Last of the Light Read online

  LAST OF THE LIGHT

  THE DARK SORCERER BOOK 5

  D.K. HOLMBERG

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Author’s Note

  Series by D.K. Holmberg

  Copyright © 2022 by D.K. Holmberg

  Cover by Damonza.com

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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  1

  The constant squeezing tightness of the dragon stone ring caught Jayna’s attention and she flexed her fingers uncomfortably.

  When she had first been gifted the pale white stone ring—now infused with a hint of pinkish energy from the blood stone that molded it with—she had not fully understood its potential. All she knew was the ring was a means to a greater power than that of her own sorcery. Although, had she known that the ring would constrict any time there was a threat of dark magic, she wouldn’t have been as eager to take it into her possession.

  She looked around. The trees surrounding her were nothing like the trees of Nelar, where she’d been spending most of her time. These were much taller than those, skinnier and spindlier, and stretched high into the air. Their smooth trunks towered overhead before the first branches began to spread and form a canopy, but the leaves were thin and wispy, much like their trunks, and it was difficult for them to block much of anything.

  Jayna didn’t see any sign of dark creatures or sorcerers; no sign of anything that might explain the ring’s behavior.

  She reached into her pocket and pulled out the enchanted coin that Topher had made for her. She traced her finger along the carefully carved symbol on its surface and activated it with a bit of her own magic. Nothing it changed as she so, but she could still feel the tug of power within the coin.

  “I’m just alerting Eva that I felt my ring activate, and I’m searching for dark magic. No need for either of you to be worried. I’m not expecting to find anything, but I promised to tell you both where I was going when I left the city.”

  She knew that may have sounded a bit obnoxious on her part, and she probably shouldn’t talk to them like that. They only wanted to ensure her safety, after all. Especially given all that they had been through together. Still, she wasn’t a fan of having to check-in with anyone.

  The ring constricted again. A telltale sign of dark sorcery.

  It was a different sense than what she detected when Ceran, her Sul’toral connection, summoned her. Though, Ceran had not called on her recently. She wasn’t sure why he’d been so silent, but she was fairly certain that whatever circumstance he was dealing with likely made it difficult for him to reach her. Even so, after what she had accomplished, dealing with the threat of three Sul’toral, she thought she would’ve heard from him by now.

  A bit of smoke drifted up ahead.

  That could be anything, but her mind immediately went to the Ashara, Eva’s people. She didn’t think there were any Ashara in the area, either permanently or only traveling through, but she didn’t know for sure. It was possible others had come to meet with Eva. Then again, if that were the case, Eva would have known about it, yet she had said nothing.

  The Toral ring wouldn’t have constricted were it Eva anyway.

  Could there be a dark sorcerer ahead on the path? There hadn’t been any signs of sorcery in the city since she’d put down Melinda’s threat. Jayna wasn’t sure if the quiet was because of what Jayna had done, or because the Society had experienced an upheaval with the loss of the Fates.

  Still, if there was dark magic out here, it was her obligation to find it. She had made a commitment to Ceran to ensure that any dangers were dealt with, regardless of where they occurred. And it did provide her with some distraction from her new obligations within the city, ones she’d chosen for herself, thought that didn’t make them any more appealing.

  She picked up her pace and focused on the Toral connection. Drawing on that magic would bridge a connection to Ceran and alert him to what she was doing. She didn’t care if Ceran knew she was connecting to him, and there were times when she thought it was beneficial that he know. Truthfully, she hoped that if he noticed she was connecting to her Toral power, he might finally respond and give her a better sense of what he was doing.

  The constriction of the ring eased.

  Strange.

  Typically, the ring reacted when there was either dark magic—indicating a sorcerer—or dark creatures, in which case it would maintain its constriction, and guide her toward the creatures. She was less familiar with what would happen when the ring constricted to indicate a Sul’toral, even though she understood the threat they posed.

  “What do you think you’re doing?”

  Eva’s voice broke the silence around her, and Jayna froze. She pulled the coin back out of her pocket, held it up to her ear—though she wasn’t sure if it was even necessary to do that—and kept her focus on the smoke. “I don’t suppose you’re out here, are you?”

  “I don’t know who ‘out here’ is?” Eva said, a smile evident in her voice. “And no. I’m sitting by the hearth in my cozy little home, having a glass of wine. You could join me, you know.”

  “That sounds lovely, but I have to decline. Once I deal with whatever’s out here, I need to get back to the palace. I have a full day ahead of me,” Jayna said, not masking her irritation.

  “You have a full day ahead of you because you chose to have a full day ahead of you,” Eva said.

  Jayna imagined Eva snorting and leaning toward the fire, drawing in the heat, and wrapping it around her. The Ashara used heat like that, drawing it in, and storing it. At least, that was Jayna’s understanding.

  “Whatever,” she said, pushing ahead. “I felt something out here. I don’t know what it is, but I’m looking. Some sort of dark sorcery, though I don’t think there’s anything more than that.”

  “You don’t think?” Eva asked.

  “I don’t know if it is,” Jayna said.

  “At least you gave us some notice this time,” Eva replied.

  “There hasn’t been anything for me to chase down since we stopped Melinda. I don’t think you have a whole lot to be concerned about.”

  “We just want you safe.” Topher’s voice carried through the enchantment as if he were shouting from behind Eva.

  It seemed they were all tucked in for the day, and here she was out searching for dangerous magic. Even if she weren’t out here, she knew what she’d be doing. She’d be dealing with issues in the palace and continuing wither attempts to endear herself to King Lodeth. There were times when he seemed pleased by her presence, but if he w
as so pleased, why hadn’t he helped her find more information about her brother yet?

  “I need to discover what’s out here,” she said, “so the two of you need to stay quiet. If you hear anything, well…I seem to remember hearing something about Ashara changing shapes.”

  “Some can,” Eva said, sounding irritated. “I can’t.”

  Eva struggled to understand herself and what it meant for her to be one of the Ashara. And while she wanted to help, Jayna wasn’t sure she could offer her any answers. She didn’t know how to help her. There had been a time when Eva had slipped away with an Ashara named Asaran, but when she’d returned, Eva hadn’t understood herself or her powers and better than she had before.

  “I got a little smoke up ahead—”

  “Smoke?” Eva asked.

  “Not you. And not another of the Ashara, I don’t think. You wouldn’t trigger my ring.”

  “I wouldn’t. We don’t know if he would.”

  Eva wasn’t wrong. Asaran might trigger the ring, depending upon what he was doing. But when he had been active within Nelar, he hadn’t caused her ring to activate, so Jayna was sure he wasn’t who she was detecting.

  “I think this is just dark magic.”

  “Listen to you,” Eva chided. “Just dark magic. You know, I still remember when you were nervous to face dark sorcery.”

  “I still don’t like dark sorcery, but I can handle a sorcerer.”

  “Then handle whatever’s out there and come and join us for a nightcap after your busy day is all done,” she said mockingly.

  Eva fell silent, and Jayna slipped the coin back into her pocket, thankful for the silence once more. Her Toral ring continued to constrict, yet she didn’t detect anything else from it beyond the sense of what was lay ahead. And it had to be ahead, didn’t it? She wasn’t fully clear on where it was, and what’s more, she wasn’t sure why there would be something out here in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. Perhaps it was out here because the city was nearby? That alone might draw out something dark.

  As the spaces between the trees started to widen, Jayna found herself in an open area of land well beyond the borders of the city. She looked back and caught a glimpse of the city, obscured by swirls of smoke that drifted from hundreds of chimneys. By this time of night, Jayna knew the city would be aglow with the light of hundreds of lanterns, sorcery lights, and glowing enchantments.

  What she wouldn’t give to have brought an enchantment out here. When she’d felt the constriction of her ring, she’d been circling around the city, and she didn’t expect to be out long enough to lose what little light she had so she hadn’t properly prepared.

  All she had was the magic within her, which was more than most people had.

  A faint trembling came through the ground. She stopped, crouched down, and began to trace a detection spell. There shouldn’t be anything out here that would cause the ground to tremble, unless there were soldiers coming through. But from what she knew of troop movements—her time serving Lodeth had taught her a thing or two—they wouldn’t be that loud.

  And with what she’d felt through the ring…

  Dark magic.

  She straightened, her detection spell having identified nothing.

  A shriek split the air.

  She looked up. A massive bird circled overhead. Jayna had never seen anything quite like it before. It looked like a raven, but the thing seemed large enough for her to ride upon. She felt a sense of malevolence from it, but as she focused on it, she didn’t think the bird was the source of the darkness she had detected. There were plenty of strange creatures in the world, and not all of them were dark.

  “Better safe than sorry,” she muttered, and hurriedly traced another detection spell, forcing it up and away from her.

  She had to widen the spell, something that she wouldn’t have been capable of a few weeks ago, but her time studying spell books in the palace had helped her understand how to modify spells, and this one was simple. All she had to do was loosen the constriction of the spell and let it gradually widen as it flowed outward. When it passed over the bird, she felt a strange wash of power, and then her magic shuddered, and felt as if it had faded altogether.

  That was odd.

  She had not felt anything like that before, which suggested the bird had some intrinsic power of its own.

  She recreated the spell, this time calling up on the burning coal of her Toral connection, and she sent energy out, ever widening as the detection magic flowed toward the bird and passed over it a second time. This time the spell, powered by her Toral connection, shook for a moment before it took hold and solidified.

  Jayna felt a mental connection between her and the bird. It wasn’t a raven as she had initially thought. She wasn’t exactly sure what it was; she hadn’t seen anything like it before. But the Toral connection mixed with what she had used of her spell work suggested the creature was connected to magic, though there was nothing dark about it.

  The bird circled and shrieked at her. Jayna was tempted to shriek back, but she had been summoned out here by something dark, and she didn’t want to draw any attention to herself. Still, with the raven making noise as it circled over her, she was bound to be—

  Something crashed into her. Jayna staggered, spun, and immediately wrapped herself in the magic ball spell. It was little more than a shell of protection, but it was a spell she always had at the ready. Having already tapped into her Toral magic, and cold now burning through her entire being, she found forming the magic ball easy, and she was going to hold it in place until she was certain she was safe. She got to her feet, mentally preparing her counterattack for whatever had bowled her over.

  Nearly a half dozen strange creatures faced her. To Jayna, they resembled an odd combination of a goat and a fox, and had long, mangy fur streaked with black and gray. Three of the six had horns that seemed to crackle with energy. As she faced them, she could feel the power emanating from them, and once again she felt the constriction of her ring.

  “There you are.”

  So, it was dark creatures after all.

  At least it wasn’t the bird.

  Jayna wasn’t sure how she would have captured and controlled a murderous-looking raven circling overhead. She had spells that might work, but something that size, and with some sort of immunity to her sorcery, would be difficult to overpower.

  The bizarre-looking things standing before her shouldn’t be so hard.

  She reached into her pocket. “Ever see anything that looks like a goat and a fox—”

  Jayna didn’t have a chance to finish her question to Eva, as three of the horned creatures came barreling toward her.

  She braced her magic ball spell, fortifying through her Toral connection. When the first animal struck, Jayna was forced back a step and had to draw even more power from her Toral connection.

  She had to be careful. There was a danger in drawing too deeply upon her connection. At least, that was what she had always believed. When she had first started summoning it, she had feared that if she relied too heavily on the Toral power, she would become dark herself. Over time, it had become evident to her this was not the case. Yes, a balance had been needed, but having drawn upon that power as often as she had, Jayna had come to understand what she needed to do with that balance.

  As the creatures surrounded her, battering at the magic ball spell, leaving Jayna to summon more of her Toral connection, darkness filled the edge of her vision. That was the balance she had to find: the burning cold of light and dark that she sensed at all times when she drew upon the power too much.

  She had learned to find the balance though.

  Scanning the creatures before her noted how strong they were—stronger than she had anticipated.

  As she watched, she realized the horned ones weren’t the ones to fear.

  “You two,” she muttered.

  She held one hand out, maintaining the magic ball spell, and with her other hand, she hurriedly traced a st
arburst pattern and let it explode away from her, passing through her shield, and blasting the other two creatures.

  The sudden surge caught them. Did they really think they could attack her without any repercussions?

  She shifted, whipping out the snake spell, creating a band of fiery energy, and lashing around one of the creatures. Jayna yanked the whip as tightly as she could. The creature shrieked, an unnatural sound, and then disappeared in a cloud of dust. Jayna wondered about that but would have to ponder it later. She shifted her attention to the other creature and snapped her whip at it. This one seemed to have caught on to what Jayna was doing and tried to run, but Jayna was experienced with the snake spell and caught the other creature around the midsection. Maybe her midsection. She didn’t know if these creatures were gendered.

  “Now isn’t the time,” she scolded herself as she pulled on the snake spell whip. Much like the last, it disappeared in a puff of blackish, dusty smoke. That had to have been what she saw.

  The three others started backing away from her.

  She flashed a tight smile, drawing the magic ball spell more tightly to herself, and hurriedly created another snake spell. “Sorry, boys. You don’t belong here.”

  As she attacked them, she was troubled. She had no idea what they were, or, more importantly, why they were here. Now that she’d taken care of them, she’d have to research what they were back at the palace—so long as her other responsibilities didn’t get in the way.

  2

  Jayna knew she shouldn’t be tired of the palace already, but there was an energy here that frustrated her. She found that even the ornate decorations irritated her. There was something pompous about the gilded lanterns glowing with enchanted light, the painted portraits that hung along the walls, and the various sculptures littering the halls. All of it seemed ridiculous to her, thought she knew it shouldn’t. She had chosen this. She had sought it out. But now that she was here, she wondered if it had been a mistake.