thought Cheneth would teach her. Wasn’t that why she had come? So far, he had done nothing more than leave her alone in the mountains with the instructions to repeat a pattern. It mattered little to him which pattern she repeated, only that she perform one consistently. But if he never told her how to do it consistently, how did he expect her to repeat it?
She flicked her j’na in frustration.
The end of the spear cracked more loudly than it had for a while, and she let out a soft cry and dropped to the ground. The stream she’d seen when she first came to the mountains with Cheneth ran nearby, and she no longer struggled to sense it. The presence of the water filled her, as did the understanding of the depths of it. The second time she had come here, she had stood in front of the water, focusing on how far it stretched, letting awareness of it fill her. The stream rolled out of the mountains, joining another wider stream—or river, she suspected—before continuing onward. She lost track of it out there, but rivers continued flowing, and it would eventually reach the sea. So much water here, enough that her people would never want. How could the Stormbringer offer so much to these lands and so little to hers?
Maybe the Stormbringer did not exist. Maybe he was nothing more than superstition.
Ciara tapped herself on the chest, making the sign to ward off his anger. Those thoughts were dangerously close to what the shadow man had said to her, and she knew he was not to be trusted. Yet how was she not to believe there was something different when her people never knew such excess?
You cannot think that way.
The voice intruded into her mind with a suddenness that made her gasp.
Ciara jumped to her feet and looked around. Was it the shadow man? Tenebeth had always spoken aloud to her, but with the power he possessed, it seemed just as possible that he would be able to reach into her mind, much like the lizard.
Only it sounded nothing like the shadow man. It sounded more like…
More like the lizard.
She found it crouched along the streambed, lying atop one of the stones as if sunning itself. When she looked over at it, the lizard stuck out its long tongue and ran it across the rock. Ciara remembered all too well the sense of that tongue across her arms, and her legs, all over her, as the lizard healed her.
You’re nobelas.
The lizard flicked its stubby tail. Nobelas. As reasonable a name as some.
Are you not nobelas?
I am one of the creatures men once called nobelas.
Why have you not come to me again? Why now?
There has been no need.
You came when I summoned before.
You called. We answered.
Not you?
The lizard climbed from the rock and jumped across the stream. Ciara was surprised at the agility the lizard displayed, especially as small as it was, but she suspected there was much more to the lizard than she knew. This creature had not only healed her but had healed the injured draasin. That meant it was much more powerful than she had ever suspected.
She hadn’t told Cheneth about that. She hadn’t told anyone, not even her father. Did it matter if she did? Olina and Cheneth seemed impressed that she spoke to nobelas, though she still didn’t understand why. There was something about the creature that they sought, but what? Why would they be impressed with this lizard?
The lizard bumped up against her, pushing her with his stout body. His tongue snaked out, and he ran it along her boots, leaving a thick paste that dried quickly into a solid crust. Perhaps me. Would that displease you?
You were the same one who helped me on the waste.
You were thirsty.
That is the only reason?
There is a fire that burns within you. It was not time for it to be extinguished.
Fire. Her people were water seekers, and some could call it. But fire? That was the skill of the warriors of Ter, and she was not of Ter.
Not of Ter, but you call each of the elements, the lizard said.
Just because I can call them doesn’t
She flicked her j’na in frustration.
The end of the spear cracked more loudly than it had for a while, and she let out a soft cry and dropped to the ground. The stream she’d seen when she first came to the mountains with Cheneth ran nearby, and she no longer struggled to sense it. The presence of the water filled her, as did the understanding of the depths of it. The second time she had come here, she had stood in front of the water, focusing on how far it stretched, letting awareness of it fill her. The stream rolled out of the mountains, joining another wider stream—or river, she suspected—before continuing onward. She lost track of it out there, but rivers continued flowing, and it would eventually reach the sea. So much water here, enough that her people would never want. How could the Stormbringer offer so much to these lands and so little to hers?
Maybe the Stormbringer did not exist. Maybe he was nothing more than superstition.
Ciara tapped herself on the chest, making the sign to ward off his anger. Those thoughts were dangerously close to what the shadow man had said to her, and she knew he was not to be trusted. Yet how was she not to believe there was something different when her people never knew such excess?
You cannot think that way.
The voice intruded into her mind with a suddenness that made her gasp.
Ciara jumped to her feet and looked around. Was it the shadow man? Tenebeth had always spoken aloud to her, but with the power he possessed, it seemed just as possible that he would be able to reach into her mind, much like the lizard.
Only it sounded nothing like the shadow man. It sounded more like…
More like the lizard.
She found it crouched along the streambed, lying atop one of the stones as if sunning itself. When she looked over at it, the lizard stuck out its long tongue and ran it across the rock. Ciara remembered all too well the sense of that tongue across her arms, and her legs, all over her, as the lizard healed her.
You’re nobelas.
The lizard flicked its stubby tail. Nobelas. As reasonable a name as some.
Are you not nobelas?
I am one of the creatures men once called nobelas.
Why have you not come to me again? Why now?
There has been no need.
You came when I summoned before.
You called. We answered.
Not you?
The lizard climbed from the rock and jumped across the stream. Ciara was surprised at the agility the lizard displayed, especially as small as it was, but she suspected there was much more to the lizard than she knew. This creature had not only healed her but had healed the injured draasin. That meant it was much more powerful than she had ever suspected.
She hadn’t told Cheneth about that. She hadn’t told anyone, not even her father. Did it matter if she did? Olina and Cheneth seemed impressed that she spoke to nobelas, though she still didn’t understand why. There was something about the creature that they sought, but what? Why would they be impressed with this lizard?
The lizard bumped up against her, pushing her with his stout body. His tongue snaked out, and he ran it along her boots, leaving a thick paste that dried quickly into a solid crust. Perhaps me. Would that displease you?
You were the same one who helped me on the waste.
You were thirsty.
That is the only reason?
There is a fire that burns within you. It was not time for it to be extinguished.
Fire. Her people were water seekers, and some could call it. But fire? That was the skill of the warriors of Ter, and she was not of Ter.
Not of Ter, but you call each of the elements, the lizard said.
Just because I can call them doesn’t
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