by Sam Bowring
‘Well,’ said Jaya uncertainly, ‘it is a means to a very great end, I suppose.’
As Bel lay thinking about Elessa, he abandoned hope of a restful sleep – but he must have found it anyway, for sometime before dawn he was roused by Querrus’s excited voice just outside the tent.
‘Blade Bel! Blade Bel!’
‘What is it?’ he answered, sitting up to rub his eyes. By his side Jaya groaned and rolled over.
‘It moves!’ said Querrus.
In a flash Bel was wide awake, another and he was outside the tent. It was still night, with maybe just a touch of lightening in the north. As he searched the field for the darker patch that would delineate the mander, he could not see it anywhere.
‘When?’
‘Just now,’ said Querrus, leading Taritha over. ‘Away to the west, over the river – moving very fast indeed.’
‘Then we shall have to be very fast too,’ said Bel, swinging onto Taritha and reaching down to haul the mage up behind him.
Jaya poked her head out of the tent. ‘Can I do anything?’
‘Inform Brahl,’ said Bel, and slapped the reins down hard. As Querrus channelled power into Taritha, she lurched underneath them, picking up pace quickly.
‘Much as you can!’ called Bel.
They angled towards the bridge that lay across the river halfway between the two armies. There came shouts from the enemy as they were spotted, but they reached the bridge a moment later, sped across its fifty paces or so in a couple of breaths, and raced out onto the grassy plains on the other side.
‘Which way?’
Querrus paused, and for a horrible moment Bel thought he may not be able to sense where Losara had gone. Then he pointed.
‘Towards Ortem!’
‘Give it everything you have!’
Taritha all but flew across the ground, until the wind in Bel’s face was stinging his eyes. He forced them open, sweeping his gaze across the land before them. There, away in the distance, was a dark shape moving, ahead of which sped two smaller ones.
‘He is powering a horse while he flies along after,’ said Querrus. ‘Would that all mages could fly as he does! But the division of his power may allow us to catch him.’
‘I don’t want to hear any of this “may”! If we cannot get ahead in time, the mander will make short work of Ortem.’
‘I am not as powerful as the Shadowdreamer, Blade Bel.’
‘Are you giving up?’
‘Blazes, no.’
‘Then shut up and concentrate.’
Ahead they saw the lights of a village, and the shape that was the mander broke towards it. A moment later and Losara veered wide, forcing the mander to give the village a wide berth.
‘He dares not slow,’ said Bel. ‘He must know we’re here, and wants to get to Ortem first.’
‘Yes,’ said Querrus. ‘The capital of Tria is a more tempting target than a few farmers.’
‘ We’re catching up!’ exclaimed Bel excitedly. It was true – gradually, along a parallel path, they were closing the distance to Losara. As the sun began to rise, it was easier to make out the strange party they chased. The First Slave rode upon a sleek black horse with Losara gliding behind, while the shadowmander variously trailed them, caught up, streaked ahead …yet always stayed within its range around Tyrellan.
Ortem appeared on the horizon, its buildings long ago spilt out from behind the old circular wall of the city proper. Its people would have no warning to draw back inside, and even if they did, the mander would follow.
‘He’s overshot the mark,’ said Bel. ‘We can still wedge ourselves between him and the city!’
Beneath him Taritha was coated with sweat, but to her credit she did not slow. Bel steered her towards Ortem while to the side Losara seemed to do the same, yet he could not quite approach at a direct angle without putting Bel inside the mander’s range – something Bel knew he would not do.
‘Bel!’ shouted Querrus warningly. A bolt of blue energy sped over the land towards them …no, not towards them, towards Taritha. Quickly Bel reined her in, and she slowed just a jot, enough so that the bolt passed just before her nose.
‘He’s trying to kill the horse!’ said Querrus, outraged.
Bel reached around his neck and pulled free the Stone, looping it around his wrist. With one hand he held it out, ready, while with the other he grasped the reins. Another bolt came, sizzling a brown streak in the grass as it flew close to the ground, and Bel held on tight with his legs as he leaned down to dangle the Stone in its path. The bolt was sucked up with a dull whoomph , and Bel felt the hairs on his knuckles burn.
‘And ahead!’ warned Querrus.
Before them, rents were appearing in the ground, earth cascading inwards.
‘Speed or safety?’ said Querrus.
‘Speed!’
Taritha leaped, and with her already great momentum, for a moment they seemed to fly. They landed with a jolt beyond the holes as several more energy bolts came rushing in. Bel made deft work of snatching them up into the Stone. As they drew closer to Losara, the mander raced towards them, hitting its limit only a few paces away. Taritha whinnied in fear, and Querrus whispered to her reassuringly. The mander hissed and snapped, though it was still too far away to reach them.
They arrived just outside Ortem, and drew up on the main road that ran up to the city gate. There were farms scattered about, and Bel watched helplessly as the mander tore away, to smash through the walls of a freestanding home and quickly silence the screaming inside. Then it moved on to the next one.
‘We have to get word to those people,’ said Querrus.
‘No,’ said Bel. ‘We must stay here.’
‘But –’
‘They will die,’ said Bel. ‘Better those few than a whole city.’
Over the plain, Losara had also come to a standstill. Across some half a league they watched each other, as between them the mander made short work of the scattered buildings and poor folk inside.
‘Thought you might sneak off in the night and put your creation to work, eh Losara?’ said Bel. ‘Thought you might casually fell a major city or two? Yet you find yourself in the same predicament as before – you cannot approach!’ He bared his teeth as though standing face to face with his counterpart. ‘What now, Losara?’
As if in answer, his other began to move again. Not quickly, but deliberately, circling the city widely. As he did, Bel moved Taritha to keep them between his counterpart and Ortem. At the northern side, again they stopped.
‘How does Taritha fare?’ asked Bel.
‘She’s fine,’ said Querrus. ‘Well rested and well fed. She could do this all day.’
‘Good,’ said Bel.
Losara suddenly broke away to the north.
‘Arkus!’ cried Bel. ‘He’s positioned himself ahead of us in terms of the next place.’
‘Fort Tria?’
‘Fort Tria,’ said Bel.
Again they were off, this time to the north, but Losara had a head start, and there weren’t the leagues they’d had previously to catch up.
‘Can you attack them?’ called Bel.
‘I doubt it would do any good!’ shouted back Querrus. ‘They are so far ahead, the dreamer would see my spells coming with plenty of time. It will only slow us if I do.’
‘Then,’ said Bel, ‘I see no other choice.’
There was adrenaline pumping through him already, but in the face of what he was about to try, it quickened. He began to sense a glimmer of the path, was glad for its presence – but then grew confused and irritated as it seemed to suggest a different direction, back east towards his army.
‘Useless,’ he muttered. Then came the terrifying thought that maybe a battle raged back there, now that nothing stood in the way of the two armies – but surely they would not commence without their leaders? And he was damned if he wasn’t going to try to stop Losara tearing down Fort Tria.
Hang you, path.
He urged Taritha
on, no longer trying to catch up with Losara himself, but instead to drive himself right into the shadowmander’s territory.
‘What are you doing?’ shouted Querrus.
‘Forcing his hand! If he fears that the mander will kill me, he must fall back!’
The mander was at the edge of its perimeter, dancing backwards to keep up with its anchor, almost comical if not for how murderously it stared at them. Beyond it, Tyrellan and Losara rode directly towards the grey walls of Fort Tria in the distance.
‘Can you send Losara a message?’ said Bel.
‘I can.’
‘Tell him we’re going to keep on coming straight, whether that puts us inside the mander’s range or not!’
They were almost upon the creature now, galloping full pelt.
‘Does he reply?’ said Bel.
‘No,’ said Querrus.
‘Very well, Losara. Prepare to be steered.’
Veering wildly, Bel sent Taritha dashing past the mander into its domain. It snapped at their heels and spun after, and Querrus dug his hand into Bel’s side even tighter.
‘If the horse has any reserves,’ called Bel, ‘now is the time!’
‘I don’t think this is a very good idea,’ wailed Querrus.
Taritha put on another burst of speed, but it was a fitful one and came in spurts. The shadowmander leaped and sailed past behind them, hitting the ground some way off and rolling to its feet in an instant.
‘Losara says pull back!’ said Querrus. ‘The mander will kill you both!’
‘Tell him I’m not heading anywhere but Fort Tria!’ said Bel. ‘It is his course that must change!’
The mander ran ahead of them, turned, and prepared to leap again. As its feet left the ground, Bel urged Taritha directly towards it.
‘Heads down!’ he shouted, and they ducked as the mander went flying over.
‘Look!’ said Querrus.
The two shapes ahead were now moving to the left, away from Fort Tria. The mander hissed angrily as it was suddenly pulled away, once again to a safe distance from Bel. They continued until they stood between the mander and the fort, still a league or two away. In the early morning there were lights showing in the windows, though not in great number – many of the fort’s inhabitants would have travelled already to join the Kainordan army.
Not even a worthwhile target, Losara , thought Bel.
Out on the field Losara stopped, and set down on the grass next to Tyrellan. Elated, Bel lifted the Stone into the air and gave a roar.
‘Bel,’ said Querrus.
‘What?’
‘He just disappeared.’
Tyrellan was still standing there, little more than a smudge on his horse at this distance, while the mander ran madly about – but there was no Losara to be seen.
‘He’ll be here in a moment,’ said Bel, slipping the Stone back over his head.
Sure enough, from the grass, the Shadowdreamer erupted.
‘Well, well,’ said Bel, leaning forward on his saddle. ‘Thought we’d steal off and get in a couple of easy defeats, did we?’
Losara sighed. ‘What would be the point of that? Your army is the real problem, and after that, the Halls. Once those both fall, so will all else. Why would I attack some out-of-the-way city, or some empty fort of no strategic value?’
‘Was just wondering the same thing,’ scowled Bel, trying to retain his composure. ‘I assumed it was because you’re such a spiteful bastard.’
Losara smiled faintly. ‘Funny,’ he said. ‘You really don’t seem to know me at all.’ He waved a hand, and behind him Tyrellan and the mander faded away.
Querrus gasped. ‘Illusions,’ he said. ‘Curse me, I should have spotted them!’
‘Don’t fault yourself overmuch,’ said Losara. ‘I am a very powerful mage, after all.’
Bel couldn’t believe what he was seeing – or, rather, what he wasn’t seeing. ‘A trick,’ he muttered, his heart suddenly feeling like a stone beneath the Stone.
‘Strange, don’t you think?’ said Losara. ‘That after all this, our armies do battle without us? Mine with the real mander, of course.’
Bel wheeled Taritha about and brought down the reins.
Upriver
As Bel rode off in an ever-increasing blur, Jaya scrambled from the tent to her feet. She headed over the grass to the main army, where Brahl’s tent stood tallest amongst the other officers’. As she approached, a guard at the entrance barred her way.
‘The gerent is sleeping, Miss Jaya.’
Jaya fixed him with an intent stare. ‘As sure as Arkus shits fireballs, he’s going to want to know about this.’
The guard looked uncertain, but ‘What is it?’ came a voice from inside. A second later the flap was pulled back to reveal a blearily blinking Brahl. ‘What goes on?’
‘Losara has made off with the mander as Bel feared he would,’ she said quickly. ‘Bel’s taken Querrus and chased after it, to try to stand in its way.’
Brahl frowned thoughtfully. ‘So there’s no lizard guarding the shadow?’ He stepped out of his tent, straightened to full height, and peered off for a moment at the shadows in the distance. The mander was nowhere to be seen.
‘Officers awake!’ he bellowed suddenly, making Jaya start. ‘Ready the troops!’
It was loud enough for troops nearby to hear for themselves, and activity spread right away. Soon officers were running about shouting orders, and Jaya was amazed at how quickly the army rippled to alertness. She hovered on the edge of the officers’ camp, watching as Brahl strode about shouting, wondering what she was expected to do with herself. Everyone except her knew precisely where they fitted in to the military machine.
‘The enemy approaches!’ came a shout, taken up and carried down the line.
‘What?’ snapped Brahl.
Jaya followed as he went to look. Across the field, in the dim light of early morning, the Fenvarrow horde was starting to march.
‘Well,’ announced Brahl, ‘if it’s a fight they want …’
He fell silent as something emerged around the eastern flank – something long and scarlet and cruel. Slowly he turned to Jaya.
‘I thought you said it was gone.’
Jaya stared perplexed at the shadowmander, as behind it Tyrellan appeared on a horse. He drew up alongside the troops, and several mages converged to protect him.
‘Querrus said it was,’ she murmured. ‘Bel took him and they went off after it.’
‘Some foul play,’ said Brahl, grimacing. He pointed his sword at the approaching creature. ‘I have heard the tales of that thing, but you’ve seen its work first-hand – tell me, is there any hope we can stand against it?’
Jaya remembered fleeing from Holdwith as the mander slew soldiers with complete disregard for the arrows and fireballs bouncing off it.
‘No,’ she said baldly.
‘Piss and blood and fire! Curse magic and all who wield it!’ He turned to one of his commanders. ‘Fall back. And,’ he pinched the bridge of his nose, ‘Jeddies must be evacuated. Have them bring whatever supplies they can carry without slowing them too much.’
The commander nodded, and disappeared.
‘What are we going to do?’ said Jaya.
‘Get away from that thing.’
There was a roar across the field, and the shadow army charged.
‘Retreat!’ blared Brahl. ‘Abandon the camp!’
As much as she had been impressed by how fast they’d risen to arms, Jaya was dismayed by how long it took the army to get moving. As the mander came within five hundred paces of the melting front line, her survival instincts kicked in, and she left Brahl to flee through the crowd.
‘Lightfists!’ she heard him call. ‘Cover our retreat!’
She was faster than most, unencumbered by armour, dodging and weaving around running soldiers. To her right she saw Syanti Saurians knocking others from their feet with their rippling tails. She steered away from them, into the heart of the army, poun
ding across someone’s bedroll and narrowly avoiding getting buffeted into a smoking fire pit. Ahead, the crowd streamed around an unmanned catapult – were those to be left? What choice did they have?
Somewhere behind, someone screamed – then another, and another. She knew she was hearing the sound of the mander’s first victims. A burning smell reached her nostrils. She chanced a glance over her shoulder and saw the tops of flames. A great plume issued up as fire consumed the catapult she had just passed.
‘Not yet, you fool!’ a lightfist shouted, backhanding another who looked fresh to robes. ‘After our people go by!’
So the lightfists were burning the camp, and there was nothing a shadow creature hated more than fire.
She jogged on until she could no longer overtake, and fell into a groove as part of the great sweaty press of moving flesh. A long time seemed to pass, and she could have sworn they’d come further when she saw the outskirts of Jeddies. People were fleeing from the town, being swept up into the army. The sounds of the enemy fell away, yet officers still called out continuously to maintain the pace. As the sun moved higher in the sky, she began to think of the waterskin she had left behind in her tent. Some way along the river past Jeddies they finally slowed, and officers set about trying to impose a semblance of order on the enormous, jumbled mass. Jaya slipped between them with no regard for the commands being given, making her way to the rear.
Smoke rose from where their camp had stood, but no great fire raged – shadow mages and their icy ways would have seen to that quickly enough. There was no doubt the shadow now held Jeddies, for its vast numbers surrounded the town as if they meant to swallow it, and were streaming into it from all sides. The shadowmander was briefly visible leaping over a wall, and there came the distant shriek of someone unlucky enough to have been left behind.
She spotted Brahl, and moved towards him.
‘There,’ Brahl was saying, as she sidled up next to his group of officers. ‘I saw blue hair, I am certain. The dreamer has returned. Hopefully that means Bel is not far behind.’
‘What is our plan, sir?’
