Could he overpower that?

  The Deshazl were able to navigate through it.

  Focusing on his own Deshazl magic, he let it trickle out from him. It flowed slowly, reaching a resistance that reminded him of when he had used his magic on the trees, and he pushed a little harder, using that to override the power that was here. As he did, he began to realize what he was searching for.

  The sense of the massive building called to him. It was enormous, and there was significant strength within it, and all he had to do was go to it.

  Fes dragged Jayell with him. As he went, buildings streaked by, and he ignored the colors flowing from them. Most of the buildings carried the same striations that the forest did, though rather than striations along the surface of the trunks, this came from striations built into the scales, the way that they caught the light, glittering and reflecting it, practically glowing with power.

  He slowed as he neared the building. It rose higher than the others, and he should have been able to see it from a distance, but it wasn’t until he neared that it became evident.

  Jayell gasped. “How is it that I didn’t see that before?”

  “They have some way of hiding it,” Fes said.

  “How?”

  “Probably the same way that the trees within the forest are hidden from the dragon.”

  Approaching the building, Fes looked for activity. This was a place of power to the people of the city and entering here could put him at odds with them, something that he was hesitant to do. He didn’t know them well, and he had forced his way into their world enough times that he wanted to be cognizant of the fact that they might resent his appearance. He had forced them to help, and while they were Deshazl, they also had made different choices than the Deshazl who lived in the forest as Asharn.

  There was power within the building.

  It radiated outward, flowing toward Fes, and he stood there, listening to the sense of that power for a moment before turning to Jayell. “Something is off here, but I don’t know quite what it is.”

  Power bloomed from her, but it was far more controlled than it had been before. It swirled around her, barely pulsing out from the edge of her skin, and she nodded to him. “I’m ready,” she said.

  Fes pushed open the door, not sure what he might find.

  There was resistance.

  He continued to push, forcing his way into the room, sending more and more power through him.

  It wouldn’t budge.

  “What is it?” Jayell asked.

  “I don’t know. They’ve somehow sealed off the door.” He could draw power from the dragon, and he considered calling on that power, but seeing as how distant the dragon still seemed, he wasn’t sure how effective that would be from where he was. It was possible that any attempt to use the dragon’s power would fail him, just as it was possible that there was no real need to force his way in. As far as he knew, there was no reason to be concerned. There might not be anything taking place more sinister than a meeting of the city leaders, the same sort of meeting he had participated in when he had first come to this city.

  And yet, he couldn’t shake the sense that he needed to get inside. There was something taking place, but he didn’t know what it was.

  “What if we work together?” Jayell asked.

  He nodded and she pushed on the door, joining him. Her power flowed outward, mixing with his. It was a strange sensation, and in some ways, it reminded him of the way the Damhur used the Deshazl, mixing their two magics together, creating something that wasn’t possible otherwise.

  As they held onto their power, each of them pushing through their own magic, Fes found himself calling to the dragons, using power as he did, and finally, combined with Jayell, the door sprung open.

  When it did, he stood framed in the doorway for a moment.

  Power washed over him, pouring outward, coming from inside the room, and it was the kind of power that he recognized.

  His breath caught as he looked around.

  “What is it?” Jayell asked, pushing behind him.

  “It’s… empty.”

  Power burst from Jayell, washing away from her in a steady sweep of heat and magic. Fes had known a spell like that before and recognized that she used it to help her determine if anyone was nearby. There was no attempt at subtlety within it, as if she didn’t want to make the effort subtle at all.

  “There,” she whispered, pointing in the corner.

  Fes stared and it took a moment to see a figure draped in a dragon-scale cloak sitting along one wall. Gray hair was the only thing visible.

  “Arudis?”

  He approached slowly, carefully, and the other woman looked up as he did. It had been a while since he’d seen her, and in that time, she had seemed to age considerably. Lines at the corners of her eyes had always been there, but seemed even more impressive now than they had been before. A strange hum of energy radiated from her and left his skin tingling.

  “Fezarn,” she breathed out. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

  “You summoned me?”

  She shook her head. “It wasn’t me, but you’re needed.”

  “Where?”

  “Where they first found us.”

  He shared a glance with Jayell. Hadn’t they just come from there?

  “Why?”

  “The Deshazl are meeting.”

  “All of them?”

  Arudis nodded. “All. Including the Asharn.”

  “They don’t need me, then.” When he’d left, he had wanted nothing more than to convince the Asharn and the Deshazl of Thoras to meet. That it had taken until now bothered him, but old disagreements took time to resolve.

  “They do, because the Damhur will be there, too.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Fes looked around the inside of the tent set up in the clearing outside the forest. It wasn’t quite where they’d met the Deshazl before, but close enough that he should have seen it when coming through here. As he stared, he took in the row of Damhur, struggling with why they were here. He held onto his power, leaving the Deshazl magic wrapped around himself in a barrier, but he resisted the urge to explode it out from him—along with the urge to attack. He’d been harmed by the Damhur enough that he feared them being allowed to Call, but at the same time, he doubted that they would have been able to easily Call the Deshazl from here. His people had power, and they were capable with it. The Dragon’s Eye had made it so they wouldn’t have to fear being Called, even though fear was their tradition when it came to the Damhur. Maybe it was time for that tradition to be cast aside.

  All eyes turned in his direction the moment they arrived.

  Had they been waiting for him?

  “Who are you?” This came from a tall, thin man with a thick beard that lined his angular face. He had a sharp nose and a sharp forehead. He was dressed like the Damhur usually were, his blue velvet cloak hanging from his shoulders and a dragon bone sword strapped to his side. The ivory hilt was just visible from underneath his cloak.

  “Why are you here?”

  “Because we invited them,” a familiar voice from the back of the room called.

  Fes leaned off to the side, and as he did, he saw Chornan. The man was large, muscular, and he was dressed in his dragon-scale cloak, the same cloak Fes carried with him. It was impervious to attack, impenetrable by even dragonglass. Next to him were others Fes had seen within this place before, but there was no sign of Jesla.

  What had happened to her?

  She was a spiritual leader of sorts for the people here. He wouldn’t expect them to be meeting with the Damhur without her, but at the same time, Jesla didn’t see herself as a leader. She saw herself as someone who helped connect her people.

  “What is this, Chornan?”

  “This is diplomacy, Fezarn.”

  At the mention of his name, the thin Damhur stiffened, looking over at Fes with sudden interest. The subtle sense of a Calling drifted from him, and Fes fortified himself, pushing outward with his magic before turning it within himself.

  Were the other Deshazl aware of it? He couldn’t be the only one who detected the effect of the Calling—and he couldn’t be the only one who realized that the Damhur were not coming peacefully.

  “If this is diplomacy, then he wouldn’t be attempting a Calling.”

  The Damhur eased back on his attempt to Call, smiling tightly at Fes. “What makes you believe that we would attempt such a thing during diplomacy?”

  Fes ignored him, striding past him to join Chornan and the others. Five of them lined the table, but none sat. A fire crackled in a pit behind them. Food and steaming pots of liquid rested on the table, completely untouched. Whatever diplomacy was taking place here had just started, so Fes hadn’t missed anything.

  “Why would you welcome them in here?” Fes asked Chornan.

  “We have been guided to do so.”

  “Guided by who?”

  “Guided by me.”

  A person Fes hadn’t seen along the far wall stood. He turned to Jesla and realized that she had been there all along. He hurried over to her and wrapped her in a quick hug before releasing her.

  “What is this?” he whispered to her.

  “Something that I have seen,” she said.

  Jayell had joined them, and Fes was all too aware of the fact that the Damhur were watching, listening, and he ignored them, focusing on not only his connection to his Deshazl magic but any attempt of Calling to him. He erected a barrier and could feel Jayell doing the same, swirling it around them all, protecting them from possible interference by the Damhur.

  “What did you see?”

  “I saw the need for us to take action.”

  “Why?”

  “Because others are suffering.”

  He didn’t have to wonder what others she referred to. It was the Deshazl captured and Called by the Damhur. Those would have to be the others that she had seen; when she had stepped into the Dragon’s Eye, she had been given a gift that very few others had, and because of that gift, she was able to use it, could connect to the Deshazl, to see connectivity between them.

  It was the same thing Fes was able to do, the same way he was able to draw power from other Deshazl, only hers didn’t let her use that power other than connecting to them.

  “Why here?”

  “Because here is as neutral as we could make it.”

  “How did they get here?”

  “We guided them,” she said. She tapped on his arm. “Release your barrier, Fezarn. There is no reason for you to hold onto it.”

  Slowly, and with far greater reluctance than he wanted to admit, he released the barrier and felt Jayell do the same thing. When it went down, he joined Jesla along the wall, choosing to listen.

  “May we begin?” the Damhur asked.

  This was why he had felt compelled to come south.

  “You called us here, but you did not let us know that you were bringing him.”

  Chornan shook his head. “We didn’t know that he was coming.”

  “I did,” Jesla said. She stepped forward, glancing from Fes to Chornan. “I’m the reason that he is here.”

  It made sense that she would have summoned him, though why?

  “Why would you bring us all together?” the Damhur asked.

  “Because there is a need. Your people have made slaves out of our ancestors.”

  “They are not slaves. They are—”

  Fes couldn’t help himself and started forward. Power filled him, flowing through him, drawn unintentionally from the Deshazl all around him. He let it flow outward, slowly pushing it forward, trying, but unable, to ignore the fact that he was doing so.

  “If you call them animals, you will face the wrath of one such animal.”

  “Who are you?” the man asked.

  “You recognize my name. You know who I am.” Fes studied the man, looking from his dragon bone sword to his narrow face, and realized that this man must be one of the Trivent. They were powerful, but there should be no reason that they would have come here. Why would they risk themselves coming to this place, especially when there was so much at stake? “Who are you?”

  “I am surprised that you don’t recognize me, seeing as how I once knew you.”

  Fes stiffened. “What do you mean?”

  The man smiled tightly, turning his attention back to Chornan. “If this is going to be diplomacy, then why don’t we have a seat, we can talk, and then we can decide if we will allow you to return.”

  “This was not about allowing us to return,” Chornan said.

  “No? I believe the missive that I received was a request to return to Javoor.”

  Fes glanced over, looking at Jesla. Could she have claimed that? He didn’t think that she would, and doubted that she would have willingly offered them up to the others, but what if she did? It seemed too much to believe, too much to think that she would willingly sacrifice their people.

  “We must all return to Javoor,” Jesla said.

  The Damhur smiled, spreading his hands out on the table, glancing from Chornan to Jesla before his gaze drifted to Fes and lingered there for a long moment. “As we were saying. If you would like to discuss the terms of your return, we are most willing to do so, but there will be stipulations.”

  What was taking place here? Here he had feared Azithan would betray them, to negotiate a treaty on behalf of the empire, but it seemed that the Deshazl would do the same thing, and possibly to a more dangerous effect. If the Deshazl went willingly to Javoor, any negotiation that the empire might be able to attempt would be lost.

  Fes took a step back, looking over at Jesla. “You can’t do this,” he whispered.

  “You don’t understand, Fezarn. This is what I have seen.”

  “What if they want you to have seen it?”

  “That is not how my gift works. I am connected. The Dragon’s Eye has allowed me the opportunity to connect to our people. I see this is necessary.”

  “But by forcing the Deshazl back to Javoor?”

  “That is not what I saw,” she whispered.

  “Then what? Why would you let them believe that the Deshazl would come to Javoor?”

  “No. I suggested that the Damhur come to Javoor.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “The city was once known as Javoor,” she whispered.

  Fes’s breath caught, and he turned his attention to the others, to the negotiation, with renewed interest. If that was what Jesla had thought, then it was quite a bit different than what the Damhur would want. He had a hard time believing that any of the Damhur, let alone one of the Trivent, would willingly resettle in the city. There was no doubting that the city was large enough to house them, but what he wouldn’t expect would be for the people of Javoor to come here.

  As he watched the Damhur, he could tell that they had no idea that was her intent. This negotiation was not going to go well.

  “We needed to get them in the same place,” she said.

  She took a deep breath and stood, moving to the head of the table. “You are called here on behalf of the Deshazl, and on behalf of the Asharn, with the intention of discussing the terms of the Damhur return to Javoor.”

  “The Damhur have never left Javoor.”

  “On the contrary, where you are sitting is Javoor. This is a place of power. A place of our ancient people. And the Damhur are the ones who left it long ago. In doing so, you weakened not only your own people, but also ours. There is something coming that requires us to work together yet again.”

  The Damhur turned toward her, a dark smile twisting his eyes. “You would have us believe that we should come willingly to your lands?” His gaze drifted around the room. “To a place like this?” Scorn dripped from his voice. “I think not. We have known glory such as your people would never understand. You are incapable of understanding.”

  “It’s a warning,” Jesla said.

  “You call us here to threaten us?”

  “As I said, we called you here because there is the need. Javoor must be reunited once again.”

  Jesla leaned on the table, her gaze drifting down one side and then the other, taking in the people of her land before turning to the Damhur. Lastly, she turned to look at Fes and then Jayell. There was something in her gaze, a promise, and he realized that she meant that not only should her people and the Damhur be reunited, but also the empire.

  What was this about?

  If she had needed the empire, why not summon the emperor or Azithan? With her Deshazl connection, she should be able to reach across the sea, the same way that she reached Fes, and draw the emperor out. She wouldn’t have had to focus only on Fes.

  What had she seen?

  And where were the Asharn?

  If this was about reuniting the Deshazl and the Damhur against some dangerous threat, the Asharn had to be a part of it.

  “You called us here to speak of something that your priest has seen?” The Damhur looked at Chornan, the disgust on his face far too clear. The Damhur did nothing to disguise it, and at the same time, Fes looked at the Damhur in much the same way, feeling an equal share of disgust. “We would not have come had we known that was your reason. We believe that you had called us here because of an interest in returning to Javoor. If this was your way of trying to draw us here to betray us, you will find that we will not be so easily defeated.”

  Power burst from him, and it was mixed with a Calling, but more than that, there came a sense of Deshazl magic.

  How was it that the Damhur was able to summon Deshazl magic? As far as Fes knew, he shouldn’t be able to do so, and yet it wasn’t the first time that he had encountered one of the Damhur who seemed capable of mixing magic in such a way.

  Fes hurriedly slammed the barrier around the Damhur, nodding to Jayell. She followed, rapidly throwing up a barrier of her own. Combined, the two of them held the Damhur. Fes breathed out, feeling a sense of relief at the fact that they had managed to stop him before he did something to get the upper hand.

  Jesla was watching him. “Release it,” she whispered.

 

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