The Great Betrayal (The Lost Prophecy Book 8) Read online

  “I serve what needs to be served.”

  “You make a mistake,” Scottan said. “The power you think you serve is false. Haven’t you discovered that already?”

  The pressure from the ahmaean all around him continued to build, Jakob wouldn’t be able to resist it for much longer. He would have to react, either pushing back, or attempting to shift away. The longer he stood here debating with his brother, allowing these others to remain with him, pushing upon him, the less likely it was that he would have any way out—at least not one that could avoid violence.

  “If you took the time to look back along the fibers, you would see the truth of what we are called to serve,” Jakob said. “You would see the way the damahne fill a necessary role. We are meant to serve as a barrier, a seal between creation and destruction.”

  “Are we? I think all you do is spew the words of those who came before you. You don’t even think about what you’re saying. Why do you think the damahne like Shoren know anything more than Raime? How could he when Raime has outlived him by hundreds of years? He has discovered much more about the nature of our purpose, and the nature of why we exist.”

  “And what is that?”

  Scottan smiled at him, and there was darkness within it.

  It was a darkness that Jakob had never seen from his brother quite as clearly as he did now. He had detected elements of it when he had walked back into his brother’s strand and had seen the first moments that Scottan had served the Deshmahne. How had his brother turned so dark? How had the man he had once idolized, the man he had once thought the greatest swordsman within Chrysia, and a person Jakob wanted nothing more than to emulate turn into the man before him now?

  “We are meant to rule.” Scottan took a step toward him and pushed ahmaean around him in a ring. It was a powerful connection to ahmaean, and much more powerful than Scottan had managed before.

  Jakob glanced at his brother and took note of markings along his hands that he hadn’t seen before. He had known him to work with the Deshmahne, but when he’d seen him last, he’d not had these same markings.

  “Who did you steal from?” Jakob asked.

  He pushed back, using his connection to the ahmaean, attempting to use the ahmaean stored within the remnants of the city, but finding the negatively charged teralin around him made it more difficult than he had anticipated. His connection was weak, and he ran the risk of losing hold on his ahmaean.

  “Steal? Stealing assumes the person this power was taken from did not offer it willingly.”

  “The Deshmahne never ask people’s permission before taking from them.”

  Scottan laughed. “You know so little but presume that you know so much. It makes you predictable, but also dangerous. You blame the Deshmahne for a certain instability, but it is you who has created instability. Had you not attacked the Deshmahne, order would have been established. There would have been no violence. The seal you think you understand so well would not be in any danger. Instead, you rail against it, as if you know better than one who has lived lifetimes longer than you could ever imagine, and lifetimes longer than you ever will live. This he has seen.”

  Jakob continued to push with his ahmaean but recognized the danger in that. The more energy he expended trying to resist his brother and the other damahne with him, the more likely he would be too weak to do anything else.

  That was what his brother expected from him.

  Jakob shook his head. “He sees nothing. I’ve made sure of that.”

  “Do you think you are the only one who has an ability to look forward along these fibers? He is not alone, and he is not without power and influence.”

  Scottan’s connection to the ahmaean—one that was now darker, and influenced by the Deshmahne connection to ahmaean—continued to constrict around Jakob.

  He couldn’t wait any longer. He needed to take his brother from here, which left him few options.

  “I’m sorry, Scottan.”

  His brother frowned.

  Jakob pulled upon the ahmaean he still had and drew it within him.

  He lunged, sweeping Neamiin in a broad arc toward the nearest of the damahne. This was a younger man, and he was not expecting Jakob to make such a move. When the sword struck the side of his head, he crumpled. The pressure he had drawn upon from his ahmaean faded.

  Jakob barely hesitated, and spun, attacking an auburn-haired woman. Like the man before her, she collapsed. He worked his way around the circle, knocking each one out in little more than a dozen heartbeats.

  When he was finished, he turned to Scottan. His brother had unsheathed a black, teralin sword that Jakob ignored.

  “You aren’t my equal,” Jakob said.

  “Are you certain? You were so interested in seeing me restored as a swordsman.”

  “Because I thought you would benefit from it. I wanted nothing more than to help you.”

  “And that was your mistake. I didn’t want to be helped.”

  Jakob sighed as his brother attacked.

  All his life, he had wanted to attain his brother’s skill level, but Jakob had surpassed Scottan long ago. The catah that Scottan used on him was not unskilled, but he didn’t have anywhere near even Endric’s ability, and Jakob had far surpassed Endric’s skill some time ago.

  He blocked Scottan and smacked the teralin sword out of his hand.

  “This isn’t what I wanted,” Jakob said.

  His brother stood in front of him, panting. “What did you want? Did you think that by healing me you would regain the family that we lost? Did you think the gods would grant you such peace after they had taken everything from us? You have this power. You can take what you want.”

  Jakob shook his head. “That’s just it. Even with this power, there are some things you cannot take, and there are some things you cannot do.” He darted forward, smacking his sword on the back of his brother’s head twice so that Scottan fell in a heap before him. He stared at his brother for a moment, before lifting him and shifting him out of the cavern and to the edge of the fallen city.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Jakob didn’t know how to confine his brother in a way that would hold him indefinitely, and he wasn’t willing to do anything more extreme—not yet. When Jakob appeared outside the city, the damahne and daneamiin he’d left to wait for him began pushing out with their ahmaean, using it in a circle that connected them to hold Scottan in place.

  “What happened?” Malaya asked.

  Jakob realized he still had his sword in hand and slipped it into his sheath. “They were waiting for me,” he said.

  “In the city?”

  “Beneath the city. They used teralin, thinking to influence me.”

  “Why would they be beneath the city?” Malaya asked.

  “To capture me, I suspect.”

  She frowned and turned her attention toward the city. “They would have had to know you were coming,” she said.

  “There should not be teralin beneath this place,” Anda said.

  Jakob glanced over at her. “Why wouldn’t there be?”

  “The daneamiin have never used teralin, and we have never had it in any of our homes. We have always considered it a dangerous metal that we would rather not interact with. It has caused too many problems for others over the years. We’ve seen the way the damahne have squabbled over it.”

  “There was teralin,” Jakob said. Maybe the daneamiin of old simply hadn’t been aware of its presence beneath their city. It could have been naturally occurring, yet gone undetected. Or had it been brought here intentionally?

  With the way that teralin could be used to augment ahmaean, he could imagine how Raime would have brought teralin here to attempt to augment the ahmaean stored within the city. Even the residual ahmaean would be strengthened by the presence of teralin.

  He glanced to Malaya and then to Paden and Adam. They were the best trained of the damahne and would offer him the most help. “There are five damahne remaining in that cavern. Scottan had
brought them with him.”

  “What do you want to do?”

  Jakob considered his options. He could leave the five damahne in that cavern, but he suspected they would have the ability to shift themselves free. If they did, they could reveal to Raime that Jakob had captured Scottan.

  “I need you to come with me.”

  “What of your brother?” Anda asked.

  Jakob let out a frustrated sigh. There was likely only one place where he would be able to confine his brother, but it meant he had to involve the daneamiin. And he might be here with other daneamiin, but he doubted Aruhn would be pleased if Jakob brought Scottan and other damahne with him to the Old Forest.

  But what other choice did he have? They needed to keep Scottan confined, and the Tower had proven ineffective at holding him—or any of the new damahne. It was never meant to prevent the damahne from shifting free of the Tower.

  He wasn’t convinced the Old Forest would be enough, either, but it had held Jostephon, though Jakob had taken his Deshmahne markings from him to weaken him.

  “I think the daneamiin will need to help with my brother, as well as with others who have been twisted by Raime.”

  Anda watched him, and her ahmaean swirled around him. “That is not something the daneamiin have ever done. We have avoided confrontation with the damahne.”

  “I understand, but I don’t know how much longer that confrontation can be avoided. I think the daneamiin need to be involved. You are all a part of this, regardless of how much you would like to remain hidden in the forest.”

  Anda watched him for a moment before turning and glancing at the other daneamiin who had come with her. “Already, there has been much change, Jakob Nialsen. I don’t know how quickly my people will be able to navigate this change.”

  “I’m afraid they won’t have much choice. If we don’t have the help of all those capable of fighting and opposing what Raime intends, we will fail just as those who came before us failed. Think about what might have happened had the daneamiin opposed Raime centuries ago. Think about what might have happened had the damahne engaged with the groeliin centuries ago.” Would they have discovered how to save the groeliin all that time ago? Would they have found a way to prevent so many Antrilii from dying?

  All factions needed to work together in order to succeed, and if they didn’t join forces, Jakob was certain their numbers would not be strong enough to defeat Raime. As his brother had claimed, Raime had planned for centuries. He was smart, and he had knowledge that they could not begin to comprehend. But Jakob had something that Raime did not. He had the perspective of someone who did not live with an old mindset.

  “You have my support, Jakob Nialsen, and I imagine that you have the support of the other daneamiin who have come here with us, but you will need to speak to Aruhn.”

  And if Aruhn refused? Did he have a plan in place for what he might do if that came to pass?

  Jakob would have to find some other way of holding his brother and the other damahne. Either that, or… He couldn’t think about the alternative. The thought of anything else made him nauseated, regardless of what his brother had done. There might come a time when he would need to, but Jakob would avoid it for as long as he could.

  “Hold him until I return,” he said.

  Anda whispered something in the ancient language that was barely audible, but the daneamiin all stepped forward, replacing the damahne in the circle around his fallen brother. They began their flickering movement that reminded him of when he had been in the Cala maah and the way the daneamiin had moved around him then. Ahmaean came together and created a barrier that would hold Scottan—at least for now.

  Jakob waited for the other damahne to join him, and when they did, he shifted, taking them to the cavern where he had encountered Scottan.

  The five damahne remained motionless.

  Surprisingly, the walls of the cave were once more negatively charged. Had he not changed the polarity when he’d been here before? He had been focused on his brother, so might not have been as thorough as he should have been.

  “What did you do to them?” Malaya asked.

  “Only what I had to in order to subdue them,” Jakob said.

  “I feel the pressure of teralin here,” Adam said.

  Jakob nodded. It was good they were able to recognize the teralin. He knew that Malaya could detect it, but he didn’t know that the other damahne had already begun to develop the ability.

  If they could, could he use them to help with the groeliin? Novan had suggested that Jakob had something else he needed to be involved with, but it might be faster for the damahne to help the groeliin than to have the Antrilii—and Isandra—work with them. “This is the negatively charged teralin, and that’s what they used to try to influence me. Maybe even prevent me from escaping.” If Scottan and his damahne drew power from the negatively charged teralin, it was possible they would have needed it to overpower him. “See if you can detect what I do here.”

  Jakob pushed on the teralin, using his connection to ahmaean to change the polarity. He did it slowly, easing outward so that he emphasized the effort involved.

  Adam frowned but nodded slowly as he did. “I detect… something.”

  Jakob pressed his hand on the now positively charged teralin. “There was a time when the damahne didn’t know how to change the polarity of the metal. In its neutral form, it prevents shifting. I don’t think the earliest damahne knew how to change the polarity so they could avoid the impact of the metal.”

  Malaya stopped in front of the wall and pressed her hands on the metal. Teralin in its positive form was warm, but not nearly as hot as it was when neutral. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, before letting it out in a sigh. “I have memories of a time when they worked with the metal,” she said. “They’re there, as if they are my memories, but I know that they aren’t.”

  “What kind of memories do you have?” Jakob asked.

  She tensed, and he could practically feel the anguish in her. “There was disagreement. There were some who felt the metal should be used, and others who felt it should be abandoned.” She opened her eyes and looked over at Jakob. “They fought over it, didn’t they?”

  “I don’t have the same memories as you do, and I haven’t seen nearly as much as you have with regard to the teralin. I know that wars were fought over it, though I don’t think the damahne were the ones who fought those wars.” From what Jakob had been able to determine, the damahne hadn’t fought each other.

  “Maybe we should leave it alone,” Paden said. “If this metal caused trouble in the past, what if it causes trouble with us now?”

  Jakob understood the concern. It was one he shared. He didn’t want the damahne to battle over teralin, not when there were so many other things for them to be concerned with. “It’s different,” Jakob said. “When teralin had caused fighting, the damahne were only just beginning to understand how it could be used. Now we know.”

  “Which means we should be even more careful with it,” Adam said.

  Jakob considered the other damahne. He remembered discussions about teralin from visions he’d had when he had walked back along the fibers, enough that he knew that arguing with Adam and Paden would be pointless. He didn’t want to argue with them anyway. They needed to work together, and any division between them would only further what Raime was hoping to do.

  “I think it’s good for us to be aware of it,” he said. “The more we know, the better we will be able to counter it if you come across the negatively charged teralin.”

  “What happens if we do come across it?” Adam asked.

  “If we come across it, we have to be careful that any negatively charged teralin is changed to positive polarity. Otherwise, being near it can change your thinking. You can begin to doubt yourself, and even become violent.”

  He joined Malaya at the wall, pressing his hands against it. He detected the power in the wall. Surprisingly, the teralin began felt cooler to the touch.
It was shifting back, once more changing its polarity from the positive to the negative.

  “How?”

  Malaya glanced over at him. “What is it?”

  Jakob focused on the teralin. He’d never encountered teralin that would resist changing polarity. Maybe this didn’t resist. Could it be that there was someone nearby who actively opposed the work that he was doing?

  If so, they needed to be ready.

  Jakob unsheathed his sword.

  “Can you detect the way the teralin is changing? The teralin I had changed from negative to positive is changing back, becoming negatively charged. It continues to push on me.”

  Malaya pressed her palms against the metal again, and her eyes widened. “I feel it. Who’s doing this?”

  Jakob shook his head. “I don’t know. I can’t tell from the way the metal is shifting.” And that bothered him. If this was someone else pushing against them, then it was someone gifted with manipulating the polarity of teralin. If not someone else, it meant the metal was pushing back, and he needed to understand why. Teralin had never resisted in this way before.

  Why would it resist him now?

  It troubled him that teralin was behaving differently than what he’d come to understand about the metal. It shouldn’t push back against him, but the more Jakob pushed, the more he sensed the resistance there. It didn’t seem to stem from any particular person, which meant it likely came from the metal itself.

  Jakob continued to draw more of his ahmaean. As the teralin changed back to a positive polarity, he used it to augment his ability, but it didn’t respond quite as well as it normally did.

  He pulled on more of his ahmaean, forcing it into the metal, and drew even more.

  It still failed to behave the way that he knew it should.

  Jakob released his connection to it, letting out a frustrated sigh.

  The others with him watched but said nothing. He slammed his sword back into its sheath. “Let’s take these damahne from here,” he said.

  “You wanted to take them to some forest?” Malaya asked.