City of Towers_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [29]
“But he’s not racing anymore?”
“No. The largest race in Sharn is called the Race of Eight Winds. It happens once a year. Two years ago, Rasial won the race on behalf of Daggerwatch and the Hippogriff. Last year he rode for the Hippogriff again, but there was some sort of accident and he was almost killed. After that, he dropped off the horizon. Quit the guard. Stopped racing. And that’s what we have to work with.”
“What about the shards?” said Daine, looking to Lei. If she’d heard him, she gave no sign. “Lei? Lei!”
Lei looked up from the parchment she was studying. She had been distant since they’d returned from Darkhart Woods, and her voice was cool and emotionless. “Dragonshards are magically active minerals. Common Eberron dragonshards store and focus magical energy. These form the basis of many of the conveniences we take for granted, such as the everbright lantern. Sky shards fall from the Ring of Siberys. These amplify the natural powers of a dragonmark. Sivis message stones, Jorasco altars of healing … these all rely on sky shards.”
“So what are we dealing with?”
“Khyber shards. These are found in veins deep below the earth and are said to be the dried blood of the dark progenitor wyrm. Just as the first fiends are said to be bound by the blood of Khyber, deep dragonshards are used to bind spirits and elemental energies. The lightning rail, airships, bonded sails … these are all made possible by Khyber dragonshards.” Lei stood up and begin to pace, unconsciously echoing Daine’s earlier movements. “But these are only the broadest categories. Purity, color, size … all of these things can play a factor in the value and use of a particular shard.” She pointed at the page. “Your friend is trying to acquire a very unusual form of Khyber shard. It appears to resonate with dragonmark energy, much like a Siberys shard.”
“So …?”
“Siberys shards amplify energy, but Khyber shards bind it.”
“I’m still not following. What can it do?”
Lei shrugged. “If this material truly can bind dragonmarked energies, you might be able to use it to create some sort of shield against dragonmarked effects. Or a manacle that could prevent a prisoner from using his dragonmark. But it’s impossible to say. These notes are purely theoretical.”
“How did Alina learn of the shards,” asked Daine, “and who she was dealing with to obtain them?”
“I was hoping you’d tell me. My … family are the finest artificers of this or any age.” For a moment her eyes went distant. “Yet I’ve never heard of these shards before. I can’t begin to imagine what your friend would have to pay to find them, let alone to buy them. Who is this Alina? And why would she be interested in these shards?”
Jode spoke before Daine could come up with an answer. “I met Alina Lyrris in Metrol eight years ago, shortly after I’d begun fighting for Cyre. She was dealing in contraband goods, and I heard that she was selling secrets to the Cyran court. I am sure of three things. Alina is deadly, cunning, and has more wealth than you can imagine. She claims her fortune comes from gem mines in the Seawall Mountains, but don’t believe it. From what I’ve heard, there are few things she hasn’t tried—businesses and otherwise.”
“So what does she want?”
“Control: knowledge, secrets, personal power. I don’t think that she cares about money. It’s all a game she plays with other people’s lives.”
“And now she’s the new boss,” Daine said with a scowl.
Lei looked at Daine for a moment, perhaps wondering how he had come into contact with Alina, what fueled his bitterness. But her own sorrow weighed heavily on her shoulders, and she said nothing. Daine took a deep breath and turned back to the matter at hand.
“So the shards are unusual. Can we use that? Could you track them, Lei?”
She considered. “I can craft a temporary divining rod easily enough, but it will only have a range of around a thousand feet. And the enchantment will only last for a few minutes after it’s activated. So you won’t want to use