‘This is the closest I’ve been to home in half a year,’ Killop said. ‘When we were called up, it was still winter. Since then I’ve been all over Northern Kell, and now here. My village is only about twenty miles away.’
‘I’m sure you’ll be back there soon,’ she said, her finger tracing a scar down his cheek.
‘I’ve a feeling that being the brother of the best mage in Kell means I’ll be wherever it’s most dangerous to be, at least until the war’s over.’
She sighed. He kissed her neck, and they held each other close, wishing the moment would last.
‘Come on, ya lazy wee bastards!’ Keira yelled from outside the hut, shaking the heavy curtain blocking the entrance. ‘Time’s up!’
Fifteen minutes later Killop crossed the line of the old second ditch, and saw Keira sitting on an earthen bank waiting for him.
She frowned. ‘Where’s yer wee ginger bird?’
‘Lizard burning with the rest of them,’ he said, coming alongside her. She swung her boots down to the ground and stood up.
‘Some boyfriend you are,’ she said, as they started walking to the central enclosure. ‘Couldnae even get yer lassie out of corpse-dragging duty.’
He shrugged. ‘I offered, but she thinks the rest of the squad would talk about her.’
‘Ach, well at least you know she’s not just shagging ye to avoid work,’ she said. ‘Anyway, ye hid that well.’
‘What’s that?’
‘I never knew ye fancied Kallie.’ She looked a little put out. ‘If I had, I would’ve worked a lot harder on the whole Klarid story.’
‘There was nothing to hide,’ he said. ‘Before yesterday, I hadn’t looked at her that way.’
She raised an eyebrow. ‘So the wee hussy basically seduced you when you were lying on yer back injured?’
‘You can’t call her that in front of me,’ he said. ‘I’m going with her now.’
She stopped in her tracks, a flash of temper lighting up her features. It passed, and she smiled.
‘Fair enough,’ she muttered, setting off again.
They skirted the northern side of the enclosure. As they came to a clearing by the north gate, Killop paused, his eyes widening.
She turned. ‘Ahh, ye’ve not seen this yet, have ye?’
They were looking over the section of the pass where it narrowed, between the enclosure and the Knuckle, the great outcrop of rock that overshadowed that side of the camp. Except the Knuckle was no longer there. A great, gaping hole in the mountainside was all that remained, with a torrent of strewn debris and boulders at its base. All around lay the wreckage of palisade posts, ditches and churned up earth.
‘The lizard mages did that,’ she said as Killop stared at the devastation, ‘when their forces were bogged down between the two lines. They were hoping they could break through this way, but they just filled the place up with rubble, made it even harder for them to cross.’
‘But, the Knuckle?’
‘Aye. I saw it. There was a big booming noise, and… well, it was like tapping a boiled egg with a spoon. All these cracks and dents appeared,’ she gestured to the gap where the outcrop had stood. ‘They did it again, and the cracks widened, and ran right down to the ground. A third time, and the whole Knuckle sort of half exploded, half crumbled. Lost near sixty folk here when it fell. Anyone on the stockade walls in this whole area was squashed flat.’
‘Did ye see any of their mages?’
‘No, we think they dress the same as the rest of their officers, so they don’t stand out.’
‘Who’s “we”?’
‘Wee brother, yer forgetting I get invited to the chief’s council now,’ she smiled. ‘I’m in the inner fucking circle, me.’
‘You killed enough Rahain to qualify, I suppose.’
‘Too right I did. Anyway, you’ll soon be there yourself, you’ll hear what’s going on.’
They turned and passed through the gates. To Killop’s surprise no one stopped and questioned them. It seemed that after Keira’s performance in the battle the guards had given her free passage. Over on the moothill a crowd had gathered. Kaylan was standing near the front of the command tent, distributing duties and orders to the waiting squad leaders. Instead of joining them as they usually did, Killop and Keira walked past the bustling soldiers, up to the main entrance of the tent.
‘Mage,’ a guard said, pulling back the heavy canvas for them.
Inside, the great hall was dimly lit, and almost empty. At the far end, several chairs were set out around a table. As they approached, Killop could see the chief at the centre, holding court. On his left were Klannit and Kalinda, while Clewydd sat on his right, and beside her was Lana, the commander of the Lach contingent, or what was left of it. On her right sat another man, dressed in green battle leathers. Various aides and guards stood at their shoulders, while youngsters darted about serving breakfast.
Keira raised her hand in greeting and took the last remaining seat at the table, next to Kalinda. Killop looked around, a little chagrined that he had been relegated to the status of his sister’s aide. He took up position by her left shoulder, and she glanced up at him with the slightest of shrugs.
‘Morning, mage,’ grunted the chief as he glugged down his cider.
In Pyre’s name, had even the chief taken to calling her that? Killop felt dizzy.
‘And good morning to you, Killop ae Kellan,’ the chief boomed. ‘We heard about you holding the line during the battle, well done, son.’
‘Thank you, Chief,’ he smiled.
‘Klannit,’ Kalinda said, ‘please give the scouts’ report.’
‘Aye, Herald,’ he said. ‘The lizard army is digging in where they camped yesterday morning. Numbers at thirty thousand or thereabouts. They’re on the coast, near the cliffs up by Dropbottom village, twenty-eight miles away. Latest report says that they appear to be building an enormous stockade around them on their landside. None of their scouts have been spotted within twenty miles of here.’
‘What are they up to, I wonder,’ said Kalinda.
‘Licking their wounds?’ said Keira.
‘I don’t understand their tactics,’ the chief said. ‘With those numbers, if they really wanted to break through, they would have kept coming. They’d have got through in the end.’
‘We’ve seen the low regard with which the reptilian officers hold their common soldiery,’ Clewydd said, the first time Killop had heard her speak, ‘therefore I doubt they withdrew due to concerns about casualties. They must have another plan.’
‘But there’s no other way through the mountains,’ said Lana.
‘Not entirely true,’ Clewydd said. ‘There do exist some other, smaller routes, but for these the reptilians would require guides, and it would take them well over a third to get their army across that way.’
‘We have scouts up on all of those routes,’ Klannit said. ‘We’ll see them if they come by any of the shepherd tracks.’
‘Conor,’ Kalinda said, turning to the man on the far right, the only one at the table Killop didn’t recognise. ‘Report from the main army camp at Hiddenburn, please.’
‘Aye, Herald,’ he said. He was a bulky middle-aged man, who looked as if he had last been fit twenty years previously. ‘Reinforcements to replace the losses here have been allotted, and were preparing to march when I left camp yesterday afternoon. Six hundred are coming in all, four hundred warriors, and two hundred labourers to assist with the rebuilding work. They should be here by this evening. That leaves our numbers at Hiddenburn just shy of four thousand.’
‘Thank you,’ said Kalinda. ‘Any sign of the Lach detachment?’
‘Not by the time I’d left. There are scouts ready to guide them here once they do arrive.’
The herald nodded. She glanced at the other end of the table, where the staff officers were gathered.
‘Kaylan,’ she said, ‘do you have a report from the camp?’
‘Aye, Herald,’ she replied, stepping
forward. ‘All remaining Rahain bodies will have been cleared up by this afternoon, though the pyres will be burning for another night. Every fit warrior has been found sleeping quarters from the second line back, and the old front line is currently abandoned. The second line has been secured, with the double ditch being completed this morning.’
‘Thank you, Kaylan,’ the chief said. ‘The injured getting plenty of food?’
‘Aye, sir, plenty. I saw to it personally.’
The chief nodded, looking around at his council. ‘That’ll be all for now.’
Killop leaned against the long, heavy axe, panting and sweating in the heat of the afternoon sun. For four days he had been attending the chief’s council, getting to know how decisions affecting the clan’s future were being taken. It had been humbling for him, but his sister seemed to fit right in. She was taken seriously, and seemed to have some perceptive things to contribute to the council’s deliberations. He was proud of her; she was growing into the role she had been destined for. Still, it felt good to be out with his squad, helping in the rebuilding of a shattered palisade line. They were trimming the larger branches from a felled trunk that had been delivered by one of the lumber crews. Glistening with sweat beside him, Kallie spotted his inactivity.
‘Hey,’ she smiled. ‘No slacking!’
‘He’s forgotten all about hard graft,’ Clara said, sitting by another log, sawing off the smaller branches, her leg in bandages. ‘Been spending his time talking instead of working.’
‘That’s not all he’s been doing,’ Kallie laughed.
‘I would hope not!’ Clara cackled, as Kelly cringed and looked away.
Calum reached down and picked up a cider jug. ‘Looks like the squad leader has signalled the start of our break.’
They dropped their axes and saws and gathered round. The six of them lifted their cups and Calum poured. They had received no reinforcements when the hundreds of fresh Kell warriors had arrived three evenings before, being reconfigured into a half-squad instead. Nothing had been officially stated, but the survivors of the squad were now acting as Keira’s personal guards and aides. It was the Kell way to protect their mages, and Clewydd had a similar half-squad attached to her. In battle they would be at Keira’s side, while in camp they would be at her beck and call, running her errands, which was what Conal was away doing, Keira having picked him as her runner.
‘So,’ said Kelly, ‘any news you’re allowed to tell us?’
‘There’s not much to tell,’ he said, ‘unless yer interested in updates on the palisade repairs, or how the new fourth line is progressing, or how many sacks of barleymeal we eat every day.’
Kelly chuckled. ‘No, not really.’
‘What about the lizards?’ said Calum.
‘Still camped out at Dropbottom,’ he said. ‘Haven’t moved an inch.’ That wasn’t the complete truth, he admitted to himself. In fact, so extensive had the Rahain stockade perimeter become, that the Kell scouts hadn’t caught a glimpse of the Rahain camp for two days.
‘What are they up to?’ asked Kelly.
‘Keeping us from re-taking Northern Kell, by the sounds of it,’ said Kallie.
‘Aye, that could be right,’ Clara said.
Kylon grunted.
‘There have been rumours,’ Kelly said, ‘about what the lizards have been doing up north. Lassie in the squad over, says she spoke to a scout the other day. He said the lizards have been setting off landslides and earthquakes, destroying all the Kell villages one by one.’
Killop closed his eyes. Aye, that was true. He had heard the scout’s report himself. The chief had told them to be calm, that the messenger had personally seen only three such villages wiped out in this manner, that it didn’t mean it was happening all over, but it had left a bitter taste in his mouth.
‘Bastards,’ Calum spat. ‘We’ll make them pay for it.’
‘Aye,’ Clara said. ‘Keira will burn the scaly arses off the whole lot of them.’
They were quiet for a few minutes, supping their cool cider, and feeling the warmth of the summer’s sun on their backs.
‘Killop, sir!’ cried Conal, arriving out of breath.
‘Take a moment, son,’ he said, ‘and don’t call me sir.’
‘Sorry,’ he wheezed.
Killop handed him some cider. The lad shook his head. ‘Keira said not while on duty.’
He sighed and put down the mug. ‘What’s up?’
‘Keira wants you back at the squad-hut, right away sir, I mean Killop. She said it was urgent.’
Killop got to his feet.
‘Alright,’ he said, addressing the rest of the squad. ‘Finish up here and head back to the squad-hut. Get yourselves cleaned up, I want you close by and ready if you’re needed.’
‘Aye,’ they nodded.
He leaned over and kissed Kallie. ‘See you later.’
He grabbed his leather uppers from where he had left them lying over a tree trunk, and pulled them on despite the heat.
Conal ran at his side as he strode back up the path towards the third line. They passed work-crews labouring in the sunshine, digging ditches, and setting posts upright. Turning a corner, he saw Keira standing outside their hut.
‘What’s going on?’ he said.
‘Fucked if I know, wee brother,’ she said. ‘We just got telt to get our arses over to the moothill immediately. Are the squad…?’
‘They’re coming,’ he said. ‘Just packing up now.’
‘Good,’ she said. ‘Conal, wait for them here. When they arrive, tell them to be ready for anything. Tell them me and Killop are away to the moothill, then come and find us.’
‘Aye, mage,’ he said, finding somewhere to sit.
She turned on her feet and they hurried to the enclosure. The guards waved them through, and they entered the huge command tent on the hill. The usual crowd were there, excepting Conor, who had returned to Hiddenburn a couple of days before. Most were looking bemused, while the chief sat slumped, his face heaving like thunder. Klannit and Kalinda were pale, anxiety riddling their faces. A pair of messengers stood to the side.
As Keira sat down, Clewydd spoke. ‘Now that we’re all present, would someone please explain the reason for the urgency of this moot?’
The chief grimaced, his fists clenched on the table in front of him. ‘Klannit,’ he grunted.
His champion turned to face them. ‘Two messengers have arrived. One from the north, the other from the main army camp.’ He looked weary. ‘You,’ he called to the first runner.
‘Report from the Rahain camp at Dropbottom, sirs,’ she started. ‘Ten thousand Rahain soldiers are reported to be climbing the pass towards us. At their current pace, they’ll arrive tomorrow night, or the morning after.’
Confused talking broke out across the table, as everyone put forth their views at the same time. The chief banged his great fist down, and there was silence.
‘Now you,’ Klannit growled at the second messenger, who looked in fear of his life.
‘Report from the main army camp, south of the pass at Hiddenburn. Scouts have observed a large force of Rahain soldiers, estimated to be in the region of twenty thousand, forty miles to the south-west of the pass, making their way through Southern Kell. Army Leader Conor ae Connorie has ordered the forces at Hiddenburn to march to Meadowhall with all speed to block the Rahain advance. Also,’ he continued, looking down at his feet, his voice reduced to a whisper, ‘while on my way here there was a further report that a detachment of five thousand Rahain had broken off from the main group, and were last seen making their way to the south of the pass.’
Killop stood with his jaw open amid the chaos of shouting and arm waving. Twenty thousand Rahain on the loose in Southern Kell? The bottom had just dropped out of their world. The Kell civilians living in the farms and villages of the south were undefended, having staked their safety and protection on the warriors in the pass.
‘How? How?’ he heard Keira say, over and over, addi
ng her voice to the cacophony in the hall. She looked stunned, and she was not the only one.
‘Silence!’ the chief bellowed, and the noise abated.
He bowed his head. ‘In one stroke we are undone.’
‘How did they get past us? How?’ Lana shouted.
The chief started to laugh and cry at the same time. He shook his head, slumping back into the chair.
Klannit spoke up. ‘If anybody has any suggestions or explanations that might provide an answer to that question, we’d love to hear them.’
There was silence.
‘A tunnel?’ Clewydd said, after a while.
‘That would have taken them years, but,’ Keira said, ‘even with their stone mages.’
‘It doesn’t matter, in the end,’ the chief sighed. ‘The only thing that matters is that the lizard army is now south of us. Fifteen thousand of the bastards are on the road to Meadowhall, and another fifteen thousand are marching this way.’
‘We should get you out of the pass immediately, Chief,’ Clewydd said. ‘You’ll be trapped if you delay.’
‘I’m not leaving you to die,’ he said, pain searing his eyes.
‘No,’ Lana said, ‘the high mage is right. You have to get out of the pass before it’s cut off, and meet with the other clans. They’ll have to agree to help now, after they hear this.’
‘You’ll need to go over the mountains, Chief,’ Keira said. ‘The five thousand coming from the south will block off that exit before you can reach it.’
‘Mage Keira, you shall go with him,’ Clewydd said, nodding as if coming to a decision. ‘I will remain here to defend the pass. You shall go.’
‘But, High Mage,’ Keira cried, ‘I’ll be needed here.’
‘The Kell will have need of you beyond this pass, girl,’ she said. ‘You must go.’
‘Right,’ said Klannit. ‘It’s agreed. The chief leaves first thing tomorrow morning. Keira, take your half-squad, and I’ll bring mine. Kalinda, you’ll be required to come along, Lana, you too. Clewydd, you’re in command of the pass now.’
The Magelands Origins Page 29