She traced three interlocking triangles near his head, then moved to his feet, doing the same. She then linked those, sending the energy of her healing spell through him. It was blunt, simple power that flowed through him—and it was all she could do.
She wanted to try to help him as much as she could. He didn’t deserve to die because of some dark sorcerer attacking, but that wasn’t even the reason she did this.
What if it had been Char?
She couldn’t shake that feeling.
And so, as she poured power through her, she gritted her teeth, focusing on the spell, and nearly forgot about the Society.
Until she heard a shout.
She looked up as three maroon-robed people strode toward her.
Jayna glanced down at the man. His color had improved, and the spell had stabilized him. She could tell the Society she had been trying to help, but she wasn’t sure they would believe her, so she got up and scrambled away. When she reached the corner where she had felt the dark magic, she paused, hiding there for a moment. Two of the sorcerers who had just arrived began to work on the same two fallen sorcerers whom Jayna had tried to heal, obviously recognizing the third one was beyond any help.
Jayna shook her head before turning away.
There was too much happening.
She needed to help, but right now, what she really wanted was to have a drink.
She passed others as she made her way to the western edge of the city, and many of them had something of a dazed expression. Were they aware of the influence of the dark magic that had touched them, or did they simply get caught up in the riot? Without testing, using her own connection to sorcery, Jayna wasn’t going to be able to find out.
She was tempted to return back to her home, but not yet. She didn’t want to go back. She wanted to go somewhere to get something to drink instead.
Jayna had visited quite a few other taverns during her time in Nelar, but none of them were as comfortable as the Wicked Pint. Maybe it was because it had something of a rougher feel to it, or perhaps it was that she had come to know the owner a bit more, or maybe it was because the food was good and cheap and she didn’t have much money.
Her thoughts raced. She was bothered by everything she had seen so far.
Enchantments meant to look like the Ashara. Dark sorcerers causing the dular to attack. The Society fighting back.
When she entered the tavern, she took a seat at a table and stared down at its surface. It wasn’t long before somebody came over and she looked up.
Robert was about ten years older than her, with dark hair and still a little bit of a limp from when he had been used by Gabranth for the festival. Still, his eyes were bright and clear, and he had an easy-going smile.
“You look like you need a drink, Jayna.”
She nodded. “I do.”
“Something happen?”
She debated how to answer. It wasn’t just that something had happened, but how it was happening.
The attacks. The dark sorcery. The Society’s involvement.
And, to top it all off, Ceran’s complete silence.
“Nothing out of the usual,” she said.
He snorted. “In this city? I’m not exactly sure what’s ‘usual.’” He rapped his knuckles on the table. “Let me get you a bottle of wine. I saw Eva in here not too long ago, so I can send her over too.”
Jayna nodded.
She hadn’t seen Eva when she’d come in, but she had been distracted.
What was going on in the city?
She twirled the dragon stone ring on her finger, trying to activate it, hoping Ceran would feel it and respond, but even after drawing as much power as she had earlier today, holding it like she had, he still had not responded. He wasn’t going to, then.
When a figure approached the table, Jayna didn’t even look up.
“You look like I feel,” Eva said, slinking down into a chair across from her.
“Probably,” Jayna said. “There was another riot.”
Eva’s brow furrowed. “Another?”
Jayna nodded. “And a sorcerer died.”
She made a point of keeping her voice low, worried it might carry through the tavern.
“Dark?”
Jayna shook her head. “I don’t think so. Society. There were two others, but I was able to save them.”
“You have to be careful,” Eva said.
“I have to be careful?”
“Raollet and Telluminder weren’t wrong. You’re getting a reputation. Eventually, you have to pick a side, or one or the other are going to squeeze you.”
“I’m not picking between the Society and the dular,” Jayna said. “I don’t even know how I would go about doing that.”
Robert brought the bottle of wine over, setting down two glasses. “Food?”
Jayna nodded, staring at her hands.
“What happened to her?” Robert asked.
“She’s thirsty,” Eva said.
“One of those days, huh? Well, I’ll make sure you don’t run out of wine. And I’ll keep anyone from bothering you.”
“Thanks,” Jayna muttered.
When Eva poured her a glass of wine, she took it, staring down into the cup.
“I feel like I’m over my head.”
“This is what you agreed to,” Eva said.
“I agreed to work with Ceran. I didn’t agree to do it on my own. He hasn’t helped.”
“But you’re still doing it.”
Jayna looked up, holding Eva’s gaze.
As she did, she realized she had to stop wallowing in her own issues.
Eva had issues of her own.
“Promise me something, Eva,” Jayna started. “We will work through this together.”
Before Eva nodded, there was a hint of darkness that flooded her eyes.
Neither of them spoke as they finished their glasses of wine.
14
Dreams troubled Jayna while she slept. It wasn’t uncommon for her to have very different types of dreams these days; sometimes they were more vivid than usual, but sometimes they were simply darker. It was almost as if using the dragon stone ring had changed her dreams, especially now that it had been enhanced by the bloodstone.
In her most recent dream, she’d been standing on a battlefield, looking out upon hundreds of sorcerers, power blasting all around, with some dark energy situated in the center of it. Destruction surrounded her. The ground was barren, trees had been torn asunder. An entire city laid waste in the distance, burning and smoking, and Jayna was all too aware of its presence.
In the dream, she could feel the power within her, a mixture of her sorcery and that from the dragon stone ring—power that seemed to compel her, practically demanding she draw upon it in a way that would use even more energy, but doing so would force her deeper into that darkness.
The battle raged around her, magic and spells that seemed impossible. Sorcerers floated, as if walking on air, while others shot lightning bolts down from the sky. Still others used fireballs larger than any house and sent them streaking toward the people they attacked. Sorcerers faced sorcerers. All around them were others—dular in a violent battle, enchantments flaring. Jayna recognized a concussive blast, the sound rolling outward, and the poor girl holding on to the enchantment reminded her of the girl from the market, somebody who should not have been called into a war like this. There was another blast, something that sent out a surge of energy. Sorcerers were struck by it, and they suddenly stopped—memories stripped from them by the enchantment.