Endless Night by D.K. Holmberg Read Free Book Online Page A

intended.
    Cheneth’s gaze drifted to the north before he turned back to her and smiled. “I could ask you the same. None have seen you but for a few moments since your return. But I see the weariness in your eyes. I know what you’ve been doing.”
    Alena felt a flush work through her. There were other responsibilities beyond working with the egg, and other concerns that she needed to focus on. Her other student had gone missing. And Volth needed her to continue to work with him, especially now that he had managed to reach water and could speak with it.
    “I can’t leave the egg,” she said softly. “I’m no good to the barracks if I can’t clear the connection to it. I can barely shape, and dreams of fire consume me when I sleep. It’s as if I feel the draasin even when I’m not there.”
    “You rescued the female. She needs to care for the egg, Alena.”
    “But she won’t. And until she does, I have to do what I can.”
    A troubled expression passed over his face. “You speak to them. Convince her to help.”
    Alena let out a frustrated sigh. “I have tried . She fears what happened to her. Convincing her to help the egg is not as simple as setting the egg in front of her. I’ve tried that, and she only ignores it.”
    “Can you ask the other draasin to help?”
    She sighed. “I have tried that as well. He does what he can and offers his assistance, but he thinks the female only needs more time.”
    But that wasn’t all he thought, was it? He claimed that a darkness still haunted her. How could Alena help the draasin if she didn’t understand what troubled her?
    Cheneth pulled his glasses down on his nose and studied her. A shaping built, but she couldn’t determine what it was. With Cheneth, that was not uncommon. She had only learned he couldshape like this recently. And now that she knew, he made little attempt to hide the fact, though he still obscured what he shaped.
    His eyes flashed, almost as if changing colors, but that sense faded.
    “You must do what you can for the egg and for the draasin. But Alena, if you cannot help it, you will have no choice but to destroy it.”
    “I know.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “What of the girl we brought back with us? Wyath seemed to think there was something special about her.” Alena knew the people of Rens weren’t really responsible for the war with Ter, but Wyath seemed to believe this girl had the ability to be a warrior. Rens had shapers, but they had never shown any potential of the order.
    “There is something special about her,” Cheneth said.
    “What?”
    “In time, Alena. In time.”
    She suppressed a surge of frustration. Pressing Cheneth would get her nowhere with him. She knew that well enough. “What is your plan for finding Bayan?”
    “That is why I asked you to join me here.”
    Alena frowned. When Cheneth left word that she meet him outside the barracks, she had thought it had something to do with the draasin. That was usually the reason for her to meet with him secretively. But Bayan? “Did you find her?”
    “We haven’t found her, but I fear we must. We haven’t seen it yet, but she is skilled. With her ability to detect shapings and know their intent… We must find her, Alena.”
    “I can’t.”
    Cheneth frowned. “The egg? The female won’t harm it while you’re gone. She might even decide to help hatch it. But Bayan needs you. You’re one of the most skilled warriors who has ever come out of Atenas.”
    “Cheneth—”
    “We will need everyone with unique abilities if we are to survive Tenebeth. Everything I’ve discovered makes me more afraid. When released, he will attack, Alena. Perhaps not today, but he is already free.”
    “I want to help,” she said, “but I can’t.”
    “The egg.”
    “Not the egg. Well, maybe the egg. It pulls on me, tearing away my ability to shape. I’ve grown weaker, Cheneth. I’m not sure that I could even shape my way outside the barracks if I had the