let out a relieved sigh.
“You didn’t know?” Lacertin asked. The other hounds reached the barrier and snarled but didn’t make any attempt at getting closer. They took the lead hound’s direction and dug at the ground. Surprisingly, for creatures so tightly bound to fire, they managed to make more headway than Lacertin would have expected.
“Suspected, but didn’t know,” Veran said. He moved along the barrier, holding his shaping at the ready as he did. “What happens to it if they dig below?”
Lacertin shrugged. “The same as above, I suspect.”
Veran tilted his head back to peer high into the sky, cupping one hand over his brow as he studied the sky overhead. “How far up does it extend?”
“Far enough that shapers couldn’t go over it,” Lacertin said. “But Incendin has no warriors, so we don’t need to fear them making it over.”
“We assume they have no warriors.”
“In twenty years of war, we have seen no sign of warriors. Fire shapers. Earth and wind. Even water shapers.” That was surprising, given that much of Incendin was desert. Usually, shaping manifested where there was the capacity to use it. Water shapers struggled in Incendin. Even wind shapers struggled at times. Lacertin remembered what the wind shaper Zephra had once told him about the wind when she’d attempted to cross Incendin. The hot air had nearly betrayed her, and she was one of the strongest wind shapers the kingdoms had ever produced. “But no warriors. Wouldn’t Incendin send warriors at us if they had the capability?” he asked. “Wouldn’t they rather have warriors than have their shapings limited?”
“Many would say their fire shapings aren’t limited,” Veran said. One of the hounds snarled and leapt at the barrier before squealing and dropping back. The lead hound studied the place along the barrier that had been attacked but didn’t make any attempt to charge again.
“Only for the lisincend,” Lacertin said.
“And they have consumed so much fire that even our warriors struggle to contain them,” Veran went on. “We’ve only seen a handful of lisincend. How long before we face a dozen? Two dozen? When do they have numbers that will overwhelm us?”
Lacertin didn’t have the answers. Likely, Veran had heard the same reports as Lacertin about how difficult it had been to create the lisincend. There was a sacrifice involved, but no one really was able to explain exactly what the sacrifice had to be. Even Zephra, who claimed to witness the creation of a lisincend, hadn’t known.
“The lisincend are not the match for our warriors,” Lacertin said.
Veran sighed. “Until they come in numbers. Lacertin, how do you think Pherah and Roln died? Do you think they were so unskilled that they couldn’t handle fire shapers? It was the number of lisincend and the hounds that overwhelmed them.”
Veran turned to the barrier and sent a shaping of earth rumbling through it.
“No—” Lacertin started.
He shook his head. “The shaping doesn’t affect the barrier.”
As it struck the barrier, it fizzled, but the ground on the other side of the barrier heaved slightly, lifting the nearest hound. The lead hound lunged, jumping at the barrier where the shaping had passed through.
Lacertin expected the hound to bounce back, away from the barrier.
Instead, the hound slid slowly through the barrier. It happened slowly, but the brightness to the hound’s eyes told Lacertin that the creature had expected to be able to make it through the barrier, as if waiting for one of them to be foolish enough to shape through it.
Veran wasn’t ready. He scrambled back, a shaping building, but he was too slow.
The hound reached him, sharp nails scraping against Veran’s chest. The wide jaw dipped toward his neck. Veran recovered enough to throw the hound off him and came to his knees. Blood dripped from wounds gaping across his chest.
The other hounds followed the first, pushing through the sudden weakness
“You didn’t know?” Lacertin asked. The other hounds reached the barrier and snarled but didn’t make any attempt at getting closer. They took the lead hound’s direction and dug at the ground. Surprisingly, for creatures so tightly bound to fire, they managed to make more headway than Lacertin would have expected.
“Suspected, but didn’t know,” Veran said. He moved along the barrier, holding his shaping at the ready as he did. “What happens to it if they dig below?”
Lacertin shrugged. “The same as above, I suspect.”
Veran tilted his head back to peer high into the sky, cupping one hand over his brow as he studied the sky overhead. “How far up does it extend?”
“Far enough that shapers couldn’t go over it,” Lacertin said. “But Incendin has no warriors, so we don’t need to fear them making it over.”
“We assume they have no warriors.”
“In twenty years of war, we have seen no sign of warriors. Fire shapers. Earth and wind. Even water shapers.” That was surprising, given that much of Incendin was desert. Usually, shaping manifested where there was the capacity to use it. Water shapers struggled in Incendin. Even wind shapers struggled at times. Lacertin remembered what the wind shaper Zephra had once told him about the wind when she’d attempted to cross Incendin. The hot air had nearly betrayed her, and she was one of the strongest wind shapers the kingdoms had ever produced. “But no warriors. Wouldn’t Incendin send warriors at us if they had the capability?” he asked. “Wouldn’t they rather have warriors than have their shapings limited?”
“Many would say their fire shapings aren’t limited,” Veran said. One of the hounds snarled and leapt at the barrier before squealing and dropping back. The lead hound studied the place along the barrier that had been attacked but didn’t make any attempt to charge again.
“Only for the lisincend,” Lacertin said.
“And they have consumed so much fire that even our warriors struggle to contain them,” Veran went on. “We’ve only seen a handful of lisincend. How long before we face a dozen? Two dozen? When do they have numbers that will overwhelm us?”
Lacertin didn’t have the answers. Likely, Veran had heard the same reports as Lacertin about how difficult it had been to create the lisincend. There was a sacrifice involved, but no one really was able to explain exactly what the sacrifice had to be. Even Zephra, who claimed to witness the creation of a lisincend, hadn’t known.
“The lisincend are not the match for our warriors,” Lacertin said.
Veran sighed. “Until they come in numbers. Lacertin, how do you think Pherah and Roln died? Do you think they were so unskilled that they couldn’t handle fire shapers? It was the number of lisincend and the hounds that overwhelmed them.”
Veran turned to the barrier and sent a shaping of earth rumbling through it.
“No—” Lacertin started.
He shook his head. “The shaping doesn’t affect the barrier.”
As it struck the barrier, it fizzled, but the ground on the other side of the barrier heaved slightly, lifting the nearest hound. The lead hound lunged, jumping at the barrier where the shaping had passed through.
Lacertin expected the hound to bounce back, away from the barrier.
Instead, the hound slid slowly through the barrier. It happened slowly, but the brightness to the hound’s eyes told Lacertin that the creature had expected to be able to make it through the barrier, as if waiting for one of them to be foolish enough to shape through it.
Veran wasn’t ready. He scrambled back, a shaping building, but he was too slow.
The hound reached him, sharp nails scraping against Veran’s chest. The wide jaw dipped toward his neck. Veran recovered enough to throw the hound off him and came to his knees. Blood dripped from wounds gaping across his chest.
The other hounds followed the first, pushing through the sudden weakness
Similar Books
