by Sam Bowring
You , she said.
I had not expected to see you here, miss , he replied, taking the opportunity to recast his ward.
They have done to me what they did to you.
Fazel was aghast, for the light had always outlawed all forms of necromancy. Why had Fahren allowed such travesty?
I am truly sorry , he said.
Then both their wards shuddered under attacks from elsewhere, and each turned to tend to their own defences.
•
Nearby, a rain of burnt-out Zyvanix husks fell to the ground, some still smoking as acid ate them away, the wing stumps of one still whirring uselessly.
Lalenda rose for a better view. In the centre of it all, she saw shadow and light crashing, where the mages of both sides seemed to be gathering – an area definitely best avoided. Elsewhwere, in the absence of magic wielders, the regular troops were free to hack at each other without fear of spells shooting in, and they had seized the opportunity with gusto. There was no more front line, for the forces had driven deep wedges into each other, mingling as the fighting spread in all directions.
‘Oho!’ said Grimra. ‘Such delicious chaos. Where do we be joining it?’
Below, a troop of Varenkai riders were being swamped by Black Goblins. As she watched, a horse collapsed with several daggers sticking in it, and the goblins moved in on the rider. It seemed as good a place to start as any.
‘How about there?’ she said, and brought in her wings. She landed neatly on a horse behind a Varenkai rider even as he kicked away a goblin’s blade, and sunk her claws into his sides. The man gasped and she pushed him off. Grimra rushed on another, his fangs becoming visible long enough for an almighty bite, through the entire front half of a horse and its rider’s legs as well. Meanwhile the horse Lalenda was on bucked wildly, and she leaped off to glide down between two Varenkai on foot. Grimra thundered over her shoulder to barrel one backwards as she sprang at the other, beating her wings hard to close the distance as his sword rose. Her claws flicked out and she spiked him through the throat before he had a chance to slash. She swung herself around his toppling body and landed to see a severed limb fly upwards and disappear with a slurp.
‘No time for that, you greedy ghost!’ she snapped. ‘This isn’t breakfast! Keep me safe!’
There came a loud clomping, and over the tops of heads she saw two dune claws approaching, the Ryoshi astride them plugging down arrows. Goblins were being trampled underfoot, or skewered by the wildly plunging scorpion-like tails, or crushed in the huge pincers.
‘Grimra!’ she shouted, and flew upwards as a spiked tail scythed into the ground where she had just been standing. As the dune claw struggled to pull itself free, Grimra’s fangs appeared at one of the tail’s segmental joins, gnawing through a weak spot in the chitinous armour. The creature strained in panic, but a second later the ghost had managed to work all the way through, messily severing the tail in half. The remaining part whipped back over the rider’s head, spraying him with sticky brown fluid. She dived towards him but he saw her coming, swung his bow at her and cracked her across the head. She dropped out of the air, landing hard, and with a bloodied brow. Through the stunned fug of one half-open eye, she saw the injured dune claw move past, riderless now and out of control. Had Grimra managed to dispatch the Saurian?
‘Flutterbug,’ he whispered in her ear. ‘All right? Get up?’
She heard strange hissing voices not far away, and managed to lift her head. Two Syanti were standing over the fallen dune claw rider, who lay with a Grimra-sized hole in his side. As the Ryoshi opened his eyes and saw the Syanti, he tried to rise without success. The Syanti ignored him, speaking in their own language …then one of them waved a thin-fingered hand over him as his eyes cried out in silent protest. The hand then shot out at a group of Black Goblins and a mist of blood sprayed forth from the rider’s wound. The goblins screamed as it hit them, clutching at their melting faces, and the Ryoshi went still.
‘Get up!’ came Grimra’s insistent whisper, then he left and she heard someone dying behind her. As she struggled to her knees the Syanti noticed her, their yellow eyes cold and considering. She edged backwards, not knowing exactly what she was edging towards …then Grimra swirled under her wings and she summoned her strength to give them a beat. Shakily she lifted into the air.
‘Undead?’ said a Syanti, light collecting at its fingertips.
‘Get back, Grimra!’ she cried, desperately trying to flap away. There was no safety in rising, so just a little way on she let her giddiness take over and dropped heavily to the ground behind more goblins. There came a sizzle after her, but the spell caught some other unfortunate in the wall of flesh she had protected herself with.
‘We retreat?’ said Grimra. ‘Flutterbug hurt?’
‘No,’ she said, ‘we do not retreat. Not until,’ she bared her teeth, willing away the pounding in her head, ‘they are all dead.’
•
Jaya moved amongst the injured, of which there were already a great many. There was an odd feeling of separation here, with the evidence of mass encampment everywhere around, grass crushed and brown, tents standing empty, while she and the healers busied themselves on an island within it. And while they stayed here, in the middle of nothing, the battle raged but half a league away.
A healer rode in, levitating two groaning soldiers, and set them down on the grass. Without a word she turned around and headed towards them. All the other healers were currently busy, so Jaya knelt down by the two new arrivals.
‘Someone will be over shortly,’ she said, trying to sound reassuring. It wasn’t really her , this role of looking after people. She felt like some kind of impostor, trying to muster kind words that did not come naturally.
One of the soldiers closed his eyes. A bad sign, but there wasn’t much she knew to do about it. The healer who had brought him had already sealed his wounds with regrown skin, so she could not even tell where they were. The other soldier, a woman, looked up at her dazedly.
‘Did we win yet?’ she asked.
‘No,’ said Jaya, abandoning the question she was about to ask regarding how the battle was progressing.
‘Should take with me these,’ came a voice. Jaya looked up to see a Syanti, idly flexing an arm that ended in an ugly stump. She remembered the Saurian being brought here, unconscious and bleeding from the newly severed limb, which was now sealed up and apparently not causing it much distress.
‘Pardon?’ said Jaya.
‘Dying,’ the Syanti observed, gesturing at the prone soldiers. ‘Good still though for blood magic to use. Kill many shadow for price of one death. Death that will come anyway.’
Jaya frowned. She had heard about the Syanti’s technique of channelling magic through blood …was that what the creature was asking? To be given the injured in order to sacrifice them?
‘Get out of here,’ she said.
‘Go they to Arkus,’ said the Syanti. ‘No need for fear.’
‘Don’t let it take me,’ murmured the woman.
‘Be gone, back to the battle if you’re so eager to find death!’ shouted Jaya. ‘Use your own if you like!’
The snake bobbed its head as if this was sage wisdom, and moved away across the field.
•
The heart of the battle drew Losara, the amount of power pouring in from both sides a giant bloom to his senses. Perhaps he should avoid the area, for that was where Fahren and Battu wielded the Stone, but he could not stand by and watch his mages shoulder such enormous blows. So into the thick of it he went, re-forming by some black rags pinned down by smoking lumps, flapping with his four-fingered insignia. Already so many had been lost.
KILL BATTU , came Roma’s thundering command, and Losara saw his Magus Supreme just ahead, twisting angrily to take in how many shadow mages were left. Beyond him, over a space full of nothing but spells, Battu’s head turned, and Losara saw him say something to Fahren. Fahren raised his staff and together they cast at Roma.
> Watch out! sent Losara, as Roma’s eyes met his. The Magus Supreme’s face turned grim, the ward around him darkening, and Losara reached out to help him strengthen it. A moment later a vortex exploded against it, knocking Roma to his knees and pelting him with rippling energy. His back arched in a pain reflected briefly in his eyes, as he collapsed forward slowly onto his face.
Losara stood frozen in dismay, but every second cost more lives. His mages were not coping well with this onslaught, and if many more of them fell, there was little hope they would ever go on to defeat the light.
It was time.
Shadow mages , he sent, leave Battu to me. Spread out and attack those areas they leave undefended while they concentrate their magic here.
He felt resistance from them, puzzlement. Did they balk at the idea of letting him face this threat alone?
GO , he commanded.
As the shadow mages departed, streams of fireballs and light bolts travelled after them, but the lightfists did not follow as they moved out of range. Losara, now standing alone, felt many pairs of eyes settling upon him.
He took a deep breath, and was more afraid than he had ever been.
•
The shadow mages scattered to reveal Losara, standing with a calm expression on his face. Fahren had expected to have to track him down in the fighting, yet it seemed he had come to them, and without any aid either. Could he really think he was powerful enough to best Fahren, Battu, the power of the Stone and the hundreds of lightfists who stood with them? Or was it some kind of trick?
Greetings, Throne , came Losara’s voice. I have to say, I am somewhat displeased with you.
‘See what I mean?’ said Battu, leaning on his saddle. ‘He probably thinks that was menacing.’
Fahren waved him to silence.
That is a remarkable ward you have , continued Losara. Shadow and light combined, potent indeed. Still, I do not see how it will stop me.
Your minions , sent Fahren, could not penetrate it.
Losara chuckled. There is a reason they are my minions . He made a swiping motion, and the Old Magic ward shattered to pieces with a force that jarred Fahren’s teeth in his head. Instantly lightfists began to cast spells in retaliation, and casually Losara waved up a ward of his own.
Do not attack him, you fools! sent Fahren. You know the plan!
‘I’m impressed,’ growled Battu begrudgingly.
‘I’m not,’ said Fahren. ‘He just used up a great deal of power, which he cannot easily replenish on such a bright day …and we can summon a new ward in an instant. Besides, even without a ward, anything he casts at us will get sucked into the Stone.’
Battu barked a laugh as he joined Fahren in recasting their defence. ‘So serious all the time, Throne.’
Losara extended a hand and cast a beam of shadow that jumped between him and the lightfists on Fahren’s right. As it travelled along the row, cutting through wards like a sword through apples, the mages exposed at their cores were flung away violently.
Lightfists , sent Fahren urgently, contain the Shadowdreamer!
Many hands sprang forth, emanating light. Waves of it cascaded towards Losara, meshing together into a sphere.
This is how you intend to trap me? Losara sounded genuinely inquisitive. He pulsed his power outwards, shattering the light that encircled him.
Keep at it , sent Fahren.
More waves descended, but before they could enclose Losara completely, he fell to shadow and reappeared elsewhere.
The circle must be complete , said Fahren. Below ground and above!
‘Should we not help?’ asked Battu.
‘No. I do not want to confuse the trap with tainted magic.’
‘Tainted?’ Battu scowled. ‘Your mind is narrower than your spindly legs.’
‘Indeed,’ said Fahren absently, his concentration absorbed by what was going on around him. He needed Bel back here – why had he run off? Also, Fahren had begun to sense that shadow magic was being cast elsewhere, in areas of the battle where he knew for a fact that lightfists were in short supply. Without protection the regular troops would be extremely vulnerable, and he hated to think what damage was being done. He could not afford to keep all the lightfists here for much longer.
Elessa , he sent, find Bel, fetch him back here! Don’t even ask, just bring him.
As you command , came Elessa’s reply.
‘Let’s at least shock him as we did before,’ said Battu, ‘to stop him manoeuvring around so easily!’
‘Very well,’ said Fahren. ‘Ready?’
As Losara slipped through yet another flood of light, Fahren raised the staff for him and Battu to channel through. Unleashing the spell, they compressed the air around Losara suddenly. Old Magic rippled through his ward, and he fell to his knees, clutching his head.
CONTAIN HIM , Fahren sent out, hoping to make full use of their advantage. Once again a glowing sphere began to form around Losara, thickening as more mages added their efforts.
You know , said Losara, once your globe is complete, no shadow magic will be able to get out.
That’s the idea , sent back Fahren, trying not to sound uncertain – the figure on the ground seemed to be struggling too much for the serenity in his voice.
Out, or in , said Losara.
As light filled the sphere’s last gaps, the figure inside faded away. Some paces beside it, Losara appeared.
Misdirection , he sent. Even with all my power, these simple spells are still the most useful.
‘Hit him again,’ snarled Battu. He seized the staff, which Fahren had lowered, lifting it back up. ‘He cannot make doppelgangers forever!’
Once, twice, three times in succession they created shockwaves, and each time Losara avoided them, materialising just long enough to shoot offensive spells at lightfists before disappearing to the next place.
‘Be pre-emptive!’ snapped Battu. For a moment the look in his eyes made Fahren doubt that the sharks had really left him.
As Losara fell to shadow again, they started casting without yet knowing where they aimed. As Losara formed, instantly they released the spell. Finally it caught him – even as a blue bolt left his fingertips, the air about him snapped, and he gave a little cry. As he stumbled, the sphere began to build around him for a final time, a hundred streams of light feeding into it from the lightfists. Fahren released the staff to Battu in order to add his own unsullied power to the mix. Under the blazing sun his reserves felt limitless, and in moments the sphere surrounded the dreamer entirely, its surface alight with bright swirls. He felt Losara push against it from within, but now they had him fixed in place, and with so many maintaining the trap there was no way he could break free. Still, Fahren knew overconfidence was a hazard that often foreshadowed failure.
He needed Bel here now .
Evenings Mild
Tiny hairs along the length of his arm tickled his skin as they moved in the air, as his sword thrust forward at a face rising out of the thrumming tableau. In every direction weapons crept towards each other like shadows around sundials, each clink resonating in his ears. Arrows flew overhead, their shadows running up bodies then down to the grass, the uneven surface making them warp and wiggle as they travelled onwards. Enemies were endless, like a promise of joy unending, and he a hungry boar in a field of ripe pears.
Paradise.
A spark of sunshine ran down his blade as it moved towards the hate-filled face. At the last moment he turned the blade slightly, making the spark leap into the creature’s eyes. A wince started to form, crossing the mouth in one direction even as the sword came from the other to slice into the skull. As the leading edge severed the last thin layer of scalp on the other side, splitting the creature’s head cleanly, the sword’s speed increased again, unhindered. He followed through with the swing, landed it across a Vortharg’s back, deep into the rubbery skin.
Two deaths for one stroke.
He punched the air and roared. Other voices joined his, Kainorda
ns inspired by the blue-haired man, thickening to a declaration of strength. He pulled his sword free and ploughed on, next through a cluster of Mire Pixies lifting up on their wings, all but dandelions to his switch.
Didn’t you tell them not to fight me, Losara? he thought. Did you not think to protect yourself that way? One way or another, he was glad for the abundance of partners willing to dance his favourite steps.
Bel .
The voice, soft and feminine, only distracted him for a moment. He turned aside the axe of an Arabodedas, step here, weight there , and pushed the man backwards off his feet.
Fahren needs you, Bel.
He grew angry at the interruption, a wrong note inserted into his harmony. A Black Goblin leaped at him and he drove his fist upwards – there was an axe-head held there, from somewhere – to punch the metal into the goblin’s guts. He heard the grass crunch under his feet, its tiny veins bursting.
Go away , he willed her.
Black Goblins were all around him now, and he looked up to see one on horseback, a cruel and jagged blade in his grip.
‘Leave him!’ called the goblin. ‘We do not bother with that one! To me!’ He steered the horse into a group of Bel’s countrymen, and the others followed. Tyrellan. Bel tried to go after him, desiring to make the First Slave a personal prize, but already there were others in the way. The paths he could take split into fractals, and he forgot about pursuit.
Fireballs rained down around him, setting enemies ablaze and punching holes in the pattern of the fight. He spun, furious with whoever had robbed him, and there sat Elessa astride her horse, her white dress smattered with red drops.
He tried to form words, and they came with difficulty, thick in his mouth. ‘Be gone! I need no help!’
‘But we need yours.’ She flicked her fingers, and he lifted from his feet in her invisible grip. Threads of the pattern broke, waving from him freely. As she rode away, he bobbed along in the air behind her, screaming bloody rage at this indignity, at being torn from the place where he truly belonged.
