The Guild Secret (The Dark Ability Book 6) (6 page)

Rsiran shrugged. “I have a connection to the knives. To everything that I make these days. There are more than my knives here. Would you like me to
pull
them to you to demonstrate?” Rsiran leaned toward Firell. “Maybe you’d like me to
pull
on the chain you’ve got wrapped around your neck.” He did, but only slightly. Firell pushed away. “I didn’t come here to antagonize you. I thought that maybe you’d have a few answers, and I think you know more than you’re letting on.”

Firell grabbed at the collar of his cloak, trying to move the chain, but Rsiran held onto it, keeping it from moving. “Enough. You’ve made your point.”

Rsiran eased his connection to the chain. “What do you know about Josun?”

Firell shook his head. “You do
not
want to go after him.”

He didn’t, not really, but then Firell didn’t need to know that. “Try me.”

“He was dangerous before, and that was when all he wanted was to join the Forgotten. Now… now he’s something else. Worse.”

“He’s gone to Venass,” Rsiran said.

Firell nodded. “From what I can tell. I don’t follow him, mind you, and I swear I haven’t seen him since he released Lena. But I keep my ears open for word on him. Better that way, with what he done to me. Last I heard, he had gone to the tower. Only one reason a man like him goes to the tower.”

Rsiran sighed. The Hjan.

Hearing that Josun might have become one of the Hjan made it more real, for some reason. Finding the knife in Thyr had worried him, as did what the knife had shared with him.

But was Josun any worse than Danis?

In some ways, he was. Josun hated Rsiran, and for good reason. Without Rsiran, he would have reached what he wanted. He would have managed to reach the Forgotten, but Rsiran had stopped him, and exposed him. And then he had trapped him, leaving him stranded in Ilphaesn until Firell had rescued him and exchanged him for the safe return of his daughter.

Danis might be powerful, but he acted out of a desire for power. Josun… he would work out of a desire to hurt Rsiran.

That would be dangerous, not only to him, but to those he cared about.

“I see that you already knew that,” Firell said.

“I suspected.”

“How did you survive an attack on Elaeavn?”

“Because I’m not the same person you knew. They tried to kill me, but they failed. They tried again, and they failed again. Now… now it’s my turn. I will make sure that Venass doesn’t continue to hurt people. That’s my purpose.”

Firell started to smile, but it faded. “Damn,” he whispered. “I’d say be careful, but don’t think that matters.”

“Can you do something for me?” Rsiran asked.

Firell frowned. “What do you want?”

“If you hear of Josun, or of a man named Danis, send word to me.”

“And how am I supposed to do that?”

“I don’t know. You’re the smuggler aren’t you?”

R
siran Slid
from the tavern without standing from the table, leaving Firell and emerging outside where the sounds from the taverns drifted out into the street, creating a festival-type atmosphere, one of almost celebration. Gulls cawed overhead, and the sounds of the waves crashing against the shore gave him a reassuring sense, one that was more soothing than it should be.

He moved to the shadows and waited. Firell had seemed to know something, and more than he had let on. Rsiran waited outside the tavern, wondering if he could follow Firell and discover anything. But Firell would see him here, so he Slid to the top of one of the buildings where it would be less likely for Firell to look up and see him.

He didn’t need to wait long. Jonas came out first, glancing along the street, and then Firell followed, his eyes narrowed as he searched the shadows. Neither man had bothered looking up.

Rsiran Slid after them, moving from building to building. Firell paused often, glancing around, almost as if he feared that he might be followed. He still didn’t look up, or seem to notice that Rsiran followed him from above. He thought it strange that Firell would move away from the shore where he would have his ship, but this way was easier for Rsiran to follow. When the street darkened to the point where he couldn’t see anything, he
pushed
a knife ahead of him to light the way. Firell might see the knife—that was a risk he would have to take—but he wouldn’t see the light off the blade.

The men moved deeper into the city. The buildings were spaced farther apart here, and he was afraid that he might lose him because he had to wait between Slides. But they continued to walk along the darkened streets, Jonas appearing to lead them, rather than Firell.

The men stopped outside a long, low row of buildings. Rsiran Slid to the rooftop and emerged as they entered. He paused, detecting the chain Firell wore, and realized that he wouldn’t have lost him as he tracked him through the city, not now that he knew what to listen for. Firell was inside, and had stopped moving.

He wanted to hear them. Were he a Listener, he wouldn’t have any difficulty. Not for the first time, he wished he had some of the skills of the Great Watcher, abilities like the Elvraeth, but then, he wouldn’t trade what he could do for any of them. Traveling risked weakening him, and he didn’t have anyone able to watch him, so he would have to determine what happened inside some other way.

Sliding to the ground outside, he searched through windows until he found a room where Firell and Jonas were. A dim lamp glowed inside and he could just make out the door to a darkened room on the other side. Rsiran debated whether he should return to Elaeavn or see what else Firell might be up to. Curiosity won out.

He Slid into the room, readying his knives in case one of the men noticed him. He would not be caught unaware by Firell again. The last time, the Forgotten had used slithca on him, and he was not willing to repeat that.

Voices drifted to him through an open doorway. Rsiran Slid, emerging near the door. The light of his knives allowed him to see that he was in an older home. Shelves lined the wall where he stood. A table and chairs were in the middle of the room. Opposite where he’d entered, a cold hearth occupied most of the wall. Dust filled his nostrils.

“Dangerous for us to stay here now,” Firell was saying.

“You know the assignment.”

“I know it. That doesn’t change the fact that I see how dangerous it is. After Lareth came…”

“That was always a risk.”

Was it Jonas talking to Firell or someone else? It seemed the other person seemed superior to Firell, rather than the other way around.

“You saw how easily he handled you.”

Jonas then.

“I allowed him to handle me. We can watch him now.”

What did that mean?

“Do you really think it so easy?”

“Not easy. Fortuitous. Had he not come to you, we would have spent countless hours searching for him. Now we don’t have the need.”

“I think you misjudge his ability,” Firell said. “From what I have heard—”

“Heard. Not seen. There is nothing you need to fear, unless you don’t want to see her again.”

“Enough.”

Rsiran cocked his head as he listened. Had something happened to Firell’s daughter again? Once, he could understand, but a second time… Either Firell wasn’t able to protect her, or there was something more at play than Rsiran understood.

“Now we wait,” Jonas was saying. “It should not be long.”

What did Jonas expect to happen? Was someone coming to the house?

Was it Josun?

The idea terrified him—and excited him.

He counted the knives he carried. He might not fully know how to counter shadowsteel yet, but he would find some way to do so. Venass wasn’t the only one with the ability to learn. Rsiran
could
learn; facing Venass, he would have to.

A door opened and heavy feet thudded in, leaving the ground practically shaking. Not Josun. He would have Slid into the room, having no need to walk.

“What be the problem? You do be sendin’ word about somethin’.”

Rsiran almost let out a soft gasp. The voice… it could be none other than Shael. The last time he’d seen the man, he’d been dying, the broken end of a blade crushing into his skull. How could he be here? And why would Firell still be working with him?

“Had a visitor tonight,” Firell said.

“That be why you stayin’ down by the docks. We need you to be havin’ a visitor.”

“Not who you thought. This was unexpected.”

“There be many unexpected visitors in Asador. You need to be more specific. Damn, but you shouldna sent for me unless there was something I needed. Can’ have it be known we working together again.”

“Lareth.”

Feet thudded across the floorboards. “What do you be sayin’?”

Firell sniffed. “That was my visitor. Lareth. Came to the tavern tonight. I think it was these,” he said, and rattled the metal chains around his neck. “I think he controls it now.”

“He done be controlling it the las’ time we saw him.”

“He’s changed, Shael. We’ll need to be careful around him.”

“Changed? Lareth be nothin’ but a boy protected by your city.”

“That
boy
managed to twist Jonas around before he could even move. That
boy
claims he’s faced Venass and lived.”

Shael laughed. The sound was rich and easy, and there was a time when it had been a welcoming sound. Rsiran resisted the urge to Slide to the other side of the wall and attack. After what Shael had done, and the way he’d used him, Rsiran wasn’t sure that he
could
leave Shael alive.

“Facing Venass don’ mean the same as facing the Hjan.”

“He knows Josun Elvraeth lives. Claims he saw him in Thyr.”

“Thyr? Well, damn. Guess we better be pullin’ up anchor and getting’ out of port, then. Oh… tha’s right. Josun Elvraeth do be havin’ the same ability to jump from place to place as Lareth. When we fin’ that bastard…”

Had Rsiran read this wrong? They were
after
Josun?

But why? What reason would be convincing enough for Firell to risk his daughter? And why work with Shael after what he’d done to him? Shael had proven that he wasn’t anyone’s friend. He was more concerned about the coin he could earn than in maintaining friendships.

And then there was the ability Shael possessed, that strange ability that resisted Sliding. The second time, he thought he caught him off guard. If there was something about what Shael could do, Rsiran needed to understand it.

“Lareth could help,” Firell said softly.

“You do be thinkin’ that he come help you after what was done to him? Thought you said he be changed?”

“He was changed, but we could ask. After what we’ve been through, it can’t hurt to have help.”

“Help don’ be comin’ from Elaeavn, and certainly not from a man we done attacked. If it were me, I think I be guttin’ the men responsible jus’ fer what they did. You be lucky, Firell. If he changed as much as you claim, he could have jus’ done the same to you.” Shael laughed again. “Thinkin’ ‘bout Lareth like that… that do be funny.”

“He escaped you.”

“He escaped me once. Won’t happen again.”

“You intend to try to capture him?”

“Not capture, but think of what we could trade him for. Chip like that would be valuable, regardless of what he done.”

Jonas laughed, a nervous sound. “You told me the chains didn’t hold him.”

“I do be sayin’ that. Not sure that changed.”

Rsiran had enough of them talking about him. He didn’t fear capture from them, and now that he knew that they weren’t working
with
Josun, he didn’t have any reason to remain hidden.

He
pulled
himself in a Slide.

When he emerged, he
pushed
a dozen knives away from him, ringing Shael, Firell, and Jonas. He readied to Slide again, but there wasn’t anyone else there.

“You be leadin’ him here?” Shael snapped at Firell.

“I followed him,” Rsiran said. “And now that I know the way the chains sound, I can find you wherever they are, so don’t think that it would challenge me to reach them.” He nodded to Shael. “You think you can use me? Who are you working for this time? It didn’t sound like Venass, but then, the last time I saw you, I thought you were dead. You look pretty good for a man whose skull should have been caved in.”

Shael raised his hand to his forehead, touching a deep indentation. Rsiran felt no remorse for the injury that should have killed him. In his mind, he’d already mourned what he’d done to Shael. The man
should
be dead. After betraying them twice, Rsiran expected nothing different now.

“I be harder to kill than I look.”

“I see that.”

“What you be doin’ here, Rsiran? Where that girl of yours? You know I always liked her.”

Jonas had started to move. Not just move, but colors started to swirl around him.

Sliding.

Rsiran
pushed
on the knives nearest Jonas. Two of them pierced his skin, drawing a small line of blood. “Don’t think you can be Sliding away just yet. Trust that I’ll know if you try again.”

Jonas stared at him. “You shouldn’t be able to see that.”

“There are a lot of things I shouldn’t be able to do,” Rsiran said.

“Like those knives,” Shael said. “That be smith blood, isn’t it? But you do be a traveler, too.”

Rsiran didn’t think that Shael meant it in the same way that he knew about Traveling. “I can Slide.”

Shael grunted.

“Why are you in Asador?” he asked Shael.

“Smugglers, Rsiran. Don’ you know that we do be businessmen?”

“I seem to recall the last time Firell did business with you, he lost his daughter.” He glanced at Firell. “I assume this time, you don’t think anything will happen to her?”

“There are protections in place.”

“And you have some way to prevent Shael from betraying you like he did the last time?”

“This do be nothin’ like the last time,” Shael said.

“No. Now the Forgotten are mostly destroyed.”

“You thinkin’ so?”

Rsiran shrugged. “Their palace is empty. Their leader dead. Most of the others within their chain of command are dead. I think that’s pretty well destroyed.”

Shael and Firell glanced at each other. Jonas tried to Slide again—a faint trail of color that disappeared as soon as Rsiran
pushed
on his knives.

And Rsiran began to understand Jonas. There was a reason that he tried to Slide away from Rsiran, and why Firell seemed so inclined to fear him, letting the other man lead when they left the tavern.

“You’re one of the Forgotten, aren’t you? I thought you might be Venass, but I don’t detect any lorcith or heartstone on you. And for you to Slide so openly… I’ve only seen that with the Forgotten.” It was different in Elaeavn now, but none of these men knew that.

“They be done?” Shael asked Rsiran.

“Evaelyn is dead. Inna gone. A few others. I didn’t bother getting their names.”

Shael actually laughed again, ignoring the knives hovering in front of him. “You be really believing that you stopped the Forgotten?”

Rsiran watched Shael. The large man had a strange tension to him, one that he couldn’t put a finger on. He feared the Forgotten, and he clearly feared what they might do to him if he didn’t do what they asked. Shael was a strong and powerful man. What could the Forgotten possibly have over him that terrified him so?

“As I said, I’ve been to the Forgotten Palace. I was there when Evaelyn died. I was there when Inna died. There were others—many others—who died that day.”

“You be sure of this?”

Rsiran nodded. “As sure as I can be. I was the one who killed them.”

Jonas watched Rsiran with a different light in his eyes. Even Shael and Firell watched him differently.

“Evaelyn be gone?” Shael asked.

Rsiran nodded. “Her brother isn’t. That’s who I chase now.”

“Who be her brother?” he asked.

“Her brother is a man named Danis. He rules Venass, though I don’t know how long he has ruled there. Venass and the Forgotten eventually worked together.”

“They intended to reach you,” Firell said.

Rsiran nodded. After his time in the Forgotten Palace, there was no question that they had been after him, including having gone as far as designing a special prison cell, seemingly to contain him. With the Forgotten now destroyed, he didn’t have nearly as much to fear—only Venass now, though they were worse—but he still wondered what they might have intended for him. And now that he had Jonas here, he wondered he might be able to supply some answers.

“Why do they want me?” he asked of Jonas.

“They don’t want you,” Jonas said.

Rsiran grunted. “I’ve been back to the Forgotten Palace. The place is empty now. And I’ve stood within Evaelyn’s room—the one lined with heartstone, thinking that she could use the power of that metal in some way to prevent Venass from reaching her.” Rsiran hadn’t known why she had enveloped herself in heartstone before, but that answer made as much sense as any. She knew what her brother was capable of doing, and she knew that he would be dangerous. She had opposed him for as long as she could, trying to keep the Forgotten and Venass separate, but after a while, it became clear that they wouldn’t succeed. Venass had the knowledge that the Forgotten lacked, and that had been the reason Evaelyn had gone to them. But Venass had used them. The same way they have and would continue to use others who might be coerced by what Venass told them.