unconvinced that you’re entirely the same.”
“I’m not entirely convinced I’m the same,” he said. “I can reach fire more easily than before. It’s not like that with the other elements.”
Amia’s mouth tightened. “It will be in time. Your mother is right in that much at least. You need practice. And maybe it was good for them to see how hard you tried.”
“And failed?”
“But you tried. That’s more than anyone else can say. It shows them that you’re still you. You’re still Tan, not some early stage lisincend.”
Tan laughed and pulled her down next to him. “Not that they could do much if I was. I’d end up bursting into flames like the lisincend.”
“That’s not funny.”
“No, it’s not. And I’m not certain it would do anything to me anyway. Fire doesn’t effect me the same. At least, Asboel’s fire doesn’t burn me. Saa doesn’t burn when I shape with it.”
Tan pulled on fire and it flickered into a tight spiral above his hand. As he held it, he felt the slight draw of the fire elemental to the shaping. Saa was there. He might not have the same connection to it as he did with the draasin—and Asboel in particular—but that didn’t mean there wasn’t a connection.
He stared at the fire in the hearth, watching the flames leap and twist. He reached for the fire, shaping it, practiced sending it dancing one way or the other. When shaping, he had the distinct sense of power drawn out of him, pulled from some deep reservoir within him. His shapings would be limited by the power he could command. It was different with the elementals. By speaking to them, he could ask them elementals for assistance to increase his own power.
He sent a request to saa. The lesser elemental floated about the flames, either made of fire or drawn to it. There was a vague sense of the elementals swirling about. With Tan’s request, saa sent the flames billowing up.
“I didn’t know you spoke to saa,” Amia said, slipping her arm around him.
“They’re always there. At least, in Ethea they are.”
“Because we’re in a place of convergence.”
Since battling with Althem, Tan had come to realize that elementals were drawn to Ethea, which was a place of convergence like the place in the mountains where he’d first met Asboel. What Tan didn’t understand was why these places of convergence existed.
“That’s why Mother worries so much about my shaping. Outside of Ethea, when I’m away from such places, will the elementals even answer? Asboel will, but the others may not come when I summon them. Without the elementals, there’s not much I can do to help.”
She gave him a tight squeeze and kissed him on the cheek. “You’ve always underestimated yourself, Tan. And you’ve always been stronger than you know.”
“Asboel doesn’t want me to come with him. I think he fears I’m not strong enough for where he’s going.”
“And where is that?”
“He showed me the Fire Fortress.”
She tensed and twisted to fix him with a hard, blue-eyed stare. “You went into Incendin?”
“Barely to the border. We were in Nara, moving to the east, when Asboel saw flames burning more brightly in the Fire Fortress.”
Amia pushed off his lap, moving to the chair across from him. “Burned? As in the fortress itself was on fire?”
“There were flames, but it wasn’t like they consumed it. This was different. Asboel said they had burned brightly before the hatchlings were killed. I didn’t tell him, but that was about the time the twisted lisincend appeared. What if Incendin is making new lisincend?”
Amia’s face went blank. Tan wanted to pull her back to him, to comfort her, but there was nothing he could say that would provide the needed comfort. It required the sacrifice of spirit shapers to make the twisted lisincend.
“And you saw it?” she asked. “You saw the fortress burning?”
“What I could. When I communicate with Asboel, some of it comes in images rather than
“I’m not entirely convinced I’m the same,” he said. “I can reach fire more easily than before. It’s not like that with the other elements.”
Amia’s mouth tightened. “It will be in time. Your mother is right in that much at least. You need practice. And maybe it was good for them to see how hard you tried.”
“And failed?”
“But you tried. That’s more than anyone else can say. It shows them that you’re still you. You’re still Tan, not some early stage lisincend.”
Tan laughed and pulled her down next to him. “Not that they could do much if I was. I’d end up bursting into flames like the lisincend.”
“That’s not funny.”
“No, it’s not. And I’m not certain it would do anything to me anyway. Fire doesn’t effect me the same. At least, Asboel’s fire doesn’t burn me. Saa doesn’t burn when I shape with it.”
Tan pulled on fire and it flickered into a tight spiral above his hand. As he held it, he felt the slight draw of the fire elemental to the shaping. Saa was there. He might not have the same connection to it as he did with the draasin—and Asboel in particular—but that didn’t mean there wasn’t a connection.
He stared at the fire in the hearth, watching the flames leap and twist. He reached for the fire, shaping it, practiced sending it dancing one way or the other. When shaping, he had the distinct sense of power drawn out of him, pulled from some deep reservoir within him. His shapings would be limited by the power he could command. It was different with the elementals. By speaking to them, he could ask them elementals for assistance to increase his own power.
He sent a request to saa. The lesser elemental floated about the flames, either made of fire or drawn to it. There was a vague sense of the elementals swirling about. With Tan’s request, saa sent the flames billowing up.
“I didn’t know you spoke to saa,” Amia said, slipping her arm around him.
“They’re always there. At least, in Ethea they are.”
“Because we’re in a place of convergence.”
Since battling with Althem, Tan had come to realize that elementals were drawn to Ethea, which was a place of convergence like the place in the mountains where he’d first met Asboel. What Tan didn’t understand was why these places of convergence existed.
“That’s why Mother worries so much about my shaping. Outside of Ethea, when I’m away from such places, will the elementals even answer? Asboel will, but the others may not come when I summon them. Without the elementals, there’s not much I can do to help.”
She gave him a tight squeeze and kissed him on the cheek. “You’ve always underestimated yourself, Tan. And you’ve always been stronger than you know.”
“Asboel doesn’t want me to come with him. I think he fears I’m not strong enough for where he’s going.”
“And where is that?”
“He showed me the Fire Fortress.”
She tensed and twisted to fix him with a hard, blue-eyed stare. “You went into Incendin?”
“Barely to the border. We were in Nara, moving to the east, when Asboel saw flames burning more brightly in the Fire Fortress.”
Amia pushed off his lap, moving to the chair across from him. “Burned? As in the fortress itself was on fire?”
“There were flames, but it wasn’t like they consumed it. This was different. Asboel said they had burned brightly before the hatchlings were killed. I didn’t tell him, but that was about the time the twisted lisincend appeared. What if Incendin is making new lisincend?”
Amia’s face went blank. Tan wanted to pull her back to him, to comfort her, but there was nothing he could say that would provide the needed comfort. It required the sacrifice of spirit shapers to make the twisted lisincend.
“And you saw it?” she asked. “You saw the fortress burning?”
“What I could. When I communicate with Asboel, some of it comes in images rather than
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