The Magelands Origins

by Christopher Mitchell

  ‘I like her,’ Killop said. ‘She’s right, my sister is a foul-mouthed drunken maniac. Isn’t that right, Keira?’ he shouted to her.

  ‘Fuck aye!’ she called back, oblivious to what Killop had been saying.

  Killop turned to Bridget. ‘It’s good that not everybody’s scared of her, she needs folk to keep her feet on the ground. Used to be my job. You can have it now.’

  The singing started, as it always did when the level of alcohol consumption reached a certain stage. First, the Lach twins, Lyla and Lachryn gave a sweet rendition of a winsome goatherder’s song, then Koreen, who was thoroughly drunk, and needed help getting up onto the table, did an almost pornographic version of an old Kell drinking song, each verse more vulgar than the one before, and the warriors nearly wet themselves with laughter.

  As Bryony and Bryanna were dueting a more wholesome love ballad, directed at a red-faced Conal, Killop went over to Domnan, the only new recruit who had yet to say a word to him all day.

  The older man was sat in the same seat he had been in when Killop had arrived that morning, and was continuing to put away the whisky. Kelly was to his right, though her head was bowed, and her eyes were closed.

  ‘Evening, Domnan,’ Killop said as he took a seat to the man’s left, and poured himself a whisky.

  Domnan grunted.

  ‘Enjoying yourself?’

  Domnan shrugged.

  Fair enough, Killop thought. The man was probably near unconscious anyway, especially if he had been up the entire night before as well. Too drunk to speak.

  Killop drank his whisky and poured himself another, watching his old squad.

  ‘Kylon says yer not a complete arsehole,’ Domnan said, his voice low and almost growling.

  ‘What?’

  ‘So I’m telling ye, as ma company leader.’

  ‘Telling me what?’

  ‘That I murdered ma brother,’ he rasped, each word coming out like a threat.

  Killop said nothing, waiting for the older man to continue.

  ‘I’m exiled,’ he went on. ‘Domm threw me out. Brig told me to fuck off. Joining this squad’s the only chance I’ll get to fight the lizards. None of the other squads would take me.’

  ‘But Kylon did?’

  ‘Aye. Said he didn’t care what I done in my past.’

  Killop glanced at the young squad leader, who was sat next to Keira. They looked good together.

  ‘You watching his back?’

  ‘Aye, boss,’ Domnan replied. ‘I owe that lad.’

  Killop stood. ‘You’re good enough for Kylon, you’re good enough for me.’

  He turned and walked back to Kallie, to rejoin the drinking.

  Killop was awoken by someone shaking his shoulder.

  ‘Boss, boss,’ a female voice said.

  He groaned, and put a hand to his throbbing head. His eyes opened, squinting. The room was dim, but still too bright for his vision. He coughed, which turned into a retch.

  ‘Boss, you alright?’

  He looked over and thought he was seeing double. Two identical blonde-haired warriors crouched next to him.

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘Something you’ve got to see,’ said the one on the left.

  He sat up. On the other side of the room, he saw that Kylon and Keira had also been woken, and were pulling on their winter cloaks. Keira’s face looked green in the lamplight. Everyone else was still asleep. Kallie was lying to his left, snoring gently. He got out from under the tangled blanket, and stood.

  One of the blonde triplets gave him a large mug, and he drank down the cold snowmelt it contained. He grimaced at the instant toothache the freezing water gave him, staggered over to a table, and gulped down whisky from a jug. It was warm but stale, and he retched again.

  ‘Fucksake, wee brother,’ Keira said. ‘Pull yourself together.’

  ‘This had better be worth it,’ he scowled, grabbing his woollen cloak.

  They left via the stairwell, and ascended to the roof. Bryony and Bryanna were on duty on this, the first day of the first third of winter. It had snowed again through the night, but the morning sun was shining down on a clear and crisp day.

  Killop pulled his cloak about him, his head aching and his breath pluming in the cold still air. He looked down at the Kell encampment, close by the palisade wall. There were a few signs of movement, but nothing seemed out of place. He turned to ask what he was supposed to be looking at, and saw that the others, Keira, Kylon, Bryony and Bryanna, were all staring towards the mountains to the east.

  His gaze followed theirs. The clear blue sky above the hills was filled with hundreds of black specks. For a moment they appeared to be static, as if they were suspended in the air, but after a minute he could tell they were moving northwards, from right to left across his field of vision. They were flying low, at about the same altitude as the tower, and were difficult to make out against the forests and mountains, but stood out whenever they crossed a patch of sky.

  ‘What the fuck?’ Keira said.

  ‘What are they?’ Killop asked.

  ‘Birds?’ suggested Keira.

  ‘All the birds flew north thirds ago, Keira,’ Kylon said. ‘It’s winter.’

  She gave him a look. ‘Cheeky wee bastard.’

  ‘No, she’s right,’ Bryony said. ‘Kind of. Though if they are birds, they’re bigger than any I’ve ever seen. And they’re carrying… something. They’re all carrying something.’

  Killop strained his eyes. The specks were closer now, almost level with the tower, maybe a couple of miles distant. If they were birds, they would be of enormous size. He could just about make out what the warrior had described. There seemed to be four birds, or whatever flying creature they were, to each load. He could see the tiny patterns of five that each formation made. The loads they were carrying were long, thin oblongs, or maybe tubes.

  ‘Fuck,’ he cried. ‘Fuck!’

  Keira frowned. ‘Enlighten us then, wee brother.’

  ‘Do you remember that smashed-up wooden tube we saw on the mountainside before we got to Kalayne’s cave?’

  Kylon and Keira glanced at each other, their expressions falling.

  Keira looked up again. ‘No way, they cannae be…’

  ‘There are hundreds of them,’ Killop said.

  ‘And if each one is carrying a hundred lizards,’ Kylon said, ‘that makes…’

  ‘A shitload of lizards,’ Keira said.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Bryanna asked, fear edging into her voice.

  ‘Raise the alarm,’ Killop said. ‘Send a signal to the Crags to get the Domm commanders to come up to Fallsie Tower immediately. I’ll be going straight down to see Chief Kyla.’

  ‘Aye, boss,’ she said, ‘but what’s going on?’

  He turned to face Bryanna and her identical twin, who were gazing up at him, their eyes wide.

  ‘The Rahain are invading Brig.’

  Chapter 30

  Boiling Over

  High Threeways, Brig – 4th Day, Second Third Winter 503

  The whole world was white from where Killop stood. The snow had been falling for days, but the Kell battalion had continued trudging through the mountains. The way was dangerous even in the middle of summer, or so Kallie had told him. The paths would disappear under rockslides, or be washed away by sudden floods after rain. In the deep snow, they couldn’t even see where the paths were, and still Kyla demanded that they keep moving.

  They had left the Brig Pass a third before. Killop had lost track of the days, but Caitlyn, the new young herald of the Kell, had carved a fresh line onto her staff each morning, and at breakfast that dawn, she had announced that she now had thirty-two notches.

  The Kell had departed two days after Killop had delivered the news to Kyla. He was still surprised at the speed with which she had accepted his interpretation of what they had seen, and while the Domm and Brig representatives had argued and prevaricated, she had ordered the Kell to get ready to move. Kall
ie was called to see the chief, along with others who knew the area, and they were grilled for hours about various routes through to Brig or Domm.

  The path to Huntswell went over a high shoulder into a small valley, and beyond that were the trails where trappers had roamed for countless generations. He remembered the bitter complaints from the warriors, when they had been assigned their share of the baggage to be carried, and were told what they had to leave behind. No oxen would be able to follow the paths they intended to take, and nothing but essentials would be carried over the mountains. Most squads had rigged up their own sleds, which they would take turns in pulling, or would carry if the way were too precarious or narrow. Accidents had claimed the lives of a few dozen. Someone would put their foot down on an untested patch of snow, and disappear in an instant, down a ravine, or over a cliff.

  The wind had scoured most of the humour from them, and their lips were chapped and bleeding. Many complained of black toes, or numb fingers, or loose teeth, but still they went on. At night they would pile into their small tents and huddle together for warmth, trying to sleep while the blizzard howled against the flimsy canvas.

  But now the morning was clear, white, and beautiful, and the sky above a canopy of gorgeous azure. After so many days of being unable to see more that a few feet away, the view was spectacular. The mountains grew higher towards the bottom of the peninsula, culminating in the great peak of the Fire Mountain, now visible to the south-west. This was the second time he had seen the home of the god. When he had been little his family had travelled to the great temple there, as all Kell aspired to do at least once in their lives, but he barely remembered anything about the visit except the scary masks worn by the priests.

  ‘Thirty-two days,’ said Caitlyn again.

  He turned from gazing at the view. The herald was with Kyla, Keira and Budge, a Brig tracker and hunter.

  ‘Aye,’ Budge said. ‘If the weather stays fine, we’ll be at the Brig end of the High Threeways before noon, it’s just down past that ridge.’ He pointed.

  ‘If the blizzard had continued,’ Kyla said, ‘we would have walked right past it.’

  She looked tired, but seemed to have gained something from her brief leadership of the Kell. An aura of confidence and security emanated from her, that gave the others heart. Killop could only imagine the worry she must be feeling, not only for the two thousand warriors in the mountains, but also for the thousands of other Kell in Brig, and Kelpie, her sister. As soon as the battalion had left Fallsie they had been cut off from others, Brig, Kell or Domm. Aside from a few scattered trappers, no one lived in the desolate mountain wilderness.

  ‘Company leaders,’ Kyla called. ‘To me.’

  Although the battalion’s tents were scattered across the path and along the side of a slope, Kyla had made it her business to talk to the company leaders each dawn, and all ten of them had assembled.

  ‘I want the mage with Killop’s fourth out early, in case of any surprises,’ she said. ‘Budge, you’re with them. When you get a clear view of the valley below, send a runner back to let me know what’s out there. Killop, we’ll give you an hour’s start. Dismissed.’

  Killop nodded. At last, something to do. Maybe it would be warmer down in the valley.

  The twins and Budge led the fourth along the high trail. They had left their nearly empty packs back at the camp, and the end of the blizzard had raised their spirits.

  ‘I see big Clair lost a toe yesterday,’ Kallie said. ‘Turned black.’

  ‘Were you in her tent last night?’

  ‘Aye. Nobody could see anything in the snow, so we piled into the nearest tents we could find. She took her boot off to show us, was pretty minging.’

  ‘I hope she can still fight,’ he said.

  ‘She didn’t seem too bothered by it,’ Kallie laughed. ‘Her head’s more bone than brains.’

  ‘I’m sorry I’ve not seen much of you and the rest of the old squad for a while.’

  ‘Aye, it’s been rubbish,’ she said. ‘Sometimes I wish ye were just squad leader again, but I know you’ve got a whole company to look after.’

  ‘And the other squads think I show you lot too much favouritism as it is.’

  She shrugged. ‘We’re the high mage’s personal squad, we deserve a wee bit of favouritism, considering all the shit we’ve been through.’

  He nodded. ‘Did anyone ever win that bet?’

  ‘Aye,’ she said. ‘Conal’s a boy no more.’

  ‘Who got him, Bryony or Bryanna?’

  ‘Neither,’ she laughed. ‘Bridget ended up being the one to deflower wee Conal. Bryony and Bryanna were arguing one night, and when they turned round, Bridget and Conal had snuck out of the tent, and when they came back, Conal had the biggest grin across his face that you’ve ever seen.’

  ‘Are they going together, then?’

  ‘No,’ she grimaced, ‘that’s where the story sours. Bridget was just doing it to spite her sisters, but poor Conal’s been pining for her like a lost wee lamb.’

  Killop felt a twinge of relief that he wasn’t their squad leader. He had never been good with these situations.

  ‘How’s Kylon dealing with it?’

  ‘Pretty well,’ she said. ‘Older brother to Conal, kindly but firm uncle to everyone else, well, except Keira. There are so many splits in the squad it’s amazing he’s kept us together.’

  The column of warriors slowed and stopped, as word came down the line to halt.

  He kissed Kallie, and strode to the front. The ridge came to an abrupt end ahead, and as he got closer, he saw the wide valley below. Budge was at the front of the line, standing with Keira next to the cliff-face.

  ‘Boss,’ the tracker nodded.

  ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘Take a look,’ he replied. Keira was already peering over the cliff. He joined her and looked down.

  The valley below was lower and broader than any they had seen since leaving the Brig Pass. Some snow had fallen, but survived only in patches amid the fields and farms that lay spread out below. At the lower end of the valley on the right, the hills sloped away towards the coastal plains of Brig.

  Below them, a tattered looking bunch emerged at a run from a slender windbreak of trees, about five hundred yards to their right. A few hundred yards behind them was a much larger group, in pursuit of the first.

  ‘Fucking scaly bastards,’ Keira muttered. She swivelled on her heels. ‘Conal!’

  ‘You got something in mind, sister?’ Killop asked.

  ‘Going to send our new prize stud back to the chief with a message.’

  ‘Aye,’ he replied, ‘and then what? If we wait for a reply, that lot are finished.’ He pointed at the band of warriors being pursued on the valley floor.

  ‘What are ye suggesting, wee brother?’

  ‘Send the runner, aye,’ he said, ‘but then we take the company down there and kick fuck out of those bastards.’

  ‘Aye,’ she nodded, a smile appearing on her lips. ‘I like it.’

  They moved quickly. Killop sent Budge with four squads to follow the ridge for another hundred yards before making their descent, while he led the others down the valley side, between the Rahain force and the fleeing band. With trees and walls covering them, they reached the bottom and formed up in a deserted farmyard. Approaching a low wall that connected the farmhouse to a large barn, Killop crouched down and peered over the edge. The Rahain force was getting closer.

  ‘Longbows!’ he cried. ‘Spread out, find cover, they’ll be here in two minutes.’

  He turned to his sister. ‘We’ll hold them off until you’re ready.’

  Keira looked around. ‘I’ll be in the barn,’ she said. ‘There’s bound to be shit in there that’ll burn.’

  She ran off, Lacey and Kyleen close behind.

  He heard cries and looked up. Some of the archers had opened fire. Several Rahain had fallen, but over two hundred of their infantry were approaching across the fields.

&
nbsp; ‘Loose at will,’ he shouted, as the Rahain charged.

  ‘Kylon,’ he said, ‘get every crossbow behind this wall.’

  Within a few seconds, warriors were lining the wall, their crossbows resting on its rough surface. He saw Bridget among them, frowning in concentration.

  The walls and hedges of the sprawling farm were funnelling the Rahain in their direction. They had shields, but they were the smaller type, and a score had fallen to the longbows by the time they moved into crossbow range.

  Killop nodded to Kylon.

  ‘Loose!’ the younger man cried.

  The crossbows thrummed, were reset, and thrummed again. The bolts flew into the ranks of the Rahain, sending them tumbling backwards. Their numbers forced them on, and for a moment it seemed that no matter how many fell, there were others to take their place, and get a step closer.

  ‘Swords!’ Killop bellowed as they got within spitting distance.

  Four dozen crossbows clattered onto the cobbles, swords were drawn, and the company charged, leaping over the low wall, and running headlong into the press of Rahain.

  Killop wielded his sword two-handed, his shield left behind at the wall. He began swinging, cutting and hacking his way through the enemy, shredding their flimsy armour, and carving his sword into their flesh. Kylon was at his side, fighting with spear and sword, dancing as he killed. Killop felt the rage and bloodlust rise in him, and he let his hatred for the invader pour out, like a long-watched kettle boiling over. His blade ripped them apart.

  The Rahain stared at him in terror, and for a split second in his mind’s eye he saw himself as they saw him; a huge, bloody, gore-covered barbarian towering over them, a monster from a nightmare.

  His rage left him, and he regained control over himself.

  Killop looked around. Warriors were finishing off the last of the Rahain. Their bodies were heaped in piles all over the farmyard and its approaches. They had killed them all.

  He leapt up onto the low wall and raised his sword.

  His warriors let out a deafening roar.

  Keira strode towards him, a little ball of fire dancing in her raised left palm.