by Tom Lloyd
‘What about that one?’ Kastelian called over as his two dragoons ran off laden with packs.
‘Leave it – prize for second place!’ Bade laughed.
‘Is this about that woman?’
‘What if it is? Bitch tried to gut me.’
The Exalted looked at Bade’s expression and shook his head, realising his mind was set. ‘It’s Banesh’s? Fine, just don’t tell anyone. They make bad cartridges anyway.’
A great explosion tore through the air behind them and even Bade recoiled automatically – a cartridge belt exploding. Ahead of him the mage, Fork, shrank against one of the pedestals, overwhelmed by terror at the battle.
‘Move!’ Bade yelled, realising he’d need her to escape. ‘Chotel!’
The big lieutenant swung three packs on to his back and grabbed the mage. An exploding cartridge case could swing the battle, and they were running out of time if it had been one of theirs.
Bade pulled out a pistol with his free hand and raced to the rear exit of the stone thicket where flames coated the nearby wall, casting an infernal light. He hesitated before running out, looking round at his remaining crew. With the four Knights-Charnel and one mage, they numbered eleven. Everyone but Fork had at least one pack containing God Fragments, but they didn’t have far to run. The glyph-covered room had to be an escape route – Fork had confirmed his suggestion but they’d not been able to test it out without gathering the fragments.
It’ll either be victory or one embarrassing death, Bade realised as he loaded a light-bolt into his pistol and fired it away into the dark, calling to his crew as he did so.
The searing white light tore through the dark and burst on a stone formation about thirty yards away. Bade’s night vision was obliterated by the blade of light, but Dush had covered his face as soon as Bade’s warning came. He only had a moment of blinking blind at the after-trails before a hand grabbed his elbow and directed him forward. They ran, Dush firing wildly as they went, and stumbled into the circular room of glowing glyphs.
‘Do it!’ Bade roared as more gunfire came from all around. ‘Get it moving!’
Distantly he sensed flashes of light streaking past him and chunks of stone bursting overhead. He dropped to his knees, still unable to see much, but when Fork grabbed the shining sphere in the centre of the room it cast enough light for them all to be dazzled.
A great grind of stone rang out from the walls then the floor seemed to lurch around him. He heard someone fall and others stagger. Koil yelled and there was a scrabble of boots as a body was pulled across the floor. The lurching sensation came again and turned into a sharp twisting motion. He felt them jolt upwards and the glowing concentric circles on the floor blossomed with light.
The clatter of metal and gunfire seemed to merge in his disorientated ears. Bade turned, drunkenly trying to get his bearings, but before he could there was another twisting lurch upwards and this one didn’t stop, the sphere shining brighter than ever as Bade fell on to his back. There was a sudden pressure on his shoulders as the movement pulled the whole chamber up, but that didn’t stop Bade. He couldn’t help himself – he opened his mouth and laughed long and loud as he pictured the fierce beauty of Toil, contorted into rage somewhere below.
‘Enjoy being left behind in the dark, Toil!’ he yelled over the sound of grinding stone and fading gunfire, not caring if she could hear him. ‘You must be used to it by now!’
Lynx saw the flash and swirl of light up ahead. For a moment he wondered what new horror the labyrinth might have conjured now. Then he realised it was moving steadily up and vanishing from view.
Gods-dammit, are we too late? Have they escaped?
In the next moment a renewed burst of gunfire rang out. He leaned around a stone column as the jagged path of a sparker tore across his view. It illuminated a man in a Charneler uniform cowering behind another formation as sparks exploded all around him.
Screaming hells, they left a rearguard!
He raised his mage-gun again, the weapon by now radiating a familiar cold metallic scent. Lynx fired and watched the icer slam into his target’s shoulder, throwing him to the side as it shattered flesh and bone.
‘Come on,’ he hissed to Sitain, not waiting for a reply. Lynx reloaded and stalked forward towards the rear of the stone circle. Sitain followed, mage-pistol in hand. They moved in short bursts while sporadic shots pierced the dark to their right, but Lynx ignored those for the time being. As they reached the break in the circle he paused and checked the alcove where he’d seen the blue light shining.
It was an empty space now – no trace of the Charnelers he’d been exchanging gunfire with. They really had vanished, some Duegar mechanism doubtlessly carrying them back to the surface. It was bigger than he’d realised, a circular room easily large enough to accommodate the squads left behind to cover their escape.
So what was worth abandoning your men for? Lynx didn’t want to know the answer, not when it had just been whisked away from under their noses.
He risked a look around the corner. In the faint light he made out four Charneler uniforms, the black-and-white quartered tunics easy to spot. Quickly he pulled the icer from his gun’s breech and replaced it with a sparker.
‘Get ready,’ he whispered to Sitain.
The young woman’s eyes widened but she nodded and held her pistol with both hands. Lynx ducked back around the corner and took aim. The Charnelers were at the far side of the stone circle – the other side of some grand pedestals – but there was enough space to shoot between. He pulled the trigger and felt the sparker kick his shoulder hard. A stream of lightning raced out to engulf first one man then the next.
Out of nowhere a tall figure loomed around the corner, swinging a mage-gun up to shoot Lynx at point-blank range. Sitain yelped and fired wildly, missing both men by several feet but it was enough to make the Charneler recoil. For a moment he looked astonished that he was still alive – surprise turning to alarm as Lynx threw himself forward.
With his spent gun Lynx battered the man’s weapon aside, but lost it in the process so he dipped his shoulder and charged. He hit the man square in the gut and drove forward, letting his bulk slam the man back and knock him off his feet. As the Charneler fell, Lynx hauled his sword from its scabbard with a roar and lunged.
He stabbed the man in the heart just as a stuttering burst of darkness swept across his eyes. Lynx wavered as his head swam and only the sword impaling the man kept him upright. Drunkenly he looked left and saw another Charneler, a woman with a dragoon sergeant’s markings, falling to her knees.
The woman’s eyes rolled up as Sitain stepped forward again, hand extended with a shuddering aura of night magic surrounding her splayed fingers. A mage-pistol dropped from the Charneler’s fingers as she flopped forward, unconscious even before her head cracked against the stone floor.
As Sitain released her magic, Lynx scrabbled on the ground for his gun. After a few attempts he managed to drag it towards him and fumble the breech open. He loaded an icer and used the gun to push himself upright, desperate to not just sit still when there were enemies around. As he staggered towards the stone columns in the centre, though, the figures who burst into the stone circle on the other side were Cards – Safir and Deern.
Lynx gasped with relief and clutched at the pedestal until his head cleared enough to stand. As more of their company arrived, he realised the battle was over, the guns falling silent. He looked around at the pedestals, each one two feet in width and rising to just below chest height. Only one of the further pedestals had anything on it, however, a tiny piece of glowing crystal.
‘Is this fucking it?’ Deern exclaimed, cradling a wounded left arm. ‘All that cocking around with numbers and bastard traps, and there’s shit-all here?’
‘They’re gone,’ Lynx said, leaning back against his pedestal. ‘Back this way, some sort of magic carried ’em up.’
‘They took everything?’ Safir asked as Toil stormed in behind Lynx.
> ‘Mostly I guess,’ Lynx said, nodding at the one remaining piece.
Toil stormed up to it and looked at the shard of crystal, but made no attempt to pick it up.
‘What is it?’ Deern said through gritted teeth as he wound a strip of cloth around his bicep.
Toil didn’t say anything, but even through his pain Deern paused and gave her a cautious look. The woman had gone very still, hands bunched into fists, and Lynx realised she was fighting to control her rage. He didn’t need to see Toil’s face to see how close to exploding she was and the other mercenaries sensed it too, each one edging back and keeping quiet.
More Cards filed in, several carrying wounds and burns. Safir’s kilt was charred all the way down one side, his hands black from beating the flames out. Aben and Teshen looked unhurt, Atieno likewise but his face was thunderous and his limp more pronounced, while Estal had a flesh wound to her leg. Lynx felt a momentary lurch in his gut, but then Lastani crept through as well, her clothes dirty and torn but uninjured.
From behind Toil, Kas and Suth appeared – Kas clutching her side.
‘Haphori?’ Lynx asked. ‘Thought he was right behind us?’
‘Went back for Paranil,’ Kas explained.
‘Shoal? Brols?’ he forced himself to ask, turning to the rest.
Teshen shook his head. ‘Both dead. Layir, Aben,’ the grim-faced man said after a grave moment, ‘give me a hand. Let’s not leave our own down here.’
As they returned the way they’d come, Haphori limped in, half-carrying Paranil who clutched his stomach and panted like a dog.
‘Got a bad one here,’ Haphori called, wincing as he spoke. ‘Heard him crying out, must’ve caught a stray shot.’
That seemed to break the spell for Toil. She spun away from the crystal and went to kneel at Paranil’s side.
‘Dammit,’ she said through gritted teeth, ‘I told you to keep out the way!’
‘Thought I did,’ he moaned. ‘Then it felt like someone punched me.’
Sitain had already joined them and was in the process of ripping open his tunic. Lynx didn’t look; he’d seen enough gut-shots in his life. Even with her night magic to ease the pain, either Paranil would be very lucky or he’d be dead.
‘So,’ Deern began hesitantly, ‘what is that thing?’
Atieno hobbled forward. ‘Gods on high!’ he breathed. He opened his hand and seemed to make a small gesture – the shard darted through the air to slap into his hand. ‘It’s a God Fragment – a piece of Banesh himself!’
‘How do you know?’
Atieno gave him a tired smile. ‘Oh, I know.’
‘Shit and fire,’ Deern hissed. ‘You’re a tempest mage?’
‘For my sins, yes.’
‘Remind me to never play cards with you, then! The magic of change, eh? Thought that was just a myth. Don’t tell me, yer best friend’s a dark mage?’
‘Dark mages are no one’s friends,’ Atieno said with a scowl.
He raised the God Fragment to inspect it more closely then wrinkled his nose and closed his hand around it. The light in the air dimmed a touch.
‘Hey now!’ Deern yelled. ‘If that’s our only prize, why’re you keeping it?’
Before anyone could start an argument, Suth stepped forward with a mage-pistol in each hand.
‘I don’t care who wants what,’ the woman said in a dangerous voice. ‘Any relics found are the property of the Monarch – and before any of you get any ideas, if I don’t live to report back, your whole company’s under death sentence. I’m your only chance now.’
‘Elei’s dead?’
She inclined her head, face betraying no emotion.
‘Guess we better wrap you in kisses then,’ Deern spat. ‘You can use Lynx as a shield if you like.’
‘It’s not a prize,’ Toil broke in loudly, stepping back while Sitain placed her hands over Paranil’s wound. ‘It’s a parting fuck-you from Bade, just to tell us what he’s escaped with. Atieno, you and Lastani go check that room out, see how they escaped. Suth – if it’s a fragment of Banesh, it’s best in Atieno’s hands, but feel free to follow him everywhere. Lynx and Kas, check the dead; we don’t want to be low on ammo if we’re heading up into a battle.’
Lynx nodded and went about his task, searching the soldiers he’d killed with a sparker first. As he went about the unsavoury task, Lastani walked into the centre of the stone circle and put her hands on her hips – the shock of battle fading now that she was presented with the heart of the labyrinth.
‘Something wrong?’ he asked, the look on her face less than impressed.
‘I …’ She gestured at the stone circle. ‘I don’t know, but I wasn’t expecting this.’
‘What, then? Probably looks more impressive with a whole load more God Fragments lying out here.’
‘But the labyrinth is supposed to be old,’ she said, ‘really old – I mean predating the fall, by some thinking.’
‘What’s your point?’
The young mage gave him a level look. ‘Even assuming that was wrong, that the labyrinth really was built to protect a cache of fragments, why?’
‘Eh?’
‘What’s the hold-up?’ Toil called, leaving Paranil’s side to approach them. ‘Something wrong?’
‘Does this not all strike you as wrong? Somewhat unimpressive?’
‘Aye, well some ruins are like that. All dick and no balls.’
The analogy seemed to trip Lastani’s thought process for a while, long enough for Lynx to catch up with her thinking.
‘So,’ he said hesitantly, ‘you’d expect there to be more than just this? What if it was just a contest – an arena to find some lord’s champion or something?’
‘Because it’s huge!’ Lastani pointed out. ‘Not the size of a city-ruin maybe, but big enough that it’d have taken decades of work – hundreds of stone mages alone. Too big for something so simple.’
She gestured around and Lynx realised she had a point. The stone circle was impressive in its own way, there was no doubt about that, but as the culmination of a gigantic stone puzzle-box? He had to admit, even he could have thought up something better.
‘Mebbe there’s no point showing off to whoever makes it here?’ he ventured.
‘Either the labyrinth was created to protect something,’ Lastani said, ‘or it was a contest ground, yes? If the former, why leave whatever you were protecting out in the open on stone pedestals? If the latter – you’ve just built a huge stone cube, why stop at some suitable grandeur for the victors?’
There was a moment of quiet, broken by a groan from Paranil. They all looked over to see Sitain sit back on her heels.
‘I’ve done what I can to slow the bleeding,’ she said, ‘but Himbel’s barely started to teach me. If you’ve got exploring to do, get going.’
Toil nodded. ‘The room back there,’ she said, beckoning for the others to follow her. Lynx finished pulling cartridge cases from the dead inside the circle and slung them all over his shoulder before following Toil’s group, removing the ammunition as he went and emptying them all into his own case.
He scooped up two more of those he and Sitain had dealt with, suddenly remembering the woman might only be unconscious as he pulled hers off. He checked for a pulse and found one.
‘Alive,’ he pronounced. ‘She’ll be out for an hour or two, no?’
The young mage looked back with weary eyes. ‘At least.’
‘Sure the Monarch will have some questions for her. Keep an eye on her, okay?’
When Lynx caught up with Toil, she stood with Suth and the mages at the edge of the opening – holding her Duegar lamp high. The bluish seams in the rock were there as expected, but they twisted and coiled upwards in a deliberate way he’d not seen before. Leaning forward Lynx realised they stood at the base of an enormous shaft that stretched further than the lamp’s light could reach – presumably all the way to the upper chamber.
‘How do we get up, then?’ he asked.
Lastani pointed to the floor. There was a single silver disc in the centre with the familiar ‘gift’ glyph inscribed on it. That was all Lynx could see in there – despite the dull blue glow to the rock it was too dark to make out much detail.
‘Got your white light, Suth?’ Toil asked.
The Monarch’s agent nodded and pulled the shining oval lump from her backpack. Its white light bathed the bottom of the shaft brightly enough that they all had to look away, dazzled. When they could see again, Lynx realised there was something else there – something hidden by the darkness.
‘What’s that?’ he breathed, pointing at another disc on the floor – this one made of a similar black metal to that which encased Toil’s lamp. ‘Those,’ he corrected himself a moment later, realising there wasn’t just one but seven discs, set in a ring around the silver one.
‘Something else,’ Toil whispered reverently. ‘Lastani, can you read them?’
The woman walked forward, going around the circle as she stared at each. ‘I think so. They’re names – Duegar names of elementals.’
‘Seven?’
She nodded. ‘Stone elemental – troll, to the uninformed,’ she said, pointing at one. ‘Firedrake, thunderbird, shadowshard—’
‘Falesh?’ Lynx broke in, remembering the word.
‘Correct. That’s the leviathan, the earth elemental, and that one is the icebear. The other two I’m not sure – judging by the glyphs I’d say wind and light, but I’ve never heard of the elementals.’
‘So do we choose one?’
Lynx glanced up at the darkness above – more distant with the white light unveiled but still there. ‘Just get it right first time,’ he muttered. ‘This place doesn’t encourage mistakes.’
They stood for a moment in silence, then Toil followed in Lastani’s footsteps around the circle. Atieno took a step forward, across the threshold, and stopped with a surprised grunt.
‘What is it?’
The mage looked up with an expression of wonder. ‘I’m not sure,’ he said hesitantly, raising his hand. It was the one he held the God Fragment in. Slowly he opened his fingers and the shard of crystal was revealed, hovering slightly above his skin.