Page 45 of Tides of Shadows

Together they rose, four forces divine,

In balance and bond, the world aligned.

From blood spilled in hatred, from anguish and pain,

A fifth power awakens, the Devourer’s reign…

The rest could not be read. A fifth power awakened. The Devourer. Who was he? A force-chosen like us? One of the old gods?

“Why did you bring me here?” I finally asked, running my hand over the cold stone as if trying to wrest an answer from it.

“Because there are few people I can talk to about this. And even fewer I trust,” he said calmly, and I frowned. “I saw similar images in the ruins of the temple in Emberhold. The same monsters, the same sacrifices, the same pain. I have a feeling our powers aren’t just tools for destruction. They’re part of a larger plan. Their appearance... is no coincidence. Especially Aidenar’s. You saw the bowl of air,” he added, pointing his chin at the stone column.

“I did. Do you think he knows anything,” I asked softly.

Dricus snorted, but there was no amusement in his eyes.

“Aidenar? He rarely looks past the end of his own dick. I doubt he is aware of anything. This is more likely Cassandra’s plan.”

My throat tightened.

“With the emergence of his powers, his father fell asleep. And my brother… my brother was ruined.” My voice trembled as I spoke. I knew the next question would hurt, but I had to ask. “Dricus… how did your parents die?”

He fell silent. He stared at the drawings, as if searching for answers.

“Why do you want to know?” he asked quietly, though he must have expected the question.

“Did it have something to do with your power?”

He was silent for a long time before answering.

“So they say.” His voice was hoarse. “I was a child, no more than a few years. A fire broke out in my chambers. My parents ran in to save me. They died, and several of the servants with them. They found me unconscious, in the ashes. That’s what I was told. I remember nothing.” His hands closed into fists. “Since that day the fire has always whispered to me. It has always tempted me.”

He stood there, utterly broken. Even more than me. I could feel pain in him. I wanted to touch him. To hug him. To tell him he wasn’t alone. Power had torn through his life like a battering ram and left nothing behind.

“Dricus,” I said, stepping nearer, unsure whether I should touch him or not. “It wasn’t your fault. You were a child. You couldn’t control it.”

“I know.” He gave a crooked smile, but grief smoldered in his eyes. “I only wish to know why it was me.”

Silence fell. The flame of my torch flickered.

“Each of our Families has lost something,” I said, my own voice sounding strange, as if another spoke. “Perhaps you are right, that this is no accident. The only people who might know the truth right now are Cassandra, and my parents.”

“Getting secrets out of Cassandra won’t be easy.”

“Do you know whether any Family has a fourth heir?” I asked. “One who might wield earth?”

“The strongest in this element are Mermont and Dorthal. But if their children had power, we would surely know about it by now. Such things are spoken of with pride. Usually…” He looked at me with a smile. “Perhaps somewhere in the lesser families… but I don’t think anyone in the palace has the ability to control the earth. I would have felt it.”

“Felt it? Did you feel it in me,” I asked, and a strange shiver went through my neck.

“Yes.” He nodded slowly. “It comes with time. A faint vibration, pulling. And we are not the only ones. There are people who hold a native spark without an Elementar, but it is delicate, like your mother’s. Nothing so mighty as in me, in you,” he said, then added, unwilling, “and in Aidenar.”

“And the Plague,” I asked, forcing my mind to the words, though my heart hammered like a smith’s stroke. “How long has it been known? On the islands they spoke of it only these last months.”

Dricus sighed and kept his eyes on the images.

“The Plague has been with us longer than you think. The monsters were seen long ago, even when I was small. They came over the desert with the wild tribes. Cassandra knows. My parents knew. It is not spoken of openly, so the folk don’t fall into terror.” He lifted his gaze to mine. “The Dominium pays the Cineris for the protection. And I do what I have to.”