The Raven Collection

by James Barclay

  Kard nodded. ‘First, I’ll repeat for all ears what I told you as we walked from the gates earlier. Senedai will be true to his word. I think it’s a moot point, though, because, unless I’m badly mistaken, all around this table are prepared to find out the hard way, in any event. I would expect nothing less. To surrender immediately to such a threat would be a poor capitulation.’

  Barras, who with Kerela flanked Kard at the head of the table, tried to gauge the reaction of the Council. What he saw was a hardening of focus, a resolution of minds and a determination to proceed. He was a little surprised. Compassion was a trait in plentiful supply among the Council during normal times. But then, he reflected, these times were a very long way from being normal.

  ‘Secondly,’ continued Kard. ‘We can stop anyone seeing the murders. We already limit access to the walls for safety reasons and there are no buildings positioned to see the base of the Shroud, not even the Tower. If we ban all access to the walls, we can practically deny anything is happening.’

  ‘Unacceptable,’ said Vilif shortly.

  ‘I didn’t say it was acceptable,’ said Kard. ‘I said it was possible.’

  ‘You can cut out the sight but never the sound,’ said Stefane. ‘By the time Senedai is slaughtering one hundred and fifty each third of the day, the cries will be heard throughout the College. Think of the backlash when they find out the truth.’

  ‘And there will be rumours from tomorrow morning,’ added Cordolan. ‘In fact, I’d be surprised if there weren’t already. No disrespect to the professionalism of your soldiers, General, but at least a dozen of them heard Senedai’s first threat. People talk.’

  ‘I assure you I have no illusions,’ said Kard.

  ‘Very well,’ said Kerela. ‘I think the point is, we couldn’t keep this quiet, even if we wanted to, and to try would serve only to alienate our people. So, we are left with this. How do we justify our refusal to surrender?’

  There was a shifting of bodies in chairs and concerted glances at anything but another Council member. Kard spoke into the awkward silence.

  ‘A refusal to surrender sends out a very clear signal that we believe that, ultimately, magic is more important than life. And that is hard to justify. Gods, I’m not a mage so you can imagine how I struggle with this.

  ‘But we have not yet discussed the consequences of the alternatives on a personal basis. Surrendering the College is not only wrong on a magic-balance front but on a human and elven level too. Walking into Senedai’s hands means two things. The slaughter of every Julatsan mage inside these walls and the enslavement of all surviving Julatsan people. Personally, I’d rather be dead.’

  It was, Barras reflected, a common sentiment but for differing reasons. Kard wanted the life he knew, the Council desired the continuation of Julatsan magic and were prepared to stake almost anything to get it.

  ‘There is something else,’ said Torvis, his old face carrying none of its usual humour. ‘Our guests, as Kerela so appositely describes them, cannot force us to remove the Shroud. Even killing us will not alter that. Unless we agree to dismantle it, the Shroud remains active for fifty days when Heila will no doubt come to call.’

  Kard shook his head.

  ‘You have something to say?’ Torvis scowled. ‘I am just laying out the facts.’

  ‘Yes I do.’ Kard pushed back his chair and began to circle the table slowly, all eyes following him. ‘That kind of sentiment leads to conflict. Saying “we’re not changing and you can’t make us even by killing us” would lead me to do just that if I was hearing my friends and family dying beyond the walls. I’d kill you just to ensure you died with those pushed into the Shroud.

  ‘If you want these people behind you for the maximum time, you have to make them believe that, no matter the suffering outside, the consequences of surrender are worse. You have to link their minds to the lives they will live enslaved to Senedai and the Wesmen. You have to remind them the Dordovans are coming, and you have to never mention the survival of Julatsan magic as an issue. Appeal to them, don’t dictate to them.’

  ‘Why don’t you do it, if you know them so well?’ challenged Vilif. Kard stopped his movement, finishing at the end of the table facing Barras. He nodded.

  ‘All right. I will.’

  While the new stockade rose around Understone and the stone fortifications of the pass were put in place by his prisoners, Tessaya waited.

  Time was precious. Darrick and The Raven were on their way and the dread force would be running again. All of them heading east, all heading for battle. He had to try to stop them linking with the remaining armies in the south, with the Colleges and, most particularly, with Korina.

  He knew four days wasn’t much but he had expected Taomi to be close to Understone, having encountered little resistance crossing the Bay of Gyernath and on the sparsely populated route north. Senedai, at the Colleges, would have come across considerably more trouble.

  Tessaya spent hours scouring the cloudy skies from the third morning onwards. He looked south, waiting for the tell-tale dark dots in the sky that would signify his approaching birds. And on that afternoon he was rewarded. A single bird, high in the southern sky. Tessaya tied the hair back from his face and watched its approach, his keen eyes following its course as he stood in the newly completed southern watch tower.

  It was definitely one of his birds. He could tell by its flight pattern, alternating gliding rests on the wing with sharp beats, fixing its position by subtle nuances in the currents of the air and in the roll of the land.

  With the bird nearing, Tessaya tied the green and red marker ribbon to his wrist and waved it slowly above his head, the striped material snapping in the stiff breeze. In a flutter of wings, the grey and white woodruff landed on the rail of the guard tower. Tessaya scooped the bird up and held it gently to his chest with one arm, bending his neck to press his lips to its head and taking the messages from its legs. Then he set it to flight again, to the roost above the inn where it could rest and eat.

  ‘More reliable than smoke, eh?’ he asked of the watchman. He unrolled the coded papers.

  ‘Yes my Lord,’ replied the man, the embryonic smile dying on his lips as Tessaya, having read the import of the first message, caught his eye.

  ‘My Lord?’ ventured the watchman.

  ‘Curse them,’ grated Tessaya. ‘Curse them.’ Ignoring the frightened guard, he strode to the ladder, descending more quickly than was safe. His riders had not found Lord Taomi. But they had found his men and Shamen butchered and left to rot. They had found pyres built in the eastern manner. And they had found evidence of a hasty retreat southwards. They would continue but their pace would be slow. To run into the rear of the army pursuing Lord Taomi would be foolhardy.

  Who could it have been? The advance was supposed to be too fast for any pursuit from Gyernath to overhaul them. That left the rich Baron Blackthorne, whose wine tasted sour in Tessaya’s memory. But he found it hard to believe that Blackthorne, well-armed though he was, could muster enough of a force to seriously trouble Taomi. Not without help.

  He read the notes one last time before striding away towards the barracks where his prisoners were held. The fat man, Kerus, would have to supply some answers. Either that or lose some of his men to Wesmen executioners. The time for reason was past for now. Tessaya had to have knowledge of the forces he was against and he found himself able to consider almost any method to get it.

  Dawn was threatening to slit the eastern sky. Barras stood on the Tower’s highest rampart, looking down into the quiet city, a cool breeze blowing fresh air across his face.

  At a time like this, it was easy to imagine that all was as it had always been. That no army of Wesmen was in occupation beyond the College walls, that first light would not bring the slaughter of fifty innocents. Innocents whose souls would feed the demons’ insatiable appetite and sit heavy in Barras’ heart forever.

  But two things gave the lie to Barras’ fleeting ease of mind. The o
ppressive DemonShroud that surrounded them, its evil casting a pall of anxiety over him; and the Wesmen’s tower, now all but complete, which overlooked them.

  They had been wrong about its purpose. The Wesmen had no intention of attempting to breach the Shroud using the structure, which scaled perhaps eighty feet into the sky. Its wheels were for manoeuvring it around the College walls, its steel cladding protection against fire and spell. They wanted to see inside the College and Barras conceded the common sense in that while cursing its invention.

  The old elven mage, Julatsa’s Chief Negotiator, surveyed the perimeter of his city, his eyesight sharp and clear in the dark before dawn, the grey veil of the DemonShroud growing visible as light began to crack the sky, a hideous reminder of the horror that lived with them every day. The Wesmen, or rather their prisoners, had not been idle and the evidence of long-term intention to occupy was everywhere.

  Other fixed watch-towers were already built in half a dozen locations and now the stockade was going up. It would be a slow job. Suitable timber was not in plentiful supply close to hand and Julatsa was a sprawling city. Even so, three weeks and the ranks of pole timber would encircle them and the Wesmen would be that much harder to shift.

  Barras moved his gaze to within the College walls. The Tower and its many service and official buildings dominated the centre of the grounds. In front of him, the trio of Long Rooms, where range spells were tested, stretched away from the opposite side of the stone-flagged courtyard which encircled the Tower. Each Long Room was over two hundred feet in length, low and armoured and had seen some of Julatsa’s greatest successes and most awful tragedies over the course of the centuries. Now, though, they were emergency accommodation.

  The same was true of all the lecture rooms, the old Gathering Hall, the principal auditorium, and the Mana Bowl where fledgling mages hoped to discover their acceptance of mana and feared the consequences for their sanity if they did not. Only the Library and the food stores remained off limits.

  Despite the hour, around a hundred people milled about in the courtyard, many, because of Kard, now aware of the fate that was about to befall the unfortunates in Wesmen hands. The General had not slept. Instead, he and a member of the Council in rotation had visited every pocket of the population within the College walls, explaining the situation as completely as he could. So far, his words had caused sadness and anxiety but no anger. Barras was due to attend the last meeting but first, he had to try and buy the College some time.

  He hurried from the Tower, walking quickly across the cobbles to the North Gate where he climbed up to the gate-house and came face to face with a surprised guard.

  ‘My mage?’

  ‘I have to talk to Senedai. Excuse me.’ Barras walked on to the ramparts that ran across the gate. The DemonShroud’s evil was all but within reach. Well beyond it, three Wesmen guards sat around a small fire in the centre of the open area sandwiched between the College and first city buildings.

  ‘I would speak with your Lord!’ called Barras. The Wesmen looked up. Barras could see them frowning. One stood up and moved closer, cupping a hand behind his ear.

  ‘I must speak with your Lord,’ said Barras. He was greeted with a stream of tribal Wes and a shrugging of the shoulders.

  ‘Imbecile,’ muttered Barras. He straightened and spoke loudly. ‘Senedai. Get Senedai. Yes?’ There was a pause that seemed to last for eternity before the guard nodded and scurried off, passing an aside to his colleagues who both laughed and looked at Barras.

  ‘Laugh while you can,’ said Barras, smiling back and giving a little wave. He wasn’t waiting long before Senedai strode from the shadows into the firelight, augmented now with the first murk of dawn. ‘You cut it very fine, elf,’ said Senedai, once he had stopped a safe distance from the Shroud. ‘I trust there will be an orderly surrender.’

  ‘Ultimately, Lord Senedai, but not at dawn. We are not ready.’

  Senedai snorted. ‘Then fifty of your people will soon be dead.’ He half turned.

  ‘No, Senedai, wait.’ The Wesman Lord spread his arms wide and swung back.

  ‘I’m listening but it will make no difference.’

  ‘You don’t fully understand our situation.’

  ‘Oh but I do. You are desperate. You have no way out and you are trying to buy some time. Am I right?’

  ‘No,’ said Barras, knowing his attempt, a long shot at best, was now almost certainly doomed to failure. ‘Put yourself in our position. We have much anxiety in here. Our people are scared. We need more time to calm them, to assure them of your honourable intentions. But more than that, we have to put our affairs in order.’

  ‘Why?’ demanded Senedai. ‘You can bring nothing with you and all that you leave will be ours. Your people are right to be scared of our strength and ferocity, but the only way to prove to them we are not wanton destroyers of those we conquer is to put them in our hands.’

  ‘I’m appealing to your humanity but I am also appealing to your good sense and your reason,’ said Barras. ‘We can calm our people and that will help both you and us, but we need more time. That’s one thing. But far more important to you is that the College is safe when you finally walk through the gates in triumph. Mana is a dangerous force to those who do not understand it. If you come in now, without a mage, I could not vouch for your chances of survival.’

  ‘Are you threatening me, mage?’ Senedai’s voice rose in volume and hardened in tone.

  ‘No. Merely telling you the truth,’ replied Barras calmly.

  ‘And yet you wait until the new day to tell me this truth.’

  ‘I am sorry, Lord Senedai, but we have never been in this position before and had no idea of the length of time it would take to close down the source of our magic. But do it we must or not just you but this whole city could be lost.’

  Senedai shifted his position, made to speak and then stopped, doubt creeping across his face. Barras seized his chance.

  ‘What I am saying is this. You can start killing innocents if you want but we will not open the gates and remove our protection. This will not be because we don’t care for our people. This College must be made safe for existence without mages and in the end, our responsibility is to the whole of Julatsa, not to those of its population you choose to execute. I am imploring you, Lord Senedai, to believe my words.’

  Senedai stared long and hard at Barras, his face betraying his doubt and the fact that he didn’t have the knowledge to test Barras’ words.

  ‘I must think,’ he said eventually. ‘How long will it take you, this closing of your mana source?’

  Barras shrugged. ‘Six days, maybe more.’

  ‘You must think me stupid,’ snapped Senedai. ‘Six days. And I have no proof of the truth of what you say. What can you give me?’

  ‘Nothing,’ said Barras evenly. ‘Save to say that we have nothing to gain by lying to you. There is no help coming and we have no means to arrange any. I am aware of your impatience to be on your way but surely you need to be secure here first. Until we are ready, you will not be so. What we are doing will help us all.’

  ‘If you are lying, I will have your head myself.’

  ‘I accept the bargain.’

  ‘Six days,’ muttered Senedai. ‘I might grant you two or three. I might grant you none. The screams of the dying will tell you when my patience is exhausted.’ He began to walk away but turned again. ‘You play on my ignorance of magic. Perhaps I’ll question one of my captive mages. Gain myself some knowledge.’

  ‘I understood them all to be dead.’

  ‘Like me, you should not believe everything you are told.’ He summoned a guard to him and walked from the square.

  ‘Now that,’ said Kerela, ‘is the negotiator’s touch.’ She and Kard stood with Barras in the southernmost Long Room while the subdued crowd gathered to hear the General speak.

  ‘What exactly do you have to do to dismantle Julatsan magic, then?’ asked Kard, a wry smile on his lips.

&nb
sp; ‘I’ve absolutely no idea. Nothing, so far as I am aware,’ replied Barras. ‘Though I must say I was surprised he knew so little about the random nature of mana and the harmlessness of its natural state.’

  ‘Good on you.’ Kard clapped Barras on the back. His expression sobered. ‘He won’t give us six days, you know. He’s not that stupid.’

  ‘Even one day saves us one hundred and fifty lives,’ said Kerela.

  ‘Don’t dismiss the mindset of the Wesmen. Magic terrifies them at a very fundamental level. Senedai knows he’s won, or thinks he does. A few more days will make little difference,’ said Barras.

  ‘Terrified he may be, but that didn’t stop him sacking the city.’ Kard adjusted his uniform, tugging down his jacket. The crowd began to quieten. ‘I hear what you are saying but his impatience will soon get the better of him. His prisoners mean nothing to him, particularly those who can’t perform heavy labour. Expect young girls and the old to be the first into the Shroud in no more than three days.’

  ‘I tend to agree,’ said Kerela. ‘He can’t verify anything you’ve said, he’ll assume you’re lying and he’ll sacrifice in the Shroud even if it’s only to hurry us along.’

  Barras nodded. He could see he would have to talk to Senedai again. The flush of his minor victory faded. Kard began to speak to the group of about three hundred in the Long Room.

  ‘Thank you for your attendance and your patience. By now, some of you will have heard what is happening outside the walls. But for those that haven’t, here is the situation and I would ask you to keep your questions for later . . .’

  Barras let his mind drift. Three days. They were outnumbered probably eight to one in absolute numbers, more than that comparing fighting strengths, but at least the mages were rested. Help was coming from Dordover but the Shroud prevented Communion as it did every spell from penetrating its borders. Meanwhile, they had to make their own plans. He wasn’t going to surrender the College meekly.

  Now the population within the walls was aware, the real talking could begin. If Julatsa was going to fall, it would be in a battle that would live in legend forever.