The Magelands Epic: Storm Mage (Book 6)

by Christopher Mitchell

  ‘Did you feed the gaien?’ she said.

  ‘Aye,’ said Calder, ‘but we’ll have to hope there’s something for them to graze on tomorrow, because that was the last of it.’

  She pulled a battered-looking map from her cloak and spread it out. It showed northern Rahain, and had the distances between locations written on it in black ink. She traced her finger from the entrance to the Great Tunnel, from which they had emerged eight days previously, then down through the Tahrana Valley and into the empty mountains to the south, stopping at the cave where they lay. To the left of her finger marked the site of Tahrana City. She tapped on it.

  Calder shook his head. ‘Too dangerous. It’s the home base for the invasion forces; it’ll be riddled with soldiers.’

  ‘But we’re out of food,’ she said, ‘and not just for the gaien.’

  ‘I can go hunting tomorrow.’

  ‘But then we won’t be doing any travelling. We need to stock up, not live from one meal to the next.’

  ‘But not Tahrana City, please.’

  ‘Alright, then where? There must be estates on the surface that we can steal from.’

  ‘Could you use your powers to look for them?’

  ‘Aye,’ she said. ‘I’ll do it tonight. Then we can hopefully have somewhere to aim for.’

  Calder nodded, and sipped his tea. Karalyn glanced at him. Not once on their journey had he asked where they were going, or why, despite having risked his life at several points along the way. Karalyn’s powers had kept them invisible and hidden, especially through the busy traffic of the Great Tunnel, but Calder’s sword had also been called upon, and had kept them safe on more than one occasion.

  ‘What are you thinking?’ she said.

  ‘Thanks for asking, instead of, you know, just finding out for yourself.’

  She smiled.

  ‘You’re going to mock me,’ he went on, ‘but I was day-dreaming about the time I was on the Empress’s personal guard. Best year of my life. Saw her every day, and at all times of the day and night, and I saw all of her, I think; all her moods, when she was sad and when she was happy. The look on her face when her bairns ran into the room. The look she sometimes gave me, when I said something she thought was funny. That one time I actually made her laugh.’

  ‘Stop,’ said Karalyn, ‘please, I can’t take any more. I’m glad I didn’t take a look, I’d have probably vomited.’

  Calder chuckled. ‘I did warn you.’

  Karalyn glanced down at Belinda. The young woman’s eyes were closed and she looked peaceful. She turned back to Calder. ‘Thank you for being patient.’

  ‘I’m just doing what the Empress told me to do. “Look after them,” she said to me before we left. I had a vague notion that we’d be up to no good in the Plateau, perhaps doing a bit of sabotage, and I was a little perturbed when you led us into the Great Tunnel. That’s when I knew it was serious.’

  ‘We’re going to the Rahain capital.’

  He nodded. ‘Why not? Go straight for the head.’

  ‘Aye.’

  ‘Did you tell the Empress the whole plan?’

  ‘I told her I could end the war, but I don’t really have a plan, as such.’

  Calder’s eyes tightened. ‘Oh.’

  ‘I do have a few ideas,’ she said. ‘Get me to the heart of the Rahain capital, and I’ll work out the rest.’

  He sighed. ‘You’re the boss.’

  Later that night, while Calder kept watch, Karalyn let her dream powers rise into the blackness of the sky. Above, three of the seven stars were shining through gaps in the patches of cloud, and in their dim light, she slowly made out the line of the Tahrana Valley a few miles to their north. She picked out a tiny glow, and her vision flew out to take a closer look. The glow grew larger as she approached, until she saw that it was a vast military camp, one that they had bypassed on their way south across the valley a few days previously. She had known it was big at the time, but she gasped as she took in its scale. It was vast enough to take a hundred thousand soldiers, and seemed full. Row upon row of tents stretched out in lines.

  Her heart sank.

  The imperial intelligence that the Empress relied on had indicated that the great majority of available Rahain forces were deployed on the Plateau, chiefly the army laying siege to Rainsby, and the soldiers occupying Stretton Sands and Anamindhari. Karalyn had never been able to look beyond the formidable barrier of the Grey Mountains, so she too had been dependent upon what their spies in Rahain had told them. Someone, probably someone high up in the intelligence network, was either a fool or a traitor.

  As she pulled away from the enormous encampment, her mind turned to Rainsby. Should she go back and warn them that an army larger than the original invasion force lay just a few miles from the southern entrance to the Great Tunnel? She thought of Thorn, who was in Rainsby, and of the vision she had seen when she had looked into the hedgewitch’s eyes. Keir. Somehow he had looked different in the vision; different from the selfish boy she had known. There was love in his heart, and there was love too in the glance that Thorn was giving him, as they fought together, side by side.

  Karalyn blinked. She shook her head. She needed to be thinking about Belinda and Calder. They weren’t going anywhere unless they got some supplies. She pulled her vision back south, and began scanning the dark mountains for signs of habitation.

  Her eyes found the tiny light given off by the fire in the mouth of the cave where they were based, then she turned east, searching the valleys and highlands. The landscape was still and dark for miles around, excepting a few night birds that were doing the same as she was, only hunting for smaller prey. She discerned a low, twinkling light, and made for it. It was coming from a group of farm buildings that was surrounded by high walls. Outside the walls clustered dozens of ramshackle dwellings for the local labourers. It wasn’t perfect, but it was the only option available.

  She pulled her vision back to her head. She considered trying to reach her father, but she was too tired. She had managed to get a message to him when they had arrived in Rainsby, but hadn’t made another attempt since they had passed through the tunnel. Another night, she thought. She needed to keep her strength.

  ‘And how many soldiers were there?’ said Calder as they packed up the wagon the following morning.

  ‘I didn’t exactly count them,’ Karalyn said. ‘A lot. Maybe a hundred thousand, I don’t know.’

  ‘Shit.’

  ‘What’s wrong?’ said Belinda.

  ‘There’s a huge army sitting at the southern entrance of the Great Tunnel,’ Karalyn said.

  ‘Are they looking for us?’

  ‘No; they’ve no idea we’re here.’

  Calder gazed off to the north. ‘Can you warn the Empress?’

  ‘I’m going to try,’ she said, ‘after we’ve replenished our supplies. I don’t know if I’ll be able to see over the Grey Mountains, though.’

  ‘If you can’t, we might need to go back and tell them in person.’

  ‘Really?’ said Belinda, her eyes lighting up. ‘We might go back?’

  ‘Don’t get your hopes up,’ said Karalyn. ‘We have a job to do.’

  Calder opened his mouth, then closed it again and nodded.

  ‘Come on,’ said Karalyn, climbing up onto the wagon, ‘the farm is about ten miles from here. We should get moving.’

  Belinda’s face fell, and she pulled herself up into the wagon without a word. Calder joined them and took the reins. The gaien lurched forwards, hauling the wagon along the dusty, mountain path. Karalyn glanced at her two companions, not needing to read their minds to know that they would rather the wagon was heading in the opposite direction, back to the Plateau. She weighed up her choices. She doubted she would be capable of sending her vision over the vast bulk of the Grey Mountains to the north, which meant that the only realistic way to warn the empire of the fresh army would be to travel to the northern end of the tunnel where it emerged onto the Plateau, and
send a message from there. But if they carried onwards to the Rahain capital, then she might be able to end the war before Ghorley had time to put the new army into action.

  The slow miles passed, and the wagon juddered over the stony ground, rising through a broad, arid valley. Despite the season, there was a cold wind in the air, and it reminded Karalyn of how far south they had travelled, and how much travelling they had yet to do.

  Calder pointed ahead. ‘Watchtower.’

  Karalyn put a hand up to shield her eyes from the sun and stared in the direction of Calder’s finger. Fences, check points and towers had been a familiar sight since they had entered Rahain, and every farm had been guarded. Karalyn sent her vision flying towards the watchtower, and made sure that the two soldiers posted on sentry duty were unable to see the wagon rolling along the road.

  She nodded to Calder, and the Kell man began to steer the pair of gaien off the track towards a patch of scrubby and gnarled bushes. He pulled on the reins and the wagon came to a halt. Calder jumped down, took a long knife from his belt and strode into the bushes, cutting off stretches of branches. Karalyn and Belinda joined him, and helped place the piles of foliage over the wagon.

  ‘That’ll do,’ said Calder, ‘so long as no one takes a close look.’

  ‘All right,’ Karalyn said. ‘Stay next to me.’

  She rejoined the road, Calder and Belinda by her side, and they started walking towards the farm, the wall of which was visible in the distance. They passed under the shadow of the watchtower, but the guards above were oblivious to them, their glance aimed in the other direction.

  ‘Have we got a list of everything we need?’ said Calder.

  ‘Food for us and the gaien,’ Karalyn said, ‘that’s about it.’

  They walked by a boundary stone, and cornfields opened up on either side. The crop was almost shoulder high, blocking the views of the farm. A few groups of labourers were dotted around, while guards with crossbows kept a watch on them.

  ‘So much for the Rahain abolishing slavery,’ Calder muttered.

  ‘Aye,’ said Karalyn. ‘The people at the top might have changed, but the lower classes are still being treated the same.’

  Some guards glanced in their direction, and Karalyn willed them not to see her and her two companions. Hiding had become almost second nature to her since leaving Rainsby and she could feel her powers slowly strengthen with the continual practice.

  They reached the chaotic sprawl of shacks and huts that lay outside the walls of the farm. Soldiers were on guard, supervising the thin and ragged peasants as they worked. In the shadows by the wall a figure in rags was hanging from a rope, his skin grey and decomposing in the sunlight. A crow was perched on the head of the corpse, its harsh cry echoing through the air.

  As they approached a gate in the wall, Karalyn suggested to the guards that they open it up for her, and the two soldiers complied, their eyes hazy as they carried out her unspoken commands.

  ‘I hate this bit,’ said Calder as they passed through the gates and entered the farm’s large yard. ‘I mean, I know what your powers can do, but my eyes are still having trouble believing it.’

  Karalyn kept her attention on the job. She scanned the yard. In the centre was a two-storied stone building with a tower, where she guessed the managers or owners of the farm lived. There was a low structure to the left, which was probably a barracks; and a gaien marshalling yard was beyond that. On their right was a row of high barns, each with soldiers outside on guard. She spent a moment making sure that everyone was blind to their presence, then approached the first barn.

  The pair of guards on duty looked bored and tired, their uniforms dirty and showing signs of wear. Karalyn went into the mind of one of them, finding layers of tedium, contempt, frustration, and at the centre, a tight knot of fear and hunger. The guard hated his life, and his fellow guards, and the mass of peasants toiling in the fields, but most of all he hated those he feared – the government overseers that controlled everything, from what they got to eat each day, to the words they were allowed to say. It wouldn’t take much to nudge him, Karalyn thought, as she amplified his anger and sense of injustice. An old peasant woman was crossing the yard at that moment, and Karalyn pushed the guard’s sight in her direction. Karalyn filled his mind with whispers; telling him that the peasant was mocking him; laughing at him. Was he just going to stand there and take such ridicule?

  The soldier let out a cry of rage and rushed at the peasant, leaving his comrade watching open-mouthed. The soldier reached the peasant and struck her with the butt of his crossbow, then began kicking her as she fell to the ground.

  ‘Were you fucking laughing at me, you piece of gaien shit?’ he cried, his face contorted with hatred. Others in the yard turned to stare, and the soldier’s companion ran over. Karalyn swallowed as she watched the old woman curl up into a ball as the soldier kicked her. The other soldiers were pulling him away, but he struggled in their grip, and began lashing out at them.

  Calder nudged Karalyn. ‘Come on.’

  Karalyn forced her gaze away and turned to the barn. She, Calder and Belinda hurried to the door, lifted the latch and went inside, carefully closing it behind them.

  Calder let out a long breath as he gazed around the dark interior. ‘You hit the target first time, Karalyn; this place has everything we need.’

  Karalyn glanced at him. ‘I didn’t mean for that to happen.’

  Calder turned to her. ‘What?’

  ‘I didn’t know that the soldier was going to beat that old lady.’

  ‘It’s done now,’ he said. ‘You can mull over the rights and wrongs of it once we have what we need and get the fuck out of here.’

  Karalyn turned to Belinda, who was gazing at her with a strange expression.

  ‘It’s not your fault if you didn’t do it on purpose,’ said Belinda.

  ‘Thanks, but I’m not sure that’s true.’

  ‘You two,’ said Calder as he dragged a wheelbarrow over from the side wall, ‘quit chatting and get a move on. We need to fill this with gaien-feed and cornmeal.’

  Karalyn and Belinda walked over the rows of piled sacks and stacked crates. They each took an end of a large sack of gaien food, and hauled it over to the wheelbarrow, dumping it in on top of a sack of cornmeal that Calder had already placed there. They filled the barrow in a few minutes, finding space between the sacks for a few luxuries they had found, then Calder wheeled it to the entrance.

  Karalyn peered through the cracks in the door. The yard was quiet, with no sign of either the old woman, or the soldier who had attacked her. She lifted the latch and opened the door wide. Calder came next, pushing the barrow before him. Belinda followed him out, closing the door.

  Karalyn headed for the main entrance, glancing around to ensure no one in sight could see them or the barrow. The guards opened the gates for them and they left the farm, Calder almost laughing with relief as they cleared the peasant settlement beyond the walls.

  ‘I’m sweating like a bastard,’ he said, ‘and not just from pushing the barrow. I’ve no idea how you can remain so calm.’

  ‘Only on the outside.’

  ‘And you, Belinda,’ Calder said to the young woman, ‘nothing seems to scare you.’

  Belinda raised an eyebrow. ‘Why should I be scared?’

  Calder shook his head. They entered the corn fields and caught sight of the watchtower.

  ‘Not far,’ said Karalyn.

  ‘Thank Pyre for that,’ said Calder. ‘My arms are killing me.’

  He pushed the barrow off the road and they walked towards the thick bushes where they had hidden the wagon.

  ‘Shit,’ muttered Calder.

  Karalyn halted. Ahead, a group of soldiers were investigating their wagon, removing the covering of branches and rooting around in their luggage.

  ‘Give me a moment,’ she said, summoning her powers.

  Calder let out a cry, and she saw him fall from the corner of her eye, struck fr
om behind by a crossbow bolt. Karalyn ducked low as more bolts came towards them, and she stumbled, her head hitting the side of the barrow. Stunned, she tried to open her eyes, but the pain was blinding. She heard cries from the soldiers as they approached.

  Someone took her hand.

  ‘Karalyn,’ whispered Belinda. ‘What will we do?’

  Karalyn forced her eyes open. Her sight was blurry, but she could make out several shapes moving towards them through the bushes. She gazed into Belinda’s eyes.

  Fight.

  Belinda blinked. Karalyn stayed inside her mind, and unblocked the young woman’s battle-vision.

  Believe in yourself. Fight.

  Karalyn tried to get up as Belinda rushed off. She crawled over to where Calder was lying face down on the ground, a bolt protruding from his back. She leaned over him and listened for his breathing, as a Rahain cried out in agony. She glanced up, and gasped. Belinda was moving through the group of soldiers like quickfire, a knife in her left hand and a short Rahain sword in her right. She was performing the moves that Calder had been training her over and over, but at a speed that Karalyn could barely follow. Soldiers fell to either side of her as she cut them down, making no noise as she twisted and turned, both blades red.

  In a few moments it was over, and Belinda fell to her knees, panting, while tears streamed down her face. She dropped her weapons onto the dusty ground, eight bodies lying scattered and torn around her. Karalyn’s sight cleared and she gazed up to the watchtower, where the two soldiers were still oblivious to anything going on around the wagon. She got to her feet.

  ‘Belinda,’ she said. ‘I need you. Calder needs you.’

  The young woman glanced over, her eyes wild. ‘Did you see what I did?’

  ‘Aye.’

  ‘I felt a power take over,’ she said. ‘it seemed to guide me, like I could see what was going to happen just before it did.’

  ‘I’ll explain later, Belinda. Right now, I need you to help Calder.’

  Belinda looked blank for a moment, then her eyes caught sight of the Kell man on the ground. She jumped to her feet and rushed over.