Read Online The Shadowsteel Forge (The Dark Ability Book 5) by D.K. Holmberg - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: D.K. Holmberg
Ads: Link
do what he needed to keep his friends, but especially Jessa, safe.
Haern grunted. “Know that now. I wouldn’t tell you these things otherwise. That’s why you need to keep working. This business with Venass. They aren’t like the Forgotten, who play by rules you understand coming from Elaeavn. Venass, well, they make their own rules. You’ve seen some of it, but when—or if—you truly make an attempt to engage—then you’ll learn how far they will go, and you’ll have to decide how far you’re willing to go. That’s what I want you to be ready for, Rsiran. Something you can’t understand until it comes at you.”
Rsiran nodded at Haern, wondering what he might be required to do in order to stop Venass. What might he need to do to finally keep everyone he cared about safe? How far was he willing to go?
Chapter 7
R siran sat at the Wretched Barth, staring into the mug of ale, wishing he had answers that wouldn’t come to him. Seval telling him that his grandfather had made the medallion did nothing but raise more questions. The level of detail in the medallion was the kind that Rsiran had not seen before. Even with what he’d demonstrated—mostly to himself—by creating the sjihn tree out of lorcith, he still didn’t know if he would be able to bury another shape inside of one.
“You need to stop asking so many questions,” Brusus said. He tapped the dice he held in his hand and then shook them and, with a flick of his wrist, sent them spilling across the table. “I’m surprised the alchemists thinks they can convince the Smith Guild to legitimize you. Something like that Rsiran… damn. That is valuable in ways that we don’t even know yet.”
Rsiran smiled. “I’m sure you could come up with ways for it to be valuable. But, from what I’ve heard, the guilds aren’t necessarily working well together. So the alchemists might not hold much sway over the smiths.”
“Not sure that matters. Besides, if you can get legitimized in the eyes of the Smith Guild, think of what we could do!”
“Like selling more of my work?”
“Ah, you say that like it’s a bad thing. I seem to recall that I’ve helped you out a fair bit.”
Rsiran looked up. “I didn’t tell you that I met a man who wanted five talens for one of my knives.”
Brusus sent the dice skidding across the table. “Five?”
Rsiran nodded. “In Cort.”
He took a shaky breath and reached for the dice. “Cort isn’t really a nice place, Rsiran.”
“Thyr isn’t really a nice place, either.”
Brusus laughed. “Yeah, I suppose we can say that about most of the cities outside of Elaeavn. Why were you in Cort in the first place?”
“I was following the man who attacked Alyse and ended up tracking someone I sensed Sliding while in the forest.”
“You need to be careful. Chasing after someone and Sliding when you don’t even know where it’s taking you? Do you think he knew you were following him? Were you led there intentionally?”
Rsiran hadn’t come up with an answer to that. Whoever it was, he was able to Slide, and though he’d Slid to another unknown city on the way, Cort seemed to be the destination. Rsiran was certain of that. But why Cort, and why make a stop to visit a trader?
The kitchen door opened, and Alyse came out carrying a large tray burdened with three plates and four mugs. She balanced it well. From here, Rsiran could see that the angry bruise on her cheek hadn’t fully faded. “I’m not sure Elaeavn is all that much different. We want to be, and pretend our city is better than others, but is it really?”
Brusus shrugged. “It’s home, though. More now than it ever was before.”
When Jessa joined them and sat next to Rsiran, he nodded. “It’s home,” he agreed.
But even here, even in the place that he called home, he had questions and wasn’t sure that he would ever find the answers that he sought. Why had his father kept so much from him? What more did his mother know? He might
Haern grunted. “Know that now. I wouldn’t tell you these things otherwise. That’s why you need to keep working. This business with Venass. They aren’t like the Forgotten, who play by rules you understand coming from Elaeavn. Venass, well, they make their own rules. You’ve seen some of it, but when—or if—you truly make an attempt to engage—then you’ll learn how far they will go, and you’ll have to decide how far you’re willing to go. That’s what I want you to be ready for, Rsiran. Something you can’t understand until it comes at you.”
Rsiran nodded at Haern, wondering what he might be required to do in order to stop Venass. What might he need to do to finally keep everyone he cared about safe? How far was he willing to go?
Chapter 7
R siran sat at the Wretched Barth, staring into the mug of ale, wishing he had answers that wouldn’t come to him. Seval telling him that his grandfather had made the medallion did nothing but raise more questions. The level of detail in the medallion was the kind that Rsiran had not seen before. Even with what he’d demonstrated—mostly to himself—by creating the sjihn tree out of lorcith, he still didn’t know if he would be able to bury another shape inside of one.
“You need to stop asking so many questions,” Brusus said. He tapped the dice he held in his hand and then shook them and, with a flick of his wrist, sent them spilling across the table. “I’m surprised the alchemists thinks they can convince the Smith Guild to legitimize you. Something like that Rsiran… damn. That is valuable in ways that we don’t even know yet.”
Rsiran smiled. “I’m sure you could come up with ways for it to be valuable. But, from what I’ve heard, the guilds aren’t necessarily working well together. So the alchemists might not hold much sway over the smiths.”
“Not sure that matters. Besides, if you can get legitimized in the eyes of the Smith Guild, think of what we could do!”
“Like selling more of my work?”
“Ah, you say that like it’s a bad thing. I seem to recall that I’ve helped you out a fair bit.”
Rsiran looked up. “I didn’t tell you that I met a man who wanted five talens for one of my knives.”
Brusus sent the dice skidding across the table. “Five?”
Rsiran nodded. “In Cort.”
He took a shaky breath and reached for the dice. “Cort isn’t really a nice place, Rsiran.”
“Thyr isn’t really a nice place, either.”
Brusus laughed. “Yeah, I suppose we can say that about most of the cities outside of Elaeavn. Why were you in Cort in the first place?”
“I was following the man who attacked Alyse and ended up tracking someone I sensed Sliding while in the forest.”
“You need to be careful. Chasing after someone and Sliding when you don’t even know where it’s taking you? Do you think he knew you were following him? Were you led there intentionally?”
Rsiran hadn’t come up with an answer to that. Whoever it was, he was able to Slide, and though he’d Slid to another unknown city on the way, Cort seemed to be the destination. Rsiran was certain of that. But why Cort, and why make a stop to visit a trader?
The kitchen door opened, and Alyse came out carrying a large tray burdened with three plates and four mugs. She balanced it well. From here, Rsiran could see that the angry bruise on her cheek hadn’t fully faded. “I’m not sure Elaeavn is all that much different. We want to be, and pretend our city is better than others, but is it really?”
Brusus shrugged. “It’s home, though. More now than it ever was before.”
When Jessa joined them and sat next to Rsiran, he nodded. “It’s home,” he agreed.
But even here, even in the place that he called home, he had questions and wasn’t sure that he would ever find the answers that he sought. Why had his father kept so much from him? What more did his mother know? He might
Similar Books
