The Magelands Box Set
Page 52
‘Where the tunnel is?’
‘It’s where the final section of the tunnel begins.’
‘What?’
‘It’s not one long tunnel,’ he said. ‘It’s in sections, rising and falling, between the mountain valleys. The last section they finished comes out to the south of the fort. The mages started on the final section about two thirds ago, after coming back from destroying the migrant camp.’
She frowned. ‘What do you know about that?’
‘Not much,’ he said. ‘The senate told us that the Rakanese had invaded our land, and that we couldn’t let that happen. I don’t know exactly how they did it, but every mage in Rahain was needed.’
He knew the fire mage had escaped, she thought, but not about her part in the destruction of Akhanawarah.
‘It’s made things hard, though,’ he went on. ‘Thousands of peasants demobilised from the army, and no jobs. I was fortunate to get this requisition, at least I won’t starve. Others are not so lucky.’
‘Boo fucking hoo.’
They rode on through the afternoon, coming to the edge of the trees when the sun was halfway down the western sky, directly ahead of them.
Keira shielded her eyes, and peered out from the forest. The track descended to the northern side of the ridge, leading down to a wide, flat valley, enclosed on all sides by high mountain peaks. In the haze of the distance, she could make out the silhouette of the fort, rising up the side of a cliff, near to a dark spot that she assumed was the entrance to the tunnel. Below the fort a vast tented compound was laid out, with rows and rows of canvas, surrounded by a double stockade, and guarded with towers.
‘Over there is the fort,’ the peasant said, pointing.
‘I can see it, ya scaly wee fud.’
‘You can…?’
Keira shook her head. ‘You lizards are all short-sighted. And stunted. Poor bastards. I should pity you.’
She set her eyes to the mountain peaks, searching for any possible way across. To the north, where the Plateau lay, the high ridge was unyielding, like a wall. To the west, the valley narrowed past the fort, and ended in a shear cliff. She could see the sparkle of water in the sunlight.
‘Is that a river right at the end of the valley?’ she said.
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘It comes down from the south, and leaves by a channel through the base of the cliffs.’
‘Looks big. How wide’s the channel?’
He shrugged. ‘Never seen it close up.’
‘You should consider being more useful,’ she scowled. ‘I’m getting hungry.’
‘I have food!’ he cried. ‘Not much, just some dried meat and ryebread. I’ll share it with you.’
She raised an eyebrow.
‘I mean, I mean, you can have it.’
She smiled.
They re-boarded the wagon, and steered it down the gentle slope, as the sun lowered in the sky. They came to a dried-up river bed, high enough to be filled with melting run-off every winter, but parched in the summer thirds. Keira steered the wagon off the highway, and over the shingle and mud of the river course for a couple of miles, until they reached a sheltered cliffside, well away from the road.
They camped for the night, Keira tying the Rahain peasant’s leg to a tree trunk with rope she had found in the back of the wagon.
‘I’m supposed to have arrived with the wagon this evening,’ he said, as he watched Keira eat his dinner. ‘They might miss me if I don’t turn up.’
She looked up. ‘I doubt anyone will miss you, Lizardo.’
‘What are you going to do to me?’
‘Not sure, yet.’ She should kill him. He knew she was the escaped fire mage, and if she let him go, then her pursuers would be on her trail again.
‘I was going to eat you,’ she said, ‘but you’ve too much fucking gristle on you. Can you think of any reason why I shouldn’t slit your throat?’
He swallowed. ‘Because you’re a good person?’
Keira laughed. ‘Ahh, you’re a funny wee bastard. But no, I’m not a good person.’
‘Because I know the land, and I can guide you?’
‘Do you know the Plateau?’
‘Is that where you’re going?’
‘Answer the fucking question.’
He shook his head. ‘No.’
Keira shrugged. ‘Is that all you’ve got?’
‘I promise that I’ll never say anything to anyone about you,’ he said, starting to sweat. ‘I swear it on the lives of my children.’
‘You have bairns?’
‘Two.’
‘Why are you not at home looking after them?’
‘As I said, there are no jobs in the city. Just thousands of out-of-work soldiers. I was lucky to find this job, it allows my wife to collect food tokens, so I know they won’t go hungry.’
Keira glared at him and he stopped talking.
‘You’re an absolute prick,’ she said.
He opened his mouth in fear and confusion, his tongue flickering wildly.
‘I can’t fucking kill you now, can I?’ She threw a rock at his head. He ducked, and it glanced off his shoulder.
‘Ow!’
They sat in silence as the sky darkened.
‘I have some brandy,’ he said.
‘What?’
‘Alcohol.’
Her eyes lit up. ‘Where?’
‘Box under the driver’s bench.’
She got up and strode to the wagon. A quick rummage in the box, and she pulled out a stoppered jug. She twisted off the cork and took a swig.
‘Fucking beauty.’
She sat with her back to a tree, and took a longer drink.
‘First booze I’ve had since Kell,’ she said. ‘Brandy, eh? It’s alright.’
‘Can I have some?’
She thought for a moment.
‘Well,’ she said, ‘since you’ve been a good boy.’
She picked up the water-mug and poured a finger’s worth. She leaned over, and passed it to the peasant.
He nodded, and took a sip.
‘So, you’re not going to kill me?’ he said, colour returning to his cheeks.
She grimaced. ‘No.’
‘Do you promise?’
‘Don’t push it, wee man,’ she said, then grunted. ‘Okay, fuck it, I promise.’
‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘Are you really the fire mage?’
‘Aye.’
‘You killed all those soldiers in the war?’
‘Aye, I did.’
‘Then why didn’t you use your powers at the gate we passed?’ he said. ‘You didn’t need me.’
She frowned. ‘And here’s me thinking you were one of the smarter ones. When I escaped, they sent a whole fucking army after me, and whenever I threw fire it just sent out a big signal telling them where I was. It was only when I stopped, and went low and sneaky that I managed to slip past them.’
‘And you’re going to the Plateau?’ he said. ‘To escape Rahain?’
‘Exactly,’ she said, ‘I want to get out of this fucking country as fast as possible.’
He lifted his mug. ‘I will help you.’
‘To get to the Plateau?’
‘Yes.’
‘What about your family?’
He paused, his mouth open. His tongue flickered.
‘You lying wee bastard,’ Keira said, her fist clenched.
‘I’m sorry!’ he squealed. ‘I thought you were going to kill me.’
‘I fucking am now.’
The peasant put his hands up to protect his head as she approached.
‘But you promised!’
‘That’s when I thought you had bairns.’
‘Doesn’t matter. A promise is a promise.’
She pulled back her fist, ready to bury it in the man’s face.
‘I can help you get past the fort!’
‘How?’
‘I have a plan.’
She glared at him. ‘Why would you help me?’
Keira lowered her fist.
‘There’s supposed to be jobs up in Rainsby,’ he said. ‘That’s where we should go.’
‘We?’
‘You’ll blend right in. Apparently there’s a huge Kellach Brigdomin refugee camp, right next to the town.’
‘Prisoners?’
‘No,’ he said. ‘I’ve heard they can travel freely around, look for work,’ he said. ‘It’s just that they have to live within the camp, and not move into the town.’
‘That can’t be right,’ she said. ‘I thought the Rahain ruled there.’
‘Rainsby has long ruled itself,’ he said. ‘It’s too far away for the government here to control, although that’ll change once the tunnel’s finished.’
‘How many of my folk are there?’
‘Don’t know,’ he said. ‘I’ve never been, that’s just what I heard. Only, if you’re looking to lie low, then I’m sure you could disappear into the Rainsby camp.’
She took a swig of brandy and sat back down.
‘Is your face well known among your people?’ he asked.
‘I’ll cut my hair,’ she said. ‘Or dye it. I always fancied trying out blonde. And I’ll need a new name.’
‘What’s your real name? I only know you as the fire mage.’
‘Keira.’
‘I’m Leon.’
‘No,’ she said. ‘You’re Lizardo.’
He frowned.
‘Come on then, Lizardo,’ she said. ‘Let’s hear your fucking plan.’
An hour before dawn, a mist lay over the face of the land, grey and still, hiding the tall stone tower until the wagon had almost reached it. At its base an iron gate blocked the road, and to either side a deep ditch and earthen rampart stretched from one end of the narrow valley to the other.
‘Halt!’
The wagon shuddered to a stop as soldiers approached.
A hundred yards away, Keira emerged from the ditch, and sprinted up the bank of the steep earthworks, over the top, and down the other side, rolling to a stop at the bottom. She peered up. The soldiers were searching Leon’s wagon, but no one at the gates was looking in her direction.
The wee bastard’s right so far, she thought. So long as he wasn’t grassing her up to the guards at the gate. If he was, then it might be time for some fire and violence. She waited, watching as Leon passed an officer the documents he had forged the night before. Amended would be a more accurate term. He had removed the section about his precise destination, and made it vaguer, or so he had told her. She had no way of knowing as she couldn’t read Kell, never mind Rahain.
She didn’t trust him, but she was running out of choices.
Behind her, to the east, an army was searching for her. It was only a matter of time before their hunt reached the valley. She could no longer flee that way, not unless she was prepared to take on the lot of them. North and south were blocked by the sheer mountain ridges. Heading west for the river, right under the noses of the soldiers guarding the tunnel fort, was the only direction left.
She watched as soldiers waved to Leon, and the wagon started to move down the road. She smiled, and began running, taking a course parallel to the peasant. The mist got thicker, and soon she could barely see a thing more than a yard or two in front of her. She slowed, remembering the distances Leon had taught her. West for a hundred and eighty yards, then south for another hundred to the road, and he would meet her where the out-buildings of the camp began.
She paused when she reached what she thought to be the right distance. Above her the sky was lightening, growing a paler shade of grey, while the dense mist that surrounded her made her feel as if she had been transplanted to another world.
She sensed movement and peered into the murk.
Her heart nearly jumped through her throat, and she bit her tongue to stifle a cry.
Ahead of her, through the swirling grey mist stood three figures. Kellach Brigdomin. Their skin was dull and grey, their eyes lifeless, their clothes tattered rags.
‘The dead,’ she whispered.
One of the figures, a bearded man with hollow cheeks raised his finger and pointed at her.
Keira froze. Her instinct was to run, but she couldn’t move, her feet stuck to the earth.
A chill wind blew past her cheek, and the mist cleared a little, and Keira saw that between her and the figures, there was a long, high, barbed wire fence separating them.
The slaves, she realised. She had reached the edge of the vast labour camp. She tore her attention away from the captives, shook the dew from her hair, and ran south, towards the road, trying not to think of them. She had thought them dead. In the grey light and the mist they had looked dead. She had never seen Kellach with their spirit broken before, and it shook her.
She saw the wagon ahead, parked by the side of the road. Leon was beckoning to her.
‘Shit, woman, what took you?’ he said, sweat staining his tunic. ‘Get on, quick.’
She jumped up into the back of the wagon, and snuck down into the gap where she had hidden before. As she pulled her legs in, Leon placed the wooden slats down, covering her. In the darkness of the narrow compartment, Keira drew her knife.
She heard the reins crack, and the wagon lurched off.
Keira closed her eyes and withdrew to a quiet place in her head, thinking only of her breathing, and blocking out the images of the dead-but-alive Kellach.
The wagon jolted to a halt. She jerked open her eyes, unsure how much time had passed. She peered out through a crack in the wooden beams, and saw the great stone walls of the fort rearing up to her right. Muffled voices came from the front of the wagon, and she heard Leon’s clipped responses. There was movement, and Leon stepped down from the wagon. Four soldiers approached, and he was led off into the fort.
‘Fuck,’ Keira breathed. That hadn’t been in the plan.
She turned her head, trying to get a better view of the exterior. She could see the road ahead, where it branched into two long earthen ramps, just as Leon had described. One headed up to the tunnel entrance to the south, visible as a black dot against the mountainside. The other ramp led to the tunnel that was still being built, and disappeared round the corner of the fort. Beyond the ramps the ground levelled out into a series of fields, before ending in the face of the cliff, where the river ran. Their plan had been for Leon to tell the guards he was heading for the completed southern tunnel, and then steer the wagon off the road as soon as they were out of sight of the fort, and make for the river.
She squinted the other way, and saw the road behind her, closed in on either side with the shacks and rough structures of the settlement that had sprung up between the fort and the labour camp. The sky was lighter to the east, and the sun would soon be up.
She breathed, waiting. Where the fuck was he?
Her fist clenched around the hilt of the knife. She breathed again, and tried to think happy thoughts.
Kylon.
She smiled, her mind drifting, as she pictured his lean, hard body, and the moody look he always wore that made him appear older than he was. She wondered if he had been in the Rakanese camp when she had destroyed it, but felt no anxiety for him. He was touched in some way, that lad, and she knew it would take more than earthquakes, floods and a flaming conflagration to put him down. Kalayne had told her that he had seen Kylon in visions that stretched far beyond that year or the next, and that she would see him again, though he had refused to say where or when.
There was a noise to her left and she peered out. Soldiers. Three of them stood, eyeing the wagon and nodding.
She breathed again, her nerves almost snapping.
The scaly bastard had betrayed her.
She would not be captured again, she swore it. If she was goin
g to die, then she was going to fight. She caught a glimpse of a campfire in the settlement, and there were torches lighting part of the road ahead. She would bring fire and death to the soldiers. Her mind went to the Kellach slaves.
A shaky scheme formed in her head. Burst from the wagon, bolt through the settlement, burn everything in sight, and break open the camp. Free the slaves. Then they could make a real fight of it. Fuck, they might even win.
She reached up her hand. Before she could push herself free, there was a great thud, and the wooden boards above her shook, as the soldiers piled trunks and crates onto the back of the wagon, sealing her in.
Keira kept her body still as she heard the soldiers board the wagon, sitting down on the crates.
‘Thanks for the lift,’ said one of them.
‘No problem,’ she heard Leon say. The peasant climbed up onto the front bench, lashed the reins, and the wagon moved off.
‘We’ve been waiting two days for someone to take us through the south tunnel,’ a soldier said.
‘Well,’ Leon said, ‘it’s your lucky morning, lads.’
‘I’m glad to be out of that shithole,’ said another.
‘Worst fucking assignment yet.’
Dust from the wooden boards floated down to Keira’s face. Just above her, a soldier’s boot shook as if the man had a tic.
‘I never want to see another Kellach again in my life.’
One laughed, but it sounded hollow. ‘Rate the tunnel’s chewing them up, I doubt there will be many left by the time it’s finished.’
She felt the wagon tilt as it began to climb the long slope of the southern ramp. Up ahead, there was another guard-post about two hundred yards away, where the entrance to that section of the great tunnel began. Keira swore to herself. They were going the wrong way. Her eyes went to the cliffside where the river lay, then back up to the tunnel entrance. Her fist gripped her knife hilt. She had to get out before they reached the tunnel. The guards stationed there were bound to find her.
When the wagon was about a third of the way up the ramp, she heard Leon whisper, ‘Get ready.’
The peasant wailed aloud, and started to convulse as if having a seizure. The reins flailed, and the gaien began to speed up, veering off the road, and careering down the steep embankment towards the valley bottom, and the cliff.