{"id":5091,"date":"2026-01-04T01:06:27","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T01:06:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/the-cloud-warrior-saga-05-forged-in-fire-holmberg-d-k\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T01:06:27","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T01:06:27","slug":"the-cloud-warrior-saga-05-forged-in-fire-holmberg-d-k","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/the-cloud-warrior-saga-05-forged-in-fire-holmberg-d-k\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cloud Warrior Saga 05 -Forged in Fire – Holmberg, D K"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Book Preview<\/h3>\n
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1<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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Draasin Sight<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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T<\/span><\/span>annen Minden sat<\/span> atop his bonded draasin, Asboel, as they swooped over the southern part of the kingdoms. Warm air buffeted around him, swirling through the long, heated spikes protruding from the draasin\u2019s black-scaled back, slapped by massive wings stretched far out from him. Mist sprayed as the air hit the heat of the draasin\u2019s body, and Tan wiped a hand across his face to clear his vision.<\/p>\n

In the distance stretched Incendin.<\/p>\n

The land looked barren from this high up, staring down from above with nothing but thousands of feet between him and the ground, but he knew Incendin to be anything but barren. The desert contained dangerous and poisonous plants, all raging with the same hatred that Tan had felt every time he\u2019d been in Incendin. Each time, he\u2019d nearly died.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes he see anything?\u201d Amia asked, gripping his waist.<\/p>\n

Tan had to tip his head to hear over the whistling of the wind. He could have asked Honl, the ashi wind elemental, to limit their exposure, but there was something freeing about soaring above the air, riding atop the draasin, that was even better than traveling on a warrior\u2019s shaping. This way, he hunted with <\/i>Asboel. It was important for the draasin, and for their bond.<\/p>\n

He reached through the connection he shared with Asboel. The more he learned of the connection, the easier it became to simply see through Asboel\u2019s eyes. Communication had never been challenging between them, but adding the ability to use what his bond pair saw gave him a great advantage, especially given how crisp Asboel\u2019s eyesight was.<\/p>\n

Using the draasin sight, he saw the ground as patches of reds and oranges, each shades of heat much like what Tan had seen when he\u2019d been nearly transformed into one of the lisincend. Plants took on a different shade of red, more like a bright blur against the more muted background. The more he used the draasin sight, the better he understood what he was seeing. Other than the plants and the cracked and broken ground beneath them, nothing moved.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amia sighed behind him and he felt her relax. \u201cPar-shon hasn\u2019t attacked yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think so,\u201d Tan agreed.<\/p>\n

The draasin banked and turned back toward the kingdoms, avoiding flying over Incendin itself. Asboel still had harsh memories of Incendin and regardless of what might be necessary in the coming months, Tan didn\u2019t think Asboel would ever get over what the lisincend had done to him.<\/p>\n

Had it been the same with the draasin when shapers hunted them? Tan had found little referencing that time in the archives, but what he had <\/i>found implied that the draasin were to be hunted when discovered. The most recent text he\u2019d found described various ways to use shapings to trap the draasin, usually with some combination of earth and water to counter the fire and wind that helped keep the fire elemental aloft. In that one book, there were detailed descriptions of what the shapers had done to the draasin, ways in which they had captured and killed them. He had yet to fully decipher others, but the illustrations on the page worried him.<\/p>\n

How much of the current problems were the fault of those earliest shapers? The draasin now didn\u2019t want to hunt people. From what Tan had seen, they would rather stay as far from people as possible; only, sometimes it wasn\u2019t possible. Worse, Tan had drawn the draasin into his battles, but without them, Tan wouldn\u2019t have survived nearly as long as he had. Asboel was more than one of the great fire elementals. He was a friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is it?\u201d Amia asked. \u201cYou seem troubled.\u201d<\/p>\n

He gripped one of the long spikes coming from Asboel\u2019s back and twisted to look at her. Her golden hair caught some of the wind, playing around her face. The wide band of gold around her neck, the replacement for the silver one she had abandoned that marked her people, caught the light from the sun overhead. Piercing blue eyes stared into his. He had thought her beautiful from the moment he first saw her rolling toward his village, wearied and trying to hide the fear her people felt as they ran from the Incendin hounds, but the time they spent together had created a bond between them deeper than the one shaped between Tan and Asboel.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorried would be more like it,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been back for nearly a month. In that time, we\u2019ve heard nothing from Par-shon, though we know their bonded shapers are aware of ours. And they know the draasin exist. I know they will return.\u201d<\/p>\n

And each day they didn\u2019t, the remaining kingdoms\u2019 shapers began to think that Par-shon wouldn\u2019t <\/i>return. They were thankful for what Tan had done in fending off the attack, but there was a growing sentiment that another attack wasn\u2019t going to come now that they had seen how strong the kingdoms\u2019 shapers were. Tan knew better.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy do you think they haven\u2019t?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

Tan could only think of one reason their shapers had not returned. He doubted that fear kept them away. There might be some caution from the Utu Tonah, the heavily bonded leader of Par-shon, but that likely wasn\u2019t the entire reason.<\/p>\n

\u201cBonds, I think. They need more.\u201d<\/p>\n

They had to replace those they\u2019d lost. That meant finding and forcing more bonds. Stealing <\/i>more bonds. So far, he had managed to keep the draasin safe beneath the city, hiding them from the Par-shon shapers. He still didn\u2019t know how Asboel got in and out of the city\u2014his bond hadn\u2019t revealed that and Asboel wasn\u2019t keen to share it\u2014but at least the hatchlings were safe and given the time they needed to grow larger and stronger. The bonds were the reason for the concern he felt.<\/p>\n

Amia squeezed him around the waist. \u201cThe udilm will keep her safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amia knew how Tan worried about Elle, now returned to Doma, hopefully bonded to the udilm, but what if Par-shon stole that bond from her? What would happen to her?<\/p>\n

\u201cWill they? They couldn\u2019t keep Vel safe, and he had bonded to one of them. What happens if Elle is taken, the connection stripped? When I last saw her, she still hadn\u2019t learned to shape. Without that, she\u2019s at the mercy of the elementals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asboel twisted so that one eye could see him.<\/p>\n

You know the udilm can be fickle<\/i>, Tan said to Asboel.<\/p>\n

They are ancient, but they have always been strong.<\/i><\/p>\n

Tan hoped that was enough. He\u2019d barely had time to know Elle. Now that he knew she was family, he wished for more time to get to know her. He had so little family remaining. His mother, but that relationship had been strained ever since he\u2019d left Nor to go with Roine. It had continued to decline as Tan continued his relationship with Amia against his mother\u2019s advice. She thought that Amia had shaped him, worried that she forced him, like the archivists had forced the shapers to do things they would not otherwise do. Even now, as things improved, she still treated Amia with more caution than she deserved.<\/p>\n

\u201cZephra has gone to Doma. She will find Elle,\u201d Amia said.<\/p>\n

At least his mother wasn\u2019t alone this time. She had taken to traveling with Vel. The water shaper gave Tan a little more confidence that Zephra would find her. Tan might not have managed to heal Vel\u2014he wasn\u2019t certain whether that was yet possible\u2014but he had regained his shaping ability quickly. Tan only hoped he learned some restraint, especially when dealing with Par-shon.<\/p>\n

Maelen<\/i>, Asboel said, using the name he\u2019d long ago given Tan. It meant something along the lines of ferocious warrior, though Tan still wasn\u2019t quite sure whether it was compliment or not. Look below.<\/i><\/p>\n

Tan focused on looking through Asboel\u2019s eyes. What would the draasin have seen? He\u2019d been with Asboel when he\u2019d hunted before, felt the thrill through the bond as the draasin swept down from the sky and grabbed a mouthful of wild animal, but he wasn\u2019t sure he wanted to subject Amia to one of Asboel\u2019s hunts, though he doubted she would be offended. Amia had known Asboel as long as Tan had. She was part of the reason the draasin had been freed. Without her forging the shaping that kept them from hunting man, Roine might not have been willing to free them.<\/p>\n

What he saw surprised him.<\/p>\n

Far below, a long caravan of wagons rumbled across the flatlands. Tan thought they were over Ter, though Asboel flew quickly, so it was difficult to tell. It could even be the outer edges of Galen, though he didn\u2019t see the mountains that marked that part of the kingdoms.<\/p>\n

The shape of the wagons was familiar. With Asboel\u2019s enhanced sight, he could even make out the patchwork paint along the tops and sides of the wagons, the tiny bells that announced the passing of the caravan, and the wagon driver sitting atop and steering the caravan forward. They were Aeta, much like Amia had once been.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have to tell me,\u201d Amia said, drawing his attention away from what he saw through Asboel\u2019s eyes. \u201cI sensed them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow long have you known?\u201d Tan asked.<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t answer at first. After everything she had been through because of her people, he didn\u2019t blame her. He only wanted to be there for her, to be able to help her as they tried to find a way to provide safety for the Aeta. They were normally wandering people, but with the likelihood of war\u2014a war the kingdoms had thought would come from Incendin rather than elsewhere\u2014missives had been sent by Roine, inviting the Aeta to the kingdoms. The First Mother still wanted Amia to lead them, but after what had happened, that was a lost cause.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are gathering,\u201d she finally said. Her voice carried over the wind, aided by a quiet request Tan made to the wind elemental.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot the Gathering,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. That is only called by the First Mother. It has been held in Doma for so long that I don\u2019t think anyone knows where else to meet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tan strained through the connection with Asboel to see if he could tell where the caravan headed, but saw nothing that would explain it to him. \u201cDo you,\u201d he started, craning his neck to watch her expression. All he sensed from her was the hesitation she felt. \u201cDo you want to go down there?\u201d<\/p>\n

Amia shook her head. He hadn\u2019t really expected her to want to see the Aeta. She had a hard enough time dealing with the First Mother; seeing other Aeta might still be more than she could handle.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen we should return. Roine is expecting us back. He thinks we simply travel by shaping.\u201d Roine might understand the need to ride with Asboel, but there was a level of distrust in the old warrior nonetheless. Asboel had helped Tan often enough that Roine should feel nothing but gratitude for the draasin\u2019s continued assistance, but it would take time to build that relationship. Even within the kingdoms, fire was feared.<\/p>\n

Tan leaned forward and patted Asboel\u2019s flank. The draasin\u2019s tail twitched and he twisted so that he could look back at Tan. Hunt well, Asboel.<\/i><\/p>\n

Asboel snorted and flames burst from his nostrils. Always, Maelen<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Tan formed a shaping of wind and fire, adding earth for strength, and used water to stabilize it. To this, he added a shaping of spirit, the connection that he\u2019d finally managed to master, and pulled the entire shaping toward himself.<\/p>\n

They traveled on a bolt of lightning that lifted him from Asboel\u2019s back. It happened in a flash, quicker than thought. Now that Tan had traveled this way enough times, he had become comfortable with it, no longer fearing that it wouldn\u2019t work for him. There was a sense of calm around them as they traveled, nothing like the roar of wind while flying with Asboel and Honl, or the steady spray of mist that accompanied sitting atop the draasin. This was quiet, a sense of power, a feeling that he was a part of the world and meant to control the elemental powers that he now used.<\/p>\n

They came out of the lightning bolt in a smooth streak of shaped light, landing in the center of what had once been the university. Walls had grown taller over the last few weeks, stone steadily replaced by the shapers, though not in the way that it had once been. This was different: wider and stouter, but with a certain elegance to the way the wings of the university would flare around the open clearing around the shaper\u2019s circle.<\/p>\n

As they landed, chaos quickly overwhelmed him.<\/p>\n

Fire erupted nearby.<\/p>\n

Tan wrapped himself around Amia, letting the flames roll over him. Connected as he was to the element and the elemental, fire burned inside him, much like the draasin. Nothing short of the lisincend could harm him, and even that he wasn\u2019t sure would actually harm him anymore. Elemental power might be able to, but Tan could work with both the draasin and saa. In time, he would seek out inferin and saldam. The more elementals he could connect to, the better the likelihood that he could protect those he cared about.<\/p>\n

Could this be Par-shon?<\/p>\n

Tan strained, searching for an elemental attack, but there was none. Not Par-shon, then.<\/p>\n

What if this was the lisincend? Tan hadn\u2019t seen sign of them while with Asboel, but Incendin had been silent since the Par-shon attack as well. From what he\u2019d seen, silence from Incendin was rare. And dangerous.<\/p>\n

Fire parted around him. The heat and the way the flames spurted told him that it was shaped but not twisted.<\/p>\n

He pushed out with a shaping of his own, at the same time calling on saa to draw away the fire and sending it toward the ground, where it would collide harmlessly against the might of golud in the earth.<\/p>\n

\u201cTan?\u201d Amia asked.<\/p>\n

Her voice was muffled under his arm and he released her, ready to grab her again if needed. He didn\u2019t see the fire shaper that had attacked. \u201cCareful,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t know what this\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

He was cut off as the ground heaved, lifting him off his feet.<\/p>\n

Tan called quickly to Honl and jumped to the air on a wind shaping, pulling Amia with him. He searched about him, looking for whoever might be attacking, searching for some reason <\/i>that they had been attacked.<\/p>\n

Had the archivists returned? They might be able to sneak into Ethea and gain control of any shapers present, but most of the shapers in the city had been taught how to protect themselves. Still, it was possible. Tan hadn\u2019t had time to search for the surviving archivists, but he knew they were out there, probably still working on behalf of Althem.<\/p>\n

The courtyard was otherwise empty. Whoever attacked must be within the rebuilt section. \u201cCan you sense anyone?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

Amia was more skilled with spirit sensing than he was. He could shape spirit but hadn\u2019t learned any fine control, nothing that would allow him to know who or why someone would attack. Most of the time when he shaped spirit, he added it to other shapings. It seemed to augment each, and he suspected it drew the elementals.<\/p>\n

Near the street leading toward the university, he saw the frail woman he\u2019d rescued from Par-shon. They\u2019d learned her name, Cora, but little else about her. She stared at him, her eyes wild. Healers continued to work with her, but she hadn\u2019t recovered nearly as quickly as Vel.<\/p>\n

\u201cHelp Cora,\u201d Tan said to Amia.<\/p>\n

She raced across the yard while Tan focused on where the shapers might attack next. So far, there had been earth and fire. Maybe there were only two shapers.<\/p>\n

Unless he was wrong. What if Par-shon had managed to send one of their bonded shapers to Ethea? Attacking the city would be difficult, especially now that they knew Par-shon existed. Theondar expected the first attack\u2014if it ever came\u2014to be along the border, but could they have found a way to slip past the kingdoms\u2019 shapers stationed on the border?<\/p>\n

A wind shaping struck him, trying to pull him from the air.<\/p>\n

Honl<\/i>, he said.<\/p>\n

The wind elemental held him in place, shielding him from the shaping.<\/p>\n

Tan frowned, noting the direction of the wind and how it seemed to come away from the university. Now that he recognized that, he realized that both the fire shaping and the earth shaping had come from the same direction.<\/p>\n

From where Cora stood.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmia!\u201d he shouted.<\/p>\n

Another shaping built. Tan sensed each shaping come as pressure in his ears. This built sharply, quickly, and targeted Amia.<\/p>\n

He couldn\u2019t wait. With a shaping of spirit, he struck Cora.<\/p>\n

It was as light a touch as he could manage, meant to do nothing more than knock her unconscious. She fell to the ground in a heap.<\/p>\n

The wind shaping she\u2019d been working eased. The earth stopped rumbling. The flames sizzling across the stone died quickly.<\/p>\n

Tan shot toward Amia and lifted her, spinning to check if she was injured.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m fine, Tan.\u201d She looked down at Cora. \u201cWhat was that?\u201d<\/p>\n

He stared at the older woman. She had gray and thinning hair, now neatly trimmed. She wore simple clothes, a chestnut wool sweater over a light brown dress and looked nothing like a shaper, but of course, she had been in the separation chamber, her bond stolen from her by Par-shon, and was one of the lucky\u2014or unlucky\u2014to have survived. Tan had not managed to get her to say anything to him since he\u2019d rescued her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat,\u201d he began, \u201cis a warrior shaper.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Book Preview 1 Draasin Sight Tannen Minden sat atop his bonded draasin, Asboel, as they swooped over the southern part of the kingdoms. Warm air buffeted around him, swirling through the long, heated spikes protruding from the draasin\u2019s black-scaled back, slapped by massive wings stretched far out from him. Mist sprayed as the air hit … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5090,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[342],"class_list":["post-5091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-d-k-holmberg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5091\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}