by Tom Lloyd
‘You dead?’ called a voice before breaking off into a pained cough.
Lynx shook his head, trying to dislodge the confusion filling his mind and the snarl of fear in his stomach. He struggled his way up to a sitting position and drew in a deep breath, letting the cold air wash over his face.
No stone, no walls or dead air. No chains, no hunger.
He repeated the words to himself several times, a mantra to quell the familiar feelings of panic threatening to swamp him.
‘Not dead,’ he said as the bursting stars finally faded from his eyes. He looked down at his hands, dirty and scratched, and wiped them uselessly on his trousers before looking over at Kas. ‘You?’
She looked as bad as he felt, covered in dust and woozily touching her fingers to a cut on her cheek. There was plaster and brick fragments in her hair, a trickle of blood running down from the top of her head.
‘Not sure,’ Kas said as she inspected the blood on her fingers. She lifted her head and looked across the street. ‘So – that’s what an exploding building looks like.’
‘Another thing to cross off your list, eh?’
Kas gave a pained laugh. ‘Would’ve preferred watching it from a bit further away, though. Screaming hells that hurt.’
‘Yeah. Shit – Honeth!’
Lynx pushed himself up to look over what remained of the wall they’d sheltered behind. There was a scene of devastation on the street, torn fragments of cloth fluttering amid the wreckage of several houses and smashed bricks everywhere. Dazed figures in once-black uniforms picked their way through what remained, but Lynx could tell at a glance they wouldn’t find the commander or those with him alive.
‘Don’t know about you,’ Kas groaned, standing and patting the broken stub of brick beside Lynx, ‘but I’m experiencing some disturbingly warm and fuzzy feelings towards this wall.’
Lynx nodded slowly. It had taken the brunt of the blast and while the wall had collapsed on them in the process, he could forgive the consequences of its sacrifice.
‘Hands up!’ roared a voice as a figure loomed into view.
Lynx almost fell over in surprise, staring stupidly at the mage-gun muzzle that appeared directly in front of his face.
‘Huh?’
‘Put your hands up!’ the man yelled, voice quavering, gun swaying slightly across Lynx’s vision.
Finally Lynx managed to drag his eyes away from the muzzle and looked up at the man. A Bridge Watch soldier, soot and sweat staining his cheeks, clearly shocked by what had happened and ready to shoot anyone in his way.
‘Okay,’ Lynx croaked.
Trying not to stumble and startle the man he put his hands up, seeing Kas do the same out of the corner of his eye.
‘We’re on your side,’ Kas added after a moment.
‘What?’
‘We came with you to search these houses,’ she said slowly. ‘With Commander Honeth.’
‘Oh.’
The information seemed to confuse the man and for a while he didn’t say anything more. Lynx kept his mouth shut. He was in no rush to be moving too fast anyway. Eventually the soldier’s eyes narrowed and for a moment Lynx was sure he was going to die right there, but all he did was take a proper look at Lynx then Kas and lower his gun.
‘Right, yeah, you came with us.’ He looked back at the shattered house. ‘The commander.’
Lynx took that as a question. ‘He kicked the door in,’ he said gently. ‘He was right there when it blew.’
‘You don’t know that,’ the soldier snapped.
‘Yeah we do,’ Kas said, slowly rising and putting a hand on the man’s arm. ‘I’m sorry, but we saw it happen. We’d be dead too if we’d not been taking cover.’
Lynx grabbed her arm. ‘The grenades, they were right behind the door – they meant to blow it now! They’re taking the armoury right now!’
‘Oh shit.’
By fits and starts the pair staggered forward, leaning on each other for support. Lynx found a whole variety of new pains awaken across his body as he started to walk, trying to pick his way through the scattered debris and rubble until he found a man wearing sergeant stripes and looking more composed than the rest.
‘Sergeant!’
The man glared at him, gaze darting to the gun on Lynx’s back, but then settling on the badge Lynx wore. ‘The mercenaries,’ he growled, relaxing a shade. ‘Did you do this?’
‘It was rigged to blow,’ Kas said with a shake of the head as Lynx blurted out, ‘You’ve got to warn the armoury!’
‘Which armoury?’
‘The North Keep. Send some men to warn them.’
‘What in Insar’s name are you talking about?’
‘It’s in danger!’
‘What? How?’
‘Whoever just blew that house up,’ Lynx said, trying to fight the urge to shout at the man, ‘is going for the armoury – they have to be.’
‘Whoever blew that up is dead, friend.’
He shook his head. ‘They’re not, they’re alive and in the labyrinth. They blew it so we couldn’t follow them. The entrance is buried under that pile of rubble.’
He pointed to where the townhouse had been entirely demolished and spread liberally across the street, the two neighbouring houses half-collapsed on to the pile of rubble between them.
‘In the labyrinth?’ the sergeant echoed. ‘But that’s …’
‘Insane – unless you’re a Charneler relic hunter who’s fixing to head through the labyrinth and blow up the North Keep, opening Jarrazir up to direct assault.’
‘Merciful Veraimin!’ Finally the man realised the danger and grabbed at the two nearest soldiers. ‘You two – can you run?’
‘Yes, sergeant!’
‘Good – fast as you can to the North Keep, shout up to the windows if they won’t let you in, just make sure they listen to you – there might be Charnelers digging right underneath them.’
‘Digging?’
‘Not digging, there’s an entrance to the labyrinth that opens into the lower levels of the keep,’ Lynx broke in. ‘They’ve got grenades and will try to blow it up!’
‘So bloody run!’ the sergeant added for emphasis, shoving the startled pair into movement.
Lynx watched them head down the street and be swallowed by the darkness before turning to Kas. ‘Back to the palace?’
‘If you like,’ she said, rubbing her head. ‘Think I need a lie-down first.’
‘Don’t think there’ll be much of that going round.’
‘Exactly,’ Kas said with feeling. ‘Once Toil hears about this she’s gonna move as fast as she can. Reckon I need some rack time before any more excitement.’
‘Leaving me to tell Toil.’
She patted him on the shoulder. ‘Them’s the breaks.’
‘Shit.’
The sergeant had already forgotten them and moved on, yelling at his troops to get digging for the injured, so they simply walked away by fits and starts in the direction of the palace. The street had filled with people, some staring in horror, others coming to help dig. They passed a bewildered pair of City Regiment soldiers standing at the end of the street, watching the sudden swell of humanity milling about in alarm. The sound of the explosion, Lynx realised, had to have carried for miles – half the city would be wondering if the Knights-Charnel had attacked the walls.
If that keep goes, he realised, they will do. That’ll be the north face of the city open to assault.
They reached the grand Eastern Avenue that cut across the city to find it full of people. Lynx had to display the written dispensation for their weapons three times before they could turn off and head to the lodging house. But just as they did so, a cataclysmic roar tore through the air. Lynx stumbled as the ground itself shook under his feet. They both flinched in shock as people nearby screamed and pointed. Turning north, Lynx saw a great cloud of orange-lit smoke rise up in the sky and streaks of light soar through the darkness before smashing into buildings like the r
age of elementals.
‘Oh, pissing gods,’ Kas moaned.
Above the houses they could see the copper-sheathed roof of some grand hall come alive with light as it reflected the blaze of explosion. In the next moment it seemed to implode – crumpling in on itself as debris slammed into the peak of the roof. The building shattered under the impact, the near-side wall twisting and folding inward before dragging almost the entire roof with it.
They stood and stared with half the local residents, watching the sky flicker red and orange like the ground had opened up over the seven fiery hells. Children wailed, men and women wept, shrieks that could have been man or beast echoed around the street, but Lynx found himself just staring with horror and lost in another time.
Few battles were fought in a city – whether by deliberate choice or tacit understanding of the madness it entailed – but Lynx had seen it happen twice before and his stomach turned to acid just at the thought. The first had been terrible, an abomination, but swift for all its brutality. The So Han army had made an example of a neighbour early on in the war – a warning to all those who opposed it. They had swept over the city in a dawn raid and crushed unprepared, inadequate defences. By midday the battle was over, but such were the weapons carried by both sides, the city had been shattered.
And still that had not proved the worst time. No, that had been years later when he had signed up as a mercenary in some border dispute that quickly got out of hand. Exactly how it had happened had never been clear to Lynx, except small atrocities committed over generations had festered in the hearts of each side. The war had been short, Lynx’s side outmatched by their foe, and culminated in an assault on the principality’s capital – an old and pretty city that straddled a Duegar canal in the north-west. The battle had raged for three days and by the end there was simply nothing left. Just a great stream of refugees fleeing in all directions, bodies and rubble. Half the city had died as burners and earthers tore the buildings apart, grenades and small mage-spheres thrown without regard at all parts of the city.
Lynx had run with the rest and been lucky to survive, but he heard later that when victory was declared, the enemy general stood on a hill to survey his victory. He stood there for an hour and watched the wreckage burn, then retired to his tent. The army turned around and went home the next morning, the general stayed and while his bodyguard kept marauders at bay, he would not leave. On the third day he was found dead at his desk, unable to live with what he’d done.
A voice cut through the clouds of the past, distantly at first but increasingly insistent.
‘Lynx, Lynx!’
He blinked and looked around. ‘Huh? What?’
Kas grabbed him by the shoulder and physically turned him to face away from the glow of flames. ‘Hey, wake up! We need to go.’
‘Go?’
‘The palace?’ she reminded him, hesitating a moment then adding, ‘Toil?’
‘Oh. Yeah.’ He shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘Right, the palace, sure.’
The pair went as fast as they could, but in the end had to wait a long time before anyone would admit them. The Bridge Watch swarmed the area with guns at the ready, a maddened nest of ants ready to attack the first thing that presented itself. Lynx and Kas kept calm and ignored the obvious, unspoken threat as they stood their ground and asked for a message to be sent. The lieutenant they spoke to was a young man struggling to maintain his calm in the face of chaos. Matters were only made worse when Lynx was the one to tell him that Commander Honeth wouldn’t be able to approve their entry to the palace, nor come to take charge.
Eventually a message was sent and the pair kept out of the way while they waited. The soldiers on duty kept a close eye, seemingly unable to believe that they could be there for any legitimate reason. The guards were so on edge that when a familiar voice started roaring curses from inside the palace, Lynx would have sworn he was a hair’s breadth from getting shot as the men watching them jumped.
‘What in the name of Banesh’s rage is going on out here?’ Toil bellowed, storming up the corridor with a large Bridge Watch sergeant on her heel. ‘You! Why the flaming crap-stain are you detaining my men when we’re on the Monarch’s business? Didn’t you see them leave an hour ago?’
The lieutenant gulped nervously as Toil marched right up to him and jabbed a finger in the man’s chest. ‘I … No. I was not on duty an hour ago, miss.’
‘Where the shit is Honeth?’
‘Dead,’ Lynx said. ‘Charnelers blew the house once we found them, must’ve wanted to seal the entrance so we couldn’t follow ’em down.’
At that Toil grabbed the lieutenant by his tunic and slammed him against the nearest wall. ‘And I had to bloody well come and get that news myself? What’s wrong with you, man? Think I’ve got nothing better to do right now? Think I’m not pretty gods-burned busy at the moment?’
The lieutenant goggled, gaping like a fish for a moment before he could work his mouth. ‘No, sir! Sorry, sir.’
‘Who’s in charge of the watch now?’
He blinked. ‘Ah, it’ll be Major Olep, sir.’
‘Where’s he?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Have him found and informed about Honeth. He’s just inherited a shit-storm. Lesser-Prince Por has taken two companies to shore up the wall defences, but he’ll need more if the Charnelers attack. The Monarch’s sent messengers to all the noble houses requiring their private troops – since those chinless shites’ll drag their heels about it, Olep’s going to have to go and conscript them himself, shooting the first braying fuckstick who says no.’
‘I’ll have him found, sir,’ the lieutenant confirmed. There was a spark of resolve in his eyes now, reminding Lynx that surprise, confidence and yelling were enough to take charge in most situations.
‘Good. You two, come with me. We need to tell the Monarch exactly what’s gone on.’
She led them back down the way she’d come, the palace noticeably empty compared to earlier. Once they were out of sight of the guards Toil stopped abruptly and turned.
‘Are you hurt?’ she said in a considerably softer voice. ‘You look like you were caught up in the explosion.’
‘Fine,’ Lynx said, ‘just got my bell rung a bit.’
‘I’m fine too,’ Kas added acidly. ‘In case you care.’
‘I don’t much,’ Toil snapped.
‘Yeah, we’ve all noticed that,’ Kas said. ‘Not the best for company morale that, if you ever are actually planning on using your Card rank in anger.’
Toil snarled and pulled a mage-pistol from her holster, aiming the gun directly between Kas’s eyes.
‘Don’t fucking test me, Kas, not right now!’
Kas tilted her head to one side and inspected the gun in a studied manner, her lips tight with checked anger. After a moment she indicated down with her eyes. ‘And don’t you ever think I’m your lesser, Toil, not now or ever.’
Toil and Lynx both looked. Kas had a pistol of her own drawn that Lynx certainly hadn’t seen appear, but there it was, at her waist and pointing at Toil’s heart.
‘Both of you, stow it!’ Lynx snapped, breaking the silence that had fallen over the stand-off. ‘We’ve got bigger problems right now – you’ve made your points so step the fuck back.’
‘Right then,’ Toil said stiffly. ‘Yeah. Point made.’
Kas gave a short nod and holstered her gun. ‘Good. Let’s get to work.’
It didn’t take long for Toil to do the same and after a tiny pause she turned and carried on towards the room where she’d left Lastani.
The young woman looked up fearfully when they entered, half a dozen books open on the table ahead of her. Off to one side Atieno and Sitain stood amid a dozen plain backpacks, each one stuffed full by the looks of it.
‘What’s happened?’ Lastani asked before the others could. ‘Have they really breached the wall?’
‘Sabotage,’ Lynx said. ‘Charneler agents took out the N
orth Keep.’
Before Lastani could say any more the door on the far side of the room opened and a man wearing a gold arc of braids across his chest entered, two Bridge Watch on his heels. His face was thunderous, just as it had been when Lynx had last seen him.
That’ll be the Crown-Prince, Lynx recalled. Means they’re still taking her seriously if he’s taking the time to talk to us
‘Toil, come now, your troops too.’
They all headed down another corridor, this one short and opulent with two great tulip-shaped chandeliers lighting the way. At the far end was a massive door covered in decorated silk, but as it opened towards him Lynx saw it was effectively two doors sandwiched around a solid steel plate. That meant he was unsurprised to find himself back in the throne room and following Toil’s lead in kneeling to the Monarch of Jarrazir. There was a small gathering of people of various ages and sexes to one side. Most looked like palace officials, with one man wearing the same dozen or more silver braids around his collar that Lesser-Prince Por had sported.
‘Get up, we don’t have time for formality,’ Crown-Princess Stilanna called. ‘The wall is breached and you need to get moving—Wait, you – you’re covered in dust, were you near the keep?’
She was looking at Kas, who nodded, wavering a moment before she sat on the floor instead of rising.
‘Not the keep, we were looking for the remaining entrance to the labyrinth,’ Kas said. ‘The good news, of a fashion, is we forced their hand. Lastani directed us to the right area and Honeth started searching houses. Lynx and I just took a walk and spotted someone looking suspicious, not least because they tried to kill us.’
‘So what happened? Where is Honeth now?’
‘Dead, Your Majesty. He led the attack himself and they booby-trapped the house. It blew as he kicked the door in, never stood a chance.’
The Monarch pressed her fingers to her lips, gasping in shock at the death of one in her inner circle, but she waved away the concerned hands that reached for her and after just a few seconds, looked up again. Her cheeks were pale, but her voice remained steady.