Fortress of Fire (The Cloud Warrior Saga Book 4) Read online

  The pain intensified. He retched, heaving on the grasses. Somehow he managed to keep from falling forward.

  Was he wrong? Would this not work?

  Distantly, he sensed the increased shaping the Doma shapers worked. The pain intensified. The bond felt like a fragile, frail thing. In spite of the pain, he had a vague sense of Asboel, but it was distant and weak.

  Then the pain stopped. The bond severed.

  Tan fell to the ground.

  In that moment, he pressed through the spirit inside him, reaching for Asboel. A barrier tried to stop him, but Tan knew Asboel. This was his friend, his bond. Spirit surged and Tan poured it into the draasin.

  Asboel.

  The name came from him in a shout. Pain and nausea rolled through him, nearly more than he could tolerate. No answer came. Had he been too late?

  Asboel!

  Tan pressed everything that he could into the shaped connection, praying to the Great Mother that he could protect his elemental bond. His friend.

  Maelen. The voice boomed in his head and came as a satisfied sigh. I warned you this place is dangerous.

  Are you…

  Tan couldn’t finish. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know if Asboel would die from this attack. The shapers had known about the connection they shared, they had known how to attack Asboel.

  It will take more than this to end me.

  The shapings began wrapping with more intensity around Tan. Grasses cut into his legs and arms. Wind pressed against his face, smothering him. The earth rumbled. With enough time, it would split open and swallow him.

  Next to Tan, Asboel struggled to stand, but the earth held him. With a roar, the draasin spouted fire in violent arcs around the clearing. It skirted Tan, not touching or burning him, but it freed him from the shapings. The ground steadied and wind eased.

  Tan rose to his feet and held his sword in front of him. The effort of reconnecting to Asboel had weakened him. He could shape, but it would not be with much power or strength. Anything he would manage would require the elementals.

  Asboel continued to shoot flames around the clearing. Rage filled him and he sniffed the air as he searched for the shapers. The draasin pawed at the ground. His wings unfurled and flapped, sending a hot breeze circling around him.

  The change in the air was welcome to Tan. Honl.

  The wind elemental swirled around Asboel, coming to pause in front of Tan. Did I not warn you? the wind elemental asked. Danger, I said. Fire nearly lost. These are dark lands.

  Can you help?

  Honl hesitated and swirled around Asboel. Fire is weak. I will try.

  A gust of warm wind split away from them, driving toward the line of trees. Asboel continued to shoot flames around him, but Tan could tell that what Honl said was true. The draasin was weakened.

  Cool air mixed with the warm, and Honl was blown back. The elemental fluttered toward Asboel, circling around his spines and using the warmth of his body, but something had changed about the wind elemental.

  Danger, Honl said.

  The shapers stepped away from the trees, becoming visible for the first time. They wore simple brown leathers that blended into the shaped garden, nothing like what Tan usually saw on Incendin shapers. They approached slowly, a concerted effort, one mixing all the elements, though this time not in an attempt to reach fire, but simply to overpower the elementals and Tan.

  Asboel and Honl had failed. He pressed through the ground, reaching for golud with a rumbling request for help, but the earth elemental did not answer this time.

  Go, he urged Amia. Find safety.

  There was no answer.

  Had she been hurt? He scanned the clearing, looking for a sign of her, but there was nothing. There was nothing Tan could do against four powerful shapers. All his energy had been spent trying to heal the bond with Asboel. At least the pain in his mind was gone. Reforging the connection had healed that much at least.

  Asboel, I am sorry.

  Maelen.

  The great fire elemental roared. Fire shot from his mouth but was pressed back by a shaping of wind and water. Earth pulled at the draasin’s feet, confining him again.

  After everything they had been through, they would fall here together. Tan would not have the chance to be with Amia. And Roine would never know what happened.

  He sighed.

  With the last of his strength, he formed a shaping of all the elements, binding them together. Doing this nearly took everything he had remaining. Tan pushed this energy into the sword. Runes glowed along the surface, burning brightly. Then he dipped into spirit and added this.

  Bright light lanced from the tip of the sword.

  Asboel roared. Honl swirled with renewed energy.

  Other shapings erupted around them. Fire bloomed from the north. Earth rumbled toward him, different than the other earth shaping. Wind gusted, cool and refreshing, reminding Tan of the winds of Galen.

  The rune coin in his pocket burned.

  Now, Tan.

  It was Amia. She wasn’t gone.

  Ours? Could it be possible? Could the kingdoms’ shapers have found them?

  The shaping focused on Tan and the elementals shifted, turning away from them. It was the opening he needed. Tan pointed the sword toward the nearest shaper. If these were Doma shapers, twisted by the First Mother, they deserved a chance at redemption.

  “Stop!” he shouted.

  One of the shapers turned back to him. A shaping of wind built. Tan wouldn’t be able to stop it, not without harming himself. Wind began to swirl, pulling on him.

  Tan reluctantly turned the sword toward the shaper. Was there nothing he could do? If only he could remove the First Mother’s shaping on him, he might be saved.

  The wind shaping built. Tan couldn’t wait any longer. He sent the combined shaping through the sword. Light shot through the wind shaper, tearing him apart. The wind ceased.

  Another shaper turned toward him. With a rumbling, rolling motion, the shaper sent earth toward him. The ground began to split. Tan pointed the sword and the blinding white light tore through the other shaper as it had through the first.

  The remaining two shifted their attention back to Tan, who said, “Please. I don’t want to—”

  He didn’t have the chance to finish. The shapers attacked at the same time, mixing fire and water in a swirl of steam.

  Tan couldn’t react in time. He pointed the sword toward the water shaper, but his effort faltered. All the shaping strength he had failed.

  Asboel leaped in front of him, absorbing the shaping. He roared and fell silent.

  Tan felt another shaping build but couldn’t see anything. Asboel blocked his view. Massive power built, culminating in an attack. Tan leaned against Asboel, waiting.

  Nothing came.

  Asboel?

  Maelen.

  Are you injured?

  It is temporary, he said.

  Asboel shifted, slowly dragging himself to his feet. As he did, Tan held his breath, uncertain what he’d see when Asboel moved. What had happened to the shapers?

  Asboel settled himself in the middle of the clearing again, curling his tail around himself. He took deep, contented breaths that matched what he felt through their bond. Heat again radiated from his sides. He would be fine.

  “Nice of you to finally choose to introduce me to the draasin.”

  Tan turned. Cianna stood, staring at Asboel. Her fiery orange hair stood out from her head. She wore a black shirt and pants that clung to her, making her look like an Incendin shaper. She turned to face Tan. “This is what it took, though?”

  “What,” he began, barely able to catch his breath, “what happened?”

  Cianna shrugged and glanced to the trees. Amia leaned against the trunk of one. As he watched, he realized the leaves already began to wilt. The green in the grasses around his feet faded. “You summoned. She found us.”

  Amia had brought them here. Not only Cianna, but the other shapers sent by Roine. />
  Tan let out a relieved sigh. “Thanks for coming.”

  “What was this?” Cianna asked.

  “Doma shapers, I think. The ones twisted by the First Mother.”

  “What did they want?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. They tried severing my connection to the draasin.”

  Her eyes widened. “Didn’t know that was possible for a shaper to do.”

  “Neither did I.”

  “Just shapers? Seems like they moved around an awful lot of power.”

  Tan started toward the edge of the clearing and Amia. “You think they can speak to the elementals?”

  Cianna glanced at the ground. “That one. The fire shaper.” She pointed to a body lying motionless on the ground. “Had it not been for Alan, I’m not sure I would have been able to stop her. Now, that could just be Incendin training, but I’ve seen a few Incendin fire shapers in my time along the border. Seems that whatever she did was more than simply a fire shaping.”

  Could they have used elemental power as well? It seemed unlikely, but not impossible. Tan had seen too much in the time since he’d learned to shape to think anything was really impossible.

  Tan hurried over to Amia. She stared at the clearing, her eyes wide. He sensed the fatigue she felt through their shaped bond.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  She nodded. “What you did…”

  Tan sighed. “I know. I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t do anything else.”

  “What was that shaping?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. I bound the elements together and used the sword.”

  “That wasn’t spirit.”

  “No. I added spirit to the shaping.”

  Amia stared at the sword a moment before turning to him. She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him in a tight embrace. “Thank you.”

  “Why?”

  “For not hesitating any longer. I know you thought you might be able to save them. I felt your hesitation. But there wasn’t anything you could do.”

  Tan looked over her shoulder. Could he have done anything differently?

  Not and save those he cared about. Asboel lived. Amia was safe. Wasn’t that all that mattered?

  Yet he still didn’t understand what had happened here.

  16

  Search for Allies

  Tan sat next to Amia sat along the Incendin shore. Cianna crouched nearby. Warm wind gusted around them, flickering off his face, mixing the scent of salt with the hot sea breeze. Ashi swirled within the breeze, Tan was certain of it now. Honl was there, a translucent figure that practically hung in the air, no longer afraid to show his presence.

  Asboel rested on the rocks overlooking the water. His deep golden eyes stared out to the sea. Tan wondered what he saw. He didn’t try reaching through their connection to borrow the image. The draasin was still tired and wounded. Whatever shaping had struck him at the end had taken more out of him than he admitted, but Tan could tell he would be fine. In time, he would heal. But for now, Asboel needed to rest.

  Amia slept next to him. The shapings she’d been forced to use had taken too much out of her. Tan felt exhausted, too, but his strength returned more quickly. Did he borrow from the elementals, letting him regain his strength more quickly?

  “What did you find in Incendin?” he asked Cianna. The other kingdoms’ shapers were camped farther down the shore; they refused to remain too close to the draasin. How long would they feel that way around him? Would he ever change that?

  She sat cross-legged behind them and flickered fire on and off her palm.

  “Nothing. Theondar sent us scouting. He was worried about the Doma shapers. We were to rescue those we could.”

  Tan pushed away the image of the dead shapers. “They didn’t want rescuing.”

  Cianna’s face scrunched in a troubled frown. “No. And they were more skilled than what I expected for shapers trained in Incendin. Theondar will need to know.”

  “Not all were trained in Incendin,” Tan said. “Some went to Ethea to learn before they were captured.”

  Cianna frowned and cupped a ball of flame in her hand. Tan saw the way she shaped it, how she pulled it from within her and held the shaping just above the surface of her hand. Now that he understood fire shaping better, he thought he might be able to replicate this one. A fireball might have uses.

  How much would he be able to learn if he had the time? Would he ever have the time to simply study shaping, or would he forever be chasing ever-greater threats around the kingdoms?

  “Can you get rid of that?” he asked, pointing toward the shaped garden. Now that they were far enough away, Tan suspected the intent of the garden. It trapped and amplified power, but only for the shapers who created it. Perfect for capturing one of the draasin.

  With a snap of her wrist, she sent a burst of flame back toward the patch of green. Fire erupted along the dry grasses, quickly alighting and glowing with a steady reddish light. It blazed across the garden quickly, confined to the garden without spreading outside the borders of what the shapers had created.

  Asboel twisted his head to stare at the flames eating through the remains of the garden. He tipped his head to Cianna. Tell her that was skillfully done.

  Tell her yourself, Tan said.

  Asboel snorted steam at him.

  Tan turned to Cianna. “The draasin would like you to know he thinks your shaping skillfully done.”

  A wide smile split her face. “Tell him thanks.”

  Tan shook his head slightly. “I think he understands you fine.”

  “Really?”

  Asboel studied her. This one is interesting.

  Haven’t you met a fire shaper before?

  None that haven’t tried to kill me.

  Those were all from Incendin. They work with Twisted Fire.

  Not all.

  Tan looked out over the sea. Now that he had Asboel back to safety, the draasin needed to know what he’d learned. Tan just wasn’t sure how he would react. As weakened as he was, would Asboel be able to do anything? Knowing the draasin, he wouldn’t rest until he managed to save the hatchlings—only Tan suspected that they were in the Fire Fortress. There would be too much shaping power to attack there.

  Tell me, Asboel commanded.

  Tan sighed and looked up at the draasin. Asboel stared back, his enormous eyes practically swallowing Tan. Steam came from his nose but didn’t burn Tan. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it didn’t burn Cianna either. She sat, for all intents looking unperturbed by the billows of hot air coming from the draasin’s nose.

  The hatchlings. They live.

  That is not possible. I saw them.

  You saw them weakened. They were taken.

  Tan sent an image of Fur through to Asboel. The draasin roared softly.

  How is it you know this?

  Ashi.

  Asboel’s tail lashed from side to side. So. You have bound another.

  Not bound, I don’t think.

  Do you know its name?

  Tan nodded and Asboel snorted again.

  Then you are bound. I did not think you could bind another, not without losing our bond.

  Maybe because it had been weakened? Tan asked.

  Perhaps. I should not be surprised it is ashi, though. Asboel unfurled his wings and flapped once. Hot air drifted out from beneath his wings, buffeting around him. Translucent swirls moved within the wind and what seemed like faces appeared. Tan had always assumed it to be ara. They are drawn to draasin. Once, they were stronger. In this time, it is another.

  Honl swirled around Asboel, swaying in front of his wings, working against the flapping of wind.

  Asboel seemed to study Honl. There could be power to this one. You may need to coax it, but it is there.

  I keep learning how little I know of the elementals, Tan said. When I think I begin to understand, that’s when something else shows me how little I know. And if what Asboel said was true, that meant ara hadn’t alway
s been a greater elemental. Had it once been ashi? It was another question he didn’t have the time to answer.

  Something like a laugh came from Asboel. There are many powerful elementals.

  Even with fire?

  None like the draasin, but fire can still be powerful in other ways. Even saa burns.

  Our ancient scholars claimed there are greater and lesser elementals.

  Your ancient scholars were fools.

  They could speak to the elementals.

  And what did that teach them? Only what the elementals chose to share, Asboel said.

  Tan hesitated, choosing his next question carefully. Why do you share with me?

  We are bonded, Maelen.

  Tan could sense that there was more to it than that, but he chose not to press. What of the hatchlings?

  I will find them. If they live, they will return to me.

  You will destroy Fur this time?

  Asboel tipped his head and fixed Tan with those great eyes. You would rather I not? You think he can be restored?

  Tan closed his eyes. He no longer knew whether it was possible to redeem something so far gone. I was restored, he said.

  Your motives were different. You did not simply seek power.

  Tan still wasn’t convinced that was the only reason for the lisincend. There had to be something more to risk death from the transformation. Where is Enya?

  She has gone from here. I sent her away after we attacked Twisted Fire. That is how they captured me.

  I don’t understand.

  She attempted to withdraw too much fire. I stopped her before she destroyed herself. Much like you, she sought to do it for reasons other than power. Now she must heal.

  Like you.

  Asboel flicked his tail to the side. Like me.

  How did you stop her?

  I had to take it from her. It weakened us both. That is how they managed to capture me.

  If it weakened her, where did she go?

  When they came for me, I sent her away. She has suffered too much. She desires vengeance from Twisted Fire. I have promised it to her in time.

  Where is she now? Can you sense her?

  If I choose. Fire bonds us.

  As it does you and I?