Festival of Mourn (The Dark Sorcerer Book 1) Read online

  He stared at her, saying nothing.

  Jayna shook her head. “Would you just give me a hand, Char? Then I’ll get out of your hair.”

  He glanced behind before breathing out slowly. “I really should get Master Agnew.”

  “You don’t need any master to help you with this,” she said. “I just need you, Char.” She headed along the cobblestone path leading to the road, and Char followed.

  When he reached the street and saw the cart, his eyes widened. “What did you do?”

  “Help me with him,” she said.

  Eva stayed hidden in the shadows, and though Jayna partly appreciated that, she also wished that Eva would step forward so that her presence didn’t seem so odd.

  “Who is he?” Char asked, leaning over the edge of the wagon. He ran his hands along the man’s legs and arms, reaching his chest, and jerked his hand back when he touched it. “Something’s off. I really should get Master Agnew.”

  Jayna glanced into the darkness toward Eva. Could it be her magic that he detected? She wouldn’t have thought so.

  “Don’t. Please.” She hated begging, but Char had to know. “I don’t know what happened to him. He just ended up on my doorstep.”

  “Your doorstep? You’re here in Nelar?”

  She sighed. “I figured you would have known that with the linking spell.”

  “I haven’t felt anything through the linking spell. Not for a long time. Not since you disappeared.”

  Jayna fingered the dragon stone ring. Could she have broken the linking spell by taking up service as a Toral? She wouldn’t have thought so, but maybe she had. It didn’t quite fit with what she knew though. She could still feel the power between them, and she still recognized the connection. If nothing else, she would’ve expected not to feel him any longer if the linking spell were to have been disrupted.

  “I can still feel it,” she said softly.

  “Where have you been?” he asked.

  “Can we talk about that later? This man needs our help. Your help.” When he glanced back toward the outpost as if he were going to get Master Agnew, she added one more plea. “Please, Char.”

  Char watched her for a long moment before nodding. “I’ll help, but once we get through this, you are going to answer my questions.”

  She let out a relieved sigh. “I’ll answer your questions. After.”

  He helped Jayna grab the man, dragging him off the cart. Jayna looked past him, into the darkness where Eva remained hidden.

  Why wasn’t she coming out?

  As they dragged the man forward, she looked over to Eva, but she shook her head, staying near the cart. She made a motion, pointing at the cart.

  Did she fear the Sorcerers’ Society? Eva had never said so, but it would make sense if it were true. Many people, especially those with power as Eva obviously possessed, feared the Sorcerers’ Society.

  Char turned toward her, and Jayna forced a smile. She avoided looking over at Eva again, not wanting to draw the attention to her friend if she didn’t want any of the Sorcerers’ Society to notice her. Maybe it was for the best.

  He didn’t say anything for a few long moments, which left her unsettled.

  “I know I agreed to help, but I’ve never had to help out in a situation like this before,” he said.

  She shrugged. “Maybe not quite like this, but we used to work well together.”

  “Until you left,” he said.

  “Until I left,” she agreed.

  They carried the man to the front of the building. He was heavy, and Jayna was tired, her leg throbbing, forcing her to limp. Char frowned at her.

  “Are you all right?”

  She nodded hurriedly. “I’m fine. I’m just a little tired.”

  “Maybe because it’s the middle of the night and you came to me with some injured man and you don’t want to explain what happened.”

  “Maybe,” she said, forcing another smile.

  He paused in front of the door. “You’re going to have to be quiet inside. If I get caught helping you like this . . .”

  “I don’t want you to help if it will get you into trouble.”

  “I wouldn’t let that happen,” Char said.

  Jayna didn’t like it, but she had to be prepared for the possibility that Char would turn her in. Here was someone who should help her. But then, she had been the one to disappear.

  “I have issues with Master Agnew trusting me as it is. If he sees I’m sneaking people in after hours, he might decide I’m too much trouble. Not everybody wants to leave the Academy, Jayna.”

  “You’ve already graduated from the Academy,” she said softly.

  “Graduated, but I’m still in my training. You and I both know that once you finish with the Academy, you’re never really finished.”

  He propped the man up on one leg and pushed open the door, poking his head through for a moment, sweeping his gaze around before turning back to her and nodding. They dragged the man inside.

  Jayna had never been in the outpost before, though she knew it was here. Anyone who lived in the city knew that the Sorcerers’ Society had an outpost within Nelar, though gaining access to it was a difficult matter. The walls were all of the same smooth white stone that seemed to glow. The air smelled of spice and mint, perhaps, or maybe even rose, though she couldn’t tell for sure. There was an energy in the air, something she remembered from her time within the Academy—a time where she had felt magic used all around her. Now it only seemed to serve as a reminder of what she no longer did, and what she could no longer be.

  She twisted the dragon stone ring on her finger. Char glanced in her direction, as if he were aware of her thoughts. She forced a smile, motioning for him to keep going.

  They headed along a narrow hallway off the main foyer. Portraits hung on the wall, ancient sorcerers who had once served the Academy. She noticed more of the strange glowing orbs, set into the floor, illuminating the path, though with a dim and comfortable light, nothing nearly as bright as what Char had in his room. When they reached a door about halfway down the hall, Char pushed it open, poking his head inside and glancing around before turning back to her and nodding. “In here.”

  She followed him inside.

  The room was expansive. Larger than she would’ve expected, and probably larger than it needed to be. There were no windows. It occurred to her that none of the rooms on the front side of the outpost had any windows, and that was where they had gone.

  A large bed occupied most of the room, and Char guided her over to it, pushing the man up onto it. When he was situated, she looked around. A row of cabinets occupied the opposite wall, with a counter running below them. A bowl with incense sat on the counter, and Char held his hands over it, murmuring something softly before the incense started burning.

  “You care to tell me what happened?”

  “I don’t even know. He showed up at my door.”

  “He just showed up?”

  “That’s what I said.”

  “Why would a man just show up at your door like that?”

  Jayna wasn’t sure how to answer. Char still served the Academy, and he was still connected to the Sorcerers’ Society, much more so than her. He might want to keep her secrets, but she also worried he wouldn’t. She worried that, in time, he would need to betray her, not because he wanted to, but because he didn’t have much choice in the matter. He needed to keep his position within the Academy safe.

  “Let’s just say he probably heard I might be able to help.” When he frowned, she nodded. “Can you help him?”

  “If I can’t, then Master Agnew would be more than happy to help.”

  “If you need to get him, I can’t stay here.”

  “Jayna—”

  “I can’t stay here any longer,” she said. “I can’t explain it, so don’t push me on it, but just know that if you can help him, then I would appreciate it.”

  He watched her for a long moment before finally shaking his head. “You c
an still be incredibly frustrating, do you know that?”

  “I know.”

  He pulled open one of the cabinets and started sorting through it, pulling out various items. He grabbed a small cylindrical object that he carried over and rested on the man’s chest. He cupped his hands on either side of it, and Jayna could feel the power building from within Char, pressing through the enchantment that augmented his healing magic, then radiating out into the man.

  “What are you doing?”

  “You know exactly what I’m doing. I don’t need to walk you through basic healing enchantments.”

  “It’s been a while.”

  “It’s more than just the time you’ve been away,” he said.

  “I’ve never used an enchantment like that,” she said.

  “Well, this one isn’t particularly exciting. A general healing enchantment. Master Agnew made it. He’s made most of the enchantments within the outpost. He’s been treating people a long time, you know.”

  “I don’t know.”

  Char glanced back at her. “Maybe you don’t. He’s one of the most skilled healers, Jayna.”

  “It’s no wonder he chose you to work with him, then.”

  “It was competitive,” he said.

  “I’m sure it was.”

  “Are you mocking me?”

  She shook her head. “I’m not mocking,” she said. “You were one of the most gifted students at the Academy.”

  “You could have been too,” Char said.

  “I never liked to apply myself.”

  “You’d rather go and spend time in taverns. You always preferred that.”

  She shrugged. “Can you blame me?”

  “You’re too much like your brother.”

  She fell silent, and Char glanced over to her. “What?”

  “Nothing.”

  Char watched her for a few moments, continuing to pour power through the enchantment before stepping back, picking it up off the man’s chest, and carrying it back to the cabinet. He reached for a few other enchantments and brought those to the bed, where he set them down. He tried one after the other, but none of them did anything.

  Char leaned back after attempting three more, shaking his head. “I don’t know what to tell you.” He glanced toward the door, and she could imagine him going to get Master Agnew for help. That would lead to the kind of questions she didn’t want. “None of these really work all that well.”

  The man started to tremble, his entire body contorting. His eyes went wide, though his lids fluttered. Everything within him started to shake. Worse, there came a strange hissing sound from deep inside of him. It was an unpleasant sort of sound, something that grated upon her, as if it were claws pulling across stone.

  It was the sound of death.

  Char hurriedly grabbed a couple of different enchantments—each of them a different material, a different shape, and filled with a different magic that echoed against her—and squeezed them down on top of the man. Shadows poured out of him. Dark power.

  The dragon stone ring constricted around her finger, causing it to throb.

  She already knew Char wasn’t going to be able to do anything. Even Master Agnew might not be able to do anything.

  “Step off to the side,” she whispered.

  “What?”

  She twisted the stone ring on her finger. “Step off to the side.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “The only thing that will save him.”

  5

  She pressed her hands down on the man’s chest, focusing deep within her. He still trembled, and she started to wonder how long he had before whatever affected him consumed him.

  The dragon stone ring constricted again. Her finger throbbed.

  Dark magic.

  She should have known this before. Then she wouldn’t have bothered coming to Char. While it was good to see him, she didn’t like the questions her visit raised, and didn’t care for the way he looked at her with hurt in his eyes.

  “Jayna?” Char asked.

  She studied the man. “I should have seen it before.”

  She needed Eva for this. It would be easier.

  “You should’ve seen what?”

  She shook her head, twisting the stone ring on her finger. It had started to hurt—badly enough that whatever was here would be powerful.

  She clenched her jaw, trying to fight through the pain. “Dark magic.”

  Char’s eyes widened. “If there’s dark magic, then I need to go to Master Agnew.”

  Jayna shook her head. “He’s not going to be able to do anything.”

  “You don’t know that. We have enchantments—”

  “No enchantment is going to be able to remove dark magic.”

  Dark magic required incredible skill to control, and even more incredible skill to remove—unless you had the right kind of power. There were precious few sorcerers even within the Academy who would’ve been able to peel off dark magic.

  “What are you doing?” Char asked as she pressed her hands down upon the man.

  “I’m going to save him.”

  Char started to laugh, though it faded as she forced her hands down on the man’s chest and began to push power out through the dragon stone ring.

  Pain flared in her the way it did each time she used the ring.

  It started in her finger, then built up her arm.

  It was almost enough to stop her from using it.

  But the man had come to her for a reason—and she needed to know why.

  Power built within her, and she ignored Char as he shot her a look. She didn’t know how to explain what she was doing, and she certainly didn’t want to answer any questions about the kind of magic she was pulling on. Not until she had a better handle on it herself.

  “Jayna?” he whispered.

  She shook her head. “I need you to back away.”

  “I don’t know what you’re doing, or what you have learned in the time you’ve been away . . . Wait. What is that?” She could feel his gaze lingering on the dragon stone ring. “Do you know what that is?” Char whispered.

  “I know. Do you?”

  He shook his head. She would have been surprised if he’d have learned about Toral magic. “That’s not the kind of magic you learned at the Academy.”

  “It’s not.”

  Char leaned close to her. She could feel the warmth of his body, smell the hint of pine in the soap he used, and sense the familiarity of him.

  “That’s dark magic,” he said.

  “It will take dark magic to remove dark magic.”

  Char leaned away. “What were you thinking?”

  “I told you I will explain later.” She pressed outward, using the dragon stone ring like an enchantment. There was a connection inside of the man, and then a strange writhing somewhere deep in him. It distracted from the cold pain of using the ring. “Shit,” she muttered. “There is something here. I can feel it, but . . .”

  Every time she tried to use the dragon stone power, pressing it into the man, wrapping it through him, she found it failing. It was almost as if the energy within him resisted her.

  The door thundered open, and she glanced back, suddenly worried that it was Master Agnew. Instead, Eva stood there.

  Eva pressed up against Jayna’s shoulder. “I felt it,” she whispered.

  “You could feel it outside?” Jayna asked.

  “This is dangerous, Jayna. This creature shouldn’t be here in the city.”

  She locked eyes with Eva for a moment. There were times when it seemed like she remembered her past, but others when she was a blank slate.

  “What are you talking about?” Char asked, glancing from Jayna to Eva. “Who is she?”

  Eva closed the door to the room while Jayna kept her hand pressed upon the man’s chest, and could feel something shifting and moving, a strange energy within him.

  “Is it a spell?” she asked. “It doesn’t feel quite like any spell I’ve ever en
countered before, but it also doesn’t feel quite natural.”

  “Tell me what you detect,” Eva said.

  Char took a spot next to Eva, looking over at her. “Who are you?”

  “Later,” Jayna said.

  “What do you feel?” Eva asked.

  Eva held her hands above the man next to Jayna, and on a finger on each of her hands she now wore a band of interconnected silver, with a separate piece that wrapped down to her palm. It was an enchantment Jayna had never seen her use before.

  “Well, as I press through him, I can feel the power starting to swirl inside him, as if it’s moving around.” She concentrated, holding her hands in place, focusing on the energy she detected.

  “Could it be a siphon spell?” Char asked.

  “I don’t think this is a spell,” Jayna said. “I’m not exactly sure what it is, but . . .”

  She wasn’t sure, but the more she pushed, probing for the energy that came from within this darkness, the more certain she was that it wasn’t any sort of spell.

  “It’s almost as if it’s . . .”

  “Alive,” Eva said, hands still on him. “Describe what you’re feeling.”

  Jayna closed her eyes, and she continued to pour more power out through the dragon stone ring, using it as an enchantment to augment her natural abilities. The dragon stone held the power of the Toral, and the dragon stone was the mark of a Toral, a connection to an ancient power she didn’t fully understand.

  “It’s insubstantial,” Jayna started. “Every time I push power out into him, I can feel it starting to coalesce, but then this energy within him starts to shift. It slides around within him, though it seems focused within his chest.”

  “Only within his chest?” Eva asked.

  Jayna glanced over to her, then turned her attention back to the man and closed her eyes again. It was easier to focus on the power within him with her eyes closed, far easier than keeping them open as she continued to press energy down into him. “It’s mostly in his chest, but . . .” She shook her head. “No. Not only in his chest. There’s a strand of it that’s working up into his mind.”

  Jayna pushed even more power into, following it up through his chest, into his neck, and then surrounding his mind. By pressing farther in through him, she felt an explosion of power against her.