The Guild Secret (The Dark Ability Book 6) (9 page)

“
W
ho is
Carth of C’than?” Rsiran asked, once more sitting at the table in the Barth. The food on his plate had gone cold, and he picked at it, but after the attack, he wasn’t really hungry anymore. Across the room, Brusus looked up as if he’d heard the name, and started over.

Jessa kept her hand on his leg, as if she intended to keep him from Sliding away again. With her other hand, she ate with more gusto, finishing everything on her plate before starting on his.

“Carth?” Brusus said when he stopped at their table. “Carth was here?”

“Lower your damn voice, Brusus,” Haern said. “Don’t need others to hear that name.”

“Why? Who is she, and why does she seem completely unconcerned about the fact that I can Slide and control metal?”

“Probably because she’s been facing the Hjan for years,” Brusus said. “There’s not much that scares Carth, mostly because she’s more capable than pretty much anyone I’ve ever met. Until I met you,” he said with a nod to Rsiran. “We get you trained well enough, and you’ll be able to keep a step ahead of her.”

“Is that why you’ve been pushing me?” Rsiran asked Haern. “Did you know that she was coming after you?”

“The man she’s after is dead. He has been ever since Jessa’s father helped me escape.”

“Then why does she seem so intent on attacking you?”

Haern sighed. “Because of who I once was.” He shook his head. “Thought I could get away from it. I thought that by coming here, and hiding with someone like Brusus, I might be able to escape what I’d done in my past. Never expected her to make an appearance here. The city should keep her out.”

“Why should the city keep her out?” Rsiran asked. If there was some way to prevent access to the city, knowing would be helpful.

“It’s not so much that the city would keep her out, but that she would remain away,” Haern said. “She has never wanted anything to do with the people of Elaeavn, and even less with the Elvraeth.” He paused, looking toward the door, and his eyes took on the distant expression he had when he attempted a Seeing. “What did you do with her? She’s not dead, but I can’t See her, either.”

“Do you think that you should be able to See her?” Brusus asked. “I know that you still have some of the ability you developed when you were with Venass, but this is Carth we’re talking about, Haern.”

Haern flicked a pair of knives from his pockets and twirled them in his hands. “I know who we’re talking about. Better than anyone here, that’s for sure. She’s one of the reasons Venass wanted those with the ability to See.”

“I don’t understand,” Jessa said, “I’ve heard of her before, but never in the same way that you describe. She’s known as something of a protector.”

Haern sniffed as he nodded. “I’m not sure that protector describes her well,” Haern said. “She’s… she’s more of a spymaster. She has a network everywhere, probably even in Elaeavn. It’s the reason Venass wanted her as badly as they did. They wanted access to her network.”

Rsiran tensed at the mention of a network. It was too close to the way that Carth had described it, threatening to bring her network down on Haern. “I need to know what she’s capable of, Haern, if we intend to keep you safe.”

Haern swallowed and looked from Brusus to Jessa and then finally to Rsiran. “If Carth is after me, there’s nothing we can do that will keep me safe. Not only is she a spymaster, but she’s the huntress. When she knows where you are… There’s nothing that will stop her. She’s persistent and deadly.”

“But she’s after the Hjan,” Rsiran said.

Haern nodded slowly.

“And they’re a part of Venass. Can’t we find a way to work with her?” If this Carth really was as powerful as Haern described, then didn’t they
need
to work with her? If they could find a way, then they might be able to finally get in front of Venass, and discover a way to defeat them for good.

“You don’t know what you’re suggesting,” Haern said. “Carth… She’s not someone who can be trusted. She will have her own agenda. She’s smart, and she plans better than anyone I’ve ever encountered, so coming here probably fit into her agenda…” He looked up and shook his head. “Ah, damn,” he whispered.

“What? Brusus said.

“If her spies are active here, they would have known about me, much as I try to hide it.” He looked toward Rsiran. “She didn’t come here only for me.”

“Why would she have come?” Rsiran asked.

“Probably wants to know why Venass is afraid of you,” Haern said.

“I think she’s going to find that I’m harder to use than I would have been a few months ago,” Rsiran said.

“I don’t think Carth would use you the same way the Forgotten or Venass have tried to use you. She’s not interested in power in the traditional sense.”

Brusus coughed. “From what I’ve heard of Carth—and I
have
heard of her—I believe that she’s interested in her own sort of power. It may not be the crystals, but it’s definitely something.”

Haern sat back in his chair and tipped his mug of ale back, finishing it in one long gulp. When he set it down, he rubbed his eyes, staring blankly. Not a Seeing. More a tiredness… and almost a look of fear.

“We’ll get you through this, Haern,” he assured him.

“Not sure you can, Rsiran. I know you’ll want to, and that you’ll do anything you can, but this… this might be a bit more than even you’re able to help with, especially given everything else you got going on.”

“You’re more important than anything else that’s going on,” Rsiran said.

“More than getting rid of Venass?” Haern stood and shook his head. “Nah, I think I’ll deal with this and keep the rest of you out of it. You stay focused on Venass. I’ll figure this out.”

He made his way to the door, and Rsiran considered Sliding after him, but what would he say? “You have some way of keeping track of him?” he whispered to Jessa.

“This is Haern,” she said.

Rsiran grabbed a lorcith coin and slipped it into her hand. “Can you get this on him?”

She eyed the door where Haern had disappeared and raced out with a quick nod.

Rsiran turned to Brusus. “What’s the story with this Carth?” he asked.

Brusus blinked, the flash of bright green in his eyes fading back to a more muted color. “There’s a story I never thought I’d be asked to tell.”

“I’m sorry that I don’t know.”

Brusus shook his head. “That’s not it at all. Just… This woman is nothing like anyone you’ve ever met. Rumors swirl around her like shadows. Some say she can simply appear, like when I made my first trip to Eban. Others say she’s stronger than any man. Still others claim that she’s able to read minds.”

“Like the Elvraeth,” Rsiran noted.

“Like the Elvraeth, only
more
in some ways. Not like the Elvraeth in others. Some talk about her having powers that are nothing like ours, a kind of magic.”

Rsiran knew the things he could do might be considered magic by others. Especially his ability with lorcith and heartstone. And when he’d faced Carth, he had been aware that she seemed to know where he would Slide, almost as if she could See him. But no one could See him. His ability with Sliding protected him. When his ability to Slide didn’t protect him, then his ability with lorcith protected him.

But not anymore. Venass had managed to counter every one of his abilities, and he knew it involved shadowsteel, the same way the dark metal was somehow involved in destroying the Elder Trees. He needed to get to Ephram and persuade the man to tell him what the alchemists knew about it.

Jessa came back in and nodded to him. Rsiran reached for the connection to lorcith and found where Haern moved along the streets of Elaeavn. He held onto that connection. If he could maintain it, he’d be able to track Haern wherever he went. At least that way, he might be able to keep him safe.

“You two look like you’re up to something,” Brusus said.

Jessa glanced over to Rsiran and he shrugged. “Jessa slipped a piece of lorcith onto him so I could track him.”

Brusus laughed. “You think Haern won’t know that you did that?”

“Have you?”

Brusus frowned. “I carry your knives with me. I’ve got no reason to try and hide from you.” He started pulling things out of his pockets and setting them on the table. Brusus carried more with him than Rsiran would have expected. There was a pair of knives, but also a few vials of some thick liquid, a small coin purse, and scraps of paper.

Rsiran laughed. “I don’t really need to use the knives you carry,” he said. When Brusus made a face, he laughed again. “You’ve got two bracelets that I forged, Brusus. That’s enough for me to follow even when I’m not in the city.”

“So does Haern.”

“But Haern removes his from time to time, doesn’t he?” Rsiran noted.

“You know how he likes his privacy.”

Rsiran nodded. There had been a time when he had questioned Haern’s friendship and loyalty, but that had been a long time ago. Haern was secretive, but he’d done nothing but try to help them all. And Jessa trusted him, especially after what he’d done for her father.

“I know he does. But I’d still like to be able to help him, whether he likes it or not.”

Brusus glanced to the back of the tavern where Alyse engaged in a lively conversation with a couple near the fire. The corners of his eyes softened as they did when he looked at Rsiran’s sister. “You ever think of fate?” Brusus asked.

“Haern says the future isn’t fixed,” Jessa said. “His visions can be changed.”

Brusus nodded. “Oh, most of them can. Some are so strong or Seen by so many different Seers that they’re practically certain to happen. Fate. A path the Great Watcher sets us on that he means to have happen, regardless of how we get there.” Brusus sighed and pulled his gaze off of Alyse. “I think… I think I was always going to discover you, either that night when I bumped into you or another. You needed me to, and we needed you as well.”

“Damn, Brusus, love makes you sentimental,” Jessa teased.

He shrugged. “Not sentimental, only… I wonder if there are things that we
can’t
change. Parts of our future that the Seers know are fixed, regardless of how we might fight against it.”

Rsiran had often wondered what would have become of him had he
not
met Brusus that night. Would he ever have escaped Ilphaesn? For that matter, would he ever have been sent to Ilphaesn in the first place? It was possible that meeting Brusus had set into motion everything that had happened to him. Or none of it. Maybe all of those events would have happened, regardless of meeting Brusus. Maybe the path he’d taken had actually been harder, or longer. Had he gone another way, he might have come across the guild sooner, and maybe been receptive to working with them. But then, would he ever have developed the abilities that he now had? Not only with lorcith and heartstone, but with Sliding and his ability to Travel?

It was possible the Great Watcher had intended him to travel the path that he had. To suffer so he could come through it stronger. And he had gained so much, even if he had suffered as well.

Brusus shook his head and flashed a grin. “Ah, maybe you’re right, Jessa. That girl… She’s changed me, too.” He stared for a moment, the hint of a smile fading as he did. “Still wonder why we had to lose Lianna to get to this point. She never wanted to be a part of any sort of deeper plotting. All she wanted was to run her tavern and serve good food and ale.”

“You still honor her,” Rsiran said.

Brusus nodded. “I know I do. And your sister… She understands why I do it. Never met a woman like her. She’s strong and levelheaded. Keeps me going where I need to be,” he finished with a smile.

Jessa watched Brusus and shook her head as he left their table. “I never thought I’d say it, but I don’t think Brusus can help us anymore.”

“He’s happy.”

“So am I,” Jessa said, “but I get that there is more I need to be doing. More you need to be doing. We get through all of this, and we all get to relax.
That’s
what I want. And now with Haern distracted… I worry about what help we have left.”

Rsiran touched her hand as they sat at the table, the same question troubling him, and without any clear answers.

R
siran stood
at the forge in his smithy, holding the heavy hammer as he pounded on the massive lump of lorcith he’d taken from Ilphaesn, one that had called to him in a certain way. He hadn’t used a piece this large in some time, and the metal had taken a while to take the heat. Now it glowed a bright orange as it rested on his anvil. Each strike flattened it somewhat.

As he hammered, he listened to the song of the lorcith, letting its steady call come to him. The song now had a subtlety to it that hadn’t been there before. He struck the lorcith, pulling the potential from it each time. When the song shifted, he lifted the lump and turned it over, striking it from a different angle.

His mind worked through what he had learned about Carth, and what his reaction should be. There was a powerful woman with some unknown intent in the city, and she was after Haern. From what Haern had said, she might even be after Rsiran, wanting to know how he resisted Venass. If Rsiran could find a way, they might be able to work together. That would be the best outcome, and one that offered them both the chance to succeed. Her presence meant that Haern was distracted, and given what they faced, Rsiran couldn’t have him distracted. He needed Haern, whether the man believed it or not.

He hammered again, pounding steadily.

He was guildlord now. Responsibility had been laid upon him, and he had to live up to expectations that he still didn’t fully understand. Some of them were surprisingly hard, like what the guild wanted of him. Not only to move to his father’s smithy, but the level of accountability that would be involved there. Staying in this smithy, with the bars of heartstone he had placed to prevent others from Sliding inside, provided necessary safety, but it also protected him in some ways from the accountability of the guild. Though he no longer feared discovery and losing the smithy, the distance from the other smithies offered a layer of security for him.

The song shifted again, and he turned the lorcith, striking it again and again. He let the lorcith guide him, this time not trying to push any desire of his onto the metal, just letting it help him discover what the metal wanted to be. At the same time, he suspected that the song responded to the anxiety he felt, the desire for protection, and finding a way to help his friends.

Well, not only his friends now. As guildlord, he had a responsibility for more than Jessa, Brusus, Haern, and Alyse. Now he had the safety and security of the guild to keep in mind. With that came a responsibility to the city, and with one of the Elder Tree damaged, to the crystals themselves. It was one that he couldn’t take lightly.

And eventually, he would have to meet with the Elvraeth council. Rsiran dreaded that, but as guildlord, it was his responsibility. Like so many other things that he now had to do, he wished there was an easier way for him to do it.

The song shifted again and he turned the metal.

He still needed the heavy hammer, and worked to flatten the lorcith. What was the metal asking of him?

Rsiran continued to let it guide him, hammering steadily, rhythmically, alone in his smithy for the first time in a while. Luca was a skilled apprentice, but there were times when Rsiran wanted nothing more than a chance to free his mind the way that hammering at the forge could do.

A separation. Strange that the lorcith would want him to separate it into two pieces, but it did, and he followed the suggestion. The smaller of the two pieces he set back onto the coals, letting it remain hot and soft. The larger, he continued to flatten, now flipping it over as he did. The shape emerged in his mind, and he understood what the lorcith guided him to do, if not the reason why.

Now that he knew, he managed to create the shield more quickly, fully falling into the work. There was a steadiness required, and the heavy hammer had to move all along the surface as it flattened. When that no longer was as effective as he wanted, he began to
push
on the metal, using that ability to form the shape, creating a soft curve in the shield. A pattern emerged, a combination of
pushing
and hammering that dimpled the metal in something that drew out the potential and the power stored within.

With the shield completed, he turned to the other piece, recognizing what it was to be, and that he needed to mix heartstone into this as he formed another sword. Strange that the lorcith would
want
him to create a sword, but his other heartstone sword was damaged now.

Reaching for his supply of heartstone, he layered it over the lorcith, not blending it into an alloy. That wasn’t what the lorcith wanted of him. This was a combination of both metals, letting them both retain their stored potential. An interesting creation, and one that was not like the sword he already carried.

When he finished with the sword, he added a few pieces of heartstone to the shield as well, but nothing that would decrease the strength of the lorcith.

Then it, too, was done.

Rsiran stood back and wiped the sweat from his face. A sword and shield, but both forged from the same lump of metal, paired in that way, but not like the paired lorcith that Venass had used on him.

“Those are exquisite creations.”

Rsiran turned to see Della sitting on a stool near the back of his smithy. Her shawl had thick stripes of color that contrasted with her pale gray hair. A long gray dress settled almost to the ground.

He flicked his gaze to the door of the smithy. Jessa had been here with him when he started, and had locked the smithy when she left. Unless Della could Slide—and regardless of her protestations that she could not, he wouldn’t put it past her—that made her a skilled sneak to manage to enter his smithy.

“I just needed to clear my head.” He set the sword and shield over near his bench with the other creations that he had made over the last few weeks.

“Men with responsibility often need to clear their heads as they consider what they’ll do next. Have you come to any decisions?”

Rsiran sighed. “None that provide me with any insight.” Rsiran ran his thumb along the edge of the sword,
pushing
as he placed a sharper edge to it. With his abilities, he no longer needed a grinding wheel to sharpen the sword, and could feel just how fine an edge he managed to place. “As much as I want to chase Venass, and with Danis still free, I don’t think we can risk rushing in, not with what I’ve learned of shadowsteel.”

“Yet you fear delay as well.”

He sighed. “Delay only gives Venass the chance to better organize and plan.” More than that, delay gave Venass the chance to test whether losing the damaged tree would allow them to take one of the Great Crystals. “Delay gives them a chance to overcome anything I might be able to do. I’m losing those who could help. First Brusus and now Haern…”

Della smiled sadly at him as she limped over to the coals. Ever since they’d healed the tree, her limp had remained. Before, she had only had the limp after performing a particularly challenging healing, but Rsiran didn’t think she’d been healing anyone lately.

She pulled a small ceramic pot from a hidden pocket and set in on the coals. Immediately, the scent of her mint tea began to reach his nostrils, already soothing him before he even took a drink. “There are certain things that I See that give me pause,” she said, pouring the tea into cups that she’d brought with her. Rsiran smiled at the fact that she had.

“Did you have one today?”

“I would not have come to you if I hadn’t.”

Rsiran wondered which of the issues he dealt with Della would have had a vision about. Had it been the guild? The guildlords? Venass? Maybe even Haern, especially now that he had disappeared into the city, only the coin Jessa managed to sneak onto him letting Rsiran track him.

“Sometimes when I have a Seeing, it is one that I intentionally seek. With you, most of those are dark, Sliding or your ability with metals preventing me from seeing anything. Every so often, I can manage flashes of color, and those flashes tell me more than any other vision.”

Rsiran turned away from the sword. He would need to fashion a different sheath for it; the blade was wider than the other heartstone sword had been, and this time, he wanted to have the sheath better made than the last. With the guild resources, he even thought he might be able to carry it more openly.

“What flashes have you had this time?”

She smiled and offered him one of the cups of tea. Rsiran took it and lifted it to his nose, inhaling deeply.

“These colors are more prominent when I focus on those near you. Some are brighter than others, and others are darker. In that way, I have slowly come to realize that I
can
See certain things even when they involve you.”

Rsiran frowned. “I appreciate the insight into your ability, but why are you telling me this?”

“Because it’s important for you to understand. The flashes changed today. For a moment, there was a flurry of color. I don’t know quite what it means, or who might be involved, but everything shifted, no longer flashing around you. This would only happen if there was another power interfering, but everything I’ve learned about you tells me that it would have to be
very
powerful. There are not many with that kind of natural power.”

Rsiran took a drink. The tea flowed down his throat, warm but not quite hot, as if Della somehow had control over the temperature of the water. “A woman came to town today, one who Haern fears from when he was still with Venass.”

“A woman?”

“Her name was Carth,” Rsiran said.

Della took a sip of her tea and set the cup on his bench. “Haern served a dangerous role, Rsiran. It is possible that if his time as Hjan has caught up to him, that you will need to do more to protect him.”

“I did what I could. I Slid this woman away from Elaeavn, but Haern suspects that she can still reach him. From what I experienced with her, he might be right. And I don’t know if I can even defeat her if it comes to it. He thinks to leave us so that we won’t have to worry about him.”

“Yet you do.”

“Haern is one of the few who really knows what we face with Venass. I can’t sit back and not do anything to help.”

“You mustn’t try. Power like what came to Elaeavn today is pure. Natural. It is nothing like Venass. If she possesses this kind of power, you need to understand it.”

Rsiran set his cup next to Della’s. “What kind of power does she have?”

“There are many ways to power in this world, Rsiran. You have seen only a few. Those of Elaeavn have abilities of the Great Watcher, and you have now experienced the pull of the Elder Trees. There are others, equally ancient.”

“Are they bad?”

“Power is neither good nor bad. It is how it is used that defines it. Danis chooses to use his power in a dangerous way, and for dark purposes. He wants power to oppress. Others would use their power to protect, and ensure freedom. That is what you have shown you strive to do. You must understand this woman and decide which side she falls on before you do anything about her. Perhaps she could be the ally you seek.”

He’d considered that, but Haern doubted that Carth would help. “And if she harms Haern?” That was what he feared. A part of him hoped that he might be able to side with Carth, especially if she opposed Venass as well, but if she went after Haern, he would have to protect his friend.

“Haern has changed, Rsiran. Those who know him well know that he has. Perhaps you can help her see that.”

He set the sword down, placing it near the shield. As he did, a surge of power came with a flash of light and a vague pressure against him. They were paired, but not like the paired lumps of lorcith that he’d
pulled
from Ilphaesn. The pairing within these came from the metal’s willingness to separate into parts.

“I fear for Haern, just as I fear for the guild, and for what Danis might try next.” He’d been too slow returning to Danis, and now his grandfather had escaped. Rsiran had barely managed to stop him once. If he faced him a second time… he wasn’t certain he would survive.

“You have reason to fear those things,” Della said. “Your world has changed much in the last few months.”

Rsiran looked around his smithy, chuckling. “It has.”

“Not only your world has changed, but others as well. There are some who would prefer that things return to how they had been, and others who have chosen to ignore what comes.”

“You lived in the palace once.” Della nodded. “Why have the Elvraeth ignored the attack as though it never happened?”

“I do not know the will of the council as I once did, Rsiran, but they have always been hesitant to look beyond the walls of the palace, preferring to hold onto the power they possess.”

“But they don’t really even possess that power, do they? They think the crystals belong to the Elvraeth, but without the guilds, they would have lost access to them long ago.”

“And without the Elvraeth, there would be none able to access them. Don’t assume that the Elvraeth remember that it’s a delicate balance. Many of the Elvraeth resent the role of the guilds in restricting access to the crystals. The few who understand don’t have a loud enough collective voice to convince the others.”

Rsiran leaned on his bench, staring at the forgings he’d made. Delicate works of lorcith, now sculpted in ways that he once would have believed impossible to create without Sight rested on his bench. He had made them,
pushing
on the metal in such a way that he could bring out even more detail than he ever could have imagined. In doing so, he unlocked something in the potential of the metal that gave it even more power.

He lifted one particular sculpture of a sjihn tree. The first that he’d made had been done while in Seval’s smithy, as a way to prove his competence with forging. He’d given that one to Brusus as a memorial to Lianna. This one was almost a copy, but reflected something of the image he carried in his mind of the Elder Trees. Rsiran could
feel
the power resonating through the sculpture, something akin to what he imagined when he stood in the place between Slides when he’d been able to mostly restore Della.