have embraced fire as they have? They could not learn to bind elementals, not as the Utu Tonah did, but they can master fire, force it in ways even the elementals will not go.”

“Twisted Fire,” Tan said.

The madness cleared and Vel looked at Tan with a pained expression. “Twisted, yes. That is what the udilm claim. I thought that as well. Always agreed with udilm. But they did not see what I have seen. They have not experienced severing the connection. Only she did.” Vel tugged on his beard, his eyes drifting up toward the top of the fortress. “Now, perhaps I understand. Twisted, yes. But needed.”

Tan couldn’t believe what Vel claimed. Could Incendin—could the lisincend—actually have been created in an attempt to keep Incendin
safe
? Tan had assumed they wanted power, that they wanted to destroy the kingdoms, but what if all of that had been wrong?