Elves: Once Walked With Gods

by James Barclay

  ‘We are TaiGethen. Born to serve Yniss and our people. We do not serve him by laying down our lives to send a few worthless souls to Shorth. I’ll do it on my own if I must. But I will not leave our people to die. Not this time.’

  Takaar embraced Katyett to him, feeling her dead weight and the slackness in her limbs like a sword dragged slowly through his soul. He laid her inside the porch of Cefu, where the rain would not hurt her face.

  ‘I will not fail you again, my love. I will not.’

  I cannot believe what I am hearing.

  ‘Then go and listen to someone else.’

  Takaar ran at the human army of thousands. Thirty-seven TaiGethen came in his wake.

  Chapter 40

  A superiority in numbers is one thing, the element of surprise is quite another.

  Ystormun turned from the shattered windows. Hithuur was still breathing. Ystormun’s hand flicked out casually and a stalk of lightning buried itself in his forehead, cooking his brain. He looked over at movement to his right.

  ‘I see you managed to save your own skin, Helias. Good for you.’

  Helias bobbed his head looking like nothing more than a child’s toy, he was so pathetically grateful. Llyron and Sildaan were unscathed too. Remarkable. Ystormun moved swiftly to Llyron and grabbed her collars with one hand, pulling her upright and off the ground in a single powerful movement. She began to choke a little.

  ‘What will they try to do?’ he demanded.

  ‘I have no idea,’ said Llyron.

  Ystormun felt a thrill of anger energise his tired body. ‘High Priest of Shorth, I have been knocked down twice. It will not happen a third time. You know them. Tell me where they will try to go even though my army is pressing every corner of this ridiculous gathering of temples.’

  ‘You killed their Arch,’ said Sildaan, emerging from her hiding place. ‘And they will kill you for that. But not tonight. Tonight they will seek to free those Hithuur told them were about to die.’

  ‘They have no chance. They are pitiful in number.’

  ‘You do not know them. You do not know their belief and their desire. And you do not know their speed and their skill. They will not try to beat you. Not tonight. But they will hurt you. That I promise.’

  Ystormun let Llyron go and the high priest collapsed to the floor, gasping in grateful breaths. He loomed over Sildaan, whom he could see still retained a little of her courage. Plenty of time to extinguish that.

  ‘You are free with your promises, Sildaan. How good of you to pledge so much to me. I will demonstrate my gratitude thus.’ Ystormun snapped his fingers and his aide, a mage of some small talent, came to his side. ‘Are we set?’

  The mage consulted a parchment he had been clutching in his hands.

  ‘Yes, my lord. The Ixii, the Gyalans, the Orrans, the Cefans and the identified militant Tuali are held and secure. The chosen places are the museum, two of the larger grain stores, a market square to the north of the city centre and the walled courtyard in front of Llyron’s mansion. None of the identified elves has a way out. We await only your word.’

  ‘Then the word is given,’ said Ystormun. He swung back to Sildaan. ‘There. See how easy it is?’

  ‘How easy what is?’

  Ystormun sighed. ‘And I thought you were supposed to be among the smarter of your race. Garan told me so, but perhaps respecting his judgement was my mistake. I do not have the manpower to enslave your entire race. Indeed to harvest the resources we want I frankly don’t need your entire race. Neither do I have the manpower, or the desire, to keep them imprisoned. Such a cost. Cruel too, to keep creatures that desire freedom under lock and key, don’t you think?’

  ‘I don’t understand,’ said Sildaan.

  ‘What I don’t want, I discard. That is the way to maximum efficiency, maximum profit and minimal chance of dissension.’ Ystormun watched Sildaan’s face crumple. He smiled. Power was such a wonderful thing to wield. ‘Ah, now you’re getting it. And since I do not want to risk any of my swordsmen getting injured during the process, I have asked my extremely talented and imaginative mages to carry out the procedure cleanly and quickly. This they can do at a distance. It’ll be painless too, which is a mercy I am happy to bestow.’

  Sildaan’s face was as pale as a sharp-ears face could get. Tears were spilling down her cheeks and she could only gasp out her words. Near her, Llyron was too stunned even to speak.

  ‘Please, my lord. You have imprisoned thirty thousand - iad, ula and child. Innocents.’

  ‘No elf is innocent,’ said Ystormun. He turned to his mage. ‘Is it really as many as thirty thousand?’

  ‘That’s a good estimate, my lord.’

  Ystormun raised his eyebrows. ‘Really? Well, Sildaan, it’s fortunate that you have such a large forest in which to bury them all.’

  The TaiGethen spread across the Path of Yniss, running hard at the human army. Grafyrre and Merrat were centre. Calling orders. Their grief and their passion ringing in every word. And the TaiGethen responded, chanting a mourning dirge as they came, the words echoing against the blank wall of nervous human soldiers.

  Takaar ran on their left, Auum and Marack flanking him. He could feel every one who ran as if they were touching him. Their energy, their faith and their belief. Their desire for purification and vengeance. Ahead, the human army was halted. Their line was forty abreast with room to wield their longswords, broadswords and shields.

  Behind the front ranks of swordsmen, mages cast. Brown and green orbs arced into the night sky, heading for the piazza. The mages raised their heads to see their handiwork only to be confronted by the onrushing TaiGethen. Orders were barked. Mage heads dropped in concentration again.

  Twenty yards to impact.

  ‘Jaqrui!’ called Grafyrre. Hands grabbed out crescent blades. ‘Away!’

  Takaar watched the deadly metal flash across the diminishing space. Shields were held out. Blades raised. Fear ran through the enemy. Takaar’s jaqrui slashed into the cheek of his target as he ducked and turned his head. Other crescents thudded into shields or careered from sword blades, shattering on walls or slicing into those behind. Most found flesh or leather armour.

  ‘Jaqrui!’ called Grafyrre again. ‘Away!’

  An order rang out across the human lines. Swordsmen dropped to their knees. Many threw themselves flat, knowing what was coming in front and behind. Mages raised their heads, ready. Jaqruis whispered into their lines. Blades chopped into hands, heads and chests. Mages screamed. Castings bloomed dark as mages lost control at the critical moment. Ice and fire fell on the human lines.

  Ten yards and closing. Other mages, calmer mages, steadied and cast.

  ‘Evade and strike!’

  Clouds of ice washed out towards the TaiGethen on a dread frozen wind. Tongues of flame leapt from the hands of mages even as jaqruis struck them down. Takaar saw the castings rush towards them and felt a moment’s peace mingle with his nausea, lessened since the touch of Ystormun’s hands. The din subsided and the energies about him caressed rather than sickened him. He recognised the state. Last time he had felt it was in combat with the Garonin. He breathed it in.

  Takaar could see the individual shards of ice in the mass that came towards him. He saw the twinkling yellow reflection of torchlight. Saw them turning end over end or spinning around their horizontal axis. Beautiful. Beguiling. Takaar leapt, pushing off with his left foot and arrowing into the air, his arms straight in front of him. He angled his body horizontal and pushed his arms to the sides.

  The ice gouged beneath him. He felt flechettes snip at his jacket and the toes of his boots. The cold air behind the ice shocked his lungs. He was past the cloud in a heartbeat. The enemy were below him. None had even registered what was coming at them. Bloodied bodies, jaqrui victims, writhed on the ground amidst those caught in the hell of their own castings.

  Takaar brought his legs under him. He came down in a crouch, straddling a moving body. He jabbed out his hand, straight-fi
ngered, crushing the man’s windpipe. Takaar straightened. Enemies were everywhere. TaiGethen who’d rolled under the castings came to their feet. Others who had chosen to leap landed all around him.

  ‘Strike forward, guard your backs!’ called Merrat. ‘Tais, we strike.’

  The mage in front of Takaar raised his head. Takaar saw him mouth what was most probably a curse. Takaar swept a blade from his back and chopped it hard down the mage’s face. The man fell silently. The TaiGethen surged forward, still singing the mourning dirge.

  Keller wasn’t lead mage for nothing. He’d seen what was going to happen and cast wings on his back rather than ice for his fingers. He shot straight up into the air past the diving and rolling forms of the TaiGethen and breathed a huge sigh of relief that he was not on the ground.

  Garan had ordered seventeen hundred men up the Path of Yniss from the barracks and staging areas the moment the confirmation of the attack on the temple had been confirmed. Everything had been foreseen by Ystormun, but he had not understood the tenacity of the TaiGethen. Maybe he had assumed the temple would be reached but this, he could not have foreseen this.

  A few TaiGethen had been trapped in the piazza. They could not get out to the sides or the rear. Sitting targets for spells and then blades to mop up the survivors. That they would attack was against all reason. But up here, where it was safe and the screams of the dying filtered up through the din of barked orders, the low elven chanting and the steady disintegration of order, Keller could see something more.

  They weren’t just attacking. They were trying to break through. Unbelievable. Keller flew back towards Garan. He could see the big general amidst his men, too far back to see what was happening further forward.

  ‘Garan!’ Garan looked up. ‘You have to break your force. They’re in amongst you. No room to fight.’

  ‘We’ll take them as we are.’

  ‘You don’t understand. They aren’t fighting head on. They’re trying to get through us. Order daggers drawn at least. Be ready.’

  Garan glared at him. ‘That is not the way to face this enemy. They’re too quick. We need heavy defence.’

  ‘Clear a break. Make room for spells, then.’

  ‘Now that I might do.’

  Keller nodded and rose again. ‘Sooner rather than later.’

  He flew back towards the fighting. In the gloom, he could barely follow it. More so because the elves were so damned fast. Three leapt above the men they were approaching, rolled in the air and came down striking out. Three men died. Mages behind them made to cast. Woefully slow. Blades licked out. Mages fell.

  In the centre of the street a knot of soldiers had formed, facing in all directions and bristling with weapons. The elves ran at them, leapt over them, continued on down the street while the men scattered. Elves came from nowhere. Hands and feet struck out. Men were spun on their heels. Heads snapped back. Blades caught the torchlight. Blood misted into the night sky.

  ‘Dear gods around us,’ whispered Keller. ‘It’s a massacre.’

  In the centre of their force, the humans were packed too tight to fight. They couldn’t free their swords. They pushed for space. Angry shouts rattled across their lines. Panic was beginning to grow. Men were dying. Elves were not. Mages dare not cast in the confined space. More and more took the route of the coward and flew straight up, abandoning their comrades to the cold, disciplined fury of the TaiGethen.

  ‘Forward!’ called Grafyrre. ‘Keep moving forward.’

  Blood slicked the cobbles. Bodies of men choked the gutters and the central drains. Auum spun and kicked high, his foot smacking into the side of an enemy’s head. The man fell sideways. Auum moved into the space. A sword came at him, hurried through waist high. Auum ducked it. The soldier couldn’t control the sweep. The blade sank into the gut of one of his own.

  Takaar ensured the man went down hard. He moved up. Marack blocked aside a downward cut. Takaar slid a blade through the man’s ribs. Space. Auum moved up. Takaar paced forward and leapt. He twisted in the air, landed and hacked down. Blood surged from his target’s shoulder.

  Auum dropped, slid the feet from a mage. Marack hacked into his chest and moved into the space. The press was getting thicker. The pressure increasing from behind too. Auum felt his movements hampered for the first time. Ahead, men were slowly getting themselves together, holding their swords straight out and using them for stabbing. Overhead, mages were flying down the Path of Yniss. Not in confusion, with purpose. Auum saw them and knew in his heart that time was short for the doomed threads.

  ‘Follow me!’ yelled Takaar.

  ‘Where?’

  Auum diverted a blade coming for his gut and thumped the heel of his palm into his enemy’s chest. The man fell back against the rank behind. Takaar pointed to the sky.

  ‘Up.’

  Auum smiled. ‘Graf! Heads up and run.’

  Grafyrre relayed the idea as an order and the TaiGethen reacted as one. The man Auum had just knocked down had been caught by those behind. Auum ran up the front of his body and launched himself from the man’s face. He jumped high above the human army. He cycled his arms and legs, reaching out as far as he could, searching for the ideal landing point. He saw it catch the light of torches from either side of the Path of Yniss.

  A helmet.

  Auum glanced left and right. His clear view across the street afforded him the sight of TaiGethen elves soaring above their enemies. Faces were turning up, but those who had seen them were already too late to stop them, much less follow them. Marack was turning a somersault next to him, Takaar another of his horizontal flights, fierce and graceful. Grafyrre and Merrat were hand in hand, coming down on their left feet and pushing off in perfect balance.

  Auum landed. The helmet’s occupant grunted and ducked at the brief weight on the top of his head but Auum was already gone. Like running the sucking mud of the Mouth of Orra at the outflow of the River Ix, or the quicksands out at Palynt Reach. Quick steps, minimum weight down and the whole body canted forward at a steep angle. Always pushing away, never levering forward. Olmaat used to describe it as nothing more than a controlled fall.

  A wave of incredulous fury followed in their wake. By the time soldier or mage had reacted, the elves were past him. Swords waved ineffectually and belatedly overhead. Fists punched empty space. Fingers grabbed at nothing.

  Auum bounced left and right as he ran. His eyes searched four moves ahead, his mind trusting his feet to land without error. The TaiGethen passed across the heads of their enemies like the last mist blown from the surface of the ocean. Felt and gone.

  ‘Cover on landing. Left turn. Orsan’s Yard for muster,’ said Grafyrre, his voice carrying across the soaring line of elven warriors.

  Auum saw the back of the human lines. It was loose there and they could see what was coming at them. Auum growled a warning, his panther voice focusing the eye of every TaiGethen. He selected his landing point, straightened his body and slammed down hard with both feet on the head of his last mark.

  The mage collapsed beneath him. Auum dropped, rolled and rose in one movement. The TaiGethen moved forward, a single unit. Auum drew his second blade. He jammed his left into the gut of a hapless soldier and spun past his falling body. He whipped his right blade into the neck of the man next to him, dragged his left clear and buried it to the hilt in the chest of the man behind. Takaar hurdled a body, Marack in his heel prints, and took the next man two-footed on the point of the jaw. Marack ran past him and tore the throat from a fifth with the ends of her fingers. Auum came to her left, blocked a wild slash and chopped into the hamstrings of a sixth.

  Clear space but the mages would be turning and clear of the bulk of the army.

  ‘Go, go,’ said Auum, pressing a hand into Takaar’s back.

  They headed for the left turn to take them into Keeper’s Row. Grafyrre and Merrat were ahead of them, the bulk of the TaiGethen around them. Ten yards to the turn, the first way off the Path of Yniss from the mouth of the
temple piazza.

  ‘Casters ready!’ called a voice. ‘Move!’

  Takaar pulled Auum and Marack along, practically threw them around the corner. A freezing wind howled past the opening. Auum felt his hair crisp with frost. His blade gleamed with ice. The TaiGethen were already pounding away to the south, heading into the warren of the Grans.

  Auum and Marack followed in Takaar’s wake just in front of the rear cells. Abruptly, Takaar stumbled. He reached out a hand, which Auum was able to grasp.

  ‘Takaar?’ he asked.

  Takaar carried on running but he’d slowed dramatically.

  ‘Something’s growing,’ said Takaar. ‘Something ugly and evil. Like Gyal building to a storm of wrath but beneath my feet. In the energy lines. In the magic. I don’t think we have much time.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘If Ystormun really wants to commit genocide on the lesser threads of elves he isn’t going to do it with the sword,’ said Takaar.

  Auum remembered the mages flying fast overhead. He shuddered.

  They ran into Orsan’s Yard and faced fifty and more blades and axes. The two groups faced each other for a moment before Merrat broke and ran forward, dragging Pelyn into a fierce embrace.

  ‘Yniss bless you and the axes of the Apposans. We need you now.’

  ‘Couldn’t quite bring myself to follow Katyett’s last order,’ said Pelyn. She frowned. ‘Where is she?’

  No one needed to speak the words. The first line of a lament to the fallen was whispered by every TaiGethen. Pelyn closed her eyes and tears escaped down her cheeks. Takaar, the nausea rising within him as the magic built in intensity, walked forward still using Auum for support.

  ‘There will be time for grief, Pelyn,’ he said. ‘Tell me what you had planned to do here. Quickly. Time is short.’

  Pelyn’s stare was quick and angry but she could see there was no arrogance in his face. Only the pain of what was growing underfoot.