Smoke and Memories (The Dark Sorcerer #3) - D.K. Holmberg Page 0,106
sorcerers Jayna had healed.
Agnew looked at her, frowning.
“You are the one. You attacked us—”
“Dorian,” Jayna said. She wasn’t sure if it was even right, but she watched Agnew, gauging any sort of response.
He stared at her.
She needed to know.
Rayna had told a compelling story, and the idea fit—that there was some great enchantment here that they were trying to damage—as much as she wanted to deny it. She had been struggling with trying to understand why Nelar had been the target, why there had been so much power present here, but it made sense after talking to Rayna.
Three of the sorcerers were stopped near the fountain and took up positions around it. It occurred to Jayna that explosions continued to thunder out in the city, the power of them ricocheting all around her, an overwhelming sort of energy.
“Stay away from there,” she said to them, letting her voice carry on a spell.
“Jayna?” Char asked.
So he had come.
“Don’t.” She flicked her gaze to Eva. “Keep them away from the fountain.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“Not really,” Jayna muttered.
Smoke started to swirl from Eva, and it radiated in a band outward, toward the courtyard, blocking access to the fountain.
Agnew watched her. “You dare to attack the Sorcerers’ Society? You would dare come into our place with that kind of magic?”
“I would dare,” Jayna said. “Seeing as how I trained with the Academy, I think I have a right.”
She had avoided the Society all this time—avoided admitting what she had been, what she had done—but that time was past. She had to embrace it.
She had sorcery, and she had something more now.
And the steady constricting of the Toral ring told her there was dark power here.
“I’ve been trying to understand it. It’s taken me a while, but the Guild of the Insurn revealed the truth to me.” There it was. His eyes twitched just a little bit at the mention of the Guild of the Insurn. “And then they called you Dorian.” Agnew didn’t react. “The attacks on Nelar only began after you arrived here.”
“The city has been unstable for many years. They needed a firm hand.”
“The firm hand of someone who’s presumably a healer?” Jayna shook her head and took a step toward him. So far, Eva and her magic managed to keep anyone from getting too close to the fountain, though Jayna wondered how long it would last. “I don’t think so. And then there was the callous way you deposited me into the cell beneath the outpost.” She sensed a flicker of uncertainty on Char’s face. “That is not the action of a healer. I was there for the better part of two days. No food. No water. A captive. In a place designed to trap energy.” That was the part of all of this that Jayna still struggled with. As far as she had uncovered, there were three such places all throughout the city, but perhaps there were more. “A place that is designed to separate a sorcerer from their magic. A prison.”
Agnew frowned at her.
“And all this time, the attacks have persisted. First the Celebrants of Asymorn. Then the Order of Norej. Both times, sorcerers of some renown and power had been involved.”
She could feel movement nearby, and Jayna focused on the dragon stone, drawing energy up through the bloodstone, and realized that the smoke she had trapped within it was still active. She pressed it out, creating a band around the courtyard.
She shook her head. “No one is moving. Not until we get through this. It’s been the Society all along.” She frowned at Agnew. “That’s where the darkness is. That’s what’s corrupt.”
“You don’t know what you speak of,” Agnew said.
“I finally think I do. You want people to serve, but you want them to serve so you can force them to help break these enchantments. How many are there?”
Agnew didn’t react.
Frustration filled Jayna—the frustration of not knowing what was happening, the frustration of fighting an enemy she had not been able to find nor do anything about, the frustration of her captivity.
As she stared at Agnew, she embraced that anger and frustration.
There was no point in fighting it any longer. Why should she bother when she could pull on that power? She had already chosen to use the magic within the dragon stone. There was no darkness in it. The only place the darkness could come from would be her, from the sorcery she used.