Ravensoul

by James Barclay

  Hirad sobered. ‘We cannot let any of our names go to dust.’

  ‘That is what I invited you all up here to avoid,’ said Denser. ‘And we have got nowhere fast. So why don’t you, any of you, tell me what you know about whoever it is that is coming here to do whatever it is they’re planning to do. Because I, for one, do not wish my soul to be casting around for a resting place when I die.’

  ‘It’s worse than that, my love,’ said Erienne, the little girl’s voice dripping with weary experience. ‘We think that any souls unable to reach their birthplace are already lost in the void between dimensions, and that is an eternal screaming purgatory no one should have to suffer.’

  ‘So talk to us,’ said Sol.

  ‘We can’t tell you about their strengths, weaknesses, modes of attack and goals,’ said Darrick. ‘It doesn’t work like that. Where we’ve come from there is nothing but certain knowledge and intense feeling. So all we know is, they have destroyed the dead dimension and they are here now and will do the same to Balaia. So everyone who wants to live and everyone who wants to die in peace has to leave because there is no point in trying to fight. This much we know.’

  Denser kneaded the bridge of his nose, feeling a weight of frustration beginning to build.

  ‘At the risk of repeating myself, go where?’

  ‘I think that should be self-evident,’ said Ilkar. ‘Out of this dimension. Out of every known dimension, come to that.’

  Denser threw up his hands. Sol held up a hand to still his protest.

  ‘Even if that’s possible, it doesn’t help you much, does it? Where will you go?’

  A short silence followed Sol’s question. Hirad shrugged. Sirendor looked blank.

  ‘We don’t know,’ said Ilkar. ‘We hope to find another place to rest but we don’t know. We aren’t here for us. We’re here for you, to try and save you. Stop you dying and being lost to the void. Believe me, you want to avoid that.’

  ‘I’m not getting this,’ said Denser. ‘You’ve told us that the dead dimension is gone, but that to save us we should all leave for somewhere . . . else, right? So what happens when we die in this wonderful new home of ours? Where do our souls go?’

  ‘We have to believe that a dimension beyond those we know will bring with it a new dimension for the dead,’ said Ilkar. ‘The theory is that the elves enjoy a different resting place now to that which they had in their home of millennia past.’

  ‘Theory.’

  ‘Yes, Denser, but it represents the only chance for all of us. The living and the dead.’

  ‘And that is just plain ridiculous. Look . . .’ Denser paused, seeing the expressions on all their faces. ‘I really appreciate your passion and your belief but you’re all a decade out of date. So much has happened here in the last ten years. So much strength has been built by so few but it is so solid. There is no more conflict here. Not with the Wesmen, not between colleges or barons. We can’t afford it, the demons took so very many of us.

  ‘We have worked together to make sure no one can threaten us again and we will not run away because our departed loved ones tell us we must on the basis of old information.’

  ‘But it won’t help you when you die!’ shouted Hirad. ‘Why aren’t you listening to us?’

  ‘Because I have to believe that if we defeat this enemy then your resting place, our resting place, will become, I don’t know the right word . . . viable again. I don’t see we have another choice,’ said Denser, hanging on to his temper.

  ‘We have just offered you one,’ said Erienne quietly.

  Denser’s eyes pricked and he looked down at his wife. Now a five-year-old. He felt a surge of frustration. He sighed.

  ‘But you don’t know how to get us there,’ he said gently, trying hard not to adopt a patronising tone. He reached out a hand to stroke her hair but pulled it back. ‘I need to have proof or I have no option but to stand and fight. Evacuating the continent is not a realistic option.’

  ‘How can you be getting this so wrong?’ asked Erienne.

  ‘At least tell us you’re sending messengers to the colleges and Calaius,’ said Darrick. ‘Letting the powers know there is a threat.’

  Denser smiled. ‘And there you are, adding example to my argument. We are in constant contact with Lystern, Julatsa and Calaius. We have delegates in the Wesman Heartlands and can speak with every baron and lord, and with the Mayor of Korina, at very short notice.’

  ‘How?’ asked Ilkar.

  ‘I’ll show you later. But right now I need you to trust that we have not been idle. We can and will repel this enemy. We have new spells and have enhanced those that already existed. Together, the Balaian people are strong. And you have our reluctant king to thank for all that.’

  All eyes turned to Sol, whose face remained impassive. ‘And yet I worry, Denser. Exaggeration has never been part of The Raven. This power, whoever it is, is strong enough to have destroyed the dead dimension, something the demons were unable to do. So while I share your confidence in our new-found strength, I think we must also plan for defeat.’

  Ilkar nodded. ‘At least that.’

  Denser shrugged. ‘But our main focus must be on repelling the enemy. Not running to our so far unnamed haven.’

  ‘And we will face them as far from our cities as we can,’ said Sol. ‘We will identify their positions and we will go to meet them.’

  Hirad sighed. ‘I urge you not to. All you’ll get is bloodshed, not enough of it theirs. And you will lose so many souls to the void.’

  ‘You know it is something we have to do, don’t you?’ said Sol.

  ‘I had hoped to persuade you otherwise.’

  ‘We must attempt to secure our lands,’ said Denser. ‘Just to run is unthinkable, disastrous.’

  ‘We must fight. We will not meekly surrender Balaia to anyone.’

  ‘And, who knows, while you hold on to that belief, Unknown, perhaps there is a chance,’ said Darrick. ‘But we, the dead, do not see it, though we will stand by you.’

  ‘Why?’ asked Denser. ‘If you believe it such a lost cause.’

  ‘We don’t have a choice,’ said Erienne. ‘Our souls were brought back here by the strength of our bonds to you in life. We cannot be parted from you by such a distance. The pain is too great and our souls would not be able to hang on to these bodies. Think about it, my love. What you intend involves us whether we like it or not. Don’t force us to throw away what life we have.’

  Ilkar pushed himself to his feet and walked back to the balcony window. The library caught his eye again and he felt a coldness enter his soul.

  ‘You cannot have regained the power you had before the demons came,’ he said. ‘How much of the archive did you lose?’

  The regret in Denser’s eyes was answer in itself. ‘Nearly everything. During the siege Dystran managed to salvage some texts but we have lost so much that was precious. Irreplaceable.’

  ‘But, even so, you were more fortunate than Dordover,’ said Ilkar.

  Denser nodded. ‘I can’t ever see Dordover recovering as a college of magic. The Heart is gone and there are not enough surviving mages to construct a new one. But isn’t it strange that, when all is said and done, Julatsa is the most complete college of the four?’

  ‘You tell me; I’ve been dead almost fifteen years.’

  ‘Lystern has its Heart and precious little else. Dordover has nothing but a library of lore that no one can use. Xetesk has lost two thousand years of teaching. Julatsa is almost untouched. The decision to abandon the college and run here worked in ways your fellow mages and elves could not possibly have imagined. The demons always meant to go back and consume the Heart after the battle here was done. They never made it. It makes Julatsa strong.’

  ‘Only potentially, Denser. I can’t imagine too many mages survived to begin the process of recruitment and training. You have numbers at least. But they won’t do you any good.’

  ‘So you all keep saying, and you’ll excuse me if I do
n’t immediately buy the opinion of people who have been dead for a good long time. We need to see this enemy for ourselves. Understand that I’m only just buying the idea that you can possibly be here at all.’

  Ilkar nodded. ‘Then do it quickly. Being dead was good. Being alive again really isn’t.’

  ‘And that’s why Hirad has gone all emotional on me, is that it?’

  ‘No, Denser, it’s because he can feel something that he cannot explain.’

  There was a knock at the door.

  ‘Come,’ said Denser.

  A young messenger entered and bowed. ‘Please, my Lord Denser, Master Haldryn of the Communion Globe sends his urgent wish for your attention. Calaius has fallen silent.’

  Ilkar watched the colour drain from Denser’s face.

  ‘I take it that’s not good, then.’

  Denser shook his head.

  ‘And what’s a Communion Globe?’ asked the elven mage.

  Denser rubbed a hand across his forehead. ‘Wait here, all of you. I’ll be back as soon as I can.’

  They all watched Denser go, following the messenger out of the door and away down the long spiral stairway. Ilkar took a seat next to Hirad and smiled, squeezing his old friend’s healthy shoulder and regretting that he couldn’t see the barbarian in his original body. For all the awful reasons they were here at all and not floating in the timeless sanctuary of the dead dimension, there was still pleasure to be derived from being among friends. Even the different faces and bodies could not detract from the sense of well-being.

  ‘So what’s eating the Lord of the Mount?’ asked Hirad.

  ‘Not sure, really. One of his toys is broken and he wanted to show it off to us, I think.’

  ‘Oh, I see.’

  As usual, it was plain that he didn’t see at all. Ilkar looked over at Sol. The big man was studying the edge of the table, kneading the carved knotwork with his thumbs.

  ‘It’s not just a toy, is it, Unknown?’

  Sol shook his head. ‘It’s the first line of defence against any invasion of Balaia or Calaius. It’s the way we can talk over huge distances at any time. There are only two reasons for Calaius to fall silent. Deliberate cessation of the casting by the elves, and I dismiss that out of hand.’

  ‘Or . . .’

  ‘Or something overcame them so fast they had no chance to send a warning.’

  ‘Go and have your fight if you must but you need to believe us, Unknown,’ said Hirad. ‘You need to worry about evacuating west right now. There is no time for doubt.’

  Chapter 10

  Pain where there had been comfort.

  Fear where there had been calm.

  Loneliness from love.

  He would have screamed but he had no voice with which to do so. It had been so long, it seemed, since he had ascribed any living sensations to how he felt or what was happening to him. The pain soared, ripping at his being. Unstoppable, rising all the time, scaling heights he could never have conceived existed.

  Tearing. Like he imagined it would be should his flesh be torn from his bones while he still lived. And he could not cling on. Could not save himself from being thrown into the teeth of the gale that carried him away from his resting place.

  Flesh and blood. Bones and breath.

  The trappings of the living. He had forgotten them and how they felt. Why should he be reminded of them now? Dimly, he had been aware that those around him had moved or were gone. He had felt fear through the mass but had not known what it meant. Still he didn’t. Yet he was gone from where he had been content until now. But not adrift. There was something just beyond the borders of his awareness and slowly, slowly it resolved itself.

  Direction.

  He was travelling.

  There was no reference. He could not see or feel his movement but there it was nonetheless. There was no scent to guide him, no light to show him a path. But there was something that dragged him onwards, that would not let him be lost to the chaos that surrounded him. And what coalesced from the confusion encasing him jolted through him with, he remembered, surprise.

  It was need. That feeling of the heart reaching out to implore help, satisfy yearning and quench desire. To beg for attention. And to be reciprocated, meaning to love. All of this flooded through him and he thought that his speed, if he had one, increased. He had the sensation of flying headlong towards those that needed him the very most whether they were in trouble or just hoping without reason that he would return to them.

  It was a feeling of the most basic kind. A necessity without which there was no life. And certainly no return to life. Because shortly before light blazed into the comforting darkness that had been his dead soul, that was what he was sure was coming.

  He remembered nightmares from his living days when he was falling, falling. Always waking up just before he hit the ground. Yet though this was no nightmare, it was no less terrifying. The light was forming into vague shapes and he had the impression he was hurtling towards them at a speed he could not hope to arrest before he struck them.

  There were many of them, grey and indistinct for the most part but surrounding a separate, familiar shape. And it was to this he was being dragged. Curious. The winds buffeting him were enough to blow him away like chaff in the wind but the draw to the shape was so strong. Like he was swimming down to an anchor.

  In the next instant he was gasping in breath, opening his eyes and feeling the fear that had killed him. No, not him. The one who had inhabited this space before him. He lay on his back, barely daring to move. One at a time, he lifted his hands in front of his face, seeing strong, farmer’s fingers, calloused and thick. He was not young or, rather, the body was not. Over forty but not yet in decline. The lungs heaved in the wonderful scents of grass and pine and the thick, heavy odours of animals.

  He sat up, his soul clinging hard to the body, feeding energy into the heart to steady himself. The heart was tight, the muscles still in spasm. He could not afford to let the body die again. The winds would take him and he had nowhere else to go. He could not go back, that much he knew, and the knowledge sent pain through his new body. Pain of loss. Grief, he supposed, for all that was gone and could never be recovered.

  The wolves surrounding him were all old but still he recognised them. Elders of the pack, his pack. He reached out a hand and nuzzled the nearest under the chin, feeling a delightful warmth. Sudden anxiety gripped him and he withdrew the hand.

  ‘You have been waiting,’ he said, though he knew they could not understand. ‘This body. Waiting for me. You did this. How did you know?’

  Words from his mouth. It seemed only a moment since he had spoken his last yet time had passed. Much time. He could see that in the whitening of lupine coats and he could feel it in the air around him.

  The wolves, six of them, moved in to smell, lick and know him again. He could sense their relief but it was tinged with fear. Threat.

  He stood. ‘I am Thraun.’

  His name echoed around the valley in which he found himself and the laughter that followed it from his mouth hid the pain of his return just for a moment. He stretched his new body, feeling strong muscle in his chest, arms and legs. The wolves had chosen well. Thraun bit his lip.

  ‘I wonder who you were,’ he said, looking down at himself, his rough woollen trousers and shirt. ‘I wonder when you will be missed.’

  Thraun scratched the back of his head. He was bald too. He looked down at the wolves, all of whom were stood utterly still, staring at him. Waiting.

  ‘Something’s not right.’ He laughed again. But briefly. ‘Something more than being back here at all, that is, and not having a blond ponytail. Bugger it, I wish you could talk. Where am I anyway?’

  The valley was full of trees. Oak, ash and chestnut mainly. Pine too, of course. A very familiar landscape. He’d run here before but on four legs, not two. The valley rose to east and west, and if he wasn’t mistaken this was Grethern Forest and he’d be able to see the castle and rooftops of
Erskan if he climbed west. So he climbed.

  The ground felt amazing beneath his feet, and despite the pain in his soul and the heat in his body he couldn’t keep the smile from his face. Yet with every pace, that nag of something being seriously misplaced grew stronger. And every time he glanced back to see the wolves following him up the steep slope, whining quietly, his smile faltered a little more and his brow furrowed deeper.

  He reached the top of the valley side and the edge of the forest. The sight of Erskan in the distance was satisfying but no more than that. He could hear a distant thumping sound, like a mighty machine battering metal on metal, echoing darkly. And to the north he was drawn to where he knew the towers of Xetesk lay.

  ‘They are there,’ he said. ‘All of them.’

  Thraun crouched by the wolves again, putting his arms around two of them and letting them all come close, to fire their breath into his face and give him comfort.

  ‘I know I’m here to help you but I don’t know how. Those I lost when I died are away to the north. They will know what to do. I have to find my friends. The Raven. Come with me. I will keep you from harm.’

  The catacombs below the college of Xetesk had been extensively redeveloped in the decade since the demon wars. The Raven themselves had caused a good deal of damage there in their time and Denser had been keen to see them returned to their proper use. Research and archiving, rather than plotting and scheming. Parts of the one-time maze had been turned into a museum of the gory past of the Dark College and Denser had seen the catacombs signposted, properly lit, drained, ventilated and decorated.

  Yet the odd bleak corner still remained, and he indulged one in particular. Knocking on the dark-timbered door of the suite of chambers hidden in a side passage near the old Soul Tank, now part of the museum, he always felt like a student sent to the master for some misdemeanour or other. It was an association the incumbents were keen to foster, leaving Denser having to remind himself every time he turned the handle that it was he who was Lord of the Mount.