A Blade's Rebirth, page 14
Gavin nodded. The order would know that he and the others had a way of using different types of power, and probably that they would eventually figure out how to close the openings that allowed the creatures to crawl through. Or were forced through. Whichever it was. It also didn’t seem as if the order cared much about the creatures, which meant they were somehow disposable.
“So if destruction isn’t really the goal, then it’s all about pushing this power through,” Gaspar suggested.
From what Gavin had seen of the dular and their collecting, maybe that was the purpose.
What if the order wasn’t even behind all of this?
But they had to be. Though dular were collecting the power, this would be beyond their capabilities.
“Maybe,” Gavin said.
They had closed off the connection the moment they had come to this place. This opening had been larger than some, but not as large as the chasms they had seen initially. It had taken a little force on Gavin’s part, but it hadn’t required him to truly exert himself.
“Anyway,” he said, “I keep feeling like we just have to get to the order.”
“You can go patrolling around with her again.”
“You sound jealous,” Gavin said.
Gaspar huffed. “Not jealous. Happy for you, in fact. I’d rather you be romping around with that one than the other.”
“I never really understood your issues with Anna.”
“It wasn’t that I had issues with her people.”
“So it wasn’t that she was El’aras?” Gavin asked.
He would not have accused Gaspar of anything like that because he knew Gaspar was relatively open-minded, but once he did make a judgment or decision about someone, he stuck with it. And it had seemed to Gavin that Gaspar had been irritable with Anna from the very start. He didn’t know why, and to a certain extent, he wasn’t sure he cared about the reason. Mostly, it hadn’t mattered.
But then Anna had taken Gavin away from Yoran because she’d wanted him to learn about his El’aras heritage. Maybe that was what bothered Gaspar.
“She wanted to change you,” Gaspar said, voice low. He stared into the distance, his brow furrowed. He had several different enhancements for his eyesight, so Gavin looked in that direction and used his core reserves to augment his eyesight, but he didn’t see anything. “And I’m not saying the change is wrong. Gods, boy, you’ve changed quite a bit in the time I’ve known you, and I would never say that you should remain static. No one should. But she wanted to change you in the way that she wanted you to be changed, if that makes sense.”
“I suppose,” Gavin said.
“You never fit what she thought an El’aras should be.” Gaspar finally turned to Gavin. “I never got the sense you wanted to be that.”
“I never embraced the El’aras side of me, no.”
“But she would’ve had you be something else. She would’ve had you go off with her, head into the forest, celebrate the trees…”
“I sort of did,” Gavin said.
“Only you didn’t. You went off to the forest, you recognized that the trees had a purpose, and you connected to them and used that power, but you didn’t go in blindly.” Gaspar offered a hint of a shrug. “I don’t even know what I’m saying. I’m just—”
“I appreciate your concern.”
Gaspar glowered at him, then looked away.
Even though he wasn’t saying it, Gavin understood what Gaspar left unsaid. He wanted Gavin to figure out things on his own.
There was a time when such sentiment from Gaspar would’ve been strange for Gavin. When they had first met—with Gavin little more than an assassin for hire and Gaspar a thief, or seemingly little more than a thief—there had been a tension between them. Time and jobs pulled together had drawn them into a friendship that Gavin had never anticipated. At the time, he had only been close with Wrenlow, who Gavin had brought along from the beginning and considered one of the closest friends he’d ever made. But his friendship with Gaspar was something else. He valued it, and maybe this was Gaspar’s way of telling Gavin that he also valued his friendship.
“Anyway,” Gaspar said, clearing his throat, “she’s gone, and we don’t have to worry about her.”
“Oh, I think we still have to,” Gavin said. “But you’re not wrong. She’s gone.”
“And if you’re going to be with someone, you should be with someone more like you. Someone who has your mindset.”
“And you think…”
“What?” Gaspar said.
Gavin laughed and shook his head. “For one, I don’t really think Jayna sees me like that.”
“She’s a lovely woman.”
“Undoubtedly. And deadly dangerous.”
“Something I think you appreciate,” Gaspar said.
Gavin shrugged. “I do.”
“Then go after her, boy. Don’t keep spinning your wheels chasing after an El’aras who’s going to try to mold you into someone more like her. Go after a woman like that sorcerer, who’s going to let you be whoever and whatever it is that you’re supposed to be.”
Gavin started to smile. “You know, Gaspar, sometimes you can be a real softy.”
Gaspar’s glower returned.
“Hey, Gavin?”
Wrenlow’s voice came through the enchantment, cutting off the conversation. Gaspar’s expression turned serious.
“I’m here. With Gaspar. He was telling me how much he loves me.”
“Was he really?” Wrenlow asked.
“Tell us what you need to tell us, kid,” Gaspar said.
“See?” Gavin said. “I think he’s trying to tell you that he loves you too. He was giving me dating advice. Well, relationship advice? Although I don’t know if it’s all that applicable. The way people courted each other when he was young is quite different than in my day.”
“I’m not that much older—”
“Quiet,” Gavin said. “Don’t you know that Wrenlow needs to talk with us?” He laughed again.
“I found something,” Wrenlow said.
“What did you find?”
“We came across another book in the library. At least, I think it was there. I don’t think there’ve been any other incursions into the library, so we don’t have to worry about the order somehow breaking in and using that space.”
“Another book?” Gavin asked. The idea that books would suddenly be appearing did worry him a little.
“This one is not like the other. For one, the binding seems to be made from stone. The pages are almost leather, or…”
“Or what?”
“I don’t really know.” Wrenlow’s voice became softer. “Char seems to think they might be pieces of human flesh.” Gavin envisioned Wrenlow shivering as he said it. “And worse, he thinks the words might be written in blood. They’re old. Older than anything we’ve found in the library before. Both of them are. I can’t piece together the writing, but…”
“Keep working on it,” Gavin said.
“I was hoping it would help you find a way to travel.”
Gavin thought he understood what Wrenlow was saying. It wasn’t so much that Wrenlow wanted him to be able to travel as it was that he wanted to be able to travel with Gavin. He could go by dragon or one of the other enchantments, but Wrenlow didn’t like leaving the city for long. Not only because of Olivia, but also because he didn’t like leaving the safety of Yoran’s protections.
“We’ll figure it out,” Gavin said.
“I know. Besides, you already know how to travel from one realm to another. I’m just hoping that you can figure out how to travel from one place to another. That way I can get around a little easier.”
“He’s not your personal enchantment,” Gaspar said.
“See?” Gavin said. “I told you that he loves me. He must love me more than he loves you.”
Gaspar waved a hand and started walking away.
“I don’t like it that these books are suddenly appearing,” Gavin said.
“I don’t either,” Wrenlow said. “Maybe they’ve always been there, but it’s almost like they’ve just come into existence. Part of the library seems different, but I can’t quite place my finger on it. Char tells me that it’s not and I’m overreacting, but I know what I feel. And I know what I’ve seen.”
Gavin knew better than to discount what Wrenlow had felt and uncovered. He trusted Char, as much as he could trust a sorcerer in the Society. They didn’t know each other all that well, but he truly trusted Wrenlow. He was the smartest person Gavin had ever known.
“Think it’s tied to the other side?” Gavin asked. “Maybe some of these events are opening power that’s allowing the books to suddenly appear.”
“Why would it work that way?”
Gavin shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“Well, some of the enchantments that get too close to these vents have been acting a little funny, so who knows.”
That was a problem. He hadn’t expected Wrenlow to know about that.
Or any of the enchanters.
Gavin could feel some strange pressure, and for a moment, he thought that another vent was opening, though he didn’t generally feel them like that. Mostly, he could feel them only when traveling by air, and rarely by ground.
“I’m going to have to go investigate a bit more, Wrenlow. Can you keep looking in the library? See if Char might be able to make and place any enchantments that will tell you if things are changing. Or better yet, if they’re simply appearing. If he doesn’t have any ideas, maybe you should talk to Imogen.”
“Why Imogen?”
“Her shamans. They have some powerful magic.”
“Even though they haven’t trained at the Society,” Wrenlow said.
“Just because they didn’t train at the Society doesn’t mean they aren’t capable, and doesn’t mean their magic isn’t potent. In fact, I would argue that those who didn’t train at the Society might be more capable. They had to find their way and figure out different tricks and techniques. And they might give a different perspective than Char has.”
Wrenlow was silent for a moment. “That’s not a bad idea.”
“I’m glad I can come up with one every now and again,” Gavin said.
Wrenlow snorted and then chuckled. “Anyway. Thanks for talking through this with me, Gavin.”
“Always happy to listen.”
Wrenlow went silent. Gavin walked over to where Gaspar was crouched down next to one of the fallen creatures. They seemed smaller now than they had initially, even when they had fought them. Gavin suspected some of that came from how the power had faded, dwindling the longer they had battled with them, and how they had cut those creatures off from the connection to the other side, though he didn’t know if that was true entirely.
“Think I could be right about those books?” Gavin asked.
Gaspar shrugged. “Don’t know. Possibly. Doesn’t sound like the kind of thing the order would do. At least, not what we’ve seen. They don’t generally provide information.”
“Unless they can’t interpret it.”
Gaspar stood, wiping his hands on his jacket. He’d changed several of his enchantments and now had one on his wrist that glowed with a pale yellow energy. It hadn’t been doing that before. What was Gaspar worried about?
“If they did, you have to wonder what purpose they would have with it. Same thing we’re dealing with when it comes to these creatures,” Gaspar said. “Why would they send them through if they’re going to actually cause trouble? Why would they send books through if you can’t analyze them?”
“That’s just it. They might think we can analyze them,” Gavin said.
“And if you can, or if you can’t, it’s still probably the wrong question. Everything we’ve seen of the order suggests that they collect and hoard knowledge. They don’t leave it for you, especially if there’s something in what you might be able to learn that would be useful against them.”
Gaspar wasn’t wrong.
“So then it might just be tied to all this,” Gavin said.
“Don’t know. Aren’t you the one who said the library space is connected to that other realm?”
“Actually, I said the library space was connected to a different realm, not necessarily that one.”
“And what did that strange old man tell you?”
It took Gavin a moment to realize what Gaspar was getting at. “You mean Telluminder?”
Gaspar nodded.
“I guess he was talking about dimensionality, and about the power coming through it, but…”
Maybe there were different places that could be traveled to. More than just one. But if that was the case, how could he get to them? He assumed that going to the library was the same as going to another place, simply because he had to fold to both of them, but what if that wasn’t true? How many other such places were there?
He also had issues with the other kind of power he’d dealt with. He and Gaspar had been folded to a prison realm that was somewhat self-contained. It wasn’t in that other realm, and it wasn’t in the library. It had been somewhere else altogether.
Maybe there were other places, other dimensions, other realms.
“So,” Gavin said, “I suppose the answer is that we need to find out more about the order, figure out how to travel the way Wrenlow wants me to, and maybe dig more into the library.”
“Doesn’t sound like all that much,” Gaspar said.
“No, maybe not, but dealing with these openings continues to delay us.”
“Assuming that’s their purpose.”
“At this point, all I can do is assume,” Gavin said.
“You know what they say when you assume something.”
Gavin snickered. He’d heard Gaspar’s joke about that before. “I know. I know.”
“I don’t want to be an ass,” Gaspar said.
“I don’t know how you can’t be.” Gavin glanced up at the dragon circling overhead. “Let’s get moving. We have more searching to do.”
“Sure you want to do it with me? I can give you some free time. I know there’s a lovely redhead from Nelar who might be willing to go with you.”
“Let’s just get going,” Gavin muttered.
Gaspar laughed as the dragon slowly descended toward them.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The next few days passed quietly. Though Gavin had searched with Jayna again—much to Gaspar’s amusement—they had gotten no response from the order. Gavin hadn’t actually expected the order to respond to him, especially given that he remained convinced that they was responsible for placing these openings, but if they knew he was searching for them, he’d hoped that the formation of some of these openings would slow.
That had not been what he’d found, however.
He kept sealing off as many as he could, but more continued to crop up. More power continued to come through. More creatures continued to invade their realm. Gavin dealt with what he could, but knew there were limits to what he could do.
Eventually, he forced himself to ignore the openings and the creatures, focusing instead on searching for the order.
He kept hearing from the others, including Imogen, that they had been handling the dangers and closing many of the vents. Imogen had quite a few Leier and an entire fleet of renral, and between the two, they’d been able to spread out and canvass much more of the landscape than Gavin would’ve been capable of on his own. Imogen was far more organized than Gavin, so she would be able to take care of everything that came up.
Despite that, Jayna seemed to enjoy fighting. Anytime they encountered creatures, Gavin had jumped off the dragon and attempted to attack on his own, but Jayna had been right there with him. She hadn’t needed the sacred patterns to jump from the dragon’s back and land safely. The first time she had followed him while they were still in the air, he’d been concerned that she was making a mistake, but she had floated to the ground using a spell to land.
And then she had started throwing fire, including using some sort of blazing blade that seemed to shoot up from her ring. She carved through the creatures just as easily as Gavin carved through them, and she didn’t have any real technique to it.
She was just brutal.
Gavin didn’t fear for her safety, though he doubted that she would care if he did. She didn’t need his protection. He guessed he had never seen the extent of her power, but he was beginning to recognize just how formidable an opponent she would make.
He breathed out as he looked around Yoran, as it had been a few days since he’d spent much time here. He could tell that even more preparations were being instituted because of what he and the others were doing.
Maybe it was time that he find more people who could help. Gavin hadn’t managed to find the El’aras following Anna’s request, but it had become overdue. He had gone looking but had not found them on his own.
Perhaps there was another way he could search for them.
He tapped on the dragon. They took to the air, and the dragon immediately started toward Nelar before Gavin leaned forward and said, “Not today. We need to find the El’aras.”
The dragon bucked under him, and surprisingly, Gavin felt a distinct sense of irritation from the creature. Maybe it was just his imagination, but it was as though the dragon did not care for the idea that they were going to look for the El’aras.
He chuckled and tried to calm the dragon by stroking its side. “Don’t be like that. We’re just going to have a conversation.”
The dragon jerked, and Gavin nearly tumbled off, which at least wouldn’t be fatal any longer thanks to his ability to use the Leier patterns.
“You know where they are.”
A strange sense flowed through him, almost as if the dragon were trying to tell him that it knew what he was asking. That was odd, but odder still was the resistance coming from the dragon.
“Come on,” he said, tapping the creature on the side. “Just take me to them. We’re only going to talk, and then we can get back. We can go see Jayna again.”
