Gates of Ruin (Magelands Eternal Siege, #6)

by Christopher Mitchell

  ‘Can you run?’ said Corthie.

  ‘No chance,’ said Van; ‘I can barely walk.’

  ‘Climb onto my back.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Do as I say. You saved me on the ship, and now I’m going to save you.’

  Corthie crouched down, and Van swore a few times, then clambered onto his back. Corthie straightened his legs, pulling on his battle-vision to steady himself. He glanced up the street, and began to run, his boots splashing through the dank, cold and filthy water. It got easier with every step, as the water continued to drain away, and after a few hundred yards, he was running over a paved surface that was quickly drying out in the harsh sunlight. They passed another boat – a small fishing vessel – that appeared almost intact as it sat upon a hill made of debris. The street began to fill with the living, as civilians roamed, looking for survivors, or mourning their losses. A rumble vibrated behind them, and Corthie turned to glance towards the west.

  Another wave was coming, its high ridge glistening in the sunlight. If anything, it was even taller than the first wave, and the civilians started to scream and run. Corthie joined them, Van upon his back, as they jostled and stampeded eastward. The screams and the roar of the wave overtook his senses. Civilians fell to the ground and were abandoned where they lay, while others were crushed in the press.

  The ground rumbled beneath them, and tiles began to rain down from the buildings on either side of the street, striking the civilians trying to run from the approaching second wave. A rift opened up in the surface of the road, then widened, and people tumbled in, screaming. The front of a building collapsed, sliding down and disappearing into the rift, leaving dozens of rooms open to the air. Corthie came to a halt, unable to move in any direction.

  ‘We need to get higher,’ Van shouted, ‘and then take cover.’

  Corthie nodded, and shoved through the crowds, heading towards a tall stone tower that sat twenty yards away. The rift had split the mass of civilians in two, and those on the side closest to the approaching wave were screaming in fright as the wall of water got nearer while, on the safer side, the crowd was starting to thin as people bolted in the opposite direction.

  Corthie kicked down the door and entered the tower. The interior was wet, and debris was strewn across the floor. He ran to the stairs, Van clinging to his back, and powered up the steps, his legs moving as quickly as he was able. Round and round they went, climbing higher with every moment. The tower shook as the wave hit it, and water began pouring in through every window, and great torrents landed on Corthie from above. He closed his eyes and kept going, step after step. The water level rose until they were submerged, and still Corthie kept on, his limbs exhausted as he struggled through the cold darkness, his breath held. They reached a level with an air pocket, and Van’s head broke through the water, then Corthie pulled himself up, filling his aching lungs with air. The sound was tremendous, and his ears rang. A body bumped up against them in the semi-darkness, the floating corpse of a boy, his face contorted with panic and pain. Corthie glanced away. Van was shivering above him, his teeth chattering in the intense cold.

  ‘We’re going to make it,’ said Corthie. ‘Don’t give up.’

  The water level started to rise again, and Corthie took a deep breath and headed back to the stairs. Every stride took all of his strength as he climbed the steps one after the other, and his lungs felt like they were burning. Their heads broke through the surface of the water again, and Corthie realised that it was receding as quickly as it had risen. He collapsed onto the steps, and Van slipped down off his back. They lay there for a while, panting in the dark stairwell as the water reached their knees, then their feet.

  ‘There will be more waves coming,’ gasped Van, ‘and more earthquakes.’

  ‘We managed to get half a mile in between the first two,’ said Corthie. ‘We have to keep going.’

  ‘You’re insane,’ said Van. ‘By the end of today, there will be no city left.’

  ‘Old Alea will still be there,’ Corthie said. ‘I bet the gods and the Ascendants are watching from the battlements, laughing at the mortals as they drown. We might die here, but we’ll take down at least one of them first.’ He stood, and glanced down the stairs. ‘Come on; we’ll follow the water as it recedes, and then run again.’

  Van looked at him in disbelief. ‘You can still run after that?’

  ‘My battle-vision will last the day, and by tomorrow, it probably won’t matter.’

  They staggered back down the steps, watching as the water drained away before them. They emerged back out onto the devastated street. Huge quantities of water were falling into the giant rift that split the road in two. Another rumble disturbed the ground, sending more fragments of timber, tiles and masonry down into the street, where they joined the piles of bodies and debris in the ankle-deep water. Van climbed back onto Corthie’s shoulder, and they set off, Corthie’s boots splashing as he ran. The ground started to climb slightly, and the surface dried out again. Corthie turned a corner, and ran into a horse that was galloping wildly towards them, riderless. Van went flying from his shoulders as Corthie stumbled. The horse reared in front of him, and Corthie grabbed the dangling reins. He laughed, his nerves stretched and taut. A horse. Of all the things he could have wished for.

  With one hand gripping the reins, he put a foot in the stirrups and swung himself up into the saddle. The horse reared again, and Corthie tugged on the reins, bringing the brown gelding under control.

  ‘You’re safe now,’ Corthie whispered, as he stroked the side of the gelding’s head; ‘you’re safe. Van! Get up here.’

  Van groaned from the ground, and pulled himself to his feet. He stared at the horse as Corthie reached down with a hand. Van took it, and Corthie pulled him up onto the saddle behind him.

  ‘Sorry about the weight,’ Corthie said to the gelding. ‘It won’t be for long.’

  He jabbed the horse’s flanks with his heels, and the gelding took off, cantering along the street. Corthie guided it between the piles of debris, away from the coast. They reached a wide, level road, and Corthie urged the gelding into putting on some speed. It burst away, racing over the cracked and sodden paving slabs. Ahead, a crowd of survivors was gathering, and Corthie veered away from them, taking the gelding down a succession of side streets. Some were blocked with fallen buildings, but they had gone more than a mile before he heard the rumble from the next wave begin.

  ‘One more effort,’ Corthie whispered to the gelding; ‘you can do it.’

  The gelding was tiring, but it must have sensed the approaching wave, because it managed to pick up its speed again, it hooves clattering off the surface of the road. It settled into a gallop, tearing along the length of a street as the roar grew to a crescendo behind them. They reached a thick line of debris blocking their way, and the gelding slowed as Corthie looked for a way through.

  ‘That line,’ said Van; ‘that’s as far as the last wave got.’

  They dismounted, and picked their way through the mountain of debris, Corthie leading the gelding by the reins. On the far side was an old earthen embankment that had supported a carriageway, and they climbed it. A quarter of a mile to the east was the edge of the city, and beyond stretched the fields of Tordue. They gazed in that direction for a moment, then turned. From their vantage point, they saw the third wave strike. It was lower than the first two had been, and by the time it got close to where they stood, the water barely reached its previous furthest point. A small crowd gathered on the embankment next to them, and everyone watched in silence as the wave rolled up to them, then receded again.

  ‘Thank you,’ said Van. ‘I thought we were finished back there.’

  ‘We’re far from finished,’ said Corthie, stroking the gelding’s flank.

  Van glanced at the beast. ‘Kelsey told me that your people were horse-lovers.’

  ‘It’s been a while,’ said Corthie, ‘but you never forget.’

  ‘What now?’
/>   Corthie turned to him. ‘Now, we go to Old Alea. It’s time to make those bastards pay.’

  Chapter 24

  Pig Iron

  F alls of Iron, Western Khatanax – 3rd Kolinch 5252

  The sun was low in the western sky when Sable told Sanguino to begin his descent. It had taken far longer to fly from the Catacombs to the Falls of Iron than she had expected, and she imagined that Blackrose would have a few words to say about that. Sanguino circled over the ruined town, its buildings flattened by the Ascendants almost four months previously. Remnants of the castle still clung to the cliffside, and Sable told Sanguino to land by the forecourt, which was mostly clear of debris. The dark red dragon brought his wings in and extended his limbs as he landed.

  ‘There’s plentiful water by the river,’ said Sable, as she climbed down to the ground. ‘It’s very close, so you should be able to fly there on your own.’

  ‘Then I shall drink, my rider,’ he said, and took off again.

  The other dragons were beginning their descents, and Blackrose was the next to land.

  ‘You told me that the journey would take three hours,’ she said to Sable, her eyes burning. ‘That felt more like six.’

  ‘Yes. Sorry about that. I might have misjudged the distance. Anyway, we’re here now. Sanguino’s gone to get some water from the river.’

  ‘I shall do the same.’

  Maddie and Millen clambered down the leather straps from the harness and landed next to Sable, then Blackrose ascended back into the sky. Rather than land in the forecourt, the other three dragons followed her to where the waterfalls cascaded down the steep cliff.

  ‘Six hours on that damn harness,’ said Maddie, as she walked with a limp. ‘My bum is killing me.’

  ‘That wasn’t the fault of the harness,’ said Millen.

  ‘I’m not blaming you; I’m blaming Sable.’ She glanced around. ‘The Falls of Iron? I didn’t think I’d be seeing this place again.’

  ‘It’s a dump,’ said Millen.

  ‘It used to be quite beautiful,’ said Maddie; ‘all these cute little white houses. It’s a shame what happened to it. Can you believe the Ascendants destroyed an entire town?’

  ‘They poisoned the farmland too,’ said Sable. ‘Nothing will grow here for centuries. It’ll be swallowed up by the Shinstran Desert in a while.’

  ‘So, this is where the ton of gold has been stashed, eh? Why the Falls of Iron? Were you ever here?’

  ‘This is the first place that Karalyn, Belinda and I travelled to after leaving Gadena’s camp. I was only here for a month or so, long enough to see Belinda set off to the salve world, and then Karalyn sent me to Alea Tanton to find a Quadrant. What I remembered most about it were all the caverns burrowed deep into the cliffside. Even back then I thought they’d make a good hiding place.’

  Ashfall swooped down and hovered over them. ‘Humans,’ she said, ‘Broadwing has told us that he thinks something is wrong on the coast, so I am going to investigate.’

  ‘What could be wrong with the coast?’ said Millen.

  ‘He doesn’t know, but says he could feel vibrations coming through the air from that direction. I will be back soon.’

  She beat her wings and surged off to the west.

  ‘That was weird,’ said Maddie.

  They all squinted into the direction of the setting sun, but the shore was too far away to be able to see anything. A large number of birds were in the air, but no people could be seen anywhere across the barren lands surrounding the town.

  The other dragons returned from drinking at the river, and they all landed onto the castle forecourt. Sable walked over to Sanguino, and linked her mind to his, filling him with encouragement for having made the short flight successfully on his own.

  ‘I have such bad memories of this place,’ said Blackrose, ‘for it was here that the witch Karalyn stole the Quadrant that brought us from Pella. And yet, here we are again.’ She glanced at Sable. ‘I hope we are not staying for too long.’

  ‘That depends,’ said Sable.

  ‘On what?’

  ‘On how much mass can be transported by a single Quadrant.’

  ‘It should be able to handle a pile of gold without any difficulty, as well as five dragons and three humans.’

  ‘Yes,’ she said, ‘but there are other useful things here that we could take to Dragon Eyre. You told us that your world was lacking in metals; well, guess what? This castle is sitting on a massive amount of iron, much of it neatly, and conveniently, stacked into ingots within the caverns. In some ways, it would be a lot more valuable to us than the gold. We could trade it, or turn it into weapons; whatever we fancy. Also, there are piles of supplies in the deeper caverns, including enough grain to last us weeks. This place was stocked for a long siege. Some of it’s been looted, but much remains.’

  ‘Iron?’ said Blackrose.

  ‘Yes, as much as we can carry.’

  ‘I don’t know how much that could be, as I have never seen a Quadrant tested in that manner. For large shipments of materials, a portal was always set up, requiring two Quadrants.’

  ‘What happens,’ said Maddie, ‘if we try to take more than the Quadrant can cope with?’

  ‘I would be speculating if I tried to answer that,’ said Blackrose.

  ‘You might arrive without a tail.’

  ‘Or without a rider.’

  ‘Hmm. Maybe we should test it first; or perhaps we could go in relays? I mean, there’s nothing to stop us ferrying stuff back and forward. We could take the gold, and then come back for the iron, or something along those lines.’

  ‘I like your thinking, Maddie,’ said Sable. ‘That would seem to be the safest course.’

  ‘Here’s what we’ll do,’ said Blackrose. ‘Broadwing will patrol the vicinity to the east, Ashfall to the west, while Sanguino and I protect the castle area. Deepblue will accompany the three humans into the caverns as far as she is able, to assist with the extraction of the gold, iron and other supplies, which will be piled up in the forecourt. While that is being done, I can consider the plan of how we take it all to Dragon Eyre. As you know, I hate delay, but after having waited so long already,’ her gaze lingered on Sable for a moment, ‘a few more hours will make no difference. Let’s set our new departure time for dawn tomorrow. Are we agreed?’

  ‘My Queen,’ said Broadwing; ‘Ashfall is returning.’

  They turned, and saw a tiny black speck in the western sky. The sun was on the horizon, and Sable lifted a hand to shield her eyes from its glare.

  ‘She’s fast,’ said Maddie.

  ‘She is the fastest among us,’ said Blackrose, ‘but we all have our talents.’

  ‘I noticed a great store of leather in one of the caverns,’ said Sable, nudging Millen. ‘You might be able to stitch together another harness without all of that horrible tanning business.’

  ‘It’s not much use to me if I don’t have a dragon.’

  Ask Deepblue. She’s too shy to approach you, and you’ll combine well together; you want to ask her; be brave.

  Millen blinked, then glanced at the small blue dragon, who was watching Ashfall approach.

  ‘Maybe I should ask Deepblue,’ he whispered.

  ‘That’s a great idea,’ said Sable. ‘You can do it when we enter the caverns.’

  Ashfall circled once overhead, then alighted onto the castle forecourt.

  ‘The coast has been inundated,’ she said. ‘The small harbour town has been swept away, and the ocean has encroached several miles of farmland.’

  ‘How strange,’ said Blackrose. ‘Perhaps there was an earthquake at sea; they can sometimes trigger large waves. Maybe that’s what Broadwing sensed.’

  ‘The damage stretches north and south as far as I could see. I could have gone to look, but I wanted to come back with the news first.’

  ‘I have assigned you to patrol our western flank while we remove the supplies from the caverns. It would be wise to take a closer look; please d
o so.’

  Ashfall tilted her head. ‘I shall.’

  Sable gestured to Maddie. ‘We’ll be on our way if that’s everything agreed.’

  ‘Report back to me within the hour,’ said Blackrose, ‘so I can judge the extent of materials to be transported.’

  ‘No problem, boss.’

  ‘Do not refer to me as “boss,” Sable. “Your Majesty” or “my Queen,” those titles I find acceptable, but not boss.’

  Sable smiled, then nodded to Maddie and Millen. ‘This way. Deepblue, you can follow us in. The caverns on this level are all big enough for you.’

  She led the way towards the ruined castle gates, Millen and Maddie by her side, and Deepblue a few paces behind. Huge fragments of masonry were littering the courtyard beyond the shattered gates, and of the keep, only a single high wall was still standing, the rest having been reduced to a great pile of rubble at its base. Sable turned left, and walked towards the cliffside, where there were several openings in the rockface.

  She paused by the entrance to the closest cave and crouched down. ‘Someone’s been here.’

  ‘Who?’ said Maddie.

  Sable gave her a look. ‘I cannot tell that by a single footprint.’

  Millen hovered his foot over the mark on the ground. ‘It’s about the same size as my boot.’

  ‘So, it’s probably a man, then,’ said Maddie. ‘A looter? You told us that some supplies have been looted. Malik’s ass, I hope they haven’t plundered the gold.’