The Magelands Box Set

by Christopher Mitchell

  ‘Joley,’ she said.

  He turned.

  ‘Sorry.’

  She entered his mind, and blotted out his short-term memory, like wiping a wet sponge over chalk.

  His eyes glazed over and he slumped. Daphne reached out and helped him sit by the wall, pulling his legs in to keep him in the shadow of the battlements.

  Daphne stood, and gazed upwards, her eyes scanning the low ceiling above a neighbouring row of abandoned buildings, until she located a hatch that led into the service shafts.

  She smiled, pulled on a thread of battle-vision, and leaped over the wall.

  Chapter 27

  Showing Off

  Northern Plateau – 24th Day, First Third Winter 506

  ‘Yer talking out of yer arse, B’Dang,’ Keira said. ‘The Sanang might be the second hardest folk in the world, but they’re nowhere near as tough as us. The Kellach are fucking number one.’

  B’Dang’s eyes darted at those sat around the low campfire, looking for support, but all of the other Sanang had passed out.

  ‘But the Rahain kicked your arses,’ he cried.

  ‘Sheer weight of numbers, wee man,’ the firewitch said, as Agang watched from the cage-wagon, which was parked alongside the tents of Keira and the commanders. He shifted his position on the layers of blankets, having lain awake for hours while they had got drunk.

  ‘We were out-numbered in every fucking battle,’ Keira went on, ‘and we still nearly beat the fuckers.’

  B’Dang scowled. ‘I reckon the Holdings are third hardest.’

  Kylon snorted. ‘You’re only saying that because they occupied your lands for years. I don’t think they’re any tougher than the Rahain.’

  ‘Hey!’ said Niall, puffing on a weedstick. ‘I think I might actually agree with B’Dang.’

  ‘That’d be a first,’ muttered Flora, who was sitting next to him, with Fern curled up at their feet.

  ‘The frog-folk are definitely bottom,’ Keira said, downing her mug.

  ‘The Rakanese,’ Kylon said.

  ‘Aye, them, whatever they’re called.’

  ‘Never met any,’ B’Dang said.

  ‘Wee folk,’ Keira said. ‘But they’ve got big eyes, like bairns. And they eat insects. Disgusting wee shites.’

  The others round the fire sat in silence as Keira and B’Dang laughed. Not many were still awake, Agang noticed, the drinking having begun at the huge feast with the army the previous evening, and continued on for hours by the fire through the night. Niall had slipped him a few sticks of keenweed, which had kept him awake as he had listened to them talk. The Holdings trooper had also brought him some food from the feast, earning a glare from B’Dang.

  Leah cracked open another of the small barrels that the army had secured the previous day when they had overrun a large winery about halfway to Plateau City. The wine was young and sharp, but the army had consumed hundreds of barrels throughout the day and night, as Keira had proclaimed a two-day break from marching.

  ‘Plus,’ Keira went on, ‘not only are the Kellach the toughest folk in the world, we also have the best mage powers. Fire beats fucking everything. The Holdings can see round corners, well so what? The Rahain can make wee earthquakes. That’s not bad, but a bit limited. The Sanang can heal, and that’s useful I suppose, but let’s face it, it’s a bit boring.’ She took a drink. ‘And I can’t remember what the frog-folk can do.’

  ‘They can move water around, I think,’ Niall said.

  Keira shrugged. ‘See? They’re all pish.’

  ‘You’ve no fucking clue what you’re talking about,’ B’Dang said, slurring and swaying from side to side.

  ‘Oh aye?’ Keira laughed. ‘Have you got more powers than healing bones and waving branches?’

  ‘Yes,’ B’Dang snarled. ‘Powers that make your fire throwing look like a children’s game.’

  ‘This sounds good. Go on.’

  ‘Do you fear death, firewitch?’ B’Dang said.

  ‘No.’

  ‘You should.’

  ‘Are you fucking threatening me? I’ll kick yer head in, ya wee toerag.’

  Agang glanced up at the campfire. Of those awake, Keira and B’Dang were the drunkest. Leah had put back mug after mug, but always seemed in control, while who knew what was going on inside Kylon’s dark mind. Flora was sober, as was Niall, though he had been smoking various weed-strains all night.

  B’Dang was staring at Keira, but his face split in a grin, and he started laughing.

  ‘No, you crazy fucked-up barbarian,’ he said. ‘The Sanang powers, they are the powers of death. They’re so dangerous we kill anyone who shows even the slightest sign of higher powers.’

  ‘You kill your high mages?’ Kylon said. ‘Why?’

  ‘They used to rule us,’ B’Dang said. ‘Bastards the lot of them.’

  Agang leaned up towards the bars of his cage, as the Kellach glanced at each other.

  ‘What can they do?’ asked Leah.

  ‘Shut your mouth, B’Dang,’ yelled Agang.

  The Sanang warlord turned round to face him, his eyes wide. He drained his mug of wine and staggered to his feet.

  ‘You disrespect me, you fucking slave?’ he cried, stumbling forwards. ‘I’ll kill you.’

  ‘Look at him go,’ laughed Keira. ‘He’ll never make it to the cage. Hoi, Agang,’ she yelled, ‘if he does, punch him in the nose. You can have that one on me.’

  Agang clenched his fist. He noticed Flora tense, her hand creeping towards her crossbow.

  ‘I’ll fucking rip you apart, you boy-loving…’ B’Dang cried, then tripped over a sleeping body.

  ‘See?’ cackled Keira.

  Agang looked down. B’Dang was sprawled out on the cold ground just a yard from the wagon, his eyes closed. Flora relaxed.

  The firewitch leaned back against the wheel of a wagon. ‘It’s been a good night.’

  ‘It’s nearly dawn,’ Kylon said. ‘We should get some sleep.’

  ‘Fuck that,’ Keira said. ‘I’m staying up. Got the day off tomorrow, not wasting that.’

  ‘Well I’m going to bed,’ he said, standing. He turned to go, then stopped.

  ‘We should have kept marching, we’re running out of time.’

  ‘Oh fuck off,’ Keira said. ‘The army needed a fucking rest. We’ll be at the capital in twenty days. One night off isn’t going to make any difference.’

  Kylon glared at her, then went past the guard post and into his tent.

  ‘Miserable bastard,’ Keira said. ‘Are the rest of you staying up?’

  Leah shrugged. ‘Bed for me.’

  ‘What about you two?’ Keira said to the Holdings pair.

  ‘Do I have any choice?’ Flora said. ‘I’m on duty tonight. So’s Niall. Watching Agang.’

  ‘I’ll stay up if I can have a drink and get tomorrow off,’ Niall said.

  ‘One of you will have to stay on duty at least,’ Leah said as she got to her feet.

  ‘I have to babysit Fern tomorrow,’ Flora said.

  ‘All right,’ Leah said. ‘Flora, get some sleep. Niall, you stay up. You can have one drink, but no more.’

  ‘Thanks, boss,’ the trooper said, as Flora grabbed a blanket and curled up on the ground next to Fern and the warmth of the fire.

  Leah nodded at Keira, and went into her tent.

  ‘This is shite,’ Keira said. ‘I was up for another barrel.’

  Niall leaned over and picked up a stray mug. He filled it with the leavings from the other mugs sitting by the fire, and settled back.

  ‘Be light soon,’ he said. ‘No hills.’

  Keira frowned at him, and stood. She staggered by the fireside, almost falling into the flames, but righted herself, and made her way to Agang’s cage-wagon.

  ‘Want a drink?’

  He looked up. ‘All right.’

  She gazed around. ‘It’s too cold out here, and there’s nowhere to sit.’ She gestured to Niall. ‘Come up here and let him out. If we�
�re going to get hammered, I want to be sitting by the fire.’

  Niall’s eyes widened, and he got to his feet, slinging his crossbow over his back.

  ‘Are you sure, boss?’ he said. ‘It sounds, I don’t know, a bit irresponsible.’

  ‘What’s the problem?’ she said. ‘You’re on duty, you can watch him.’

  Niall frowned.

  ‘But we’ve no chains or handcuffs or anything.’

  ‘Well, just make sure you watch him closely.’

  Niall rolled his eyes, and pulled a set of keys from his belt. He approached the cage.

  ‘Don’t make me regret this,’ he said to Agang. ‘I like you, but I’ll shoot you if you try something stupid.’

  ‘I’ll behave,’ Agang said, pulling himself up, his heart pounding. He had spent over thirty days in the cage, and a deep yearning for the open air filled him.

  Niall pushed the key into the cage door and turned it. The Holdings man pulled the bars, and the door opened. He swung his crossbow to his front, then gestured to Agang.

  ‘Come on,’ Keira said, turning and walking back to the fire. Agang jumped down, smiling and stretching his legs. He pulled a thick blanket from the wagon and threw it over his shoulders. Niall pointed with his crossbow, and Agang walked to the fire. He sat next to Keira, a yard between them.

  The firewitch filled three mugs with wine, a weedstick hanging from her lips.

  ‘I want you to drink that in one go,’ she said to Agang, handing him a mug. ‘You need to catch up.’

  ‘I haven’t drunk in a while,’ he said. ‘I’ll do it, but I warn you, I might throw it all back up.’

  Keira laughed.

  Agang lifted the mug. He knew he wasn’t going to throw anything back up, but he wanted to look as though he might. Alcohol had no effect on him but now, he felt, was not the time to admit that particular ability. He raised the mug to his lips and drank the contents.

  He grimaced and coughed, while Keira and Niall laughed. The firewitch refilled his mug.

  ‘Right,’ she said. ‘Let’s get to know each other. We all have to tell a secret. Agang, you first.’

  ‘It’s your game,’ he said. ‘You should go first.’

  ‘Fair enough,’ she shrugged. She frowned. ‘All right.’ She took a draw of her weedstick. ‘Don’t tell Kylon this, but I went into his tent earlier and moved all his stuff around. He fucking hates that. He’ll go spare when he wakes up.’

  Niall laughed as he drank his second mug of wine.

  She smirked at him. ‘You next.’

  The trooper’s smile dropped. He glanced about, checking no one was awake.

  ‘I’m in love with Flora,’ he whispered.

  ‘Ha!’ Keira cried. ‘I fucking knew it.’

  ‘How?’ Niall said, his eyes wide. ‘I’ve never told anyone before.’

  ‘I’ve seen ye gawking at her when you think nobody’s looking,’ she said. ‘Why do you not tell her?’

  ‘There’s no point,’ he said. ‘She prefers girls.’

  Keira’s eyes narrowed. ‘I think you’ve just given away one of her secrets, not yours.’

  Agang glanced over at the sleeping form of Flora, curled up in blankets by the low fire.

  ‘I don’t know why she was keeping it quiet,’ Keira went on. ‘None of us give a shit.’

  Niall re-filled his mug, but if Keira noticed she didn’t react.

  ‘It’s because of Sanang, I think,’ he said. ‘She’d heard that the people there don’t look too kindly on it. Think it’s unnatural or something.’

  ‘Fucking idiots,’ Keira said. She glared at Agang. ‘You people are fucking savages.’

  ‘I was going to change all that,’ he said, ‘if you’d let me. I would have slowly turned Sanang into a more peaceful, tolerant country, like the Holdings.’

  ‘It was like that when the queen was in charge,’ Niall said. ‘Things have probably changed now that the Emperor is doing the bidding of the church.’

  ‘Another reason to kick their arses,’ Keira said.

  ‘And then what?’ Agang said. ‘Are you going to make the world a better place?’

  ‘Me?’ she smirked. ‘I’m only in this to overthrow the Emperor. I’m not interested in what happens after, so long as I can get home.’

  ‘Wasn’t your home destroyed by the Rahain?’

  ‘Aye, much of it. But way down at the bottom enough of my folk survive. Far away from every other fucker. Aye, I’ll go down there, and the rest of the world can get to fuck.’

  She stubbed out a weedstick, and lit another.

  ‘Your turn,’ she said to Agang.

  He frowned. He wondered if he should make something up, but the firewitch seemed perceptive enough to catch him out, even though she was as drunk as he had ever seen her. He buried his deeper secrets, and selected a lesser one.

  ‘I killed B’Dang’s brother, eleven years ago,’ he said. ‘He doesn’t know.’

  ‘Aye?’ Keira laughed. ‘Bit risky telling us, don’t you think? If the baldy wee bastard found out he’d kill you.’

  Agang shrugged. ‘He wants to kill me anyway, but he obeys you.’

  ‘Fucking right he does.’

  Niall put down his mug. ‘Was his brother an arsehole like him?’

  Agang shook his head. ‘He was my best friend, when I was the leader of a warband in my early twenties.’

  ‘Then why did you kill him?’

  ‘Because he found out something that the warband would have killed me for, had they learned it.’

  ‘And what’s that?’ Keira said.

  ‘A secret for another night.’

  She snorted. ‘Fair enough.’

  A log on the fire subsided, and the flames dropped lower. Niall and Keira sat in silence, and Agang noticed their eyelids drooping.

  He gazed around. There was no hope of escape, even if they both fell asleep. The firewitch’s tents were surrounded by a thick ring of guards. He spotted B’Dang’s body, lying unconscious by the cage-wagon.

  ‘I still dream of burning the frog city,’ said Keira from the shadows. Agang turned to her.

  ‘What?’

  ‘The fucking Raka-something frog city,’ she said, her voice low and slurring. ‘I still dream of their screams as I torched them. There, you can have that one. Thought I owed you a better secret than the shit one I gave you before…’

  Her eyes closed, and her head leaned back against the cart.

  Agang glanced at Niall, but the trooper had also fallen asleep.

  He leaned over and withdrew a long knife from the belt of a Sanang officer snoring by the fire. He got to his feet, and scanned the sleeping bodies to check for any movement. Beyond a circle of warmth, the ground was sparkling with a layer of frost, and the light in the eastern sky was starting to grow.

  Agang crept over to where B’Dang lay, and pressed the knife to his throat.

  He hesitated. He knew he would be punished if he were caught, and would be the obvious suspect if the camp awoke to find B’Dang dead with a slit throat. Could he make it look like an accident? He slid the knife into his boot and raised his hand towards B’Dang.

  A shout rang out from the ring of guards, and moments later a horn blew.

  Agang froze.

  He heard stirring from the campfire behind him, and darted back to Niall’s side as Flora sat up.

  ‘What’s going on?’ she groaned, as more horns were blown.

  ‘I don’t know,’ he said.

  She stared at him, and grabbed her crossbow. ‘What the fuck are you doing?’

  He raised his palms. ‘Keira let me out.’

  She frowned.

  Agang caught something move in the sky, and squinted into the growing light. Flora turned to see what he was looking at.

  ‘Holy fuck!’ she yelled. She punched Niall on the arm, but the trooper fell over onto his side and continued snoring.

  ‘Winged gaien!’ Flora shouted, staggering to her feet. ‘Winged fucking gaien!’<
br />
  Kylon appeared by the fire, dishevelled. He stared up at the sky, a frown on his lips.

  ‘Who the fuck are they?’ Leah cried as she came out of her tent, buckling on her armour.

  Kylon knelt and nudged Keira, who didn’t respond.

  ‘Fuck,’ he said. ‘She’s out.’ He noticed Agang, and his frown deepened.

  ‘Keira let him out apparently,’ Flora said.

  Kylon stood. He pulled a long wooden tube from his leather overcoat and put it to his eye, gazing in the direction of the hundreds of tiny specks in the south-eastern sky.

  ‘Rahain markings,’ he muttered, lowering the tube. He scanned the people by the fire.

  ‘Leah, wake up B’Dang. Flora, find me a stick of keenweed from Niall’s supply. Agang, sit still and don’t move a fucking inch. I’ll be back in a minute.’

  He turned and disappeared into his tent. Leah looked around for B’Dang, while Flora rooted in Niall’s pockets, her crossbow trained on Agang.

  Agang kept his eyes on the sky. A fleet of carriages flown from Rahain could only mean one thing. An imperial army. He swallowed, as he realised that he no longer knew who he wanted to win. His head wanted the empire to smash Keira and B’Dang, and put him back on the throne, but his heart was pondering the possibilities of the new order that the firewitch would create if she were successful.

  ‘They’re fast,’ he said. ‘They’ll be here in a few minutes.’

  Flora glared at him as she clutched a smokestick in her hand. Behind her, Leah and the Sanang chief were gazing up at the sky.

  ‘How the fuck do they know we’re here?’ B’Dang cried.

  ‘The mage-priests will have been watching the army since it crossed the frontier,’ Flora said. ‘Remember Benel? There will be at least one on board that fleet with similar powers.’

  ‘Fuck,’ spat Leah. ‘The winery was a fucking trap.’

  ‘What?’ yelled B’Dang.

  ‘How do you beat the Sanang?’ Leah went on. ‘Lead them to a mountain of booze and attack the following dawn.’

  B’Dang gazed up, his mouth open.

  Kylon came out of his tent with a bucket of water and emptied it over Keira’s head.