The Magelands Box Set

by Christopher Mitchell

  ‘Ya fucking fanny,’ she shrieked, lashing out with her fist.

  Kylon swerved to avoid the blow.

  ‘Get up.’

  ‘Fuck off,’ she growled. Her hair was soaked, and water was dripping from her chin. Her eyes closed.

  Kylon knelt by her. ‘Up.’

  She began snoring.

  He shook her by the shoulders. ‘Leave me alone,’ she muttered. ‘I’ll fucking snap yer neck.’

  Kylon turned to Flora, his hand out-stretched. She lit the weedstick and passed it to him. He waited for Keira to exhale, then pinched her nose and placed the smokestick in her mouth.

  She inhaled, then spluttered and began to cough. She toppled over onto her knees, retching.

  B’Dang started to laugh, then noticed Agang.

  ‘What the fuck?’ he cried, staring. He narrowed his eyes and put a hand to his neck, then gazed at the blood on his fingertips from the small slit Agang’s knife had made.

  Agang smiled.

  ‘I’ve got him covered,’ Flora said.

  Kylon stood, as Keira vomited dark red liquid onto the ground. He jumped up onto the front of the cart she had been leaning against, and stared out over the camp. He shook his head, as horn blasts echoed across the lines of campfires and tents.

  ‘Here they come!’ someone shouted.

  Agang looked up and gasped. The flying carriages were much larger in the sky, and were hurtling towards the Sanang camp, their gaien at full speed.

  ‘There’s one aimed right at us,’ Leah cried.

  ‘Weapons,’ Kylon yelled. ‘There’s a carriage coming for the command tents.’

  The guards and officers around the fire scattered, running to their tents for their armour and swords. Kylon looked down at Keira.

  ‘You ready?’

  ‘Go fuck yourself.’

  ‘Stay close, Fern,’ Flora said to the Sanang girl, as she checked her crossbow. ‘Sit by Agang so I can see you both. And kick Niall.’

  Fern planted her boot in the trooper’s chest, but he just groaned and rolled over.

  Two hundred yards to their left, the first carriage was released, the cables binding it to the gaien cut. The wooden tube glided in. It had long triangular wings on either side, and steel plates reinforcing its nose-cone. It smashed at a low angle into a line of tents, ploughing through ropes and canvas and digging into the hard frozen soil. Agang stood to get a better view.

  ‘Sit the fuck down,’ Flora yelled at him.

  He glared at her but obeyed, his last glance before he sat that of the side doors of the carriage opening and the ranks of soldiers within aiming their crossbows.

  The screaming began as Agang took his place next to Fern.

  ‘Get ready!’ Leah cried.

  Agang looked up. The closest carriage was now only a few hundred yards away, part of the enormous first wave that was assaulting the camp. There were further waves behind, still some miles distant, but gaining with every second.

  The carriage’s cables were cut, and it soared towards them. Guards and officers panicked and fled from its path, diving out of the way. Agang sat frozen as the carriage landed by the outer ring protecting the command tents. It went right over his cage-wagon, crushing it in a second as it gouged out a furrow. It carried on, passing the campfire where they sat by a few yards, killing any that remained in its way. It ground to a halt as it was flattening Keira’s tent.

  ‘Down,’ Flora yelled, and Fern and Agang dived to the ground. Kylon crouched behind his shield, covering Keira as she knelt, her head bowed. Leah was behind the nearest cart, her longbow ready.

  The carriage doors opened, and two dozen bolts were fired from each side. Kylon’s shield took three, but his grip remained firm. Agang felt the air whistle over his head as Flora shot her bow into the mass of Rahain emerging from the carriage. Kylon dragged Keira round to join Leah behind the cart, from where she was loosing arrows into the advancing soldiers.

  Agang noticed Niall’s crossbow and picked it up. He crouched next to Flora, and began shooting.

  She glanced at him, an eyebrow arched, but said nothing.

  B’Dang yelled out from the left, and charged at the Rahain with a force of Sanang that he had rallied. Several were cut down as the imperial soldiers turned to aim their crossbows at them, but they covered the distance to the carriage in seconds, swarming round it. The Rahain soldiers dropped their crossbows and drew their swords, and formed a wall with their shields. The two sides met in a crash, but the Sanang were stronger, and began pushing the Rahain back.

  Flora relaxed, and lowered her crossbow.

  ‘That was fucking close,’ she said.

  Agang placed the crossbow next to Niall.

  Flora eyed him. ‘You changed sides?’

  ‘I didn’t want to die.’

  More Sanang joined those fighting the Rahain next to the command tents, and Agang gazed around. Dozens of carriages from the first wave were landing all over the valley where the army had camped, smashing through tents and clusters of unprepared warriors.

  ‘This is a fucking disaster,’ Flora muttered.

  ‘Don’t be a miserable wee cow,’ said Keira.

  They turned. The firewitch was standing, her eyes red and her face blotchy. She was smoking the keenweed that Kylon had given her. He was lurking behind, unshaven and scowling, his long overcoat scuffing off the ground.

  ‘Build up the fire,’ Keira said.

  Leah picked up an axe and started to hack a wagon apart, while Fern loaded the pieces onto the fire.

  Keira put out her hand, and the flames ripped through the new wood, growing in heat and intensity. Soldiers were ordered over to help, and soon a bonfire was raging. The last of the Rahain that had attacked the command tents had been killed, and the soldiers re-formed their protective ring around the firewitch as she prepared.

  The second wave of imperial flying carriages was closing in as Keira rolled her shoulders. She took a swig of rum from Fern, and squinted up into the sky.

  ‘Come and get it, ya scaly bastards,’ Keira cried, and raised her left arm.

  A stream of fire twenty yards long arose from the bonfire and shot through the air. It hit the lead carriage, slicing through it from front to back. The carriage broke apart, spilling its contents down on the empty land beyond the edge of the camp.

  The army let out a cheer.

  Keira frowned. ‘Need something different, that’ll take way too long.’

  She stared at the sky, then grinned.

  Keira raised her hands, and more fire rose up from behind her, creating an enormous ball of flame hovering above the camp, like a cloud. Soldiers were breaking up the flying carriage that had landed nearby, and lines of them were feeding the flames, as Keira spread her arms and the cloud grew.

  She kept her left arm raised, grunting under the effort, while she started to flick the fingers of her right hand. Slivers of fire spat out from the cloud, each a yard long. Only a few at first, then Keira cried out, and a great burst of fire arrows erupted from the cloud of flame, tearing towards the fleet of gaien and carriages. Like a dense hailstorm, they ripped through wood and flesh until the sky was bright with falling carriages on fire.

  The camp fell silent as it watched. Agang’s eyes were wide. Thousands of fire arrows raced across the sky, tearing through gaien wings, and engulfing their cargo. Carriages tumbled from the sky, while others flew on in flames. The third and final wave soared into range, and Keira increased her tempo, her face alight in the reflected glow of the fireshow above, and her heels dug into the hard earth beneath her. Agang got to his feet, and this time Flora said nothing.

  A low chant of ‘kill-kill, kill-kill’ droned up from the camp as the last of the flying carriages were consumed in the firestorm. The whole army picked up the chant and it grew louder.

  Keira screamed as she turned night into day and the sky burned, amid the growing roar of ‘kill-kill’.

  She raised her head and swung her arms out to the s
ide, and the fires above whooshed and went out, plunging the ground into the gloom of a cloudy winter’s dawn on the Plateau. The sun was shielded behind a thick front, and scattered fires from the wreckage of the Rahain fleet lit up the fields surrounding the camp.

  The army went silent. Agang turned to face the firewitch.

  She looked him in the eye.

  ‘I’m a fucking fire goddess,’ she said, then fell to the ground. Kylon was by her side in an instant, Fern close behind.

  Agang gazed out over the carnage covering the valley. The first wave of the assault had caused considerable damage to the camp. Lines of tents had been destroyed, and corpses covered the ground. There were still a few pockets of Rahain fighting, though many appeared to be fleeing to the east. Agang could see a line of them heading away in the distance, running from the massacre of the second and third waves.

  Flora glanced at him, then down at Niall.

  ‘Look at him,’ she said. ‘Slept through the whole thing.’

  She kicked him, and he rolled over. His eyes were open, and two crossbow bolts were embedded in his chest.

  ‘Fuck,’ Flora cried, and fell to her knees. ‘Fuck.’

  She took the dead trooper’s hands and clutched them between her own.

  ‘He’s still warm,’ she wept.

  Agang knelt next to her. ‘He was a good man.’

  ‘Shut up,’ she said, tears smearing her white face-paint. ‘Just shut up.’

  He fell silent and looked away. On the other side of the bonfire Leah was talking to Kylon. They noticed him and walked over.

  Leah saw Niall, and bent down next to him, choking back a sob. Kylon frowned.

  ‘We shouldn’t have stopped,’ he said. ‘This little holiday has cost us a quarter of our army, who were killed while they slept, just like Niall. Hundreds were slaughtered for every minute it took to get Keira ready.’

  ‘How is the firewitch?’ Agang said.

  Kylon glared at him, then glanced at the wrecked remains of his old cage-wagon.

  ‘I saw you shoot at the imperial soldiers,’ he said, ‘but don’t think that means I trust you. I don’t. We’ll get you a new wagon prepared. You’re still a prisoner.’

  Agang said nothing.

  ‘Leah,’ Kylon said.

  The Lach woman looked up from where she was kneeling next to Niall. ‘What?’

  ‘Get up,’ he said. ‘We need to get the army moving as fast as possible. I need you to find B’Dang and the others and get them on the road.’

  Leah stood, and joined Kylon as he strode towards the command tents.

  Flora wiped her eyes and sat back. On the ground by her feet the fallen trooper’s pockets had spilled open, and a roll of weedsticks lay on the dirt. She picked it up and lit one.

  Agang sat down next to her. The day had come, and the sky was a pale grey, with just a few wisps of smoke remaining from the conflagration that had devoured the heavens.

  Flora passed him the smokestick.

  He took a draw.

  ‘She might be right,’ he said.

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Keira. She might be a goddess.’

  ‘She’s not,’ said Flora. ‘She’s an illiterate pyromaniac with an enormous ego.’

  Agang smiled, and passed her the weedstick.

  Flora sighed. ‘But I love her all the same. Just as I loved Niall.’

  Agang said nothing, and they sat smoking next to the trooper’s body, his face lit by the embers of the dying bonfire.

  Chapter 28

  Disagreements

  Slateford, Imperial Rahain – 25th Day, First Third Winter 506

  Killop sat by the bedroom window, scanning the report Bridget had prepared, detailing the latest mass departure of Kellach settlers from the estate. Two thousand had left within the last third, and they were facing a shortage of skilled labour in a dozen different areas.

  He glanced out of the open window. The day was ending, the light holding out for a few minutes longer than it had the evening before. The estate was covered in a thick blanket of snow, and he took a moment to savour the cold air.

  A noise came from the bed and he turned.

  Daphne groaned and rolled onto her back, her eyes closed. He gazed at her for a few seconds, then went back to reading.

  ‘Water…’

  He dropped the report, the pages falling like leaves to the floor as he ran towards Daphne. He picked up a mug of water from the bedside table and held it to her lips.

  She took a sip, and opened her eyes.

  ‘Killop,’ she said.

  ‘Drink more.’

  She nodded and finished the mug in slow gulps.

  ‘Karalyn?’

  ‘With Bridget and Bedig. She’s fine. I’ll get her in a minute after you’ve had a chance to wake up.’

  ‘How long was I out?’

  ‘Two days,’ he said, putting the mug back on the table and refilling it from the jug. ‘Do you remember getting here?’

  She shook her head, and pushed herself up into a sitting position.

  ‘No one saw you arrive,’ he said. ‘I came in the night before yesterday, and you were asleep in bed, with your pack and boots stacked up neatly by the door. We’ve no idea how you got past us, I mean we were all sitting next door at the time.’

  ‘Probably through the window,’ she said, a faint smile on her lips. ‘For the last few days of the journey I had to go into a kind of deep vision trance. It was the coldest I’ve ever been.’

  ‘You walked the whole way?’ he said, getting up. ‘Through the blizzard?’

  She picked up the mug of water as Killop walked over to the table. ‘I couldn’t exactly turn back,’ she said, drinking. ‘I saw the Senate burn.’

  ‘Aye, we heard.’

  ‘And I exchanged a few words with Ghorley.’

  ‘The new governor of Rahain?’ Killop said, returning to the bed. He held out a bowl of dried fruit and nuts for her. ‘Laodoc has a few things to say about him.’

  ‘How is he?’ she asked, placing the bowl in her lap and eating.

  ‘Depressed. Angry. When word came that the Old Free government had fallen, he was expecting to be called back, but a delegation from the capital flew out, and forbade him from setting foot in any Rahain city, and telling him that he’d been stripped of all authority.’

  Daphne shook her head as she ate.

  ‘He’s desperate to speak to you,’ Killop went on. ‘He’s been camped outside the door ever since he heard you were back.’

  ‘Maybe later.’

  Killop nodded. ‘He wants to ask about his son.’

  Daphne frowned. ‘Ruellap? I didn’t see him. I don’t know what happened to him.’

  ‘I’ll let him know.’

  Daphne sat back, and put the bowl down.

  He gazed at her.

  ‘What is it?’ she said.

  ‘Nothing, just good to see you.’

  ‘I’m glad to be back.’

  She yawned.

  ‘I’m still exhausted,’ she said. ‘I should be fine in the morning if I go back to sleep now. Could you get Karalyn for me?’

  ‘Aye.’

  He got up and lit a small lamp, then shuttered the windows against the evening sky. He went to the bedroom door and opened it a few inches. Bridget glanced up at him from where she was sitting in the living room. Opposite her Bedig was throwing Karalyn up into the air, while Laodoc sat by the low table.

  Killop’s eyes went from Bridget to Karalyn, and the Brig woman nodded. She leaned over and whispered something to Bedig, and he scooped the child up and carried her over to the door.

  ‘You after the wee one?’ he asked.

  ‘Aye.’

  ‘Thank fuck for that,’ Bedig said. ‘I’m knackered.’

  He passed Karalyn to Killop, who took her and closed the door.

  ‘Kara-bear,’ Daphne said, and the girl squealed and wriggled as she caught sight of her mother. Killop sat her on the bed next to Daphne.

/>   Killop watched as the woman and girl gazed at each other in silence, envious that he wasn’t included in the mind-linking, but happy to see them smile. Daphne lay down, and her daughter cuddled in beside her.

  ‘I missed you both,’ Daphne said.

  ‘We missed you,’ he said.

  Daphne yawned again, and closed her eyes.

  He kissed her on the forehead. Karalyn sat up on the bed and did the same. He picked her up, then stole back to the door and crept out.

  Laodoc was waiting for him.

  ‘Any news?’ he asked, his eyes alight.

  Killop nodded. ‘She woke up.’

  ‘Excellent. Do you think she’s in any condition to answer a couple of questions?’

  Killop shook his head and sat. He balanced Karalyn on his knee and poured himself an ale. ‘She had something to eat and drink, then fell asleep again. She’ll be up and about in the morning.’

  Laodoc frowned.

  ‘I asked about your son,’ Killop said. ‘Daphne didn’t see him. I’m sorry.’

  Laodoc slumped back into his chair.

  ‘I have to assume the worst,’ he said. ‘All the reports say that the mob that broke into the High Senate strung the bodies of the Old Free government up on the walls for everyone to see. I fail to discern any reason why my son wasn’t up there with the rest of them.’

  ‘Maybe he wasn’t in the Senate at the time,’ Bridget said.

  ‘Then Ghorley will have hunted him down and had him executed. The destruction of my family is complete.’

  Killop and Bridget shared a glance.

  Laodoc stood. ‘I might go to my room.’

  They watched as the old man walked away.

  ‘Poor bastard,’ Bridget whispered.

  Bedig got up and squeezed onto the seat next to Bridget, who shifted along.

  ‘Did you get a chance to read my report?’ she asked Killop.

  ‘Aye.’

  ‘Grim reading,’ she said. ‘The folk that left once the blizzard stopped included smiths, carpenters, millers, you fucking name it. The average age of folk in the estate has gone up by a decade in the last third. And the Old Free blockade may have gone, but there’s still no trade.’

  Killop frowned.