The Shadowmage Trilogy (Twilight of Kerberos: The Shadowmage Books)

by Matthew Sprange

  Lucius was falling so fast that he was struggling to breathe. Closing his eyes, he concentrated hard and dimly made out the threads of magic. They appeared, faint, but calm and serene, as if undaunted by his worldly concerns. Despite their stillness, he had difficulty in reaching out to trap one, as if they receded as he approached. Unconsciously, he opened his eyes a fraction, and saw the surface of the sea was much closer now, and moving swiftly.

  Squeezing his eyes shut and clenching his fists in concentration, Lucius groped mentally for the thread he needed. It responded reluctantly to his summons and, as he tried to shape the air beneath him into an invisible platform that would arrest his descent, it fractured then danced away from him.

  Panicking now, Lucius screamed in terror, knowing his life would end shortly. The scream echoed in his mind and he desperately clawed after the thread, finally grabbing the strand.

  Later, he did not remember actually fashioning a spell; one moment he was fumbling with the thread, then he was in the water and sinking. The force of the impact smashed the air out of his lungs, but whatever magics he had manifested had done enough to slow his fall to a survivable level.

  He was carried deep under water and, for a moment, was content to let it be so, mind and body both stunned into inaction. As his lungs began to burn, he kicked out, then reached for the surface, guided only by the dulling light of the sun. Lucius clawed his way upwards, his lungs feeling as though they were about to explode, his world becoming lighter.

  As his head burst free of the water, Lucius gasped and choked. He closed his eyes and tried to control his breathing, hardly daring to believe he was still alive. A sharp splintering sound brought him back to the present.

  Looking across the harbour, he saw Adrianna’s magic destroying the merchantman. He felt the concussion as bolts of compressed water, summoned by Adrianna, punched into the ship’s hull. As each one struck, it holed the hull below the waterline, causing splinters to spiral away from the impact. Already, the ship was listing toward the cliffs, the people on board screaming as they grabbed for support.

  Feebly, Lucius tried to summon the threads of magic to their aid, though he knew he would never be able to bring enough power to bear to break Adrianna’s spells. The threads remained elusive, his control over them shattered by terror and exhaustion.

  Water reared up either side of the merchantman, like two huge waves that were held immobile. As one, they came down upon the deck of the ship with shattering force, and with a grinding of wood upon wood the vessel split in two. The masts smashed together in a tangle of rigging and sails as prow and stern both rose to point at the sky, while the crew and passengers on board were crushed inside the wreckage.

  Some managed to escape, and Lucius started to swim to a family who had leapt clear of the ship as it broke up, the father gathering his wife and two children closer to him as they began to swim to the piers. More waves of concussion swept over Lucius as bolts of compressed water, smaller than those before but still utterly lethal, started to streak through the remaining wreckage, smashing the life out of anyone who had survived the initial attacks. Lucius stopped, treading water as he gaped at the sheer callousness of what he was witnessing.

  Within minutes, all that was left floating on the calm harbour waters before him were jagged pieces of wood and sail cloth – few now recognisable as once having been part of a ship – and bodies. Sailors floated alongside families, all twisted and shattered.

  Turning back to see the cliffs, he saw Adrianna, dark and indistinct. She stood motionless for a few seconds, then turned and walked back towards the city, out of sight. Lucius stared after her long after she had gone, knowing that one way or another, she had to be stopped.

  He just had no idea how that was now even possible.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  AS HE APPROACHED the entrance of the Red Lion, Lucius deliberately slowed his step. While this meeting of the Council was critical in planning the guild’s next steps, he had no wish to confront Elaine just yet. He had seen the look in her eyes, directed at both him and Adrianna, and he knew there would be no mercy there when the time for settlement came.

  It was selfish, he knew, to be more concerned about Adrianna telling Elaine of their brief liaison than about Elaine’s abduction. After all, Adrianna was anything but predictable now, and there had been no guarantee that either of them would have walked out of her lair alive. Yet his infidelity, as loose as his relationships with both women had been, seemed the greater betrayal to him. It surprised him to find he actually felt ashamed.

  Putting a hand on the latch of the Red Lion’s heavy door, Lucius took a deep breath, then entered. The mid-afternoon crowd was light, with just a few scattered patrons nursing their drinks, and Lucius guessed that the Empire’s sudden reversal of finances, courtesy of the thieves’ raid on their silver train, was beginning to impact the poorer people of the city already. With a sudden tightening of alms, there was less to spend in the Red Lion.

  Myrklar glanced up at Lucius as he delivered tankards to two ragged looking men, die-hard drinkers who would spend their last silver on beer even if it meant going without food. He nodded to Lucius, indicating the coast was clear of anyone he deemed suspicious.

  Climbing the stairs, Lucius hoped no one would notice the feeling of dread that fell over him. He had deliberately arrived a little later than normal so Wendric and Ambrose would be there, having no wish to be alone in a room with Elaine just yet.

  Before opening the door to their ad hoc meeting room, he took another deep breath, then entered. Only Elaine and Wendric were inside, and he cursed Ambrose silently for being even later than he was.

  Wendric smiled his greetings, and Lucius nodded in return, but Elaine refused to look him in the eye, taking a deep interest in a stack of parchments she held on her lap. Examining each sheet in turn with great care, she seemed oblivious to Lucius’ arrival.

  “Well, Lucius, we certainly created a stir with that raid,” Wendric said with a smile.

  Taking a seat on an upturned crate, Lucius acknowledged the compliment with a wave. “We did well. All of us.”

  “I have a feeling that Lucius has another similar attack in mind,” Wendric said, turning to Elaine. “We should get the word around that Lucius is the brain behind all of this – it could really pick up morale.”

  Elaine merely responded with a half-nod, not raising her gaze to either of them. Wendric cocked an enquiring look at Lucius, who just shook his head slightly. There was no need to provoke Elaine if she did not want to be brought out into the conversation, and he had no wish to air matters at this time.

  “The idea was the beggars’, not mine,” he said simply.

  “Well, true,” Wendric said, deflating a little at the obvious tension between the two other thieves. “But it was you who put the plan into motion.”

  Lucius just shrugged at that, and all three fell into silence, interrupted only by the occasional parchment being ruffled and set aside by Elaine as she worked through the stack. Wendric, clearly unsure of what to do or say, just fidgeted, while Lucius stared into a corner, as if his mind was far away.

  Ambrose finally shuffled into the room.

  “You’re late,” Elaine said, and there was a distinctly cold edge to her tone, though Lucius doubted it was actually aimed at Ambrose.

  “Ah, yes, sorry,” Ambrose said, having heard the undercurrent in Elaine’s words. “Small matter of a patrol, wanted to make sure they did not follow.”

  “Well, you are here now,” Wendric said, a little too quickly. He waved Ambrose to another crate. “Let’s get started. You want to go first?”

  Ambrose shrugged. “I’ll give you the bad news first. We are still losing thieves. They are either going independent or leaving the city altogether. Which, it has to be said, is understandable.”

  “Large numbers?” Wendric asked.

  “Large enough. A couple of cells have fallen out of sight completely. The others are reporting thieves missing
here or there.”

  “Any chance they have been taken by Vos rather than just leaving?” Elaine asked.

  “That is possible,” Ambrose conceded. “However, some of their colleagues have said that there had been talk of leaving, either us or Turnitia as a whole, beforehand. Our people are being cautious, and there is not much opportunity for Vos to act against us at the moment. To all intents and purposes, the guild is barely functioning within the city walls, and the Empire is keen to not draw attention to what little we are doing. I think most have left us voluntarily.”

  “They’ll come back,” Wendric said. “Once we start operating as a proper guild again, they’ll come back.”

  “They won’t have a choice,” Elaine said firmly.

  “So the raid on the silver train did nothing to encourage other thieves?” Lucius asked.

  Ambrose smiled at him. “Oh, it did a great deal, I think. First, the thieves that came with us, as rich as they are, are now intensely loyal to the guild, and to you.”

  Lucius noticed that Elaine’s eyes flickered over to him for a brief second on hearing that, and a feeling of impending doom fell across him. My God, he thought, now she is thinking that I will challenge her leadership. As Ambrose continued, he resolved to talk to Elaine sooner rather than later, their personal feelings be damned. The guild, in its current fragile state, could not take any vagaries from the Council, and he certainly wanted to avoid a dagger between the shoulder blades from one of her assassins.

  “News of the raid is spreading, and people are liking what they hear. If we were not currently fragmented into cells, we would have everyone right behind us. As it is, the dispersed nature of the guild limits communication.”

  “That is what it was supposed to do,” Elaine said, her voice stern.

  “True,” Ambrose allowed. “It is just a shame, that is all. Give it another couple of weeks, perhaps another raid, and we’ll likely start bringing the independents back into the fold, wanting a piece of the action.”

  “Getting the franchises up and running will also have a similar effect,” Wendric said. “Everyone knows the value of getting in at the start of a new franchise, and we will effectively be wiping the slate clean. Anyone with a bit of nous will be able to set themselves up for life.”

  “Competition will be fierce, then,” Ambrose said.

  “That is no bad thing,” Elaine replied. “With competition comes better franchises and a healthier guild.”

  “So, you all set to conduct another raid against Vos’ silver train?” Wendric asked Lucius.

  “I would like to,” Lucius replied slowly, thinking his plan through as he went. “We should have more support from the other thieves this time around, which is just as well, as this battle will be ten times harder. We’ll have to pick a new battleground, and Vos will be prepared this time.”

  “What is the worst they could do?” Ambrose asked. “They had that armoured wagon last time, and a wizard and we – well, you – took care of them both.”

  “If I were a Vos commander responsible for the safety of the silver train after an attack like ours, I would escort it with an entire legion,” Lucius said.

  They fell silent again for a few moments, each considering that possibility.

  “So... how would we attack a formation like that?” Ambrose asked.

  “I am not sure we can,” Lucius admitted. “That said, I’ll give it some thought. This is what we need in the guild right now, a real bonanza that shows both Vos and the people of the city that we are not dead and buried. It will bring the thieves crawling out of the woodwork, make us a real power to be respected. From there, we can see if we can bring the Empire around to their old way of thinking – tolerate the presence of the thieves, knowing the alternative is worse.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Wendric said, evidently glad to have some clear direction to the meeting.

  “No,” Elaine said, causing Lucius to glance up at her. For the first time since she had been taken by Adrianna, their eyes met. Her glare was cold and empty, and determined. There was little left of the woman he had known before.

  “We cannot rely on Lucius’ plan,” she said with some finality, and Lucius wondered if the reference to his plan was not a slight intended to let the other Council members know that his position was no longer as privileged as it had been. “We have to, finally, acknowledge that we are once again at war, this time with a far more powerful enemy than a rival thieves’ guild. The simple choice before us is whether to surrender and quit or fight on.”

  “I’m your man, Elaine,” Ambrose said. “Where you lead, I’ll follow.”

  “I think you’ll be taking on an enemy that can destroy us all,” Wendric said. “But I would never let you do that without me at your side.

  Lucius opened his mouth to speak, but Elaine spoke first, not bothering to hear what he had to say.

  “Then war it is.”

  Ambrose whistled quietly, and Wendric cleared his throat.

  “So, how do we assemble our forces, and what are our targets?” he asked.

  “We continue with our current aims, but on a larger scale,” Elaine said. “And we aim them directly into the heart of the Vos presence in the city. In running Turnitia, Vos depends on two things; a continuing flow of silver, and order. We cut off the first, and disrupt the second.”

  “Agreed,” Wendric said. “How far do we go?”

  Elaine fixed him with a cool and level gaze. “This is war, Wendric. We hit as hard as we can, as often as we can. Mobilise the cells. Rob the soldiers of their pay, raid the Cathedral, and put the word out that any trader, craftsman or merchant who openly supports Vos is our enemy. Steal their tools, drive their customers away, and burn down their shops, warehouses and homes. Conversely, those willing to help us by providing supplies or safe houses will be rewarded. Let them know that we will look favourably on their support after the war is won too – their neighbours will be paying protection money, but they won’t. And if they do not agree, lean on them.”

  “Done right, we could turn whole districts of the city against the Empire,” Ambrose reflected.

  “And let it be known that anyone wearing the uniform of a Vos officer is an open target. I’ll personally pay a bounty of one hundred silver for a sergeant, and five hundred for anyone of higher rank.”

  Wendric glanced up at her. “Is that just for thieves, or an open offer to anyone?”

  Elaine opened her mouth to answer, then hesitated as she reconsidered.

  “That is a good idea, Wendric,” she finally said with a grim smile. “Open it to anyone. I don’t fancy the chances of an untrained thug trying to claim a sergeant’s head, but it will cause a great deal of chaos if mobs start attacking patrols.”

  “And then we keep up the pressure,” Wendric said. “Keep hitting these targets, and the whole will begin to fail.”

  “That is what you need to arrange. However, if this is going to be successful, then the people giving orders to the soldiers will have to fear us too. It is easy enough to send a patrol of soldiers out into the city to protect the holdings of some rich merchant or break down the door of a suspected safe house, but if we can ensure that the men and women giving those orders can expect reprisals as well, then they might start thinking twice about doing it. Which will lead to more chaos as the Vos military becomes paralysed.”

  “That is where your assassins will come into play, I am guessing,” Ambrose said.

  “Of course,” Elaine said simply. “And, like the thieves on the streets, we will do it in a way that will not be missed. A massacre of those in command, a message that we can reach anyone, anywhere. And that message will be clear to the successors of those we kill too.”

  “The only way you will do that,” Lucius said, speaking at last, “is to enter the Citadel.”

  “Naturally. We have done it before.”

  Lucius shook his head. “The Citadel is better defended than it has ever been. They have far more soldiers, and–”
/>
  Elaine interrupted him. “And our assassins have become much better at what they do.”

  He continued, undaunted. “And they have much better magical support than before.”

  “You have beaten their wizards already,” Ambrose said, frowning. “They do not seem all that much to me.”

  “All we have met so far are court practitioners and battle mages,” Lucius said. “Whom, incidentally, you should not underestimate, Ambrose. However, there is a new force in the city, a cabal of wizards that are skilled at working together, somehow. They are extremely powerful, and capable of pretty much anything.”

  “How do you know this?” Ambrose asked.

  “Oh, Lucius lies in many beds when it comes to magic,” Elaine said, and he gave her a sour look in return. “Though for all his skill, it seems there are some mages he cannot best.”

  Ambrose and Wendric frowned in confusion, wondering at the animosity between the other two.

  “That may be true, Elaine,” Lucius said, his patience ebbing, “but I can tell you a bunch of assassins, no matter how well-trained, are going to be annihilated if they try to take on this cabal.”

  “We don’t need you.”

  “He’s right,” Wendric said. “This is the Citadel we are talking about, not some lonely outpost in the wilds. Even if this cabal is not there, it would be folly to go in without Lucius. I don’t pretend to understand what he does or how he does it, but the only time we have ever broken into the Citadel – and out again – was alongside him.”

  She glared at Wendric. “I would remind you that I am in command of this guild. I decide who does what, and when.”

  “And I would remind you that, as your lieutenant, it is my role to balance those decisions,” Wendric said. “I don’t give a damn what is going on between you and Lucius, but it seems to me that he is willing to work with you, and I have worked too hard getting this guild back together to squander anything on a disagreement, whatever its cause. If we lose our guildmistress now, that will be the end. The guild will fold, and you do not have the authority to make that decision.”