Smoke and Memories (The Dark Sorcerer #3) - D.K. Holmberg Page 0,63
the day, and the sounds of the city were different as well. There weren’t the same shouts coming from storeowners, hawkers with carts along the street all trying to get attention, and it wasn’t the jostling crowd of people moving in and out of Nelar, heading toward the capital or beyond.
In the morning, it was almost still.
Those who were out looked to be heading to work, or they carried baskets as if they were making deliveries before the crowds became dense, making it difficult to navigate the streets. She passed a squad of a dozen soldiers, all marching in step, and it reminded her of her dream. Jayna stepped to the side, thinking about how easy it would be to just blast those dozen soldiers, stopping them in their tracks.
Those are dark thoughts.
She was having dark thoughts, and the more she had them, the more she feared the ring’s influence. Somehow, she had to protect herself against it and find a way to avoid falling into that dark energy.
She wound her way toward the outpost. By the time she arrived, it was later in the morning; the sun was up and she had started to feel warm.
She hadn’t come to the outpost very often in the middle of the day. It was strange to do so now, and stranger still that she came without any fear of repercussions. She had no intention of using magic, but even if she had to, Jayna doubted they would be able to capture and hold her in any way now that she had the dragon stone enhanced by the bloodstone. Even if they tried, she could use the power available to her to withstand the attack.
She headed along the path up to the simple stone building and paused there for a moment. There was no feeling of power from the outpost. It was all contained by enchantments within the building itself—ancient enchantments set by some of the first Society members who had founded this place. She was left wondering how many of them were part of the twelve followers of Sarenoth, if any. How many of those sorcerers knew dark magic?
Maybe none. Maybe all of this was simply Raollet misleading her, trying to get her to waste time looking into something that had no meaning to her. But if he was telling the truth, then she had to wonder if perhaps they did have some dark sorcerers here in the city.
She focused for a moment on the linking spell between her and Char. It had solidified over time and had been augmented the last time she’d seen him. She thought she could tap into now.
It would be easier to reach him that way rather than trying to knock, hoping that a sorcerer who was willing to help her out answered the door.
She stood in the doorway, looking at the outpost.
If anybody were to come along, it would draw attention, but Jayna didn’t expect to be here for very long. She closed her eyes, feeling for the linking spell buried deep within her mind. It was there, giving her an awareness of Char, and she latched on to it. She pulled that awareness forward and used it to help her reach through the spell when she tugged on it.
It felt like a string plucked between them.
There was a time when the linking spell was little more than a nuisance, something formed when she had first gone to the Academy, before she truly understood the consequences of her actions. She had found the spell far more valuable than she had ever expected, and the longer it existed between them, the more she valued it.
The door to the outpost came open, and Char stood there. He was dressed in his maroon robes, the same ones she’d seen him wearing through the city when he’d been assaulted. His eyes were darkened, and he looked as if he hadn’t gotten much sleep. His dark hair was disheveled, and when he smiled his loopy smile at her, she couldn’t help but smile back.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“That’s all I get?”
“I wasn’t expecting you to visit.” He glanced over her shoulder and stepped forward, pulling the door closed behind him. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea for you to be here.”
“Because of what happened in the city yesterday?”
“You know?”
“I was there. I helped two of your sorcerers before the Society could get to them—”