thought about how the Incendin shaper tried to reach the pool of spirit. That must have been why they wanted Amia, though as a spirit shaper, the archivist would have been equally able to reach it. What could they have wanted with the pool of spirit?
What use could they have for spirit at a place where the elementals gathered?
“What do you think it does?” Amia asked.
Lacertin turned toward the mountain peak, the place where the protections once hid the artifact, a place he had once battled Roine and then the Incendin shaper. “A place of convergence,” he repeated. “A place where pure spirit can be found. I have found no other place like it in all my years. For all I know, there is no other place like it, where spirit burbles from the ground, summoned by the great elementals.”
Tan noted how he emphasized the word summoned .
And he thought about what the world might have been like one thousand years ago. It was a time when shapers were more powerful, when many spoke to the elementals—learned from them. It was a time when the draasin still roamed and, at times, hunted. Most of the ancient warriors feared the draasin, and for good reason. But Amia had shown a way to control the draasin, to shape them.
Had she only been able to do so in this place? Was that why the archivists could only twist her shaping, not recreate it?
“Does the artifact control the elementals?” he whispered.
Lacertin met his eyes. “That is my fear.”
“But Incendin has it now. The lisincend… or whatever she is… took it.”
“And we should fear what they will use it for.”
“Without access to spirit, is there anything they can do with it?” Amia asked.
“I don’t know. As I said, the artifact is not well documented. I found what I could in the archives of Ethea. Incendin kept their own records from a time before they separated from the rest of the kingdoms. Between the two, I still couldn’t find what I needed. There might be more, but I could not discover it.”
Tan thought of the lowest level of the archives, the place where he and Roine had found the dead archivist, rooms where no shaper could reach. Could the archivists hide additional records there? If so, it made sense that Incendin would want to work with the archivists, or at least make a show of working with them. Now the oldest of the archivists were dead. How many remained who knew the answers?
“Do they need spirit to shape more of…” Tan trailed off, uncertain what word to use to describe the creature. She wasn’t a lisincend, at least not like Fur or the others. She was something different, twisted in an altogether new way. A threat to the draasin.
Lacertin nodded slightly. “A form of spirit has always been needed to create the lisincend. It is why the Aeta refuse to travel too deeply into Incendin.”
Tan shot Amia a look. When he first met her, the Aeta had returned from Incendin after risking a deeper run. Had the Mother known the risk?
“How do they use spirit?” Amia asked. Her voice lowered to a whisper.
“That is a secret Fur kept closely guarded. Only those willing to make the change—Embrace Fire, as they called it—were given the secret of the shaping.”
“I thought not many succeeded.”
Lacertin nodded. “Failure is high. Those who don’t succeed are considered unworthy to fully embrace fire. It is why the lisincend are so revered within Incendin.”
“Did that shaper know the secret?”
“No. Alisz sought to embrace fire for nearly a decade, but Fur always refused. I think he sensed in her too much like him, one who might eventually challenge him for supremacy over the lisincend. Even after he was injured, he still didn’t share that secret with her, though he did with several others, none of who succeeded in embracing fire.” Lacertin frowned. “How did she transform?”
Tan wished he could forget what she’d done, but the image burned into his mind. “She used the artifact. She… cut… the archivist, and
What use could they have for spirit at a place where the elementals gathered?
“What do you think it does?” Amia asked.
Lacertin turned toward the mountain peak, the place where the protections once hid the artifact, a place he had once battled Roine and then the Incendin shaper. “A place of convergence,” he repeated. “A place where pure spirit can be found. I have found no other place like it in all my years. For all I know, there is no other place like it, where spirit burbles from the ground, summoned by the great elementals.”
Tan noted how he emphasized the word summoned .
And he thought about what the world might have been like one thousand years ago. It was a time when shapers were more powerful, when many spoke to the elementals—learned from them. It was a time when the draasin still roamed and, at times, hunted. Most of the ancient warriors feared the draasin, and for good reason. But Amia had shown a way to control the draasin, to shape them.
Had she only been able to do so in this place? Was that why the archivists could only twist her shaping, not recreate it?
“Does the artifact control the elementals?” he whispered.
Lacertin met his eyes. “That is my fear.”
“But Incendin has it now. The lisincend… or whatever she is… took it.”
“And we should fear what they will use it for.”
“Without access to spirit, is there anything they can do with it?” Amia asked.
“I don’t know. As I said, the artifact is not well documented. I found what I could in the archives of Ethea. Incendin kept their own records from a time before they separated from the rest of the kingdoms. Between the two, I still couldn’t find what I needed. There might be more, but I could not discover it.”
Tan thought of the lowest level of the archives, the place where he and Roine had found the dead archivist, rooms where no shaper could reach. Could the archivists hide additional records there? If so, it made sense that Incendin would want to work with the archivists, or at least make a show of working with them. Now the oldest of the archivists were dead. How many remained who knew the answers?
“Do they need spirit to shape more of…” Tan trailed off, uncertain what word to use to describe the creature. She wasn’t a lisincend, at least not like Fur or the others. She was something different, twisted in an altogether new way. A threat to the draasin.
Lacertin nodded slightly. “A form of spirit has always been needed to create the lisincend. It is why the Aeta refuse to travel too deeply into Incendin.”
Tan shot Amia a look. When he first met her, the Aeta had returned from Incendin after risking a deeper run. Had the Mother known the risk?
“How do they use spirit?” Amia asked. Her voice lowered to a whisper.
“That is a secret Fur kept closely guarded. Only those willing to make the change—Embrace Fire, as they called it—were given the secret of the shaping.”
“I thought not many succeeded.”
Lacertin nodded. “Failure is high. Those who don’t succeed are considered unworthy to fully embrace fire. It is why the lisincend are so revered within Incendin.”
“Did that shaper know the secret?”
“No. Alisz sought to embrace fire for nearly a decade, but Fur always refused. I think he sensed in her too much like him, one who might eventually challenge him for supremacy over the lisincend. Even after he was injured, he still didn’t share that secret with her, though he did with several others, none of who succeeded in embracing fire.” Lacertin frowned. “How did she transform?”
Tan wished he could forget what she’d done, but the image burned into his mind. “She used the artifact. She… cut… the archivist, and
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