The Magelands Box Set

by Christopher Mitchell

  ‘South-west exit, Chief,’ she said, her finger moving across the map in front of her. ‘It was the way we originally came in, and was always the most likely point of escape.’ She glanced up. ‘There are really only three main routes in or out of the city. For each I have prepared a plan, but I gave this route the most attention.’

  She shuffled the maps on the table, and found one marked with red ink.

  ‘There are ten thousand Rahain soldiers camped in the valley,’ she went on, ‘and they’ll take a long time to get into the caverns. We set off the trap too soon, and we’re left with thousands still outside. Too late, and we give them the opportunity of spreading throughout the city, where they’ll be much harder to find and kill.

  ‘Therefore, we need to guide them along a certain route, to make sure they end up where we want them.’

  She traced her finger along the map. Killop could see the tunnel they had first discovered, and then the large chamber with the three exits and the toppled statue that they had found on the first day. Dyam had marked the northernmost exit with an arrow, and had blocked off the other two.

  ‘How do we stop them going those ways?’ he asked.

  ‘We’ll block them up,’ she said, ‘and behind each barricade, we’ll fill the two tunnels with our soldiers. Rahain crossbow teams at the front, fire-lamp throwers at the rear. Fifty of our Rahain in each tunnel, with twenty Kellach to back them up, should be enough to stop the enemy from getting through. If they use stone mages to bring the tunnels down it’ll have the same result.’ She pointed at the northernmost tunnel. ‘We need them to go down here, into this long tunnel. I’ve blocked off most of the side routes along it, and camouflaged the others. Crossbow teams and Kellach warriors will lie in wait here, here and here. When we set off the trap, the entire tunnel should be crowded with Rahain.’

  Killop pointed to a large cavern at the end of the long tunnel.

  ‘Is this where it will take place?’

  Dyam nodded.

  ‘Good job.’

  She shrugged. ‘I’m worried they won’t take the bait, and go up the northern tunnel.’

  ‘We’ll need someone to lure them,’ Bridget said.

  ‘I’ll do it,’ Killop said. ‘I’ll take a half-squad of raiders, and wait for them in the entrance cavern, where the broken statue lies.’

  ‘No, Chief,’ Kalden said. ‘There are a hundred things that could go wrong.’

  ‘When I was a prisoner,’ Killop said, ‘Rahain officers used to come by to gawk at the brother of the fire mage. I’ve got more chance of being recognised than anyone else.’

  ‘That’s what makes it dangerous.’

  ‘Larissa,’ he said, ‘select six raiders and get them ready.’

  ‘Aye, Chief,’ she smiled.

  ‘Let’s go,’ Killop said. ‘You all know what to do. Keep to the plan. We’ll lure them in, and destroy them.’

  Killop paced, his boots crunching on the loose debris covering the floor of the cavern. Larissa sat up on the toppled statue’s pedestal, fidgeting with her longbow. Five warriors from their raiding company were gathered by the narrow tunnel in the west wall that led outside, watching for signs of the Rahain.

  Workteams had boarded up two of the three large openings in the east wall, leaving the northernmost entrance open. Behind the nailed-in planks and beams blocking the other two tunnels were half of the clan’s Rahain crossbow squads, the front rows of which were equipped with great door-sized shields.

  Oil lamps gave the chamber a low level of illumination, the opening in the roof above showing nothing but the blackness of the night sky.

  ‘Maybe they won’t come tonight,’ Larissa said, swinging her legs. ‘Maybe they know it’s a trap.’

  Killop shrugged.

  ‘Maybe they haven’t caught our wee runaway,’ she went on.

  ‘Or he’s slipped down a crevasse and broken his neck.’

  ‘And then what?’

  ‘Next, we deliberately send out a Rahain, who’ll get himself caught, and offer to lead them to us.’

  ‘Whoever volunteers for that is dead.’

  Killop nodded.

  Larissa took a swig from a skin of water. ‘What do you think you’ll do, Killop, once this is all over?’

  ‘Will it ever be over?’ Killop said. ‘I can’t walk away from being chief, no matter how this turns out.’

  ‘But will you take us all back to Kellach Brigdomin?’

  ‘I don’t know. I’m not sure everyone wants to go back. The Rahain levelled Kell, and most of Brig and Lach. They destroyed our farms and villages, and opened up enormous mines in the countryside. I’m not sure I want to go back.’

  ‘We could build a life here,’ she said, ‘if the lizards leave us alone.’

  ‘When there’s an end to slavery in Rahain.’

  ‘Might be a while then,’ she said, ‘but if that ever did happen, would we live here?’

  ‘I love the Severed City,’ he said, ‘but we couldn’t stay here long term. There’s not enough arable land to support a large population. A few thousand folk are fine, but there are over a hundred thousand Kellach slaves in Rahain, and they won’t all be heading back to the homeland. We’ll need to find somewhere better if we’re going to settle here.’

  ‘Somewhere out in the open,’ she said. ‘I’m sick of caverns and tunnels.’

  ‘Me too.’

  ‘Chief!’ one of the warriors by the wall called over. ‘They’re coming.’

  Moments later, the Kellach scout who had been watching further up the tunnel sprinted into the chamber.

  ‘It’s them,’ she cried. ‘And they’ve brought the bloody lot.’

  ‘Remember,’ Larissa said as they walked over, ‘we’re just a bored and lazy guard unit, caught by surprise. Light a couple more lamps, and talk loudly enough for them to hear you halfway down the tunnel.’

  ‘What if they collapse the roof on us?’ one asked.

  ‘They won’t,’ Killop said. ‘They’ve been looking for a way in since they got here, they won’t destroy one now that they’ve found it.’

  Killop peered up the narrow tunnel in the west wall. It was in utter darkness.

  Killop turned to the warriors. ‘Get your arses out of here as soon as they enter this chamber, but make sure they see which way you go.’

  From the corner of his eye he noticed a flicker of light. At the far end of the tunnel, where it turned towards the outside, he saw the tiny glow of a lamp.

  ‘There they are,’ he said. ‘Get into your positions.’

  The warriors ran back to the pedestal in the centre of the room, and gathered behind it. Their faces looked nervous, but they began talking loudly, about any nonsense that came into their heads.

  ‘I don’t like being the bait,’ Larissa said. ‘Usually it’s us sneaking up on the Rahain, not the other way about.’

  For what seemed like an age, they waited by the pedestal, talking rubbish.

  ‘They must have heard us,’ Larissa said, ‘otherwise they’d be here by now.’

  ‘Stay alert everybody,’ Killop said. ‘Keep your eyes open.’

  Without warning, a line of shields appeared at the entrance to the narrow tunnel, and a shower of crossbow bolts were fired into the chamber.

  ‘Stay where you are,’ Killop shouted, as bolts flew past them, ricocheting off the stone walls. They kept their heads down behind the large marble pedestal. One warrior cried out as a splinter of stone gashed the side of his face.

  Killop leaned against the pedestal and closed his eyes. The thrum-thrum from the crossbows, and the sharp noise of the bolts impacting off the stone walls and pedestal rang through his ears.

  It went quiet, and he raised his head.

  Lines of Rahain soldiers were rushing into the room. Many stayed behind the shield wall, but others were fanning out to either side.

  ‘Go!’ Killop cried. ‘Run!’

  The warriors at his side shook the dust and debris from themselves, an
d bolted for the open tunnel in the east wall. Crossbow bolts rang out, and two were struck, one in the shoulder, and the other through the back of his head.

  Killop swerved and dodged, his shield swung round to protect his back. He grabbed hold of the wounded warrior, and pulled her towards the tunnel. Larissa ran past him, and turned at the entrance. She knelt, and drew back her bow.

  An arrow flew past his shoulder as he fell over the threshold of the tunnel. There was a deep lip next to the entrance, and he hauled the wounded warrior behind it.

  ‘Secure this room,’ shouted a Rahain voice from the cavern.

  The sound of crossbows stopped, and he heard the rumble of boots run through the hall. He looked up. His warriors were crouching behind the other side of the entranceway. Larissa was kneeling behind him.

  Killop peered round the edge. A line of shields had been positioned in front of the tunnel where the Kellach crouched. Over the top of it, he saw Rahain soldiers pouring into the cavern, and forming up into ranks. A tight knot of officers were standing, pointing at the three entranceways in the eastern wall.

  ‘Larissa,’ Killop whispered, ‘can your longbow reach one of them?’

  She peeked round the side of the lip, glanced at Killop and nodded. She nocked an arrow, and stretched back her bow.

  ‘Pull me in as soon as the arrow’s gone,’ she said.

  Killop nodded, and gripped onto her belt with both hands.

  She leapt out into the entranceway, took half a second to aim, and loosed. Killop pulled on her belt and yanked her back behind the lip, where she fell in a pile on top of him, as crossbow bolts flew down the tunnel.

  ‘Did you hit one?’ he asked, pushing her off.

  She shrugged, a half smile on her face.

  Killop chanced a look, and saw a Rahain officer flat on his back in the hall, an arrow through his eye. Next to him, another officer was standing, his face crumpled in rage.

  Killop’s eyes widened as he recognised the officer.

  ‘The next arrow’s for you, Commander Likiat,’ he cried.

  As the officer stared over the shieldwall and into the darkness of the open tunnel, Killop turned to the Kellach raiders.

  ‘Everyone, go, up the tunnel now. Stick to the sides. Run.’

  He waited until they had all sprinted up the dark tunnel, the injured warrior being supported by two others, then he stepped out into the light, his shield up before him.

  ‘I am Chief Killop of the Severed Clan,’ he shouted. ‘Come and get me.’

  Likiat stared at him, his mouth hanging open.

  ‘After him!’ he screamed, and the Rahain ranks started moving.

  Killop swivelled the shield to cover his back, and ran as fast as he could up the pitch black tunnel. He counted his paces, and knew where the steps began, but still stumbled and tripped.

  ‘Come on,’ Larissa cried, pulling him to his feet.

  They rushed up the steps in the darkness, until a small lamp ahead of them marked the top. The tunnel levelled out and swung to the right.

  ‘Keep going,’ he said to the others, and they backed off down the passageway.

  Killop and Larissa stood at the top of the stairs, waiting.

  ‘I don’t like being the mouse in this game,’ she said.

  The sound of boots approached.

  Killop bent over and picked up two Rahain lamp bases from the ground. Each had been modified, so that the wick protruded from the sealed ceramic base, which had been emptied out and filled with Brodie’s raw spirits. He handed one to Larissa, and removed the glass cap from the lamp on the wall, exposing its flame.

  They held the lamps to the fire. As the first Rahain soldiers came into sight at the bottom of the steps, they threw the lamp-bases down the stairs. Each exploded in a ball of bright fire, covering the soldiers in the front ranks in flame.

  Killop and Larissa watched for a second, then ran down the passageway.

  They entered the long stretch of tunnel that Dyam had filled with traps and ambushes. They found one of the fake walls, and dropped off the injured raider in a chamber there, where a dozen Kellach warriors waited.

  ‘How’s it going, Chief?’ one of them whispered.

  ‘The plan’s working,’ he said. ‘Remember your orders, stay quiet, and stay hidden, until you hear the signal.’

  They nodded, and Killop went back into the tunnel, fitting the camouflaged wooden panels in place to hide the warriors within.

  One of the raiders had lit a lamp, as there were dozens of obstacles along the whole stretch of the tunnel, to where it ended at the great cavern. Dyam had arranged beams to be placed across the passageway, forcing them to duck, and clamber, or squeeze past one at a time. As they made their way through the lamplight, Killop counted dozens of murder holes in the walls to either side, where he knew the clan’s Rahain crossbow teams were hiding.

  Before they were halfway to the cavern, they heard the sounds of soldiers behind them, as the Rahain entered the long tunnel.

  ‘Keep the lamp lit,’ Killop said. ‘We want them to see us.’

  The raiders raced in the direction of the cavern, the Rahain catching them up, the lither bodies of their people finding it easier to negotiate the obstacles.

  A crossbow bolt slammed into a beam by Killop’s head.

  ‘Fuck,’ Larissa shouted. ‘They’re in range.’

  Killop scrambled over the final obstacle, and rolled onto the floor. There were only fifty yards to the cavern, but the Rahain had a clear aim.

  ‘Run,’ he shouted.

  The raiders sprinted, as the Rahain neared. A hail of bolts came at them, and another warrior fell. Killop felt a bolt strike the shield on his back as he reached the cavern, and dived down to his left.

  ‘Keep moving,’ he cried, getting back to his feet. ‘To the tunnel on the other side.’

  The floor of the great cavern was empty. As he ran, he glanced at the enormous dome overhead. Halfway up was a balcony, where he could see figures moving.

  They had reached the centre of the hall when the Rahain burst through like a flood, dozens, then hundreds, racing across the cavern after the raiders. Every exit had been blocked bar one.

  A crossbow bolt struck the neck of another raider, and she fell, leaving only two remaining with Killop and Larissa. He could feel his knees groan in pain as he ran, his breath gulping. He concentrated on not falling, but his head was swimming.

  They ran through the open archway of the only unblocked tunnel, and collapsed to their knees as soon as they had gone ten yards. Warriors belonging to the clan’s Rahain units moved up past them, lining their great door-sized shields into a wall, blocking off the tunnel entrance. Kellach warriors emerged from chambers on either side of the tunnel, and moved into ranks behind the shieldwall.

  ‘You made it then, Chief,’ Dyam said. She walked up to the barrier of shields, and peered through a crossbow slot. ‘And the cavern’s filling up.’ She turned to Killop, who was pushing himself to his feet. ‘I’m going upstairs. Whatever happens, Chief, do not let the Rahain break through into this tunnel.’

  ‘Understood, Commander,’ he said.

  Larissa watched Dyam walk away. ‘Who does she think she is, ordering the chief about?’

  ‘If we win today,’ he said. ‘It’ll be down to her.’

  Larissa frowned, and looked away.

  There was a roar of noise, and the shieldwall was forced back a pace as the mass of Rahain in the cavern charged. Killop’s crossbow teams were firing, and more ceramic spirit bombs were hurled over their heads and into the attacking ranks of Rahain.

  Killop and Larissa ran forwards, adding their weight and strength to the shieldwall, where Kellach warriors four-deep where pushing and straining.

  Time ran into itself as Killop heaved, and shoved with all of his strength. Sweat was falling down his face, and his arms ached. One of the shields making up the wall was torn down, and a flurry of bolts struck the warriors behind. Killop lifted his own shield, alon
g with others, and they waded forwards to plug the gap. Kellach and clan Rahain dead littered the floor.

  There was a scream from inside the cavern, and Killop glanced up to see dozens of dark objects fall like rain into the cavern from the balcony ringing the dome. The objects were smashing down into the crowded sea of Rahain in the vast cavern.

  ‘This is it,’ Killop called out. ‘Pull back!’

  Killop tried to disengage from the Rahain soldier facing him, but the press of bodies was too tight, and he couldn’t move his legs. There was a flicker of light from the cavern balcony, and he saw the silhouette of a teenage girl flash up onto the side of the dome.

  ‘Fuck,’ Killop breathed, and closed his eyes.

  The explosion blinded and deafened him, throwing him backwards a hundred feet down the tunnel, as blasted bits of flesh, shields and crossbows flew around him. He blinked, and in that blink a second could have passed, or an hour. His sight was gone, his ears ringing. He tried to crawl, but his legs weren’t responding.

  He lay down. His breath was hoarse, but he couldn’t feel any major injury. His hands worked their way down his legs, and found the body of someone on his feet. He pushed them off.

  He began to see a faint glow of light, fires burning, and he saw his hands, then his body. He looked around as his sight started to return. He was in the tunnel, but the entrance to the great cavern was blocked, filled in with rubble from the explosion.

  He sensed movement, and saw a shape crawling down the corridor, a blurry figure trailing a smear of red on the ground.

  Killop got to his feet, and staggered, his balance upset. He pulled the broken and twisted pieces of his shield from over his shoulder and threw them to the ground. Noises started to reach him. Calls for help, cries and groans, and then Rahain voices, up ahead.

  He turned, and saw a chamber to his right, with lamplight coming from the entranceway.

  ‘It’s a miracle you survived, Commander,’ came a voice from inside.

  Killop swayed, then walked to the entranceway. His hands went to his belt for a knife, but it was gone, and he realised his clothes were in tattered strips. He looked around, and saw a broken sword. He picked it up by the hilt.