Elves: Beyond the Mists of Katura

by James Barclay

  Takaar sighed. ‘I suppose it was inevitable that you wouldn’t understand. Why would you? Only I can see the truth. You’ll be too late, you know.’

  Gilderon inclined his head. ‘We have to try.’

  Takaar turned back to his drawing and marks. He was muttering, talking to his other self.

  ‘Will you find it?’ asked Gilderon, curious in spite of himself.

  Takaar said nothing, didn’t even appear to have heard the question.

  ‘Takaar?’

  Chapter 20

  When does an invested wall become more magic than stone? Is there a point at which the density of magic within stone becomes great enough to weaken it? I feel we should find out.

  Hethyne, Research Mage, Julatsa

  While Julatsa had breathing space in which to resupply, rebuild and refocus after the siege was broken, the threat of another major attack on the college was ever present. They planned to set up a series of mage-led watches along the northern coast and of course at Triverne Inlet to provide early warning. But it was the knock-on effect of the siege that was most keenly damaging to Auum’s expectations. The Julatsan city council refused to allow any of its militia to leave in support of the other three colleges in retaliation for the support withheld from Julatsa in its darkest hour, while the college decided to keep most of its mages at home, citing an unacceptable risk to its heart stone should the Wesmen return.

  When the numbers were totalled the expeditionary force was pitiful, made worthy of the name only by Auum’s TaiGethen and the Il-Aryn, now under the reluctant command of a sour-faced Ynissul teacher named Rith. She had spent a day denouncing her own leadership skills when her name was put forward, but the fact remained that she was the most experienced and most respected practitioner still alive.

  Harild had lent the force some cavalry to act as guides and escorts for the journey, but they were under orders to return before any fight. And very few of the elven mages Takaar had been so determined to come and rescue had chosen to travel, which left the TaiGethen’s Arch questioning his elves’ role here once again. Stein had demanded to go with them, which had been the single blessing, but they left the city with fifty cavalry, just eighty-two TaiGethen, one hundred and four Il-Aryn, and a mere seventy-eight Julatsan-trained elves of the four hundred or so Auum had been persuaded to rescue.

  Supply wagons rattled along at the rear of the column where the Il-Aryn had also chosen to walk or jog. If there was one thing Auum could thank Takaar for it was his insistence that his adepts were fit. A hangover from his TaiGethen days in Auum’s opinion, though Rith had assured him in her dry humourless tones that it had everything to do with casting stamina and nothing to do with anything else.

  Not one of the Julatsan mage council had seen them off, all distracted by some turn of events elsewhere. It was a fact not lost on Auum and he quizzed Stein about it, jogging beside his horse as they travelled across the easy ground west towards the Blackthorne Mountains.

  ‘They lost contact with their team at the Septern Manse a few days ago. Apparently Lystern have the same problem. We don’t know about the other two colleges.’

  ‘And they’re surprised, are they?’ said Auum. ‘Remind me why we’re going to join Xetesk again, would you? Sounds like they’re more likely to kill us than welcome us.’

  ‘You’re not seriously suggesting that our researchers have been murdered, are you?’

  ‘I think they have to consider it. And what are they planning to do about it? Send more to die, or make more pointless entreaties to Xetesk – out of whom they will get no information whatever?’

  Stein shook his head, chuckling. ‘How long have you been here? Ten days or so, is it? And you seem to know more about the workings of Xetesk than most will absorb in a lifetime. I think your suggestions of murder and the abandonment of Julatsa are off target, but the general attitude of our Xeteskian friends? You’re spot on.’

  Auum shrugged. ‘They are the human face of the Wytch Lords. I had a hundred and fifty years to understand exactly how their minds worked. Ystormun might have been forced out when the sundering came, but he and his band of bastards left behind plenty of malevolence, and it all rests in Xetesk, doesn’t it?’

  ‘They are not as black as you paint them,’ said Stein.

  Auum increased his pace and ran to the head of the column, which snaked its way towards the chill of the Blackthorne Mountains dominating the horizon. The bleak grey peaks, capped with what Stein said was snow and ice, were imposing, pressing down on the tiny elves and humans travelling into their shadow. Calaius had mountains, but these were of a different scale altogether.

  Their aim was to track along the foothills all the way down to Understone Pass, where they would join the fight. Auum was puzzled that the power of human magic had not already forced the Wesmen back, but he needed to see the battle for himself if he was to employ his people to their best advantage.

  Stein was adamant that they wouldn’t encounter Wesmen along their route, and so far there were no signs of any enemy activity. Farms and hamlets were undamaged; the land was pristine, and when the question was asked, livestock was all accounted for.

  It took Auum a little while to work out why this worried him. Had he been commanding Wesmen forces he would have sent significant numbers this way, hidden from all the college cities, to outflank the pass defenders. Something just wasn’t right and he wasn’t about to blame a lack of tactical acumen on the part of the Wytch Lords. Auum had learned through bitter experience never to underestimate Ystormun.

  Ulysan was heading the column with Duele, who had been co-opted back into Auum’s cell with the fall of poor Ollem on the walls of Julatsa. They’d lost too many up there and on the field afterwards: twelve in all from across the spectrum of experience and representing four full cells. It left them light.

  TaiGethen ran the flanks and rear and also provided scouts ahead and on the points. Ulysan was chatting to Duele as the two ran, Ulysan in his easy loping stride, Duele with his soft feet which seemed almost to float a hair above the ground. His was an extraordinary skill in waiting and Auum prayed that he lived to see it realised.

  ‘Come to see the real excitement, have you?’ said Ulysan when Auum fell in alongside him.

  ‘I can’t take their denials any longer,’ said Auum. ‘Even Stein is blinkered when it comes to Xetesk.’

  ‘Then we must look after ourselves,’ said Duele.

  ‘I’ll speak when we stop for the night,’ said Auum. ‘Some among us are following blindly, and I don’t like that.’

  ‘I hear you,’ said Ulysan.

  ‘So, where are we?’ asked Auum, gazing out at the landscape ahead.

  ‘Well, there are the mountains,’ said Ulysan, pointing. ‘In case you hadn’t spotted them.’

  ‘I was really down until I came to speak to you and now I’ve improved to suicidal,’ said Auum. ‘If you want to run with another cell, Duele, I fully understand.’

  ‘The thought will never enter my mind,’ said Duele.

  ‘I’m still working on his sense of humour,’ said Ulysan.

  ‘I shall pray fervently to Yniss that it doesn’t turn out like yours.’

  ‘I am hurt, my Arch,’ said Ulysan, placing a hand on his chest.

  ‘Just tell me what I’m looking at,’ said Auum. ‘I know you studied the maps.’

  Ulysan smiled. ‘No learning is ever wasted. Right, we’re heading south-west at the moment and we’ll encounter the River Tri where it rises at the base of Triverne Lake, probably by nightfall if we push on. Quite a beautiful spot, I’m told. We can cross at the shallows there and then hug the mountains. From here you can see the lake sparkle against the mountains when the sun hits it right – that’ll give you an idea of distance.

  ‘It’s about six days to Understone from here, I’d say. The terrain is very easy. Our only problem is staying hidden if we feel the need; that’s another reason to stay close to the mountains. This way keeps us as far from all the colleg
es as possible too. That’s it really. No significant landmarks I haven’t mentioned, no trees and precious few people because the land in the lee of the mountains isn’t good for farming.’

  ‘Escape routes once we’re past Xetesk on the way to Understone?’

  ‘We want to hope it doesn’t come to that,’ said Ulysan. ‘If we’re closed off from behind then we’re effectively trapped.’

  ‘Is that likely?’ asked Duele.

  Auum raised his eyebrows. ‘It depends who you ask.’

  ‘Right,’ said Ulysan. ‘Everyone else says it isn’t; Auum says it is.’

  Duele fell silent but Auum could see there was conflict within him.

  ‘It’s always best to speak,’ said Ulysan, seeing the same thing. ‘Silence only breeds resentment.’

  Duele took a breath and glanced at them both.

  ‘There is much uncertainty and fear,’ he said carefully as if voicing the words was somehow heretical. ‘Among the Il-Aryn certainly but also within the newer emerged TaiGethen. It’s distracting. We should be united, and I feel we aren’t. It is difficult to be surrounded with such differing opinions.’

  Auum’s first reaction was of disappointment, but a moment later he smiled.

  ‘Uncertainty is the hallmark of this venture,’ he said. ‘And I am asking much of the inexperienced . . . I’ll speak to everyone later.’

  And he did. On the banks of Triverne Lake, with the cook fires throwing a warming glow into a chilly night and the lapping of the water on the shore a relaxing influence, Auum spoke to whoever would hear him, human or elf.

  ‘It is terribly hard to see those you know – those you love – die beside you. I cannot promise you that it will get any easier because it doesn’t. Those who fight to save Calaius must bear that burden. I ask that Yniss bless you all for being here and showing your faith in our gods and in me. I am humbled by your courage and your strength, particularly those of you who have just had your first taste of the fight. The experience of violence and death are shocking, yet here you sit, willing to do it all over again even though you worry that you are afraid.

  ‘Don’t worry. Fear is healthy; believe me, the fearless die quickly. Let your fear make you cautious and lead you to the right decisions; don’t let it cripple you and make you easy prey.

  ‘Are we on the right path? Yniss knows none of us can be sure, but we do know the Wytch Lords must be defeated. So I’m asking you to fight alongside Xetesk even though every fibre of my being screams that it is wrong. I’m doing it because there is no other choice. At Understone Pass we can strike, together, at Ystormun’s twisted heart. I know you don’t want human allies. Neither do I, but this is reality. We are not enough on our own.’

  Auum led a prayer and invited questions. He saw Stein talking to a couple of cavalrymen.

  ‘They were wondering why you’re here at all if you mistrust us so much.’

  ‘It’s a good question,’ said Auum. ‘We’re here because the Wytch Lords have to be defeated and we can’t do it back home. So here we are to see it done. It doesn’t mean we have to like it, or like humans – with some notable exceptions.’

  Stein passed on Auum’s response and the cavalrymen both nodded their understanding.

  ‘Anything further?’ asked Auum. ‘Then let’s eat and sleep. Yniss bless you all and keep you safe until dawn.’

  Auum slept little that night, wondering if he should have kept his council. But he needed eyes. Not just TaiGethen and Il-Aryn but those of the Julatsans travelling with them. As the next day’s travel got under way beneath a deep grey sky, a chill wind blew off the mountains, surprising the elves, who donned cloaks while the humans did not. He could see groups of the cavalry deep in conversation as they rode and their gesturing and pointing told its own story about the impact of his words.

  Stein trotted up to him while he was running with Merrat’s cell, discussing possible tactics.

  ‘You caused quite a stir last night,’ said Stein.

  ‘Good.’

  Stein blew out his cheeks. ‘Yes, but I had to give one or two a history lesson to stop them riding back to Julatsa.’

  ‘I’m not apologising for being careful,’ said Auum.

  ‘I’m not asking you to. I just thought you should know that some have their sympathies elsewhere.’

  ‘Nor am I apologising for being careful with my choice of allies. Got friends in Xetesk, have they?’

  ‘Yes, some of them probably do. We don’t just wall ourselves in and talk in hushed tones, you know. There is more similarity than difference between all four colleges.’

  ‘Then perhaps I shouldn’t trust you either?’

  Stein laughed. ‘I asked for that, didn’t I?’

  Auum looked up at him and thought to reinforce his point, but there was nothing to distrust about this particular human. Stein smiled broadly and spoke again, pointing along the shore of Triverne Lake.

  ‘And you said there were no trees here. Just look at that. Beautiful, isn’t it?’

  Auum looked and saw an area of woodland about two miles away hugging the shore for some considerable distance and stretching away a hundred yards or so towards the foothills. Nyann’s cell, the duty scouts this morning, were closing on it already. He hoped they enjoyed themselves beneath the patchy canopy.

  ‘That, human, is like a drop in the vast ocean that is the Calaian rainforest. It is a single footprint left by Yniss. I could count those trees before we arrived at the first. It would take you a lifetime to count those in our forest.’

  Auum was possessed of a sudden longing to be back beneath Beeth’s canopy, sheltering from Gyal’s tears and glorying in Tual’s creatures and all the great creation of Yniss. It was godless, this human land. It had no soul.

  ‘One day I’d like to come and try,’ said Stein. ‘But before that I’ll take you to our great forests when this is done . . . Grethern and Greythorne. They are places to lose yourself.’

  Auum smiled. ‘I look forward to it.’

  ‘How many forests do you have?’

  ‘Just the one,’ said Auum.

  ‘Oh,’ said Stein, the smile on his face wider than ever. ‘We have two.’

  Auum laughed and punched him lightly on the thigh. The two of them continued on in a companionable silence until Auum moved forward at a call from Grafyrre, who was running the head of the column with his cell. Auum had to confess that Triverne Lake was a place of beauty, set against the steep climbs of the Blackthorne Mountains. The lake was a vivid pure blue lapping on gentle shores, the vegetation surrounding it was lush and verdant and the wildlife, birds in particular, was plentiful.

  They were less than a mile from the woodland and Auum intended to take a break just so that he and the TaiGethen could rest under the cover of green leaves, no matter how thin they were in comparison with the rainforest.

  ‘Do we have a problem, Graf?’

  ‘I doubt it but your orders were to alert you should our scouts not check in, and they haven’t done so since entering the woodland.’

  ‘Got their backs to the broadest trunks already or lying on the ground gazing up at the leaves, I expect,’ said Auum, doubting every word as he said it.

  He looked to the south-east, knowing that Xetesk sprang from the ground down there somewhere, a stain tainted with the black of the Wytch Lords. If someone had alerted Xetesk to the movement of the elves and Julatsans, could they have had the time to conceal themselves in the woods? It was unlikely.

  ‘Even so,’ said Auum. ‘We will approach with caution, halt the column beyond the range of any spell and send in another cell. Just in case.’

  They moved up to around two hundred yards from the first trees. There was still no trace of Nyann but nor was there any sign of an enemy. The shadows in the forest were deep but not impenetrable, certainly not to the elven eye. Auum was getting a cold feeling crawling up his legs and into his back and belly. He shook his head, unable to believe that he was afraid of a forest.

  �
�Nyann!’ he called, then, ‘Hassek, take your cell in. Silent and cautious.’

  Hassek and his Tai hurried across the open ground towards the woodland. He hadn’t covered half the distance when there was movement in the fringe. Auum saw Hassek slow and stop. He raised a hand. Relief flushed through Auum, turning quickly to anger at Nyann’s failure to report. He saw her standing near the wide trunk of a tree and Hassek moved on.

  ‘What’s going on?’ asked Stein, walking his horse up.

  ‘Nothing much,’ said Auum. ‘Although . . .’

  Nyann fell forward, face down in the dirt. There had been a man standing behind her, holding her upright.

  Stein hunched in his saddle as if ducking something.

  ‘Gods drowning, it feels like . . .’ he said, then he swore and shouted. ‘Scatter! Ambush!’

  Wards exploded in the middle and rear of the column. Auum had moved the moment Stein shouted, wrapping an arm around Ulysan and bundling him forward as fast as he could. He felt himself picked up and thrown by the pressure of a ward detonating behind him. Heat washed across him, and he and Ulysan were sent tumbling across the grass.

  Auum rolled and got to his feet in time to see dozens of explosive spells ripping into the column. Flames roared skywards. Horses and riders were cast into the air and supply wagons disintegrated before his eyes. Elves and men were consumed by fire, turned to ash by the extraordinary heat, and survivors scrambled away, dragging the wounded with them. Burning bodies littered the ground. Man, elf and beast screamed in agony or terror.

  Auum ran back towards the carnage. Mages flew overhead, fifty at least, coming down to land about two hundred yards behind them and immediately marching towards them, preparing new castings. Auum glanced behind him. No sign of Nyann or her cell now, just a line of enemy soldiers backed by yet more mages. There were cavalry there too.

  ‘Dear Yniss preserve us, we’re trapped,’ he whispered. ‘How could they have possibly got here so quickly, have laid so complete a trap?’