Born of Fire (The Cloud Warrior Saga Book 8) (17 page)

“Now, Maelen?” Maclin still managed to make the title respectful. “You mean now that you have demonstrated the ability to reach the draasin that was long promised to return? Many assumed that it would be someone of Par, and I think few truly believed that you had the ability you claimed, but for you to have reached the draasin… There would not have been another way.”

He indicated Tolman, who appeared to rest comfortably. “And for him to have shared the location, something that only the strongest among us had ever learned, tells me that you managed to gain his trust.” Maclin glanced over to the draasin near the fire. The small fire elemental stretched his wings and shifted his slender tail so that it better curled around him, leaving the barbed end pointing away. “I admit to curiosity about
how
you managed to convince Tolman.”

“I don’t know what I did, but it had something to do with the students, I think. He was afraid that I would use them and try to find the bonds they formed naturally, I suspect because he assumed I would steal them. And there is one of his students that saa thinks highly of. It was after working with her that he brought me to the draasin.”

Maclin sighed and stepped up to the cot holding Tolman and squeezed his arm. “Old friend, you risked much with your decision,” he said softly.

Tolman blinked his eyes open. A smile spread across his face. “You survived.”

“What happened?”

“When you descended, there was a disturbance in earth. That place has long been protected by bonds, so such disturbance should not have been possible, and certainly not with such strength, but…”

“My tunnel collapsed,” Tan said.

Tolman nodded. “I was attacked. I did not see who it was, only that they were powerful.”

“Someone does not want Par to return. They prefer the ways of Par-shon,” Maclin said.

Tan let out a frustrated sigh. He suspected that he knew who it had been, but not
why
. What would Elanne and those under her gain by continuing to bond? She had seen how Tan had destroyed the bonds and had heard him discuss his unwillingness to force bonds on the elementals, and maybe that was all the reason that she needed to try to end him. She might not be able to defeat him directly, but if she could collapse the earth on top of him, she wouldn’t have to do it directly.

And if it was Elanne, Tan had to understand how to stop her.

“I need you to tell me all who support Par,” he told Maclin.

The other man locked eyes with Tolman for a long moment before looking at Tan. Then he nodded.

T
he bond
on the building didn’t hold with the same strength that it once had. Tan used that fact, hoping to draw Elanne out, not willing to damage the bond further but wanting to find some way to coax her out of hiding. Since finding her in the street, apparently repairing bonds—though now he wondered if that really was what she had been doing—he had not seen any sign of her.

The bond that he crouched near in the shadows was one for fire. Fire would be easier for him to track and to modify the bond if needed.

The draasin curled around his neck again. Like before, he had the amused sense from Asgar when the hatchling crawled up his neck to settle in before they left the estate. Tan found it easier for the draasin to ride with him this time and hadn’t really wanted to leave him behind, not with his uncertainty around who might be willing to help and who might be interested in harming the draasin.

He
thought
that Elanne was the one who still supported Par-shon, but he wondered if maybe he might be wrong. There were enough others in Par-shon who had done well under the Utu Tonah, and enough who missed the bonds that he had forced on the elementals, valuing the power that came with bonding to them.

A few people wandered the streets, but not as many as the last time he’d been in this section. There was a wax-worker nearby—probably the source of the fire bond—as well as a baker and butcher. The mixing of scents made his mouth water.

Not only him. The draasin perked up as they waited, sniffing the air.

“Are you hungry?” Tan asked the hatchling.

It nipped at his ear and hissed fire. Tan winced. He might be impervious to draasin fire, but sharp jaws would tear flesh. The idea of being part of the draasin’s first meal didn’t appeal to him.

Kota, can you help with the hunt for the hatchling?

The earth elemental clucked deep in his mind, the sound of her laughter.
Maelen, you would like me to be the hatchling’s mother? We would work together to teach the draasin to hunt?

I think the draasin will teach the little one to hunt, but right now it’s not so much about the hunt, but about the food. The draasin said that he would need to eat after he fed.

Fire fills this one, Maelen. I see why the Mother chose for him to hatch.

Tan smiled. The longer that he’d been around the hatchling, the more he recognized that this one was indeed well connected to fire. He filled with fire and grew stronger with each day since he had connected to the fire bond.

As he sat there, he sensed nothing. He debated how much longer he should watch. If only there were a way for him to search without having to be here. But there might be.

Kota. If you won’t hunt for the draasin, will you hunt for me?

What would you have me hunt?

I would search for the woman Elanne.
He sent an image of her and tied with it the sense of earth that he’d detected when around her.
Do you think you can remain hidden and help me find her?

Why must I hide, Maelen?

You would frighten the people of Par-shon.

Kota clucked deep within his mind again.
They would frighten easily.

They have suffered much
.

As have I. If you need it, then I will search for her.

Tan decided to leave the bond, but not before he used a shaping of fire to repair it. As he did, he added a flair of his own, modifying it in such a way that it would be stronger and call to saa with more conviction. With the bond in place, he felt an appreciative sigh from saa.

Strangely, as he worked with the shaping, adding fire in increasing force to repair the bond, he felt an echo of his shaping from the small draasin. He remained curled around Tan’s shoulders and didn’t really move during the shaping, but there was movement within him, from the connection he shared to the fire bond.

“You shouldn’t be copying that,” Tan said to him and touched him on the nose. The draasin nipped at him again, and he jerked his hand back.

Food for the draasin.

If he didn’t find it, he suspected that he would become a snack whether he wanted to or not. And with the butcher nearby, he could find something for the draasin.

Using a shaping of fire and earth, he masked the draasin. Keeping him hidden was easy enough with fire alone, but adding earth made it more stable.

The butcher shop was an older building, and Tan suspected it came from a time long before Par-shon had been founded by the Utu Tonah. This was a building of Par. A small, squat man eyed him as he entered, peering down his long, bulbous nose at him, taking in his dress and then his sword, before turning his attention to Tan’s face. Reddened cheeks flushed as his eyes widened.

“My Utu Tonah!” he said with a gasp. “You honor me with your presence here.”

“The honor is mine,” Tan said. He glanced to the back of the butcher shop, where massive slabs of shaped ice kept the meat cold. Most were wild deer, with a single boar visible from where he stood. The selection was different than anything that he would find in the kingdoms. Of course, Tan was more comfortable hunting for his own food than turning to a butcher to prepare it for him.

Growing up in Galen, he had learned to prepare most of his food himself and rarely had to depend upon going to the town market for fresh cuts of meat. His home of Nor didn’t have water shapers able to freeze slabs of water, which made maintaining freshness more challenging.

“I’m looking for a man who can be discreet,” Tan began, again looking around the man’s shop. As the only customer, he had no one else to worry about overhearing. The shop was clean, but the lack of business raised concern that the butcher’s business was not thriving. He might be able to use that fact as he searched for a way to feed the draasin. He could have asked Maclin, but after everything that he’d seen and discovered, he no longer really knew who he could trust.

And maybe the answer was no one. As an outsider, he might not be able to trust any of the people of Par or Par-shon. Given what he’d now discovered, there was much at stake, more even than he would have imagined when he first decided to return to these lands. He had thought there might be elemental crossings and had found a few, but a clutch of draasin eggs was far more valuable than anything else he might find.

“Discreet, my Utu Tonah? I am sure that you have nothing to fear from someone so lowly as Balsun.”

“I hope not, but I have learned that Par-shon is more complicated than I realized.”

Balsun nodded as he pressed the tips of his fingers together over his belly. “Par-shon has always been complex, my Utu Tonah. Having the blessings of these lands requires it to be complex, but then, you must understand that.”

“I understand that my knowledge has limitations.” The draasin shifted on his neck and Tan had to pull on the shaping that masked him, finding a way to keep him hidden from the butcher. He fought the urge to grab the draasin and push him back off his neck as he made another attempt at Tan’s ear, but he realized the draasin seemed to be playing rather than truly attempting to harm him. He forced a smile, needing to turn the focus of the conversation. “That is not why I’ve come. What I need is a supply of your best venison,” he said.

It probably didn’t matter to the draasin if it was the butcher’s
best
venison, but he figured it wouldn’t hurt to make the request seem more important by asking for it. Besides, it might make him think that Tan had something prestigious planned for it.

Or maybe he’d try to poison it. Given Tan’s position in Par-shon, he didn’t really know which of them it would be. And he hated that he questioned.

“Ah, my Utu Tonah, you are in luck. Balsun has acquired quality venison. I have hunters who secure nothing but the best for me, and I am well known for my ability to provide only the best cuts. Are there any in particular that you would like to see?”

Tan wanted to tell him that it wouldn’t matter, especially since the draasin would likely roast the meat himself and tear it apart, but he smiled at the butcher. “I am interested in seeing how skilled your cuts might be. If they are satisfactory, I will return.”

Balsun smiled widely. “You will bring great fortune to Balsun!”

Would he? The reception that he’d gotten in Par made that unlikely, and maybe he would bring the wrong kind of attention to the butcher. Tan hadn’t considered that. If there were members of a faction loyal to Par-shon, and essentially loyal to the prior Utu Tonah, then it would make sense for them to have an interest in harming anyone Tan favored.

“How much will you need?”

Tan considered the draasin’s appetite and decided that he might need an entire deer. “I’ll take as much as you can spare. A few stones will suffice for now.”

Balsun bobbed his head and made his way back toward the meat storage.

Tan fought to keep a smile on his face, wondering if he really had made a mistake. Keeping track of the varying political dynamics was harder than he would have expected. When dealing with Incendin and then with Par-shon, he had only needed to convince Roine. Even that hadn’t always been necessary, especially as Tan had taken to doing what he felt was needed. Always, he’d done that with discussion and counseling. What did he use to guide him now?

Nothing. Not even Amia.

That was something he would need to change. Hopefully, the issue with the Aeta was mostly wrapped up, or would be soon so that he could have her return to him. Having her with him not only provided guidance, but she also gave him a sense of comfort. Nearly dying here had left him feeling particularly
un
comfortable.

You were never in danger of dying.

It came from Amia, and he smiled, this time not needing to force it.
What do you mean? I was nearly crushed by an entire mountain of rock.

After everything that you
have
done and you feel the need to exaggerate? I think the elementals will agree that you were never in any real danger.

Tan felt the clucking laughter of Kota and pushed her away.
I would still like to have you with me.

Then I will come.

Have you finished… whatever it was that you needed to do?

Nearly. But I will come if you will come for me.

Tan didn’t think that he could safely leave the draasin behind, not since it was so young. Not only might he need to feed, but there was the risk that one of the people who had tried attacking him when he was in the cavern might return, and if they were capable enough to nearly collapse the entire rock of the cavern onto him, then they would certainly be capable enough to harm the draasin.

Worse than that, though, was his fear of what would happen were the hatchling to be forced to bond. More than anything, he feared to leave the draasin here for that reason, but also feared to take him anywhere that he might face danger. Around Tan, there might not be anyplace that was really safe.

I will see if Asgar is willing to come for you again. Asgar?

Maelen, I will help your mate, but only her,
the draasin answered.
Besides, I am interested in meeting this little one.

Tan glanced at the draasin hidden beneath his shaping, obscured from Balsun—at least, so he hoped. It pulled on Tan’s neck, shifting as if trying to find a more comfortable position. It wouldn’t be long before he could not sit on Tan’s shoulders, but for now, Tan figured it was as safe a place as any, even if he did have to use a hint of earth shaping to support him.

With it settled that Asgar would return with Amia, Tan returned his focus to the butcher, doing so in time for the man to make his way from the back of his shop carrying a stack of venison steaks wrapped in thick paper. The draasin smelled them, for he moved and sniffed. A trail of steam erupted from his nose, and then he nipped at Tan’s ear. He struggled
not
to jump, imagining how he would explain that to Balsun.

“Will this suffice?” the butcher asked.

Tan took the offered stack of steaks and nodded. “I think that will be more than enough.”

Balsun nodded happily.

“Balsun,” Tan began, deciding that he needed to know more about this man if he were to use him to supply the draasin, “how long have you owned this shop?”

“Ah, Utu Tonah, my family has been here since the Founding,” he said. His demeanor changed, and he touched the tips of his first two fingers to his chin, bowing his head slightly. “An Alasand butcher has worked this building since the first days of Par… Par-shon.”

“Only Par-shon?” Tan asked. If Balsun had been here for years, Tan suspected that he would support Par. Maybe that was his clue to how to know who to trust and who might need extra attention, though he began to suspect that was unreliable. Elanne had come from families of Bonders—at least, that was her claim. But he didn’t know that he could trust her.

Balsun glanced at the ground, unwilling to meet Tan’s eyes. “Par-shon, my Utu Tonah,” he said. “Of course Par-shon.”

“Send the rest to my estate if you would,” Tan said, suppressing the urge to sigh as he began to understand another aspect of the challenge facing him. Not only did he have to confront the difficulty of Par versus Par-shon without knowing who was on which side, but he also had to deal with the struggles of those who’d lived here during the Utu Tonah’s reign.

Would he ever manage to juggle all of that?

Not only juggle all of that, he thought as he made his way out of the butcher, but there was the issue of doing what he could to protect the draasin eggs. With the new hatchling, he had one more elemental to protect, and this one even more frail and fragile than any that he’d needed to protect before. Beyond that… he had an entire clutch of eggs, and all had the potential to hatch.

He hadn’t given much thought to it yet, but if he managed to succeed, he could see the draasin returned to the world. Not as three that he’d returned after thawing them from the ice, but truly returned, with the skies filled with them, something that had not been seen for over a thousand years.