Free Endless Night by D.K. Holmberg Page B

draasin, and that only with the help of her father. Without him, what had she ever really done? She had drawn the lizard. That was it. And what was so special about the lizard?
    Other than the fact that the lizard had kept her alive. Without it, she would have died on the waste. Without the lizard bringing her the gourds and taking her to a source of water, she wouldn’t have made it more than a few more hours. And then, without the lizard, the shadow man would have claimed her. She had little doubt that she would have succumbed to his seduction.
    Cheneth leaned into the water and took a long drink before standing. He wiped his chin, leaving streaks of water glistening in the early-morning light. “What can you tell me about the elementals?”
    Ciara glanced at the water, wondering if she should take a drink. Thirst hadn’t been an issue for her in a long time, but the instinctual part of her, that which remained Rens, always seemed to suggest that she drink, even when she knew it didn’t really matter. Why should it, when she’d been offered water whenever she wanted? The people of Cheneth’s camp even used water to cleanse themselves with, not like the dried leaves and sand that Rens used for scrubbing.
    “I don’t know that I can tell you anything you don’t already know,” she said to him.
    Cheneth smiled. “You might be surprised, nya’shin. You know of the draasin?”
    “All know of the draasin. They are the reason Ter attacked Rens.”
    “Is that what you think?”
    “Ter wants to control the draasin, but they cannot be controlled. They are too powerful for any one person to control.”
    “Were that true, then riders of draasin would not have attacked Ter, perpetuating this war. They are not the riders I once knew. Whatever controls the draasin is different.”
    “You knew riders?” Ciara knew nothing about the riders, only what she had briefly heard from Olina, but there was more to the riders than Olina had shared. And if what she had shared was true, then her father had once been a rider. What had changed for him? Why had he left Tsanth? And when had he gone to Rens?
    “The Wise of Hyaln could speak to the draasin. Not the way that Alena does. They had a different connection to the elementals.”
    “Why did they leave?”
    Cheneth sighed. “Only the wise know the reason. Perhaps it has to do with whatever controls the draasin, forcing them to attack.”
    She noted that he didn’t accuse Rens. “Do you think it Tenebeth?”
    His eyes narrowed and he looked toward the sky. “When this started, I knew nothing about Tenebeth other than stories told to children. I still don’t know what it means that the stories are real… that the darkness is real.”
    “That isn’t an answer.”
    He shook his head. “It’s not an answer. There is more to Tenebeth than simply the shadows you faced. From what I have learned, something had to release him.” Cheneth took another drink and wiped his sleeve across his mouth.
    “Who would release the darkness like that?”
    A troubled look crossed his face, but he didn’t answer. Cheneth started up the slope as if to disappear into the trees again.
    “You haven’t told me about the lizard. What is the nobelas?”
    Cheneth turned slowly, resting one hand on the nearest tree. “I think it is too early for you to learn about the nobelas.”
    Ciara stared after him, waiting for him to return, but he didn’t. Running to catch up, she found him far up the slope, much farther than he should have been able to reach without shaping. “The lizard found me . I didn’t summon it. It saved me when I was trapped in the waste. Brought me gourds that helped me survive. I would have died otherwise.”
    Cheneth didn’t look back at her. “That would fit with nobelas.”
    “It stopped me when the shadow man tried to call me. When Tenebeth tried to bring me… somewhere. Had it not been for the lizard, I would have gone with him.”
    Cheneth stopped at that. “He tried