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

Tan tried to focus it on the shapers. He struck two, and they disappeared in a flash of white light. It missed the other shaper, the muscular man hovering on a cloud shaped from air and water.

  The effort of the shaping drained Tan and he fell.

  Honl! Asboel!

  Tan didn’t have the strength to force the sending. The ground rushed up toward him.

  A burst of air caught him. Tan twisted his head and saw his mother’s tight face.

  “You can’t shape like that without focus,” she warned.

  She set him to the ground and then bounced back into the air, sending an attack of wind spiraling around a pair of shapers. Zephra was a skilled wind shaper and bound to ara, but she faced shapers with bonds of their own. They broke free of her attack and turned wind against her.

  Fire spiraled toward her, mixing with water in a rush of hot steam. From somewhere hidden, Vel sent a shaping of cooling water, keeping her from harm.

  Tan stood on the ground watching, too weak from his shaping to do anything.

  They were outnumbered and did not have the same strength the Par-shon shapers could summon. There were simply too many. They would fail.

  Asboel. Send Sashari away.

  The draasin roared. There is no other place for her to go, Maelen.

  Great anger and sadness flooded into Tan through the draasin. If this was going to be the end for him, he would go fighting for his friends.

  He focused on his breathing. To this, he drew strength from the air and earth. The other elementals would help. Saa might not answer him, but he could summon. The land was too dry for water elementals, but he could try.

  Help me. I must free the bonded elementals.

  He sent the request wide, to all the elementals that might be near enough to respond.

  Slowly, too slowly, strength returned to him. He pulled on it, drawing it from elementals he had no name for but who answered his summons nonetheless. It rose within him, giving him enough strength to shape himself into the air again.

  His mother glanced over at him. The expression on her face told him that she knew what would come, but she resolved to fight. Asboel still attacked, but more slowly than before, his thick sides dripping with blood from attacks Tan had not seen. Honl aided him, but even the wind elemental was injured. Tan hadn’t realized how easily the elementals could be harmed. Would Tan lose his bond as his mother had once lost hers? Would it matter if none of them survived?

  He readied another shaping, pulling spirit to mix with the elements, knowing even as he did it that it wouldn’t be enough.

  The air crackled with sudden power. Lightning struck.

  Tan blinked weakly and looked over. Lightning?

  Streaks of fire and wind and earth crushed two of the nearest shapers. Theondar jumped, flickering from lightning bolt to lightning bolt, a warrior’s sword held out from him, guiding his shaping. Even with Theondar, the shapers were too many.

  “Your sword, Theondar!” Zephra yelled over the raging sounds of the battle.

  He glanced over at her, pausing in the shaping of earth and sending rock flying to the sky. “The sword? What of it?”

  “We need a true warrior.” Roine frowned and Zephra motioned toward Tan. “Give it to Tan!”

  Without questioning, he tossed the sword.

  It tumbled toward Tan. One of the Par shapers sent a gust of wind to push it away, but Zephra intervened, shooting the sword back to Tan on a powerful shaping guided by ara. Tan caught it and turned to face the other shapers.

  With a deep breath, he drew in the strength of the elementals. This time, he even borrowed from Honl and Asboel. It might weaken them as he did, but he needed everything he could draw. He focused this strength, binding the elements as he drew upon spirit, and shaped through the sword.

  White light spouted from it.

  Tan aimed at the shapers. The nearest fell in a flash of light. He shifted to the next, and he fell. One after another, Tan shaped with spirit bound to spirit, a shaping he did not even fully understand other than to recognize how powerful it was.

  The attack turned. Asboel took out a pair of shapers. Theondar stopped another. A blast of fire from the ground—Cianna, Tan realized—stunned one long enough for Zephra to wrap him in air. Tan took care of him from there with a focused shaping through the sword.

  It left only the muscular man leading them.

  He shaped with delicate skill, pulling on each of the elements. He bound them together, mimicking what Tan had done.

  Tan held his breath, afraid that the other man might have the ability to shape spirit. If he did, he would be more formidable than any of the other shapers.

  An explosion radiated from the shaper. Hot air and flames buffeted Tan, throwing him back. Honl helped hold him in place, keeping him from tumbling under the strength of the shaping. Chunks of rock and dust shot toward him and Tan raised his arms in front of his face to block the debris from striking him.

  Then the explosion began to fade, leaving him hovering on a wind shaping assisted by Honl. He looked over to see his mother holding her hand to her face. Blood streamed through her fingers, but she was otherwise unharmed.

  Asboel crashed to the ground and wrapped his tail around him. He slunk toward a pile of rocks. From where Tan was, he saw Sashari as she crawled out of the same pile of rocks. There was a distant sense through the fire bond Asboel had shared with him that told him the hatchlings were there. Tan would meet them later. For now, it was enough that they were safe.

  All of this to protect the hatchlings and still they weren’t completely safe. Now that the Utu Tonah knew of them, others would return. Tan might be better equipped to face him, but they had lost too much already.

  Theondar landed on a shaping of earth and air and turned to Tan. Pain pulled at his eyes. “I followed the summons when I realized both you and Zephra sent for help. What was this? Not Incendin shapers. They were almost like warriors.”

  Tan sighed, looking at the fallen Par-shon bonded, wishing there had been a different way to save them. “They’re from Par-shon. They bond the elementals. Some are forced; others, they steal.”

  Roine glanced over to where Asboel had disappeared. “I should not have sent you.”

  Tan shook his head, lowered to the ground by Honl. The wind elemental circled around him with warmth, supporting him. “This wasn’t your fault. I’m a warrior, Roine. As are you.”

  Roine opened his mouth and then clamped it shut, nodding to himself. “So you are.”

  “When I learned of the hatchlings, with what had been happening at the Fire Fortress, I thought Incendin to blame.” Tan sighed, looking across Nara, letting the heat wash over him. Out there was the Fire Fortress, Incendin shapers that had somehow managed to fend off an attack from Par-shon for decades, maybe longer. Now what would happen? Now that Incendin had been weakened—that the lisincend no longer ruled—would Par-shon attack Incendin?

  “I don’t think it was Incendin at all. I think Par-shon attacked. That was what we saw. But Incendin had the hatchlings. Something about them helped Incendin push back the attack. And then the draasin attacked, destroying the lisincend. It weakened Incendin.” It was hard to believe that he had come to view the weakening of Incendin as a dangerous thing, but for how long had Incendin stood between Par-shon and the kingdoms? Now that Incendin could no longer provide that buffer, what would happen?

  Tan studied the rocks Asboel had disappeared behind. Would the draasin allow him to protect them? With the power the shapers of Par-shon controlled, the draasin would be in danger unless they allowed shapers to help. And if they continued to seek revenge for what happened with the hatchlings, Incendin would be further weakened.

  But where could he take them? Where would they be able to hide from another attack?

  He could think of only one place. “You need to know about Par-shon, Roine. As the ruler of the kingdoms now, there is much you will need to know. We will have to prepare. Others will come. If the Utu Tonah comes, we might
not be strong enough.”

  “What are you saying?” Roine asked.

  Tan looked over at his mother, at Cianna, even over to Vel. Would they be ready for what he suspected would come? Now that the Utu Tonah knew of the draasin, only the kingdoms stood between him and the power he sought. Too many shapers had died battling Incendin for them to be ready.

  Tan sighed, feeling along his bonds. To Asboel, injured and curled up in his den. To Honl, swirling around him, hiding around Tan. To Amia, safely in Ethea.

  After all that he’d been through, all he wanted was peace. A chance for he and Amia to be together. Time for him to understand the bond he shared with Asboel and with Honl. Instead, they faced the possibility of a worse attack than Incendin. But it was the reason the Mother had given him his gifts. Tan was certain of that now. And how long had he wondered why he was able to not only shape all the elements, but speak to the elementals?

  And he began to understand what had driven Incendin to seek power, even what might have driven the ancient scholars to seek the power of the artifact. As much as he might want to avoid using it, would he have any choice were he to save those he cared about?

  “War is coming, Roine. And I don’t think the kingdoms are ready.”

  Epilogue

  Tan moved through the tunnels beneath the palace, waiting for Asboel. The draasin claimed to know a different way to reach the tunnels, a way that didn’t require going through the archives, but wanted to keep the secret from Tan.

  Amia stood next to him, clutching a cloak around her. She held a shapers lantern out for light. “Does Roine know what you’re doing?”

  Tan shook his head. No one would know what he did here. They couldn’t; otherwise, the draasin would not be safe. After what he’d learned once he returned and managed to open the massive doors that had been closed for centuries—how the lower level of the archives had once been used to trap the draasin—he wasn’t sure he wanted anyone to know. “Until they’re old enough to defend themselves, we have to protect them from Par-shon.”

  “Why did you think of here?”

  Tan touched the door behind him. A massive rune was marked on the door, one that resembled what he’d found in Par-shon. Now he understood what it was, if not why it would be here. “They’ve been here before. I’ve never specifically asked Asboel before, but this door,” he said, patting the thick wood, “and this rune make sense now.”

  He felt Asboel approach. The draasin moved more slowly than usual. How much was from the still-healing injuries sustained during the attack with the Par shapers, and how much was from the fact that Asboel guided the hatchlings along with him? Maybe it was a combination of both.

  Bright eyes appeared out of the shadows and peered at Tan. Maelen. I am unconvinced of your plan.

  Where else would you go? Tan asked. If you remain in Nara, they will find you. In Incendin, you run the risk of Twisted Fire. The Daughter and I are the only ones who will know you are here.

  Tan peered behind Asboel and saw Sashari. She remained silent, nothing but steam hissing from her nostrils. She eyed him carefully. Her long, barbed tail was tense and wrapped protectively around the two small hatchlings Tan couldn’t clearly see.

  And Enya? he asked.

  She remains untrusting of your kind. More so now than ever before.

  We have given her no reason to think otherwise.

  Not you, Maelen. Only Twisted Fire.

  He wasn’t ready to share with Asboel that Incendin was not the real danger. The draasin was so focused on what Incendin had done to him and the hatchlings, but Tan would need him to understand what else they faced. Incendin remained dangerous, but after what he’d seen in Par-shon, he viewed them differently. All this time, they’d thought Incendin wanted power for the sake of power. Now Tan had to convince the others that there had been another reason. When he tried healing the lisincend, he’d felt resistance, that he’d wanted only the power the transformation had given him. Now he understood why.

  But that could come later, once they determined and better understood the risk. For now, they needed to secure the hatchlings so they had a chance to grow without fearing a bond forced upon them.

  We will use your den for now, Asboel said.

  Tan turned to the rune and was forced to stand on his toes to trace his fingers around it. It marked fire, but it was more than that. A powerful mark, one that could have been used in the trapping and binding of the draasin. Perhaps that was why it had been here originally, but that didn’t mean it had to remain used like that.

  He pulled on fire, drawing on the power of Asboel as he pulled through the bond. He mixed it with spirit, suspecting it might be the only way to power the rune. It began glowing softly.

  Tan pressed on the rune and the massive door swung open, wide enough for the draasin to enter. He stepped aside, letting Asboel lean his head inside.

  A spurt of flame erupted from the draasin’s nose, lighting the den, then Asboel withdrew his head.

  Sashari and the hatchlings moved inside. Asboel stood outside, guarding the door.

  You can join them, Tan suggested.

  Not until I know if it is safe.

  Asboel, Tan started, looking up to his bond pair, these were made for your kind.

  They were.

  Have you ever been here?

  Not I.

  No, the ancients had managed to trap Asboel and the other draasin somewhere else, to use them to power the protections of the artifact. Others of your kind?

  They never managed to force the draasin to bond.

  That didn’t mean they hadn’t tried. Why had Asboel allowed the bond to him? Had it only been because Tan could help with Enya? I’m sorry.

  Didn’t you once show me that you can’t change what has happened? You are not like them. You are Maelen.

  Tan wished that would be enough. There is another. He’s more dangerous than any we’ve faced before. He will come again. Now that he knows of you, he will come.

  Without the shapers the kingdoms once had, they would not be prepared for what was to come, and Tan wasn’t certain Roine or the others would agree with what he already knew would be necessary: to survive the Par-shon attack, they would have to learn from Incendin.

  That was for another day. Today, the draasin were safe and secure in their new den. Amia was safe. His mother was restored. Eventually, Tan would attempt to heal Vel, though he didn’t know if he was too far gone to do much for.

  And then? Then the preparations would have to begin in full before Par attacked, to hunt or become the hunted.

  Asboel lowered his head and met Tan’s eyes. Maelen, the great fire elemental began, you will never hunt alone.

  * * *

  Book 5 of The Cloud Warrior Saga: Forged in Fire

  War is coming to the kingdoms.

  Tan knows a threat greater than Incendin exists, one he suspects will require ancient enemies to forge an uneasy alliance. He must use the control he’s gained over shaping to rescue a friend, protect the draasin, and convince the kingdoms of the true danger, or everything he knows will be destroyed.

  * * *

  Now also available: Drowned by Water

  Abandoned by water and washed ashore in a village that thinks her nothing more than a sea bride, Elle is determined to return to the university to resume her studies. When Doma is attacked, and she finds a daring way way to reach the capital, she discovers the attack isn’t what she thought. With no ability to shape, Elle must find some way to reach water, or not only will she lose her only friend, but all of Doma will fall.

  The first part in Elle’s story, a part of the Cloud Warrior Saga.

  About the Author

  DK Holmberg currently lives in rural Minnesota where the winter cold and the summer mosquitoes keep him inside and writing.

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  Also by D.K. Holmberg

  The Cloud Warrior Saga

  Chased by Fire

  Bound by Fire

  Changed by Fire

  Fortress of Fire

  Forged in Fire

  Others in the Cloud Warrior Series

  Drowned by Water

  The Painter Mage

  Shifted Agony

  Arcane Mark

  Painter For Hire

  The Forgotten/The Sighted Assassin

  The Painted Girl

  The Durven (Part 1)

  A Poisoned Deceit (Part 2)

  A Forgotten Return (Part 3)

  The Lost Garden

  Keeper of the Forest

  The Desolate Bond

  Keeper of Light