Elves: Beyond the Mists of Katura

by James Barclay

  ‘And what of us?’ asked Sipharec. ‘What of Julatsa and the war against the Wytch Lords?’

  ‘Well I don’t know about you, but to my mind the only way to get Takaar out of here and away to Korina is to break this siege. It’s one thing getting in and quite another getting out. Tomorrow we fight.’

  Chapter 14

  Clarity from confusion, light from darkness, focus from fog. The Il-Aryn mind is conflicted. The more conflicted, the greater the potential. Mine is the most conflicted of all. Rarely do I wish it was not so.

  Takaar, Father of the Il-Aryn

  ‘I said what needed to be said.’

  And did what needed doing?

  Takaar, sitting on the side of his bed, dropped his head to his chest.

  ‘I should not have lost my temper.’

  And with it whatever authority you thought you had.

  ‘I still have that! The Il-Aryn will not desert me.’

  The Senserii will not let you leave your room. And they are supposed to do your bidding without question.

  ‘Gilderon will not betray me,’ said Takaar.

  But you are not on the walls. You have no influence.

  Takaar listened to the world beyond his luxurious bedchamber. The dull thump of spells and the crackling sound of black fire picking at the city walls dominated the hubbub of anxious ordinary people that filtered through his windows. Out there plans were being made.

  ‘They will come to me when they need my advice. They cannot do without it.’

  Remind me. When was the last time Auum asked for your advice? Or Drech?

  There was a knock on his door.

  ‘Come,’ said Takaar.

  The door opened and Kerela walked in. ‘Please excuse the intrusion.’

  ‘Kerela, your presence is a blessing. Tell me, how goes the training of our people?’

  ‘I must tell you something.’

  ‘It can wait.’ Takaar held up a hand. ‘Sit with me. Tell me of your successes.’

  Kerela nodded and sat on the bed next to Takaar. ‘We lost some, but we knew we would. The mana bowl is a dangerous place, and some could not open their minds to the human magic despite its similarity to ours. But you were right. Even those with limited Il-Aryn ability have found strength in the lore and magical structures of the Julatsan approach. Some have turned from the Il-Aryn and I for one will never leave here. This is my home, as it is to hundreds of those you sent here.’

  Takaar smiled. ‘You are my greatest triumph. Don’t let Auum dominate you. Follow your heart’s desires. Fight alongside Xetesk. Ally with anyone to break the Wytch Lords. They must not threaten Herendeneth; we’re vulnerable there.’

  ‘What about Dawnthief? Surely Auum was right: we must leave the spell hidden.’

  ‘From Xetesk, yes. But from me or you or the good souls of this college? No. Research makes us stronger and in that spell lies the sum of all magical knowledge for those capable of unpicking its secrets.’

  ‘Then you must not let them send you away. We’ll need you when this is done.’

  Told you. Your authority is long gone.

  Takaar picked at his arm, and the cacophony in his head meant he had trouble framing his next words.

  ‘S-send me away?’

  ‘Auum wants you to go to Korina to your ships. Drech has sanctioned it.’

  Drech.

  ‘Drech!’

  Betrayer.

  ‘Betrayer!’

  ‘Takaar?’

  Takaar turned to Kerela and managed a smile though his hands were iron and he desired so much to indulge his rage. The cacophony would not die down.

  ‘Kerela, I am sorry. Those who once loved me are starting to desert me. You remain faithful, don’t you?’

  ‘Always,’ said Kerela. ‘But they are determined you should go. I will petition Sipharec to give you sanctuary here.’

  ‘The Senserii will not let me be put on a cart and carried away like some chattel.’

  Kerela’s voice was a whisper. ‘I don’t think they will stand against Auum and Drech. Their greatest desire is to see you safe.’

  ‘I won’t hide here. I must join the fight and, when it is done, join the search.’

  ‘Patience. Please, Takaar.’

  You have none of that.

  ‘I have none of that.’

  Mages at the base of the city wall and behind the gates expended huge energy investing the stone and timbers with more and more strength. Arrows flew in volleys from the ramparts and castings kept the Wesmen back whenever it looked as if an assault might be imminent. But outside, on the trampled ground, the shamen stood in large groups protected by their warriors and out of range of spell and arrow, launching attack after attack on Julatsa’s defences.

  Harild had explained that they had sent raiding parties to their deaths in pursuit of the shamen. The black fire ate through magical shields, and the Wesman warriors were quick and brutal. And so the stage was set and the end of the play was no mystery. Julatsa’s walls or gates would be breached. Not today and probably not tomorrow or the next day, but it was only a matter of time.

  ‘Still no word from Xetesk or the other colleges?’ said Auum.

  Harild shook his head. ‘Our latest messengers say they are fully committed in the defence of Understone Pass. No aid is coming.’

  They were standing in the main gatehouse. Fire picked at the great timber doors below and dislodged stone from wide areas surrounding the great hinges and braces either side. Shamen had tried to attack the gatehouse itself but Il-Aryn magic had turned the fire away.

  ‘You should have flown mages out under cover of darkness,’ said Ulysan. ‘Come at them from the rear.’

  ‘We discussed it but the shamen can sense the use of mana; it’s like they can smell a casting just like they can with your Il-Aryn. Trying it would have been suicide.’

  ‘But this is the time to attack, isn’t it?’ said Auum. ‘At night they’re scattered throughout the camp. Right now they’re gathered in five clear groups. Strong in magic but vulnerable to attack if we can get close enough.’

  ‘Aye, but there’s the problem,’ said Harild.

  ‘Hmm,’ said Auum. ‘Where’s Drech?’

  ‘Back at the college talking to the Il-Aryn and any of the Julatsan elves not on the walls. Why, got an idea?’

  Auum looked back at the nearest shaman team plastering the walls with their black fire. There had to be close to fifty of them, closely guarded by two hundred Wesman warriors taunting the defenders, exhorting them to come out and fight.

  ‘I have, but the timing is going to be critical. I’m going to need every TaiGethen warrior ready and able to use their emergent speed. I’m going to need the Il-Aryn too, and the Julatsan mages and your cavalry.’

  ‘Auum?’ said Ulysan.

  ‘We’ll break them one group at a time.’

  In the middle of the afternoon they were set. Auum had settled on sixty TaiGethen to go out, leaving twelve full cells plus the wounded inside the city as back-up. A hundred Il-Aryn prepared themselves for a single casting while the remaining twenty-seven would spot for weaknesses. Every elven Julatsan adept had volunteered to fly out, and Auum had let Kerela choose seventy of them. Eighty cavalrymen were mounted and ready.

  ‘Get this wrong and a lot of us will die,’ said Auum.

  ‘They know this casting,’ said Drech, still doubting. ‘It’s inconceivable that Ystormun hasn’t informed them about the weakness.’

  ‘I’m counting on it,’ said Auum. He turned to his TaiGethen, every one painted and ready. Prayers had been spoken and souls commended to Shorth. ‘Thrynn, Faleen, Hassek, Grafyrre, Merrat, Nyann, Merke, Vaart, Marack, Nokhe, Hohan, Oryaal. All of you survived Katura. We are veterans of battle, our brothers and sisters are not. Lead your cells but lead the others also. Die old, not today.

  ‘Harild, watch for the moment. I trust you and your cavalry.’

  Harild nodded but his doubt was there, plain to see. ‘How can you get
to them? I don’t understand.’

  ‘Trust me and look to your role. If you’re late, the blood that flows will be of elves and the men of Julatsa.’

  ‘We won’t fail them.’

  Auum nodded. ‘Drech, ready your Il-Aryn. TaiGethen, form up.’

  They were all mustered at the main gates, which still shuddered under the impact of Wytch Lord magic. Auum took a breath to ease the constriction in his chest as Drech and his Il-Aryn drew on the earth’s energies to form their grand casting. Just as on the ship, it came into place quickly, a shimmering barrier of air made solid. Auum could not deny the bitter taste in his mouth at the necessity. He didn’t think he would ever reconcile himself fully to the use of magic.

  ‘Open the gates!’ called Harild.

  Auum could hear cheers from the Wesmen as the gates were hauled open, screeching and protesting against their winches and hinges. Black fire rattled hard against the timbers, the fingers seeking targets within the city, but Drech moved his barrier into place and the sudden quiet from the spell attack was distracting.

  ‘Forward!’ ordered Auum. ‘Drech, just hold it as long as you can and then get back inside.’

  The TaiGethen moved behind the barrier, which Drech and his people held steady while the black fire moved quickly to its apex, picking away at the mana strands that bound it and were its weakness. Auum could hear free Il-Aryn shouting out warnings and he fancied he could feel the casters fighting to strengthen weak spots.

  Beyond the barrier Auum could see Wesman warriors forming up to either side of the shamen, unable to see through the barrier but correctly identifying its intent. They began to advance, careful not to cross into their shamen’s line of sight. The shamen were positioned some hundred yards from the gates and dead ahead of them. Auum and the TaiGethen had moved twenty slow yards forward when the warning came from Drech.

  ‘We’re losing it.’

  The barrier was twisting and shimmering violently. Shaman fire ripped at it in more places than Auum could count and holes were appearing through which the fire spat.

  ‘TaiGethen, be ready.’ Auum moved forward another three paces, seeing Wesmen advancing steadily, warily. ‘Drech, now! Tais, scatter!’

  The barrier disappeared, and for a heartbeat the shaman magic was gone too. Auum let the power of Yniss flood him and the earth beneath his feet cushion him, and he ran. The TaiGethen broke apart, sprinting away hard at multiple angles designed to confuse and distract their enemy.

  Auum saw and heard it all so clearly. The growing surprise on the faces of the enemy warriors combined with the confusion of the shamen about where to send their fire. There were mages in flight, soaring high above the battlefield, heading out behind the enemy camps. And when the shamen finally began to target the TaiGethen, the sound of hooves was music to Auum’s ears.

  Auum seared across the ground, his Tais around him, racing past the Wesmen and ignoring the targets they represented. Black fire laced out in multiple directions, seeking elven bodies. But while the fire travelled at extreme speed, the minds and the hands of the shamen did not.

  Auum saw black tendrils swinging towards him. He slithered to a halt and started down a different line. He rolled beneath one tendril, leaped between two others and moved in. Beside him a line of fire caught a TaiGethen in the flank, spinning him out of control to sprawl on the ground.

  Auum could see their eyes now, the desperation on their faces and the feverish playing of their foul casting in front of them as they tried to bring down elves they could barely see. But the closer the TaiGethen got, the greater the risk they ran despite their speed. He had to trust to luck and believe that his Tais would make the right moves.

  Auum was ten paces from the shamen when the fire caught him. He slid low beneath a blitz of fire tendrils and rolled, his body outstretched. He gathered himself and leaped high, meaning to land in their midst, but the line of black fire caught his left arm, spinning him fast and off balance. It burned through his shoulder and down into his hand. He could smell his seared flesh, and his shirt smouldered and glowed orange where the fire struck.

  Still moving under the shetharyn, he crashed into the shamen, tumbling and turning, trying to get his feet beneath him while the burning consumed his arm. Gasping in a breath, Auum came to a halt sprawled on top of a shaman, his eyes looking up into a sky filled with moving bodies. There was shouting and he heard the hiss of blades leaving scabbards.

  Black fire crackled all around him. He rolled again, his feet finding the ground, and rose, right fist already lashing out at any body in his vision, his left arm hanging useless by his side. TaiGethen crashed into the shamen in numbers, deflecting their attention from him.

  A dagger came at him from his left. He spun and kicked it from the shaman’s hand, leaned in hard and butted him in the forehead. He drew a blade and whirled a complete circle, forcing space to open up. Fighting was going on all around him. He heard the detonation of spells ahead of him and the thundering of hooves behind.

  Auum focused as well as he could, weaving his sword in front of him and trying to sense what was at his back. He moved towards a shaman. He was wearing a broad necklace of animal bones; the skin that showed beneath cloak and clothes was heavily tattooed, and there was an expression of pure malice on his weathered flat-featured face.

  Auum struck forward, and the shaman danced back. He clapped his hands together and the black fire capered between his palms. He opened them to strike at Auum, who dropped to his haunches and swept out a foot, tripping his enemy and sending him back a couple of paces, his magic gone.

  Auum rushed forward. In the press of shamen battling for their lives against the blurring TaiGethen he didn’t see the knife blade that tore into his left arm, redoubling the pain. The blow rocked him sideways. Instinct took over. Auum kicked out to the side and high, feeling his boot connect with a face. Simultaneously, he threw his blade. It spun end over end and buried itself to the hilt in the shaman’s chest, splintering his bone necklace.

  Auum dropped to the ground, on his haunches again. A dagger blade whipped over his head. He turned quickly, dragging a jaqrui from its pouch and flicking it out and up, seeing the blade lodge deep in the thigh of his target. Behind him a scream split the air. Auum forced himself back to his feet to grab back his blade. In front of him a shaman stood for a moment, confusion on his face while his brain dribbled from his split skull.

  Ulysan was at his side. Auum felt himself picked up and rushed back in the direction of the city walls. He saw other TaiGethen bodies smouldering on the ground but the shamen were gone, massacred.

  Harild’s cavalry galloped past, sending Wesmen to their deaths or running blindly away. Spells crashed down from the mages sent to the back of the enemy lines. Drech and his Il-Aryn moved back onto the battlefield, creating a safe corridor against further black fire.

  Ulysan slowed, giving them a sight of the battlefield before they ducked back through the barriers. Wesmen were gathering in defence to their left. Ahead of the gates, the enemy were gone. Bodies crowded the ground. There was cheering from the walls. TaiGethen moved across the area, helping the wounded away and carrying the bodies of their dead.

  The cavalry made one more sweep and galloped back through the gates. Through his misted eyes Auum could see more shamen moving up behind their warrior guards. The taunting had ceased. They had landed a significant blow but Auum counted seven TaiGethen bodies being carried away. Too many. If they were to break the siege, they needed to adapt their tactics.

  ‘Come on, let’s get you seen to,’ said Ulysan.

  Auum looked into his face. He was bleeding from a cut to his cheek but his eyes were alive with excitement. ‘You seem to make a habit of carrying me bleeding from battlefields.’

  ‘Well I did it once seven hundred years ago. That’s hardly statistically significant.’

  ‘It hurts,’ said Auum.

  ‘Looks like it.’

  Ulysan supported Auum, and the two old friends move
d as quickly as they could back within the barrier and on into the city. Auum waited until the last of the elves was back and Harild ordered the gates closed. The cavalry had already trotted away to their stables, leaving the big open space behind the gates full of victorious but grieving elves.

  ‘Get the wounded back to the college,’ said Auum. ‘We need them treated and ready for the next strike. Pray for your friends who have fallen. Drech, your Il-Aryn should rest. Your work was exemplary, thank you.’

  Drech walked over to Auum, waving his people back towards the gates.‘We’ll meet at dusk in the refectory. Congratulations.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  ‘It appears you are not quite as fast as you think you are.’

  ‘Not now,’ breathed Ulysan.

  Auum felt himself tense and his arm begin to ache horribly. He leaned on Ulysan to turn himself. There was Takaar, striding up to them with his Senserii in close attendance. Drech watched him come with suspicion and weary anxiety written all over his face. The remaining TaiGethen looked on, but Auum held up a hand to put them at ease.

  ‘We’ve cleared a path for you. Best you leave now before the Wesmen close it again. It’s a good few days’ walk to Korina. Cleress has been in contact with her sisters and they’re expecting you. Gilderon, the quartermaster of the city will find you travel rations.’

  ‘I only seek to help and yet you snub me at every turn,’ said Takaar, appearing genuinely hurt. ‘I could have saved you from that wound. And it looks bad. I can treat it.’

  ‘Touch me and I’ll break your arm,’ said Auum. ‘You tried to kill Stein on the way here and you tried to kill Drech last night. You’re like a child, but you have dreadful powers and you’re prepared to use them on anyone, even those who try to help you. You are not the elf you believe yourself to be and you never will be again.’

  Takaar nodded and put his hands over his face. His shoulders began to shake and his body shuddered with sobs. When he looked back at Auum, tears streaked his face and his eyes were imploring and full of contrition.

  ‘I know and I am sorry,’ he said, sniffing hard and breathing deeply to calm himself. ‘Drech, I cannot forgive myself, but I hope you can forgive me. Auum, all I ask is a chance to prove myself. I can turn the Wytch Lord fire against the shamen who cast it. I’ve worked out how. Let me show you.’