by Tom Lloyd
‘I prefer to observe it all nonetheless,’ the shadow said with the breath of a chuckle.
Despite himself, Aracnan felt a chill run down his spine. Laden with malevolence, the shadow’s laughter cut to the bone in a way Aracnan had never experienced before. Having trembled at the rage of Gods and lived more years than he cared to count, he had never been so unsettled by so simple a noise. And that is why I’ve joined him, Aracnan thought. All my life I’ve been forced to adapt and survive. I recognise my better here, and in turn he knows I’m no mere mortal plaything.
He shifted the bow and quiver over his shoulder to a more comfortable position as he looked out into the dark streets of the city. In the south an awful orange glow consumed the air. The bow was one he’d taken from Koezh Vukotic’s armoury. It epitomised the quality of the methodical Vukotic craftsmen. It wasn’t yet time for him to take a hand in events -he wasn’t yet past the point of no return, however much he could taste it on the coming wind -but there was something refreshingly direct about a well-placed arrow, and events might yet need a helping hand. Magic would leave no trace, while craftsmanship could be identified and hasty conclusions drawn. Aracnan had learned over the centuries that a little misdirection was often worth the effort.
Aracnan saw the vast destruction already inflicted on the southern districts, filtered through swirling sooty clouds. The slum districts were the worst affected; some were already obliterated because of the close wooden houses -and the inferno was growing. It had driven the maddened, mindless people further north, and they lingered on the fringes of the light from the Farlan lines inside the city. Had they noticed the soldiers there, they would have attacked without a moment’s thought, blind to their own lack of weapons and driven by a compulsion that was all-consuming.
He felt little towards them; certainly he took no pleasure in the senselessness forced on them by Rojak, but they were not his kind and the life of an immortal was ruled by pragmatism. If Azaer could give him what he wanted, then he would follow the shadow’s orders. Neither of them was so foolish as to ask for trust. He was not even worried by the thought that Azaer might use him to lure Isak to the right place -such was life. As it was, Aracnan had only to guide the wandering mobs to where they were required, currently held back from the Farlan lines by a simple enchantment of his.
Aracnan had found himself impressed at the magic wrought by Rojak. Rarely had he seen such accomplished magic worked by a mortal, let alone such devotion. Few believed so fervently as to bind their own soul to a spell, but Rojak had done that at his master’s bidding. While the minstrel was failing fast, Aracnan had a suspicion tonight wouldn’t be the last time he suddenly smelled peach-blossom on the breeze and turned to see that mocking smile. Death might only be the beginning for Azaer’s greatest servant.
‘Have you delivered your message?’ he asked, letting his gaze wander slowly from the wavering figures hiding in dark corners to the barred guardroom window where the girl dozed.
‘It is done.’
‘Will you now explain it? I assume declaring your intention through prophecy is not merely conceit.’
‘Forewarned is forearmed.’
Aracnan thought for a moment, the skin of his gaunt, hairless head contorting strangely until realisation dawned. ‘Ah, I understand; the hidden face of covenant theory, the perversity of magic. To achieve grand deeds you must first sow the seeds of your own destruction.’
‘Now that would be a little foolish,’ said the shadow, ‘but it is nonetheless necessary to allow for the possibility of those seeds to exist. No magic is unstoppable, no spell irreversible. Without that element of the unknown, nothing could be achieved, but perhaps it is possible to guide the unknown in a certain direction.’
‘The girl has been warned that her lord is just a player in your game so you can predict their reaction?’
‘Exactly so. Even now she is trying to find General Lahk to explain the danger. Better that than to gamble on what someone is thinking and leave it to chance.’
Aracnan made a sweeping gesture, as though gathering up the threads of a fishing net and drawing them towards him. ‘Well then, let us make sure we know what General Lahk will be thinking about.’
The movement ended as his hand reached a pouch sewn onto his black stiffened-leather armour. He pushed one bony finger inside and smiled as the energies comprising his spell danced up his arm, prickling the skin as they dissipated into the black clouds above him and vanished.
Almost immediately the first howls of animal rage rang out from the streets below. They were joined by hundreds more, merging into a great roar of wordless voices and running feet that drowned out the warning shouts from the Farlan pickets.
CHAPTER 29
Rojak watched the scene playing out before him and felt a flicker of satisfaction break through the pain wracking his body. The dead were scattered all around. Men, women and children lay curled up in tidy bundles, or sprawled in almost comic poses. Others were little more than lumps of flesh rendered unrecognisable by the brutality done them. He sat in a broken chair scavenged from somewhere by one of the Hounds. It was far from comfortable, but he was in no position to complain -he was in no position to do anything but sit and watch the final death-throes of Scree.
‘It is done,’ he whispered, to himself or his master, Rojak was not sure now. I am done, he added to himself. Azaer’s shadows, so close for all these years, felt like they had penetrated him, flesh and bone. As the corruption inside him raged unchecked, his soul faded faster, merging with the intangible essence of his master.
‘Not done, not quite.’ The susurrus reply echoed in ghostly fashion all around the broken building. Rojak couldn’t move, his strength having failed on the steps below. When they had arrived at this place, it had been a scene of fresh devastation, the air tasting abused, and scorched by the rampant energies unleashed by the abbot. The buildings were aflame, or smashed and scattered over the packed-dirt streets.
‘It cannot be stopped now, it is too far gone,’ Rojak said, compelling his thoughts to order. His master, whispering in his ear, had told him some of what was going on in the rest of the city, and Rojak could feel a prickling map of hurt on his skin that echoed the destruction, hot stinging fires that consumed whole streets, the slender needles of Crystal Skulls and divine-touched people scraping a path through the flesh as they moved.
‘Lord Isak will soon reach Six Temples and there he will be forced to make a stand with the Devoted.’ He paused and struggled to breathe. A shriek from somewhere below marked some deranged citizen straying too close to Mistress’ remaining pet. ‘King Emin is so very close now, and soon he will have all that he desires.’
‘Then let it play out. Make your final moves on the board before you fall.’
Rojak tried to nod, but the effort defeated him. Death was so close he could almost reach out and touch the robe, as they said in Embere—
But no, not Death; the Chief of the Gods would not claim him. It was not a black robe he felt all around him, merely shadows. Death would not have him. There was no word for what would happen when Rojak’s body failed finally. It would be an ending, but not death.
Rojak’s vision whirled, flames blurring for a brief while before the details of the street ahead returned. He could just see the rotting corpse of a wyvern, one of the pair kept by the Raylin called Mistress. The beast had had its fill of the clamour and stink of dead meat all around. It had snapped at what it thought was a corpse, but the moment a canine caught Rojak’s sleeve, the minstrel’s plague had caught it, passing through its razor-sharp teeth to its tongue and down its throat. Its scales, once glittering in myriad shades of green and gold, had sloughed off as its body erupted in viscous pus-filled boils and thick, black blood had seeped from all its orifices. In a few moments the wyvern was just another rotting pile on the ground.
Rojak sat upstairs in a small house now exposed to the elements after the abbot’s magic had torn roof and walls away. It was the closest r
emaining building to where the abbot himself lay gibbering, curled in a foetal position, in what was left of his cellar. The furious incarnation of Erwillen, the abbot’s Aspect-Guide, fuelled by the Skull’s power and random blasts of raw energy, had blown up the building.
Much of what remained was still burning fiercely; the protective ring of fire kept the boldest of Scree’s citizens away for the time being. There was little of the house left intact now, only the thick stones of the kitchen hearth and the wall opposite it, almost to the height of a man. The rest was broken stumps of wood and heaps of stained brick. Amid the rubble lurked the soot-blackened feathers and claws of the High Hunter. Rojak could hear the beast’s laboured breathing, no doubt echoing Abbot Doren’s own exertions.
‘Venn,’ he croaked. The slim man came to his side as though gliding on ice, his tattooed face completely unreadable. Diamond-shapes ran down his left cheek, running around his ear and down the side of his throat, disappearing under the frayed neckline of his tunic. ‘It is time for you to leave.’
‘Leave?’ Venn said in surprise. He spoke in the thick, rolling vowels of Embere. It was an affectation of his, to speak to everyone in the accent of their home, even those like Rojak, who had lost all trace of their past.
‘You must leave now,’ Rojak repeated. ‘You cannot be caught up in the death of the city.’
‘You’re going to need me here,’ Venn insisted, pointing towards Flitter, who was crouched in the furthest corner and looking out at the abbot’s ruined house. If Rojak had been able to turn his head and see through the fog of shadows that thickened in his eyes, he would have spotted the three tight knots of soldiers that were advancing steadily. ‘Flitter has said that King Emin outnumbers us. He has the vampire with him.’
Rojak beckoned Venn closer and without hesitating he leaned closer, though Rojak could see his nostrils twitch. ‘What must come to pass here is for me to decide. I have plans for you, so do as I tell you.’
Venn didn’t argue further. He knew well that Rojak’s foresight was unnatural. ‘What do you wish me to do?’
‘Find Ilumene. You and he shall prepare the way, ready the Land for your master’s twilight reign.’
‘How? Ilumene is the general, the conqueror, not I.’
Rojak reached out a clawed hand, one hooked finger brushing Venn’s diamond patchwork sleeve. In this light it looked pitch-black; only under the sun was it apparent that the tunic was composed of varying shades of cloth that had been roughly dyed. ‘You are no general, but you must conquer. You were the greatest of your people, until you realised the truth behind the holy words given to the clans. Now you must return to them and spread the word of the twilight herald.’
‘Will they follow me?’
‘The Harlequins have been servants for too long. You must give them a banner of their own. No more are they the children of Death, so fearful of their father they will not wear his colour. Remove their pottery masks and give them black-iron to wear. Give them a banner. Give them a king.’
If Rojak had wanted to say any more, it was lost. His body could sustain the effort no longer. He appeared to fold inward on himself, sinking further down into his seat.
Venn bent further down, careful not to touch Rojak’s skin as he looked the minstrel in the eye, checking that a spark of life still remained before relaxing. He stepped back and gave a short bow, saying, ‘As you command, Herald.’ He was about to turn away, then he hesitated and bent down to Rojak so he could look the dying minstrel in the eye. ‘Your prophecy, the one you put into the dreams of that stable-boy in Embere; it speaks of a woman emerging from the remains of Scree.’
‘Treasure and loss in the darkness, from holy hands to a lady of ashes. It is the heart of the “Twilight Reign” prophecy.’
‘If you cannot hold them here, how will it come about? They will take the Skull and break the chain of prophecy -if the prophecy is broken, how will Azaer ever walk the Land and become the Saviour?’
‘Have faith,’ Rojak said, gritting his teeth against the pain. ‘They will take no more than I let them take; our lord’s reign is coming. Ilumene knows what is to be done; trust him. Now go.’
This time, Venn didn’t linger.
The minstrel listened hard for the sound of Venn picking his way out through the broken debris and into the darkness, but the effort defeated him. What sounds he could detect were muted and confusing, as though the bridge between his ears and mind had been washed away. The angry crackle of flames and the uneasy shuffle of the Hounds behind him were all he could make out above the indistinct murmur surrounding him. He could feel the pitiful, maddened figures that could no longer be called human lingering in groups, though a great rolling tide of them had gone north, driven by the firestorms that were even now encircling this place. Those who remained stared with bewildered resentment past the corpses of a hundred of their own at the indistinct form of a God they couldn’t manage to hurt.
‘What are your orders, minstrel?’ To Rojak’s weary ears Mistress sounded petulant, and he knew she was trying to conceal her fear. He allowed himself a moment of contempt for mercenaries: when there were glory and riches to be had, they were full of vigour, but put them in a hole and the complaints never ceased. A tiny smile crept onto his lips; soon they wouldn’t be able to complain. Soon it wouldn’t matter if they did, because there would be no one left to hear.
‘Wait,’ Rojak whispered, ‘wait until they are closer. They must first kill the abbot, and then when his blood is shed, you will fall on them.’
‘They’ve split up,’ warned Flitter from her post. ‘One group is circling around behind us.’
‘Slow them down then,’ Rojak sighed, his eyelids sliding shut for a few heartbeats. The lure of whatever lay beyond the sleep of utter exhaustion was almost too great to resist; only the touch of his master’s ancient breath gently skimming the grazes on his earlobe kept him awake. Azaer was still with him, ever-patient and unrelenting.
He could not rest yet, not quite. There was still his duty to do and he would see it through with his very last breath. It would kill him, but what was life when compared with changing the face of the Land itself? The price would be paid with a smile on his face, Rojak was certain of that. ‘Take two of the Jesters’ acolytes and lead the king’s men a merry dance.’
‘We don’t have the numbers to stop them,’ said one of the Jesters from somewhere behind him. Rojak summoned the image of the tall grey-skinned man who spoke for all of his brothers, his lips hidden behind the white leather mask that concealed everything beneath the eyes.
‘You don’t have to.’ Rojak could hardly hear the sound of his own voice now; he was not sure if it was a weakness of tongue or ear, or both. ‘Draw them in; stall them for as long as you can. It is nearly time.’
Head down and riding low in the saddle, Isak watched the cobbles flash past as Toramin’s hooves crashed down beneath him. The huge horse charged at breakneck speed, the emerald dragons on its flanks slashing and snapping at the air as he began to outstrip his men. The street was a straight run to the south side of Six Temples, where the ground was more open. It was the quickest way for them to get to the Autumn’s Arch.
On the right were orderly lines of torches burning around pickets still under construction, and a tall banner above them all bearing the white sword of the Devoted. There were a lot of soldiers formed up into ranks, more than he could count in the few moments he had. They watched him keenly, but he heard no zip of loosed arrows.
Up ahead he saw sudden movement in the darkness that abruptly resolved into Jeil and Tiniq on horseback, riding hard towards him, keeping clear of the rough curve of shrines ringing Six Temples. Both rangers were waving frantically.
Isak swore and wrenched on the reins to pull Toramin up, turning him towards the temples. The way was blocked on the other side; either the Farlan tried to circle around, or they stopped here to fight. Neither option sounded good. He knew many streets were blocked by collapsing buildings, but the c
loser he got to the Devoted soldiers, the more of them he saw.
Lahk had told him General Gort was leading them, the same man who had so reverently handed Isak his two Crystal Skulls and pledged his allegiance. They were safe enough; any sane man had to be a welcome ally in Scree, and hopefully there were more around, enough to ward off even a swollen mob of lunatics.
Toramin resisted as Isak tried to slow him down. They were pounding towards the rubble-lined channels created by the Devoted. Looking back, he saw the others were close behind, spurred on by the sound of pursuit that had been outstripped, but not lost. From behind the Devoted pickets Isak saw units of spearmen spurred into action and realised they weren’t sure whether to attack him or not.
Something Carel had told him once suddenly came to Isak: Soldiers are there to obey orders. Half the time they don’t know who they’re obeying, so when any rich bastard on a horse shouts, you jump to it. In battle you’ll find yourself too scared to argue.
‘They’re coming,’ Isak bellowed, standing up in his stirrups, holding Eolis up high for the men to see, ‘get to your positions! ’
His words had the desired effect. Those who understood Farlan quickly relayed the words to their fellows and the lines became a riot of sergeants and corporals, all bellowing at once as the work parties ran for their weapons.
Isak lowered his sword and slowed to a canter as he reached the furthest picket. The soldiers watched him suspiciously, but none attacked. He looked around quickly; there were groups of soldiers scattered around the Temple Plaza. They must have decided it was too large to fully defend, so they were choosing their ground instead. There was no guiding intelligence behind the mobs, so when the attack came, it would be in the places of the Devoted’s choosing.
‘Where’s your commander?’ Isak snapped at the first Farlan-looking soldier he saw. The man’s eyes widened and he turned and shouted for his lieutenant, who was already hurrying up.
