Princess of Blood

by Tom Lloyd

  ‘What did she do?’

  ‘Gods, did you feel it?’

  ‘I’m bloody shining again, how do I make it do that?’

  Lynx set Sitain down as they reached their comrades and held her steady until the young mage found her feet.

  ‘Is it done?’ Toil demanded over the voices of the others.

  ‘Reckon so, aye,’ Lynx said.

  ‘You’re sure?’ Anatin asked.

  ‘Didn’t you see?’

  ‘I saw nothing,’ their commander said, jabbing a thumb at the tattooed mercenaries at his side. ‘All of a sudden, this lot starting whimpering and moaning – then they started to bloody twinkle like pretty little forest fairies. What the hairy fuck’s she done to you?’

  ‘It wasn’t her,’ Toil answered for Lynx, ‘and we don’t have time to explain. Aben, go back and tell the Scarves what’s happened. They’ll be waiting for a fireball or something as a signal.’

  ‘And the rest of us?’

  ‘We move as fast as we can. Word is the Crown-Prince is still alive, harrying the Charnelers with his cavalry group. Most likely that’s why the general moved her headquarters closer in, where Tylom can’t threaten her. It also means if we stir the pot here, he might notice and hit the rear again.’

  ‘So which way?’

  ‘Suth?’

  The scowling agent of the Monarch pointed, saying nothing.

  ‘What’s up her arse?’ Lynx asked Toil.

  Toil grinned wolfishly but it was Suth herself who answered. ‘I just started to fucking glow like a Skyriver festival lantern when she did her thing. If that keeps happening, I’m either marked as some magic-touched freak the Charnelers will want to put in a sanctuary, or I have to resign my commission ’cos I’m stuck with you deranged idiots.’

  ‘Now that’s a worrying thought,’ Atieno said.

  Sitain laughed weakly. ‘Join the shitting club,’ she croaked. ‘I’ll get us all badges saying “I’m with those drunken madmen”.’

  ‘I think we’re being impugned!’ Safir declared with mock outrage. ‘Permission to shoot them, commander?’

  ‘Mebbe later,’ Anatin said darkly. ‘Meantimes, let’s go and go fast. Suth, you’re leading. Shoot anyone who gets in our way.’

  Chapter 36

  The Cards advanced a few more blocks, keeping as quiet and unobserved as possible. Somewhere behind them the Red Scarves were moving up – taking a more direct route to the canal that ran straight to the Bridge Palace. The Monarch had retreated from her palace, not wanting to see it obliterated and drawing the Charnelers deeper into the city. The Senate was as defensible as anywhere else in the city and forced the Charnelers to stretch their lines much further.

  ‘Here,’ Suth said, stopping at the corner of one street.

  The dawn light illuminated their path and, though the sky was overcast, there was no hiding in the cover of shadows now. The stink of burned buildings was stronger here, carrying on the breeze across the city. Thin trails of smoke rose up into the sky, melting away before they reached the cloud cover. They stood like memorials to the dead, pyres arrayed across Lynx’s view of the sky above the rooftops.

  ‘This’ll take us all the way?’ Toil asked, peering around the corner.

  ‘It’s pretty much a straight run down this street and the ones beyond it.’

  The nearby buildings were mostly intact, marked by a few stray shots but without the flame-scarring of burners or earther holes. It could almost be a normal street view but for the deserted road scattered with debris dropped by fleeing citizens. Fortunately for the Cards, this was a poorer district with winding narrow streets and few vantage points. Against the background rumble of gunshots there came from somewhere closer the distinctive crack of icers over the rooftops, single shots rather than a skirmish.

  ‘Hear that?’ Safir said. ‘Snipers.’

  Toil nodded. ‘They’ll be watching the flanks of their supply line. Lastani, how strong are you feeling?’

  ‘I’ll not be outdone by Sitain,’ the young woman replied with forced bravado. Her pale face betrayed her real feelings, but clearly she had them under control for the moment.

  This is her home they’ve torn the guts out of, Lynx reminded himself. Never underestimate what folk will do to stop someone destroying their home.

  ‘Good, we’ll need the cover.’

  Toil gestured to the air in front of them all and Lastani nodded. A shield of magic could hold back mage-shot sure enough – but it was a gamble whether they’d get the shield up in time. Normally no mage would be strong enough to maintain one for any length of time. If they could, mages would be co-opted into every army across the continent. After what Sitain had just done, though, and the link existing between them all, Lynx realised the Cards might now be unique.

  ‘First we wait.’

  ‘For what?’

  ‘The signal.’

  It didn’t take long to come. The Cards had hunkered down as best they could in the street, not seeing troops of either side as they waited, then a boom rolled across the sky. Lynx looked back the way they’d come and realised it was probably the barracks even before the smoke began to rise.

  Shit. Poor bastards, he thought as guilt stabbed at his gut. But how to persuade hardened mercenaries to leave a regiment of enemies alive at their backs, trusting in magic they’d never seen? He knew it was a faint hope even as his heart burned with shame. He chanced a look at Sitain but the young woman didn’t seem to have connected the sound and he looked away, not wanting to be the bearer of those tidings.

  The roar of fire followed soon after as orange flames and dirty black smoke rose high in the sky above the lesser pyres of the city – a vast obelisk amid a field of memorials. Enough of a signal to the entire city that the fighting had begun again. If the Monarch and Crown-Prince had any troops left, they’d know this was their last chance.

  ‘Vigilance will be past the barracks, ready to ambush troops drawn by the fire,’ Toil announced as she patted Suth on the shoulder and directed her forward. ‘With luck it’ll clear a path for us.’

  ‘Here’s hoping,’ Anatin said as they filed out. The narrow street left little space for the Cards to spread out so the suits advanced in tight knots, guns raised. They saw no one as they followed the first section then came to a bend in the road where Suth hesitated.

  ‘Tavern,’ she whispered back. ‘Thirty yards up.’

  Lynx felt the tattoos on his skin renew their glow as Lastani drew on her reserves of magic. A haze appeared above them, a faint cloud of mist that caught the morning light. With her arm outstretched, fingers splayed, Lastani drove forward with the cloud ahead of her and the Cards trotted alongside. Around the corner they saw the tavern through the haze, three storeys of stone and timber that looked as dark as the rest of the district it towered over. They had barely gone a few paces when a gunshot rang out and a white streak arrowed into the shield of ice-magic Lastani had raised.

  The Cards faltered, then a second shot rang out – this time the roar of a burner, but the flames also burst fruitlessly over the shield.

  ‘Now, drop it!’ Toil shouted over the crackle of fire.

  The shield vanished and in the next instant Toil fired an earther into the upper floor of the tavern. The faint trails of their shots had betrayed the snipers’ location and she hit it dead on – smashing clean through the wall and tearing the entire window frame out with it. Payl followed it up with a burner and fire exploded through the gap, sweeping the top floor and cutting off the brief scream they’d heard from inside.

  ‘Faster,’ Toil demanded as she reloaded. ‘We’ve announced ourselves.’

  The Cards jumped to obey. Rounding the burning tavern they came to an alley mouth. Suth glanced down it and jerked back as an icer flashed straight past her face. Before the others could do anything the Jarraziran soldier had dropped to one knee and pulled two guns from her collection. She fired in rapid succession while three Cards stepped past her for a better shot. The
whipcrack of icers echoed down the tight alley and then all was still.

  ‘Patrol,’ Suth reported back, reloading as she went. ‘Dead now.’

  Ahead of them was a right turn so she upped the pace to the corner, pausing at the side to check around it again.

  ‘We need to cross this square and bear left,’ she called to Anatin. ‘Couple of squads by the looks of it.’

  ‘Sun takes the lead with Lastani,’ he said. ‘We advance until I call the halt, then cover Stars as they come. Blood and Snow to follow us, Tempest watches our rear.’

  Not waiting for any acknowledgement, Anatin pulled his pistol with his one remaining hand and started forward. Payl, Karra and Varain moved ahead of him, guns ready. There was a shout from somewhere and they fired immediately, three crisp shots ringing out as Darm and Foren moved ahead. Once the last of Sun had gone, Estal led Stars out at a crouch, and then they were all following. More gunshots came. The bursts and echoes off the surrounding buildings had merged into one great jagged sound by the time Lynx turned the corner.

  The flash of icers was everywhere, the jagged tongues of sparkers lashing a building on the far side. As they moved into the square, a burner roared out from their right and spilled flame across the ground. Two Cards were caught in the fire but Lynx didn’t have time to see who as the whole of Tempest charged, firing. The lead suits jerked left, towards the open street leading off the square, but Blood and Tempest continued to hammer earthers and icers into the surrounding buildings.

  ‘Move!’ Teshen called.

  Payl and Suth were already at the next street, firing on more Charnelers there, while Lynx reloaded frantically and continued to scan the shattered house fronts of the square. Teshen hurried forward to a blackened, writhing figure in the middle of the square, slamming the butt of his gun hard into their head. Lynx didn’t know if it was one of theirs or not, but it was a mercy any soldier would offer if they could.

  You lived your life fearing that – not the sparkers or earthers, but burning alive and every moment feeling like an age. The power of burners was undeniable and unavoidable, but Lynx wasn’t the only soldier to feel sick every time he fired one.

  ‘Reft!’ yelled someone from up front.

  The mercenaries of Blood hurried forward, adding their guns to the volley the lead troops were laying down. They edged forward every few seconds, a pace or two only but moving, constantly moving. Lynx saw Flinth shot through the head, but there was no time to pause. The Charnelers retreated under a steady hail of shots, the Cards’ firepower and numbers overwhelming each small group they came across.

  As the morning brightened, the sound of gunshots began to boom from somewhere south of them and they found their progress quickening. The number of patrols dwindled – some even fleeing from their path. They’d broken the flank lines, it appeared, and the Red Scarves were drawing most of the fire from the reserve troops in this part of the city. The bulk of the Charneler army was on the front line by the Senate buildings, too far to recall in time, but Lynx was well aware they had no idea what was being kept in reserve.

  Press on, drive deep. The words kept running through his brain; at every pause and hesitation his old training screamed them. This was the commando way, the Hanese way. Heavily armed troops pushing hard and fast through enemy lines – wreaking mayhem and slaughter in those minutes when the enemy were unable to react.

  The crack of icers started to fade from his awareness – the grey and ochre of the city became green and brown as he found his mind returning to the close, frantic battles of the Greensea a decade earlier. The unprepared armies of each city-state and principality. The dawn raids from the forests, sweeping inexorably and ruthlessly over camps and villages – killing everything in their path. Hand-to-hand fighting when they were too close to waste time reloading, axes and swords chopping a path through young men and women too stunned to fight back.

  It all settled like a dark shadow over his mind, eclipsing everything but for the part that recoiled at that side of him returning.

  But this is the part I need now, Lynx realised in one moment of quiet, when they paused at a demolished building and listened to the sounds of fighting somewhere to the south. This is also me. Right now it’s all I have.

  The Cards came to another square – larger this time, with a well and shrines occupying the centre. Around that were pitched tents and a ragged barricade so the mercenaries charged straight on. Earthers and sparkers smashed into the barricade and tore chunks from it. The surprised Charnelers were thrown back, some not even armed as the Cards pushed on through. They split left and right around the shrines, while Estal led her suit through the centre to clear it of defenders. Lynx saw Kas’s deadly skills as he glanced across, three men shot down even as Lynx reloaded his own gun.

  A flash of movement through a doorway caught his eye and Lynx turned, bringing his gun up. A glimpsed uniform was enough for him to pull the trigger and the Charneler was thrown back down the hallway. Nearby, Foren and Sitain were scavenging cartridge boxes from the dead, neither being much of a shot.

  Lynx popped the breech of his gun open and yanked the spent cartridge out, hissing at the deep cold that stung his fingers. He loaded another icer but slung the gun on to his shoulder, drawing his pistol instead. The shorter range wouldn’t matter here and he didn’t want to freeze the barrel of his mage-gun in the middle of a fight. It could happen, firing too many icers in rapid succession could turn the metal brittle. Lynx had seen a man swap to a burner after a long fight at distance – the cold barrel hadn’t been able to cope with sudden heat and it had exploded, killing him and everyone beside him too.

  ‘Dragoons!’ someone yelled from the far side, followed by streaks of flame overhead.

  Icers hammered back across the square, tearing through a squad who’d run to support the defenders. Their bravery was their undoing as the others fled and they found themselves exposed, cut down in moments.

  ‘Get their cases!’ Anatin roared, knowing the dragoons would carry burners and grenades too.

  All of a sudden the gunfire tailed off, the last of the Charnelers abandoning their positions. Lynx knew it wouldn’t last, that it meant the next fight might be all the harder, but a pause for breath was necessary. He was almost out of cartridges and the rest would be the same. Not waiting for Sitain to distribute some he grabbed the nearest corpse and rifled through their cartridge case. Nine or ten icers went into his own, along with a couple from the next corpse before he handed them to the woman next to him. That was Braqe, the Jester of Tempest who despised Lynx for the actions of his people during the Hanese conquest. She grunted her thanks, enmity put aside for the fight.

  ‘Sitain!’ yelled a voice from the far side. ‘I need you!’

  The young mage blinked dumbly for a moment before realising it was Himbel, the company surgeon. She shrugged her plundered cases off her shoulders and scampered through the shattered mess of barricade as a wail of panicked pain cut the air.

  ‘Catch your breath, get ready to move,’ Teshen said, checking over his troops.

  Lynx looked around. Other than Flinth, Tempest hadn’t lost anyone, but he could see the bodies of several Cards lying still behind them. A burly, taciturn man called Sandath lay on his back, arms outstretched as though welcoming the icer that had torn open his chest. Another, Hald – a sandy-haired, grinning monkey of a man – lay crumpled in a ball further back, never to laugh again judging by the blood on his head.

  ‘We’re coming out on the canal,’ Suth called, advancing towards the far end of the square. ‘One last push and we’re there.’

  In the distance, the battle intensified, the snaps of icers and rolling booms of earthers followed by the thunder and shake of collapsing buildings. Lynx looked around once more, this time seeing more scars of battle on the once-beautiful city. There were faces at the windows too – scared, pale citizens peeking out only to shrink back as Lynx turned towards them.

  The lower floors were most damaged, but nothi
ng looked ready to fall so there was little to be done. A grenade had ripped away one corner of a building, some stone-built townhouse, while the packed earth and cultivated shrubbery was furrowed and torn – mostly by the Cards in their savage assault. Glass shards were scattered across the street, a dull glitter amid the dust and splinters.

  ‘Burners!’ called Aben, who’d gone to inspect the dead dragoons after first checking the street behind.

  He checked inside one case then swung it by the strap and flung it back to the mercenaries. Lynx wasn’t the only one to catch his breath at that, but Toil plucked the case from the air with ease and brought it down gently. She’d been wounded, he realised – jacket ripped open at the point of one shoulder and blood showing underneath, but not badly given she was still using the arm.

  Teshen went to gather another case and handed out what few cartridges he could to each of the named cards of his suit, Llaith, Lynx and Braqe. Only two burners, but better than nothing when firepower was the only thing keeping them alive. Llaith was also injured, his jacket open and showing a bloody bandage covering a flesh wound in his side.

  ‘Himbel, ready to go?’ Anatin yelled, striding after Suth.

  ‘Almost!’

  Lynx followed Teshen round and saw it was Darm, wounded in his shoulder given the attentions he was receiving. He lay on his back, pawing feebly at Sitain as she pressed her hands to the wound – but he stopped screaming after her magic had done its work. His coat was slashed apart, exposing black spiderweb tattoos half-obscured by smeared blood.

  ‘It’s time,’ Toil declared. ‘You’ve done all you can. Either the locals help him or he waits until this fight is over, that’s all there is.’

  Himbel nodded, face grim but he’d seen enough battlefields to know that. You could patch up some injuries, give your friends a chance at least, but the fight waited for no one. Sitain looked more conflicted about abandoning Darm, but Himbel took her by the elbow and she was so drained already she didn’t have the strength to resist.