Surrender (Book 1 of The Baneseeker Project)

Chapter 8 - The Murderer

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She struggled. As much Lyna wanted to think that she was strong, she knew she was losing this battle. The damn power called to her constantly, and the more she used it, the more it pulled at her, like an insatiable craving.

Her condition has worsen drastically in the past few days alone. She did not know how long she would be able to endure. There were still a few things she wanted to accomplish before the end, but she was starting to worry that she might not be able to finish what she had set out to do here.

Standing in front of the leather shop, she closed her eyes and repeated two words over and over again.

I am.

Argon had taught her the mantra during her first week at Mount Kolt, when she was still in awe of his skills and seeking his approval. Thinking of the brisk and chill wind of Mount Kolt brought her back to those days and Lyna could almost feel it caressing her skin and playing with her hair.

I am.

"It is a common mantra," Argon had explained, taking a seat on a log beside her. Behind him, a narrow waterfall plummeted from far above, bouncing several times against the rocky facade, changing directions left, right, and then left again. "Onthar told me about it when I lost my half-brother."

Argon never talked about his half-brother, so Lyna knew little to nothing about him.

I am.

She repeated the words over and over, but the thought that she wasn't kept surfacing. The need of finally resting and leaving everything behind was almost as strong as her craving of the power. Lyna decided to take a different angle and reminded herself that the boy needed her. She wanted to do good by him, if it was the last good deed she performed.

Finally, she reached a state of passable calm. She took advantage of it and entered the shop. Eva was standing behind the counter, as if she had been expecting her. The woman smiled. After all, Lyna had made her the richest person in the village.

"What can I do for you this day?"

"I need information," said Lyna. She flashed a golden hammer between her fingers.

"No need for that," said the woman. "I already told you that you paid enough to ask as many questions as you want."

Lyna made the coin disappear. She only had a few of those left. "I need to know who killed the boy's mother," she said.

If the question shocked the leather worker, she did not show it.

"The father," she answered.

Lyna had been expecting as much.

"Where can I find him?"

An urge to slow time came upon Lyna then, so powerful that for a moment, her head spun from the need. But she resisted, with the result that she missed Eva's last words.

"Can you repeat that?" she asked.

Eva leaning forward. "Are you doing all right?"

"Don't play with me," Lyna said, ignoring the hurt that briefly flashed across the store owner's face. "Where can I find the father?"

There was an hesitation, but it was short. "At the logging camp," said Eva. "You'll find him at the logging camp, to the west."

Without another word, Lyna turned around and left.

"Be careful," she heard as she passed through the door.

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It was impossible to miss the logging camp. To the west of Tanazu, the land flattened and trees appeared, many of which, too many, had already been cut down and were stacked in piles. The site was located surprisingly close to the Territories of Sij. Still, there was a visible division between this forest and the one to the north, a patch of land where no trees grew at all, as if the woods of the south did not want to be associated with those of Sij. Or as if they feared their northern neighbours, who were denser and darker.