The Shadowsteel Forge (The Dark Ability Book 5) by D.K. Holmberg Page A

expected Jessa, but it was not her. Haern entered, and met him with his sword held in outstretched hands.
    “Thought you might want to spar a bit,” Haern suggested.
    “Why?”
    “Sometimes, work is helpful to focus the mind, other times, you need to do something. Seems to me that this is one of those times when you just need to act.”
    Rsiran glanced over to the forge. The coals were cooling enough that he wouldn’t have to worry about them. He pulled the knives that he’d just made to him, catching them from the air and slipping them into his pockets. “Where?”
    “You need a bit more of a challenge than in your smithy. Let’s try the Aisl this time.”
    “The last time you took me to the Aisl to practice we came across the guild.”
    “This won’t be like the last time.”
    “Why do you say that?”
    Haern grunted. “Because you’re more skilled than you were the last time, and we know about the guild. Nothing really to fear there.”
    It seemed to him that there was always something for him to fear. If not his father and the mines, then Josun Elvraeth, or the Forgotten and Venass. There might never come a time when he didn’t have something to fear.
    He slipped the locks closed, but didn’t fully bar the door. The locks would keep most out of the smithy, but not Jessa unless he barred it completely. Then he grabbed Haern and Slid them to the Aisl.
    When they emerged, Haern shook his head. “Still not sure I can get used to that. The way you did that was… seemed to have a different draw to it than the first time I went with you.”
    “ Pulling like that is the only way I know to keep the members of the Thenar Guild from detecting when I Slide.”
    Rsiran looked at the trees rising above them, the massive sjihn trees found only in the Aisl, and tallest this deep in the forest. The clearing here was one that Rsiran had been to many times, but now it had a different significance for him. Lianna rested here, buried after Josun had killed her. Brusus hadn’t said much about her death, but Rsiran suspected that he still searched for Josun, wanting revenge for what happened to her. Rsiran wanted nothing more than to avoid the man who’d done so much harm to his newfound family.
    “Why here?” Haern asked.
    “I know this place.”
    “Yeah, but why here ?”
    Rsiran looked to the trees and considered Sliding to one of the branches, standing among treetops that had once provided shelter to his people. But it had been over a thousand years since they had left their homes among the trees to live along the shores. Sliding would have been useful back then, allowing easy travel between the branches. There was a time when he’d felt his ability wasn’t useful at all, but at least that had changed.
    “My mother used to bring us here when I was a child.”
    Hearn frowned at that, and his eyes went distant for a moment. “Into the trees?”
    “I think she liked the forest.”
    Haern blinked. “Not many within the city ever come out here, and certainly not this deep into the forest.”
    Rsiran hadn’t ever given it much thought, but Haern was right. Now that he did think about it, it was strange that his mother had brought them out here. Why to the forest, and why this deep into the forest?
    “I’ve never really questioned it.”
    Haern’s mouth tightened into a frown. “You get enough experience, and you start to question everything. I think you’re getting there already, but Jessa is right, Rsiran. You got blinders on when it comes to your family.”
    “She thinks I’m blind when it comes to anyone I care about.”
    “Well, we can all be accused of something similar. But you have a forgiving heart, though I don’t know why. I’ve heard what they did to you, and you were lucky to have made it out as intact as you are. Had you stayed there, you might not have developed the way you did. Maybe you need to be thankful about what happened.”
    “I am thankful,” Rsiran said.
    Haern grunted. “Fine.