{"id":5095,"date":"2026-01-04T01:06:38","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T01:06:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/the-cloud-warrior-saga-07-servant-of-fire-holmberg-d-k\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T01:06:38","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T01:06:38","slug":"the-cloud-warrior-saga-07-servant-of-fire-holmberg-d-k","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/the-cloud-warrior-saga-07-servant-of-fire-holmberg-d-k\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cloud Warrior Saga 07 -Servant of 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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A Summons<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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T<\/span><\/span>he vast expanse<\/span> of Incendin spread all around Tannen Minden as he stood on a ridge overlooking the waste, ignoring the draw of the Fire Fortress for now. Hard, cracked earth split beneath him to form canyons where the rock dropped off to nothing but blackness. The plants growing throughout Incendin were equally dangerous, from the spiked shrubs scattered across the hard rock to the spindly trees that almost seemed to twist toward him as he neared. Even the thorny cacti that grew with flashes of green seemed out of place in the rest of the barren Incendin landscape. With every step, plants seemed to move with him; some even sprayed poisoned needles. Tan had learned to place a barrier of wind around him, but he feared the moment the wind would fail him.<\/p>\n

Everything about this land seemed designed to torment, but more than that, to prevent access to its people. Without his ability to shape, he wouldn\u2019t be able to safely make his way through.<\/p>\n

In the distance, Incendin stretched toward the rocky shores of the sea. For a place as dry and hot as this one, massive waves crashed along its eastern shores, each wave powerful, as if the ocean attempted to reclaim these lands\u2014or maybe the waves were Par-shon\u2019s way of attacking, using water to slowly wear away at their enemy.<\/p>\n

There was beauty here as well. Tan had seen it, not only from the strange, rare trees with long needles for leaves that flowered when the conditions were right, but also from some of the people he\u2019d now fought beside. Once, he would have considered them enemies. Now, they were allies.<\/p>\n

They had to be, or everyone on the continent would suffer.<\/p>\n

His eyes were drawn back to the Fire Fortress, which rose toward the wisps of clouds that filtered the hot sun. He tried to ignore it, but it called to him, demanding attention. Spouts of flame shot from the top of the fortress, both stronger and different than the last time he\u2019d seen it. The black walls that made up the fortress reminded him of a similar tower in Par-shon. Tan sensed no runes upon the Fire Fortress, nothing that would place him in the same danger that he\u2019d experienced in Par-shon. The only danger was the fortress itself and the people within.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you certain you wish to do this?\u201d Cianna asked.<\/p>\n

The fire shaper stood next to him, the bright midday sunlight catching off her flaming orange hair, making it glow. Heat radiated off her skin, billowing like a furnace through the silky maroon shirt that matched the tight leather breeches she preferred. A playful smile danced on her lips, and her eyes darted from Tan to the Fire Fortress, and then back to the massive draasin Sashari that was crouched a dozen paces behind them.<\/p>\n

The draasin remained in place, wings folded up against her body, and her long, barbed tail flicking at the ground, as if sweeping back the attacking plants. Through the fire bond, a connection he shared with the elementals of fire and none other, Tan felt her wariness, but also the sense of respect she carried for Cianna. He no longer had to strain to reach the other draasin through the fire bond. Now it came easily to him, the only shaper he knew who was able to reach the elemental connection.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey summoned me,\u201d he answered. When the summons had come, a strange call from the elemental kaas through the fire bond itself, Tan had known he needed to answer. That kaas\u2014an ancient experimental joining of fire and earth\u2014would call to him through the bond told Tan how urgent the need was.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Theondar?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has more to worry about than this,\u201d Tan said.<\/p>\n

Cianna placed her hands on her sides and laughed. The sound carried over Incendin before catching the hot wind and disappearing, almost as if ashi, the wind elemental of these lands, stole the laughter. \u201cYou think that Theondar cares so little about his Athan that he wants you running off to the Fire Fortress alone?\u201d<\/p>\n

Tan twisted his ring, the marker of his office, on his finger. He\u2019d accepted the role of Athan, but it still didn\u2019t feel like it fit him completely\u2014not after the sacrifices he\u2019d made. Perhaps it would in time. Roine claimed that Tan had done as an Athan should, making the hard choices of one meant to lead. Those choices were the reason shapers had died. Elementals had died. Asboel had been injured. Those choices had been his fault. Could he make them again?<\/p>\n

Could he afford not to?<\/p>\n

\u201cServing him, I do for the kingdoms,\u201d Tan said. \u201cIn that role, I speak with his voice. But in this, I think I come to Incendin to represent the elementals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey cannot be trusted,\u201d Cianna said.<\/p>\n

By they<\/i>, she meant the lisincend. It was a typical argument, especially for Cianna, who had grown up in Nara, which lay along the border with Incendin. How many times had those she loved been attacked by Incendin? More often than even Tan, and he had lost his father, his village, and almost everyone he\u2019d ever known to Incendin.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey fought with us,\u201d Tan reminded her. \u201cThey fight Par-shon. And the lisincend have been brought back to fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cianna sniffed. \u201cYou claim this, but you\u2019ll have a hard time convincing others of that. Too much has been lost.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSashari has told you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hard edge to Cianna\u2019s face softened as she looked over at her bonded draasin. \u201cShe claims the fire bond has changed, that you work closely within it now. She\u2019s said nothing about Twisted Fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause the lisincend are no longer twisted. Not as they once were.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tan took a step toward the rock, feeling the heat of Incendin all around him. Another step would lead him off the ridge, forcing him to use a shaping to lower himself to the valley below. A low howl echoed off the rock, a hound\u2019s distant cry no longer as terrifying as it once had been. They might have his scent, but they would not be able to injure him.<\/p>\n

Incendin had changed, not only for him. Like all change, it would take time for others to understand what it meant. Tan wasn\u2019t even certain that he fully understood the consequences of what he\u2019d done by bringing the lisincend into the fire bond and healing them so that they were no longer twisted. All he knew was that it needed doing.<\/p>\n

And then there was the bond that he\u2019d forced, an action he had never thought to take, one that in some ways made him no different than the Utu Tonah.<\/p>\n

Tan pushed away the thought. That was not <\/i>the reason kaas called to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou will have me wait?\u201d Cianna asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would have you with me,\u201d Tan said. He would rather have Amia, but as First Mother to the Aeta, she served in a different role. The people of the Aeta needed her, and he wouldn\u2019t risk her coming to the Fire Fortress. Besides, like many, Amia still hadn\u2019t fully moved past what Incendin had done to her family. Tan had stood witness when the lisincend had attacked her mother and others of her caravan, and had seen how Incendin had thought to sacrifice her in the name of creating another lisincend.<\/p>\n

Cianna laughed darkly. \u201cDo you know how long I\u2019ve dreamed of visiting the Fire Fortress and destroying it?\u201d she asked. \u201cNara has fought Incendin for generations. My people have struggled with Incendin stealing our people, the same as they steal Doma\u2019s shapers.\u201d Fire surged from her, and Tan doubted that she shaped it intentionally. \u201cWorse are those of Nara who make the crossing willingly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou would take away their choice?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d Cianna said, jaw clenching as she glared at the Fire Fortress. \u201cI would take away Incendin\u2019s seducing them. How many fire shapers have the kingdoms lost to them? How much stronger would we be if they had not taken our shapers?\u201d<\/p>\n

The question was different than simple concern for the kingdoms. Fire shapers were not revered within the kingdoms, not as they were within Incendin. Other shapers viewed them as lower than those able to manipulate the other elements, and many feared an Incendin influence even when there was none. In the short time that Tan had actually experienced the university, he had faced the same fears in the way that the masters sought to understand where each student came from. He remembered all too well Master Ferran\u2019s disbelief when Tan described what he\u2019d gone through with the lisincend. Now Ferran was one of Tan\u2019s most ardent supporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd how much worse off would we all be had Incendin not managed to withstand Par-shon all these years?\u201d Tan asked.<\/p>\n

Cianna pinched her eyes closed and let out a frustrated breath. \u201cWhy do you wish for me to enter the Fire Fortress with you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe others will fear that my loyalties are in question.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one questions you, Tan\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

He raised a hand, silencing her. \u201cThey question whether I am more concerned about the elementals. And they should question. I don\u2019t deny that I serve the elementals, or that I think the Great Mother gifted me with the ability to speak to them for me to offer my protection. But few will question your<\/i> motives when it comes to Incendin.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m of fire. I will always <\/i>be questioned.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou should look through my eyes, Cianna. You have more respect among the shapers than you realize.\u201d<\/p>\n

She fell silent a moment. Then she sighed. \u201cWhat is your plan? You think you can simply shape your way in? They\u2019ll view that as an attack, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was never about shaping our way in,\u201d he said. \u201cThis was an invitation, and one I have <\/i>to answer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reaching for fire and spirit, connecting to the fire bond, Tan listened for kaas. The great serpent of fire had been like the lisincend, twisted and sitting outside of the bond, but Tan had managed to heal it. At least, he thought he had. Part of that healing had required him to forcibly bond kaas to another. It had been necessary, but Tan still struggled with how that made him any different than Par-shon. He could tell himself that he\u2019d done it to help the elemental, but hadn\u2019t he done it to save others? Wasn\u2019t that the same thing that Par-shon did?<\/p>\n

Tan\u2019s connection to fire told him how Sashari waited, warily listening to everything around her, using the fire bond and her senses to monitor both Tan and Cianna. Distantly, he sensed Asboel, though the draasin remained motionless, still reeling from the battle with kaas that had left him wounded and weakened.<\/p>\n

Healing hadn\u2019t managed to bring Asboel back to what he\u2019d once been. The nymid had tried, but healing elemental powers, especially one of fire, was difficult. The nymid had managed to restore Tan when he\u2019d embraced fire too closely and nearly transformed into one of the lisincend, but healing Asboel was beyond them. His wings no longer caught the air as they once had, and his injuries persisted. Tan tried not to think of whether Asboel would ever manage to heal.<\/p>\n

Then there was Tan\u2019s connection to Honl. The attack with kaas had left Honl changed and different as well. Not damaged, at least not in the same way that Asboel had been damaged, but not quite like the rest of the ashi elementals. Where before he\u2019d always been somewhat indistinct, nothing more than translucent air, now he had shape and form. Tan saw him less often than before, though he could call on him if needed. Honl was there, distantly at the back of his mind, but not as present as he had once been.<\/p>\n

The distant sense of kaas burned beneath the ground. The great serpent was unlike any of the other fire elementals. He was powerful and strange, a twisting of fire and earth, an experiment done by the earliest kingdoms\u2019 shapers, and for reasons Tan still didn\u2019t understand. What would make those shapers think they could twist the elementals? What would make them think that they had the right to experiment?<\/p>\n

Asboel chuckled distantly in his mind. Since his injury, he was more prominent in Tan\u2019s mind, as if experiencing the world through Tan since he could no longer safely fly. If they survived the Par-shon attack, he thought there might be a way for Tan to use his shaping to help Asboel fly once more. For now, he remained safe, dependent upon Tan to keep him that way.<\/p>\n

You think differently than those of that time, Maelen. And the threats of this era are different than what they knew.<\/i><\/p>\n

Sashari perked up as Asboel communicated with Tan. Had she heard? Asboel was bonded to Tan differently, the connection changed by necessity when Par-shon had nearly stolen the bond. Now, spirit and fire wove together, tying them in ways that the initial bond had never managed.<\/p>\n

And you think differently than the draasin of that time, Asboel.<\/i><\/p>\n

It was not always the case.<\/i><\/p>\n

Both had changed much since the bond, and Tan didn\u2019t think that either of them would undo those changes, but he would undo the damage. In time, he would <\/i>find a way to heal his friend.<\/p>\n

You will observe? <\/i>Tan asked.<\/p>\n

A surge of annoyance came through the bond. That is all I have remaining, Maelen. Were you not so interesting, I might have begged the Mother to return.<\/i><\/p>\n

The response saddened him, but he understood. Without his wings, Asboel couldn\u2019t hunt. Without the hunt, he did not feel like the draasin.<\/p>\n

But Asboel was still fire. He was still his friend. Tan would find a way to restore him.<\/p>\n

But not today. Today was about the summons.<\/p>\n

Tan embraced the fire bond, pulling on it tightly, welcoming the sensation of fire all around him. With the fire bond, Tan called to kaas, knowing that the great serpent of fire would hear.<\/p>\n

\u201cBe ready,\u201d he said to Ciara. Shifting his attention to kaas, he sent a different message. Tell Fur I come.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Book Preview 1 A Summons The vast expanse of Incendin spread all around Tannen Minden as he stood on a ridge overlooking the waste, ignoring the draw of the Fire Fortress for now. Hard, cracked earth split beneath him to form canyons where the rock dropped off to nothing but blackness. The plants growing throughout … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5094,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[342],"class_list":["post-5095","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\/5095","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=5095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5095\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}