Soldier Song (The Teralin Sword Book 6) Read online

  “Perhaps not so simple,” the man said with a smile. He spun the swords, twisting them in a flurry of movements. “But then again, neither are you a simple Denraen.”

  “I don’t know what I need to do to convince you, but I am Denraen.”

  “And why are you traveling in such small numbers? Why are you with him?”

  “Him?” Endric asked.

  “Arand.”

  Endric frowned. “I don’t know anybody by that name.”

  “Perhaps you know him by a different name, but I know him by Arand. He is the man you traveled with, a man you were seen leaving Boastin with.”

  Could he be referring to the captain? Or could it be one of his crew? Endric didn’t recognize the name and wondered who this man might be referring to, and if it was the captain or one of his crew, what would they have done to have drawn this sort of attention?

  “I left Boastin with many men. You might have to be a little more specific, so I understand who you refer to.”

  “Tall man. He carries a strange staff. And he’s powerful. Incredibly powerful.”

  Endric blinked. Novan? That was what this was about?

  What had Novan gotten them into?

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  Endric stared at the tall man, unsure what to do. He was after Novan, and Endric was certain he was able to move in ways he should not be able to unless he were either Antrilii or Magi. He would have heard about Antrilii traveling the seas, and had he not known Novan, he wouldn’t have thought it possible there would be others with abilities similar to the Magi. Maybe Novan wasn’t the only one with such gifts.

  The ship rocked, the waves crashing along either side of it, and he resisted the urge to grab onto the railing. He kept his feet set, holding his balance, thinking of the oncoming waves as something like a battle, rolling with each one, trying to anticipate but not wanting to fight through the waves.

  He held onto his sword, ready for the possibility of attack.

  And who was this other man behind him?

  “What do you want with him?” Endric asked.

  He would buy time. If nothing else, the longer he spent talking to this man, the longer he convinced him to keep talking, the better chance Endric had at trying to understand what he was after.

  “He took something from us,” he said.

  “What did he take?”

  “It doesn’t matter. And soon, you won’t matter.”

  “Do you really think you can overpower me? You’ve already proven yourself incapable.”

  “That was when I wasn’t prepared.”

  “Do you think you’ll be better prepared the next time?”

  “You cannot defeat me. You aren’t powerful enough.”

  “You have an awfully high view of your abilities,” Endric said.

  The man stepped forward, spinning his blades. Endric ignored the swords and focused on the man, watching his movements. That was the key to stopping any swordsman. If he could anticipate an attack, and if he could be ready for the possibility that the man might dart forward, he didn’t need to watch the blades. He needed only to pay attention to the person holding them.

  “Why did you say that you have faced Denraen?” Endric asked.

  “I have faced the Denraen and have found them lacking.”

  “Faced them as in slaughtering them?”

  The man’s mouth screwed up into a frown. “What reason would I have in slaughtering them? No, I have tested myself against the Denraen, and none have proven worthy.”

  That meant sparring, not anything more than that, which meant this man hadn’t attacked and harmed Denraen soldiers. It gave Endric less reason to attack him.

  “Who have you tested yourself against?”

  “Does it matter? I have not found the Denraen to be any particular challenge.”

  “Yet I’ve told you that I am Denraen.”

  “If you are Denraen, you are nothing like the others.”

  “Perhaps, but I there are others who have abilities within the Denraen. I’m not the only capable one.”

  The man laughed and took a step toward Endric, spinning his swords in a steady circle as he approached. “I find that difficult to believe.”

  “Tell me what you’re after, and I will make this quick,” Endric said.

  “You will make it quick? I believe I should be the one making promises, and considering what you did to my men, I have no intention of making anything quick for you.”

  “Your men attacked me, and I was only defending myself.”

  “They attacked because you boarded our ship.”

  “Only because you pulled up alongside mine.”

  As Endric watched the man, he realized this man wasn’t the only person he had to be concerned about. It was the person behind him, the one standing at the stern with his back turned, who he needed to consider.

  What was he after?

  Endric pointed with his sword. “Who is your master?”

  “My master? That is an interesting question.”

  “If you think you have me subdued, why wouldn’t you answer?”

  “I am quite certain of it,” the man said.

  Endric chuckled. “Is that right? Then you shouldn’t have anything to fear. If I am so easy for you to defeat, there would be no reason for you not to share with me what you are here for.”

  “The man you were with stole something from us.”

  “You already told me that,” Endric said. “What did he steal?”

  “It was something of value to my people, but it would be of little value to any others.”

  “And who are your people?”

  More than anything else, Endric was curious about this man and where he was from, and curious about who he served. Other than the Antrilii, Endric had never encountered anyone quite like him. He had mentioned places that Endric had never heard of. He had thought the Denraen had given him the knowledge and experience that he needed to be prepared, but he was woefully underprepared when it came to this man and what he was after.

  “I am of the Assal people.”

  Endric frowned. He’d never heard of the Assal, but clearly, they had some abilities.

  “I don’t know anything about the Assal.”

  The man took a step toward him, and Endric was forced to slip forward into a catah, parrying in response. He continued through the motion, using his momentum to send the attacker back three steps.

  Once he did, Endric hesitated, staying a step back from the railing, keeping space so that if it was to come to it, he could maneuver more easily. Having nowhere to retreat put him at a disadvantage, but he also wanted the reassurance that no one else would come at him from behind.

  “That is exactly how we would like it,” the man said.

  “Are you going to tell me what was taken from you?”

  “Why should I? It seems as if you have no idea, which means that you are of little use to me.”

  “Perhaps, but I also know this man that you claim stole from you.”

  “How well do you know him?”

  “Well enough to know his real name,” Endric said.

  He wasn’t sure if that was true or not. It was possible Novan wasn’t his real name, though Endric had no reason to question that.

  Then again, he had never had reason to question Novan at all, and learning that he had gone by a different name with these people made him wonder. Maybe Novan was more than what he claimed, and already he claimed quite a bit, both in his service to the historian guild along with his service to the Conclave.

  “I doubt you know him know better than we do.”

  Endric flicked his gaze to the other man with them. There was something off about him. Why would he be simply standing there, staring out into the darkness? What was he after? What did he think that he could see?

  “Do you intend for us to fight again?” Endric asked.

  It seemed a reasonable question, especially as this man just stood there, and though he took a few steps forward, there
was not much threatening in his posture, certainly not as he had been before. Either he didn’t intend to attack, or he was still trying to gauge how much of a threat he thought Endric would be.

  “I’m trying to decide whether or not it makes sense to destroy you,” the man said.

  Endric smiled to himself. He was nothing if not arrogant, and Endric couldn’t help but enjoy a little arrogance, especially coming from a swordsman who had a certain degree of skill. Arrogance was beneficial, and it helped with intimidating an opponent. Endric wasn’t easily intimidated—he’d been around plenty of men over the years who thought highly of their skill—but couldn’t help the fact that he found this man slightly amusing. With his skill, he couldn’t dismiss him completely, but Endric was far too skilled himself to be worried about him.

  “And what if I decide to destroy you?” he asked.

  “You’ve held back. That tells me that you’re afraid.”

  “I’m holding back so that I can determine whether or not it’s worth my effort to eliminate you.”

  “Worth your effort? You were the one who came over here. I’ll admit you surprised me with your initial skill, but it won’t happen again, now that I’m prepared for you. The only thing that interests me is that sword of yours.”

  “The fact that you know nothing about this sword tells me that you don’t know the man you pursue nearly as well as you claim. If you did, you would know that he has knowledge of that metal.”

  “I suspect he has knowledge of a great many things. He has proven himself quite the challenge.”

  “And why is that?”

  “We have much experience with historians in Assal,” he said.

  Novan had revealed himself to be a historian, which didn’t necessarily surprise Endric. He held onto that identity, even though he had served the Conclave. Novan viewed his role with the historian guild in the same way that Endric held onto his role with the Denraen, even when he was serving others.

  Perhaps that should have been enough to tell him that he needed to be more proactive with his role within the Denraen.

  “It sounds as if you don’t care very much for the historian.”

  “You wouldn’t say such things if you knew anything about Assal. But then, few bother traveling so far north.”

  “North?” The only thing north that Endric knew about was the Antrilii, and he would have known if this man were Antrilii. If he were, he would’ve known Novan by the name the Antrilii knew him by, and he would’ve had a very different experience with him. And if he were Antrilii, Endric wouldn’t have expected him to be traveling by boat. They stayed in the north, protecting it from the groeliin, and they would not have abandoned it simply to come chasing after Novan. “Where in the north?”

  “Assal is a chain of islands off the northern coast.”

  That was why he didn’t know anything about it. If they were off the northern coast, it could have been that it was unexplored, far enough north of any known land that they didn’t travel to it. Then again, if they were far enough north, and they had some exposure to the Denraen, why wouldn’t he have known about them?

  “Hidden from the rest of the world,” Endric said.

  “Hidden? No. We remain separate, as there is no reason for us to become involved in any more than we already are.”

  “How have you kept yourself separate from the rest of the world?”

  “It’s not so difficult. There are others who are as isolated as us, and few even think to question them.”

  Endric cocked his head to the side. Could he really mean…

  “You mean the Antrilii.”

  The man frowned. “What do you know of them?”

  He looked at the man’s swords and thought that he understood. While the man might not be Antrilii, could he have trained with them? Could that be how he had grown as skilled as he was?

  If that were the case, then he needed to be much more cautious. If the Antrilii worked with the Assal, Endric had no reason to turn them into enemies.

  “I suspect I know more of the Antrilii than you.”

  The man laughed bitterly. He stopped spinning his swords, at least, and he stared at Endric. “There are none within the Denraen who can claim to know the Antrilii, and those who know of them only know them peripherally. I’m certain you’ve heard of the Antrilii, but knowing them?”

  Endric smiled. “I’ve trained with them.”

  He watched the man as he said it, curious to see if he had guessed correctly. If he were right, he would get some sort of confirmation.

  It came with a shifting at the corner of his eyes. A twitching.

  He did know the Antrilii.

  “You trained with the Antrilii?” the swordsman asked.

  “You wondered why I was as skilled as I am? My father trained with the Antrilii, and he taught me, and when I came of age, I went north and traveled with the Antrilii.”

  “The Antrilii don’t allow anyone to train with them.”

  “Then how is it you studied with them?”

  “The Antrilii send swordmasters to us. We study with them, and we trade.”

  That explained things. The Antrilii had adequate resources in the north, but there were limitations to what they were able to find and acquire, and he could see them having a need to bargain for resources, especially with those who kept themselves separate from the rest of the world. To the Antrilii, that would be valuable, especially as they wouldn’t want others to know that they were as organized as they were. Prior to Endric traveling to the Antrilii lands, he hadn’t known that they had such an organized structure. Gods—he had been surprised to find an entire city there, protected from others finding it. It was a place where the Antrilii could remain hidden.

  The swordsman took a step toward Endric, shifting in a way that Endric recognized. As he thought about it, all of the man’s movements had been Antrilii fighting style, though with slight modifications. Why hadn’t he recognized it before?

  Then again, it had been quite a long time since he had been to the Antrilii lands, and it had been a long time since he had trained with them.

  “Did you harm the Antrilii?” the man asked.

  “Why would I harm one of the Antrilii? I am descended from the Antrilii.”

  The man stared at him for a long moment before laughing. “You aren’t Antrilii. I have seen many of the Antrilii. You’re far too slight of build.”

  Endric shrugged. “Blame my mother’s side of the family. My father looks more like Nahrsin, his cousin, and he looked much more like Dentoun, his brother.”

  He waited, curious if the man recognized either of those names. Nahrsin had not shared that the Antrilii sent their swordmasters outside of their lands, but then again, why would he? It wouldn’t be seen as an abandonment of the Antrilii responsibilities, especially if they were going so that they could support their people.

  “He speaks the truth,” the man at the stern of the ship said.

  Endric looked past his opponent, staring at the end of the ship, wondering who that man was and how he could even know. How could he have even heard?

  Unless he had some magical ability.

  Could he be Magi?

  “Why do you say that?” the swordsman asked.

  The other man turned and faced Endric, staring at him. “You are Dendril’s son.”

  Endric nodded, fixing the other man with a hard gaze.

  “Dendril? As in the Denraen general?”

  Endric nodded. “How is it that you knew my father was Antrilii?” He might have revealed the truth, but the man at the stern of the ship had known, even if Endric had not said anything. He didn’t need Endric to share his father’s name, which told him this man had already known it.

  “You aren’t the only one who has visited the Antrilii lands,” he said.

  Endric stared, wondering what he would need to do. If they had visited the Antrilii lands, he would have known about teralin, which meant either he was lying or the Antrilii didn’t trust him en
ough to share the secret of the metal with him.

  Either way, Endric didn’t know enough about these two to trust them. It left him uncomfortable. “What did the historian take from you?”

  “He took books,” the man at the end of the ship said.

  “A book?”

  The man nodded. “Not just one. What he has taken is incredibly valuable to my people.”

  Endric sighed. Now that was something he could imagine Novan stealing. And if Novan had stolen books from these people and they were after him, there was something much more valuable within it than what they would likely share with him.

  “What was your intention when you caught the historian?”

  “We intend to recover the books,” the man said.

  Endric ignored the swordsman though he knew that he shouldn’t, not entirely. He still didn’t know how talented he was. If he trained with the Antrilii, he might even recognize some of Endric’s attacking skills.

  “Did you intend to harm the historian?”

  “Would that matter?”

  “It would matter to me.”

  “Why?” The man remained at the stern, keeping one hand on the railing. Wind whipped around them, and they moved through the water quickly, almost much more quickly than Endric imagined they should be able to do. Then again, he remembered how this ship had caught up with them, slicing through the waters so quickly that they had not been able to outrun it.

  That was the secret. That was what they were trying to keep hidden.

  These people did have abilities.

  He stared at the man at the stern for a moment more. He had been up in the mast, sitting up above the sails, when Endric had jumped on board. He had remained there during the fight, which told Endric that he likely wasn’t a fighter himself, but the fact that he had been up there and they had moved so swiftly through the sea suggested he was the one responsible, especially as they continued to sail with significant speed.

  “He has helped me quite a few times, and I owe him a debt,” Endric said. He decided to answer truthfully.