Darkness Rising (The Endless War Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

to explain when you ask me to make choices. Now you speak of power and preparation, but you say nothing of how .”
    “Don’t I?” Lachen asked. “Haven’t I asked you to study in the barracks?”
    “How will that help me prepare?”
    Lachen smiled, and there was darkness in it. “Your studying in the barracks is how I prepare.” Faster than a thought, he pulled a shaping of lightning and disappeared, traveling in a streak toward Atenas.
    Jasn hesitated. He didn’t have to follow, but between Cheneth keeping the draasin alive and now Lachen talking about changing power, he needed to know more.
    He also wanted to know more. Since Katya’s death, he’d wanted nothing more than to be given the chance to attack, to find a way toward vengeance, and if he joined her in the after, then so be it. Now?
    Jasn sighed. He didn’t know what he wanted.
    Drawing on each of the elements, calling fire, wind, earth, and water to him and binding them together, he pulled a shaping of lightning toward him with a sigh and followed Lachen.
    The shaping brought him to the base of the tower, within the city of Atenas itself, leaving him standing in the center of a wide stone shaper circle. Jasn hurried out of the circle; some had been injured lingering too long, until another shaper arrived to fill the small area. Three circles were placed at the base of the tower, each constructed of stone that had been infused with each of the elements and shaped to hold that power within them. It was a difficult shaping, and one only a few were able to manage. Jasn had never seen the point before, but now that he’d been to the barracks, he understood why power would be infused into other objects. The stone pens holding the draasin had been enchanted with earth and water, binding the draasin in place. So had the chains. If Alena could really speak to the draasin as she claimed, how much of that was really necessary?
    The sounds of the city assaulted him. Atenas was the tower itself as well as the city. Up close, the tower was a massive, looming structure that blotted the light of the sun, casting everything nearby in its shadow. The city sprawled around its base, no building taller than three stories, almost deferring to the might of the tower. A large, enclosed plaza held the trio of shaper circles, keeping people from accidentally wandering in and risking injury, but also served to ensure privacy for those returning. Jasn had never cared so much for that before but saw value in it now.
    He made his way toward the wide doors at the base of the tower and hesitated, using water and earth to attempt tracking where Lachen had gone. The plaza was empty, though it was early in the day, so not entirely surprising. He expected some presence here, yet there was none. Even the activity within the city seemed subdued compared to normal.
    Rather than going into the tower, he turned to the wide iron gates leading into the plaza. They were shaped closed, requiring earth and fire to open, ensuring that only shapers—and warriors, at that—were able to enter.
    Outside the gate, only a few people passed by on the street. Wagons loaded with supplies made their way along the wide street, heading toward the south end of the city. Men dressed in the finery of Atenas, that of tight breeches and long, flowing shirts belted at the waist, cast a glance in his direction before continuing in either direction. A few small children ran past, one kicking a leather ball while the others tried to catch him.
    “You’re standing looking as if you’ve never seen the city before,” Lachen said.
    Jasn turned to him, noting that he’d masked his presence, much like Alena had proven capable of doing. It was a trick of shaping that would be useful if he could ever master it. “Why have you come here?”
    “Must there be a why? I’m the commander of the order, and this is Atenas.”
    “And in all the years I’ve been in Atenas, I think I saw you in the city maybe a dozen