Smoke and Memories (The Dark Sorcerer #3) - D.K. Holmberg Page 0,8

about the specifics of their unease. That had been a mistake. If the dular blamed the sorcerers . . .

Jayna glanced over to Eva and found her frowning.

“Where is the sorcerer?”

The man ignored her and shouted again.

“I don’t like this,” she said to Eva, keeping her voice low. If there was a crowd of angry people in Nelar, Jayna didn’t want to get caught up in it, and she didn’t need a sorcerer to lash out at the crowd. Most of the time, the sorcerers would refrain from using their magic too aggressively, but if they felt they were under attack, she wouldn’t blame them for using their power in a way that would cause damage—and she knew the kind of power they could unleash.

“What can you do about it?”

“Not a whole lot,” Jayna admitted.

Which was part of the problem. Even if she wanted to get involved here, she couldn’t take on an entire crowd of people. At the same time, she also didn’t want to let one of the sorcerers unleash their power against the crowd.

“We need to stay with them,” she said to Eva.

“You don’t need to get involved in this,” Eva said.

“It’s not getting involved. It’s just intervening. A little bit.”

“Jayna—”

She crept through the crowd, pushing past several people, until she could get closer to the front. She heard the shouts growing louder in the distance, and she knew that had to be where the sorcerer was. Jayna forced her way through the crowd, and could feel Eva staying behind her. Jayna was thankful that she did.

The shouting got louder the farther they went.

Some cried out about the attack on the dular’s homes. That alone was enough reason for the sorcerers to be attacked. The dular led in Nelar, or they traditionally had. If there was going to be an attack on the sorcerers, she understood the reason for it, along with the outrage and agitation, especially having seen the attack on the dular’s homes herself. Some people cried out about the merchant tax, which she found a bit ironic, given that had come from the dular themselves. Others simply shouted in violence and anger. They were upset about their place in the world, which Jayna could do nothing about.

She continued forcing her way forward.

Finally, she found a maroon-robed man fighting his way through the crowd, trying to avoid assault and keeping a barrier wrapped around him, but beyond that, she saw no one else resembling a sorcerer.

“Well, crap,” Jayna muttered.

“What is it?” Eva asked.

She nodded, all the indication she needed to give.

“It’s Char.”

At least Jayna knew Char wouldn’t lash out against the crowd, but that did little to protect him from the crowd’s onslaught.

She didn’t like the chances of him making it through here unscathed. There were far too many dular here, with far too many enchantments, and there were limits to the amount of assault his protective barrier could withstand. Jayna had used those barriers often enough, and still had to push back against attacks.

The coin in her pocket began to vibrate again.

“You’re going to have to go help Topher,” she said, glancing over to Eva.

“Why don’t you go? I can watch Char.”

Jayna arched a brow, jostled forward by the crowd around her. Someone else shouted, and they threw something which bounced off the barrier around Char, rebounding back into the crowd before exploding in a rain of sparks.

“I think I’m going to need to do this.”

“Don’t start anything,” Eva said.

“What exactly do you think I intend to start?”

Eva shrugged. “I don’t really know. Knowing you, though, and your feelings about Char . . .”

“What do you mean, ‘feelings about Char’?”

She was shoved forward again and nearly stumbled. Jayna instinctively reacted, pushing out with just a hint of power.

At least, she had intended upon pushing out with just a hint of power. These days, her control over the Toral ring was not nearly as finely tuned as it had been before. Now that it had the addition of the bloodstone, a burst of power exploded from her, sending people near her staggering back.

Others looked at her a moment and Jayna kept her head down.

Just let them think I’m nothing but a dular.

She didn’t need the crowd around her attacking because they thought she was a sorcerer.

“Don’t do anything stupid,” Eva shouted.

Her words were nearly lost in the bustle.

“Go find Topher.”

Somebody shoved Jayna from behind again, and she stumbled, catching herself. She refrained from drawing power through the Toral ring, not wanting to unleash magic that