Chapter 4
—Kienna—
The woodcarver’s shop was narrow and half-swallowed by the shadows of the alley.
Its windows sagged beneath the weight of dust and cobwebs, most of the panes cracked or patched with uneven planks.
A faded sign hung above the door, its letters so worn that only the word workshop could still be made out.
Tislin had claimed the woodcarver was among the most sought-after craftsmen in the city, a man who shaped keels and figureheads, even dabbling in shipwright work.
The minute scale of the shop indicated anything but greatness.
“Hello?” Kienna called as she pushed open the door. Dust greeted her, as if no one had been there in years, which was hard to believe since Tislin also said he had enough work to need an apprentice.
Maybe he stepped out, Ruva suggested, hidden amongst the other alleyways.
Tislin said he wanted me here at this time. Why would he leave?
I don’t know, Little Flame.
Kienna took a chance to familiarize herself with the space.
Shelves lined the planked walls, stacked with wooden bowls, cups, and animal toys.
Concrete covered the floors, the simple material contrasting with the intricacy of the wood.
Kienna assumed it hid the sawdust that filled the room while the carver worked, settling into the cracks and crevices.
Light filtered in from the boarded windows at the front, highlighting a meticulously carved door that framed the back wall.
Kienna attempted to open it, but it was locked.
She grunted and turned to discover tree stumps sitting beside stripped, unused logs and planed planks on the floor.
Special carving tools lay scattered along the shelves, tools Kienna had never seen before.
She’d only ever carved with a standard knife.
She wouldn’t even know what to do with these tools.
The room pressed into her, mocking how she was completely out of place here.
That’s why you’re the apprentice. Learn from him, Ruva said.
I can’t learn if he doesn’t show up.
Ruva huffed. That much is true.
Ru? Kienna ran her fingers along the grooves of a child’s toy shaped like a dog. The details of the fur were so intricate, each strand meticulously carved one by one.
Little Flame?
Do you think this is the man Maren wanted me to find?
I hope so.
Kienna waited for an hour before the woodcarver eventually stumbled into the shop, reeking of rum.
Kienna couldn’t determine whether the wrinkles in his clothes were a product of his current state or if he hadn’t bothered to iron them out initially.
Strands of dark gray hair poked out in unruly places from his unkept beard, but even in his disarray, Kienna was surprised to find that his hazel-brown eyes were lifeless. She stood as he stumbled in.
He grumbled and walked to the door in the back of the shop. “Sweep the floors and tidy up. I’ll be in my workshop.”
Kienna hummed in protest. “Sweep?” Her lips remained parted as she dared to challenge her new employer.
Sweeping wouldn’t help her with anything.
“I was hoping, as a woodcarver’s apprentice, I would be working with, I don’t know, wood.
I’ve been carving my whole life.”The man rolled his eyes and turned to leave.
“Calder, please. I—”
“Master Calder,” he corrected, pausing as he slipped a key into the lock to open the back door. “You’re my apprentice. Do as you’re told.” With that, he shut himself in.
Kienna sighed as she looked around. This couldn’t have been the woodcarver Maren wanted her to find. He was disheveled and didn’t care that she was there, and she wasn’t confident he would have any information for her.
Doubt soured her mouth. Doubt of Maren’s credibility.
Doubt the true woodcarver even existed. Maybe that was why no one would answer her questions.
Maybe there was no carver at all. Kienna took in her lot, not quite ready to abandon this part of her mission and return to Elowen’s cottage.
She found a battered straw broom and swept for most of the day.
Three large piles of sawdust sat in various places around the space by sunset when the woodcarver stumbled out. Kienna stood from wiping a low-hanging shelf and waited to be addressed. He moved slowly, dropped a bag of coins on the table, and walked out.
Are we eating veal tonight? Ruva asked, as if she could sense Kienna staring at the black velvet in front of her.
Kienna reached her hand out, the pulled back. It feels weird taking that.
You worked today. Do we not deserve to eat?
I swept today.
Ruva growled in her mind. It was a job well done. Let’s go.
Kienna grabbed the velvet bag, heavier than she expected, and left the workshop.
She paused at the door. Master Calder didn’t give her a key or indicate she should lock up, and, dammit, it was his job to communicate his preferences, so Kienna decided she wouldn’t give a shit.
Except…she did give a shit. She huffed as she reentered the shop and searched until she found a key under a pot beside the door.
That is so unsafe, she said to Ruva. Ruva didn’t respond. She approached from the alley and sat, boring her silver eyes into Kienna. I’m sorry. I know you’re hungry. You know you can hunt, right?
Yes, but the animals bouncing around outside aren’t seasoned with that special cream that they use at the Elarent House. I like the cream.
Domestication is a bad look for you.
Ruva bristled. Kienna locked the shop and leaned to place the key back under the pot but hesitated.
He had a lot of valuable items inside. All those carvings for sale.
The tools. It’d be a shame if anyone found the key and robbed him clean.
She put it in her pocket instead. If today’s arrival were any indication of the schedule he kept, she’d be there well before the woodcarver anyway.
Alright, Ru. Let’s get you some veal.
—Danek—
Danek and Broan sparred on a floating island in Trinity where the Duskveil Battalion trained every day.
The island hovered above rolling forests, rivers, and distant mountains, with waterfalls spilling over its edges into the endless sky below.
Broan said he didn’t want to go to this island, what with their illusions being too precise, and he wasn’t looking for nightmares.
He preferred the Thornclad, which was closest to the earth.
As an earth mage, the Thornclad gave him more strength.
Except, Broan didn’t need more, and he had quite a handle on the reins of training. Danek wanted to try illusions.
Conjuring fireflies and creating melodies of whispers as the wind went by was cool, but the moment one of the Elvish soldiers projected an illusion to a River Storm soldier, making their mind crumble within itself…well, there was no competing with that. Melodies be damned.
Broan stood tall as he tried to summon the earth but came up short. Small stones hesitantly rose before they fell, crumbling over the side of the island. The Eternal Mother blocked him, as she would on any other island not being used for its specific purpose.
“That’s fucking shit,” Broan said, kicking at the dirt. “This island is messing with my fucking head.”
“It’s an island of illusions, Broan,” Danek reminded him.
“Let’s go to the forest ground and spar like real men, and the Eternal Mother can piss off,” Broan spat.
Elvish soldiers paused their training to glance over, eyes squinted and mouths curled with scowls.
Danek tossed wind in Broan’s face, making him flinch with the image of glass beetles crawling on him. Broan cursed and swatted at his body. “What the fuck, Pretty Boy?”
Shrugging, Danek said, “Considering they’re the source of your magic, you should probably show more respect to the islands.”
“Yeah, well, she didn’t help at all in the desert. All that magic meant nothing when the rocks came down.”
Danek stepped back and nodded. The war in Dalelry was rough for all of them.
They’d spent their lives in River Storm preparing for battles that never came, only to be met head-on with one as soon as they abandoned the barrier.
They weren’t prepared. Though the Guardians ran every obstacle their commanding officers put them through, nothing eased the image of blood spattering and dead faces under the red rocks.
“All things considered, we made it out alive,” Danek said.
Broan growled. “Hmph. Well, at least we outlasted the women. Too weak for war.”
Danek tilted his head and scrunched his eyes. “Technically, we haven’t outlasted Baila.”
The Viking shrugged and ran his hand over his chin. Hair grew evenly around his cheeks and jaw, where it only sprouted in patches in River Storm. His red sigil was a lightning strike across his face. It looked pretty damn cool, Danek admitted.
“Alright then, Broan. Let’s go somewhere else and see if you can teach me something.”
Broan jolted his head back. “You want to learn from me?”
Danek nodded.
The Duskveil Island glowed with hues of blue.
Broan peered around him as the island danced with color, but Danek took it as a sign.
Perhaps the Eternal Mother would grant him his full kiss of magic one day.
He needed to overcome the feeling that he’d been left behind and earn it.
Danek exhaled. “You fight like a mountain. I figured I’d see if that would rub off. ”
Broan tipped his chin. “Okay, Brother. You know,” he slapped Danek on the back as they started toward the bridges, “if you would craft illusions stronger than the damn wind, you would be fucking unstoppable.”
“Yeah,” Danek drawled, stretching the word with a slow grin. “Why do you think I brought you here?”
“To scare the shit out of me.”
Danek and Broan started down the bridges to the forest floor.
Halfway to the ground, one of the Queen’s Elvish Guard stopped them.
Danek’s neck prickled. What did the queen’s soldiers want with them?
The soldier cleared his throat. Tall and lean with long blond hair, he looked exactly like the sort of polished Elvish man Danek had come to expect. Regal. Too clean for a battlefield.
“Queen Elira requests your presence, earth bender.”
“The name’s Broan,” the Viking scoffed, cutting his gaze to the side. “I guess we’re being summoned to another fucking council meeting to talk about our feelings. Let’s go.”
Danek went to follow Broan, but the soldier held up his hand. “Only Broan today.”
Danek stayed behind, watching the soldier escort Broan to the Heart of Trinity.
Kienna made that same solitary descent more often than anyone, but seeing Broan get called was contrasting.
Danek didn’t know what he expected. Leaving River Storm should have freed them from the scrutiny of royalty, but they found themselves continually pulled back into it.
At least Kienna was free of it all. That’s what she’d always wanted.
Maybe free of them. He tried not to entertain that thought too deeply.
She went with Moira, and they were finding new lives.
It stung his chest, knowing he might be the last one with no real purpose aside from what he was told to do.
He thought back to the days when he longed to record the truth so no one else would live a life wondering what happened in the past. He’d given up on most dreams. This was probably why the Eternal Mother hadn’t blessed him.
Broan vanished into the Heart of Trinity.
The bridge narrowed too quickly, and Danek rested his hands on the railing, breath slow and measured.
Around him, Trinity moved on. Guards passed, voices echoing.
Decisions were being made without him. Danek turned from the council path and climbed onto the bridge’s edge.
Without hesitation, he leaped into the canopy below, branches catching him as easily as if they’d been waiting.
Light bent strangely between the leaves, shadows stretching where they shouldn’t.
The world flickered, uncertain of what it was meant to show him.
Danek stilled. Something quiet whispered his name, but it wasn’t strong enough yet.
He swallowed and stepped deeper into the trees, the illusion settling around him like bated breath.
Whatever the council decided today, it wouldn’t change this.
Danek wasn’t meant to wait around and be left behind. He wasn’t meant to be nothing. He needed to get stronger, more powerful. He needed to show his worth so the Elvish would use him, too. For that, he would need to climb faster. Higher. Every tree.
For his magic, he would go to every island and train with every leader. Learn the way of Verdent for healing. The Galeweavers for wind. The Duskveil for illusions.
Danek ignored the whispers and remained on his path through the trees.