~~~
Nice trap, thought Thord as a Human appeared in front of him a bare hand of hands away. No attention was being paid to his side of the river at all. It is time to make them pay for that. He hadn’t liked seeing an image of himself burst into flame and beat at itself as he and his sheep headed for the water on the other side of the bridge. It wasn’t perfect and he had noticed that the image floated far too high in the water, but the ambushers hadn’t and that was all that was important. The man had a wand in his hand. He would be first.
~~~
You were not really supposed to do this, thought Rani as she used a wand in each hand. It was slightly more inaccurate, even if it was fun. Flame burst from each as she aimed at the one she thought was the mage. That the first blast only just caught him and the second missed confirmed that as being likely, mages having a natural resistance to magic. She now had his full attention and he was turning to face her with a wand of his own and his back pressed to the tree. He was calling something when an arrow someone had fired went into his open mouth and pinned him to the tree. It must have passed straight through and a look of surprise appeared on his face as he began to topple forward. His head slid along the shaft as he did so until the feathers went into his mouth and he fell to the ground.
She kept up firing at him and was rewarded as the mage’s body shuddered. As most mages did, even her, there was a contingent cure spell set to be triggered if he passed a certain level of sustained damage. That arrow could have done that on its own, a good or a lucky shot. Who cared? The mage’s mind was already trying to get his body back under control as it returned to some degree of health and it was her job to stop that. She fired twice, three times more. Whichever of her archers had fired the first arrow had realised what would happen just as she had and had kept firing as well. Soon the body was lying twitching on the ground as a few more shafts thudded into it one after another to make sure the mage was not trying to be cunning.
She was convinced. He had no more cures in operation. Now, who was left among their attackers? She scanned along the creek ahead of her. There was no movement apart from an archer from Haven wearing just a kilt, his long sword still sheathed on his back. The man lay half in the water screaming, twitching and obviously dying. Another shaft hit him and he gave a last wail and expired.
~~~
Trying to manipulate this many images was hard, Theodora thought. Her teachers had tried to make her push herself and she thought that she had—at the time. Now she realised that they had been easy on her. She had to watch what was happening and to react to it. She was bending her hand and sending her puppets in different directions. She realised that the images of the packhorses were galloping over the water and she moved to pull them back to the road. Her opponents didn’t seem to see that mistake—thankfully. She was reduced to making random noises and screams instead of tailoring them—it was getting too hard to try and match them to the people. Once hit and on the ground she was leaving the images alone and uncontrolled. That made things a little easier, but it also left the image repeating its actions on a loop. Had the arrows stopped coming in?
She paused and looked, unaware that her own image, the only one still on its horse and intact had also stopped now that her fingers had. She hadn’t been able to bring herself to kill, or even seriously hurt, her own image and she had not been happy about hurting her lover’s image either and had settled for just leaving her lying still possibly just unconscious. Basil’s avatar had been surprisingly hard for her to hurt as well. It now just lay in the water behind the bridge.
At least things seemed to be in hand as far as the combat was concerned. It had all worked as a stratagem. Good. Now it was time for her to relax. She realised that she was suddenly feeling very tired and very thirsty. Theodora took a step out of her pattern towards Basil and went to ask for something to drink.
~~~
I will bet she is so far drained that she will be asleep for a day, thought Basil as Theodora stepped towards him. He could see her eyes already glazing over as she fell towards him. Hopefully that is all she has done and she has not taken any permanent harm. He had seen mages do this before, using so much mana that they were completely drained and as limp as a dishrag after it had been used in the washing up for a whole tagma. Sometimes they had gone too far and were never able to cast again or even were un-minded. He didn’t think that was likely. She had been in control right up until everything just stopped or kept looping. As he lowered her to the ground he looked up and saw that the images ahead of him were slowly becoming transparent and misty.
He looked along the line. Rani was firing wands with long pauses between blasts. Thord, Stefan and Ayesha were all still shooting. None of them seemed harmed at all. He turned to see Father Christopher hurrying up towards where he crouched over his charge. Behind the priest Bianca was already bringing the horses up, her own two openly getting in the way as they stood on each side of her.
~~~
Rani could hear her people all around her. From somewhere invisible up the creek came Astrid’s voice.
“All clear this side.”
After a short pause, from beside her and making her almost wince, came Stefan’s call. “They are all dead here,” he yelled.
Around her the others could be heard celebrating in their own way. Caution seemed to have been thrown away for at least and instant. It had to be Hulagu up near Astrid who just let out a yell that was almost the howl of a wolf. It would be Ayesha who ululated in elation. She looked around. Theodora lay on the ground behind her, her head on Basil’s lap and the priest bent over her. What had happened? Quickly she launched herself in that direction only to realise that Basil didn’t seem concerned and the priest was already standing up.
“She seems fine,” Christopher said as he raised a hand palm forward to slow her rush. “She is asleep and probably exhausted, but her breathing is even and her pulse strong. You may not know, but priests can also often sense life force, and hers is strong. Leave her with Basil and organise the rest.”
Rani turned to do that and realised this was already in hand. Stefan had people already crossing the bridge and, when she came out into the open herself she could see that Astrid and Hulagu must have come across through the creek as they were already recovering arrows.
~~~
Damn, thought Stefan as he looked at faces. He knew these people. Two were from Evilhalt itself, another two from assarts to the west and the rest were ones he had seen with various caravans. As far as he could remember all of the locals were single men and related.
A pair of brothers and the others cousins—he tried hard to remember anything about them—parents dead and none of them with a real trade or good at much except what would suit them to an easy life of being guards for traders—certainly not good enough for cadre. He even recognised the mage and the two Hindi men. Somewhere there should be horses. It seemed that whoever didn’t like the people he had attached himself to, had either hired themselves people who didn’t have many scruples or else had a local group working for them and helping the bandits. When he thought about it, it had all seemed like just an exciting story to him before this. It didn’t seem like just a story now. He wondered how much more there was waiting for them and what their enemies had found out about their destination. It was indeed a pity that none of their ambushers were still alive. From what he had heard, they could have given them to Bianca to find out more about what was happening and why.
Glossary
Adeela Strand: a legendary beachside holiday spot in the south for the rich of Haven with flawless white sand.
Adversary: a term used in various religions and traditions to denote the evil side of theology.
Aissa Flow: a major river starting in the plains and ending in the sea in Freehold. It is navigable by sailing ships to the town of Brickshield. Known to the Khitan as Aisi Darya. It ends near Glengate.
Alat-kharl: one of the races of Kharl. They live (where possible) in heavy forests
and jungles where they enjoy clearing forest and building things. They are found in the trade quarters of most towns as well. These are the artisan Kharl; although they are just as happy to enjoy close combat as others. They are usually coloured in an unattractive green-brown mottling pattern. They enjoy embellishing their tusks with gold and silver inlay.
Alhambra: Palace / fortress of the Caliph in Dimashq.
Al-jihad al-Akbar: the Great Struggle against Satan or evil or the attempt to convert everyone to Islam, depending on context.
Al-kīmiyā: the Arabic word from which we get the word chemical.
Antdrudge: A major town, once known as Amtrage (in Old Speech), it is located on an island near the mouth of the Butsin River in the far north-west of Darkreach. It is a major site of manufacturing.
Antikataskopeía: a part of the Army who are also police. Sometimes they are in uniform and sometimes they are not. The term may be translated as ‘secret police’, for they are responsible for looking for subversion, spies and treason as much as normal criminals.
Ardlark: Capital of the Empire of Darkreach and near the furthest east in The Land. It is by far the largest city known (twice the size of Ashvaria and four times that of Sacred Gate and Trekvarna) with several walls and many outlying settlements.
Ashvaria: the capital of Freehold and its largest city. The Queen resides there and it is the home of the Pope.
Asperser: a pierced metal ball on a stick, often made of silver or gold, which is used to cast Holy Water.
Assarts: small clearings and farms, sometimes these will stay just a single family, but some will grow to become hamlets and then villages.
Axebeak: These birds are one of the greatest menaces on the plains, in forests and in swamps. They are large (2.5 metre tall) and flightless with a large bite and two large claws. They give their name to one of the clans of the Kara-Khitan.
Axepol: Once called Erskine, it is a large manufacturing town located on the sea at the mouth of the Sasar River at the west of the Great Plain. Home of the Metropolitan of The Plains.
Babu: Hindi for a clerk or servant.
Baerami River: a tributary of the Aissa Flow that curls back towards the north-west.
Baklava: a common sweet dessert delicacy in the Caliphate and Darkreach.
Battle mage: a Fire mage of the Kshatya or Brahmin caste in Haven is a battle mage. They are an army officer and well paid even when studying. They learn spells of destruction and combat as well as military tactics and weapons use.
Bear-folk: supposedly a reclusive group of alleged shape-shifters, or maybe they just keep bears as totem animals. They live in the foothills of the Southern Mountains.
Betterberries: This is a species of small shrub (up to one metre tall) with dark green leaves and small spikes. It occurs in northern and southern forests. It has small white flowers. If its berries are picked in autumn, they can be used to magically cure a minor amount of damage when they are eaten.
Bison: a plains animal and also a clan of the Kara-Khitan.
Bodhran: a small round and flat drum usually played with a two-ended beater.
Boyuk-Kharl: Once only another kharl tribe, the Boyuk-kharl are now a completely separate species being larger, stronger and smarter than other kharl. They also cope better with strong light, being on the same level as Humans. Although sometimes used as officers for other Kharl units, inherent Boyuk-kharl racism often leads to conflict and tension within their command. Boyuk-kharl units are often the Kharl who are given isolated and independent commands, although in battle they are the vanguard. They are fond of water and can often be found in ships.
Brahmins: the religious caste of Haven.
Brickshield: a large village and castle on the Baerami River in Freehold. Once known as Richfield, it exists mainly for defence and is the seat of the Earl of the Marches, but has a substantial agricultural area with sheep and grain production, a market each week day and an annual fair around St Cuthbert’s Day. It is the main setting off point for traders across the plains and the head of navigation on the Aissa/Baerami river system.
Brotherhood, the: the Brotherhood of All Believers is a schismatic sect of neo-Calvinists who have set up a theocratic state in the north-west of The Land.
Burning, the: also called The Plague by some cultures, this was a great plague that ravaged The Land for over a hundred years. There have been no known outbreaks for nearly twenty years. Victims have a fever and gradually develop a mania that forces them to burn and destroy anything that they can. It is thought that only a tenth of the people survived the disease and the devastation caused by its sufferers. Many towns and other settlements were lost or abandoned.
Camail: a piece of mail hanging from the helmet and protecting the neck and shoulders.
Cantrip: another name for a spell
Caravanserai: an Arabic term for a place that is mainly for an overnight stay rather than local food and drink.
Circus, the: A large construction in many Darkreach towns where public combat takes place, either exhibition matches or fights to the death among criminals. That in Ardlark holds a significant proportion of the city.
Circus Maximus, the: an oval area for racing horses and other beasts.
Cold Keep: the most northerly settlement of Darkreach in the arboreal forests east of the mountains on the coast.
Cow Lizard: This is the prototypical ceratopsian that lives in the plains and forests. They have two large and one small horn. Although largely herbivorous, they will eat carrion. They travel in herds. They are also the totem beast of a clan of the Kara-Khitan.
Dar al-salaam: the House of Peace, an Arabic expression for the whole group of Believers.
Dagh Ordu: Khitan term for a large monolith in the southern plains. It is known as The Rock to others. It is forbidden for non-Khitan to go near it. A dragon lives inside the top.
Darkreach: a multi-racial Empire that takes up the east of The Land. Ruled by Hrothnog it most closely resembles the Roman Empire of Constantinople at its best.
Darkreach Gap: also known just as the Gap. It is the only pass through the mountains and runs from Nameless Keep to Mouthguard. The Methul River starts in it.
Darkspeech (half-Kharl): the most commonly used tongue in Darkreach.
Dating: years run over a 48 year cycle with the twelve zodiacal signs used on Vhast and the elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water. There are twelve months of equal length, each having six weeks of six days. The first parts of the story take part in the Year of the Water Dog.
Deathguard Tower: a strongly fortified village with a large garrison that watches over the burial mounds that cover the Funereal Hills.
Delver, The: a tavern in Kharlsbane.
Deodanth: The deodanths are a feared race that is spread throughout The Land. They only live in small family groups consisting of a bonded pair and up to four children. Children leave the family upon reaching puberty and will generally roam around either on their own or with one or two others of the same gender until they bond. Deodanths are like large Humans with black skin—not Negroid but black. Their eyes also have black pupils. They are almost exclusively carnivores and particularly like Human flesh. Their teeth are therefore adapted more for rending than chewing, being long and pointy.
Denarii: plural of denarius, a gold coin of Darkreach that weighs 4.5g and is worth 450 nummus.
Dimashq: the capital of the Caliphate on the shores of the lake called Buhairet Tabariyya in the fertile mountain plain known as the Rãhit. It is a very large town rather than a full city.
Dire wolf: A large canine, with several sub-species, which is found on the plains, in mountains and one variety is even found underground. It is the largest of the wolves. The animal also gives its name to one of the clans of the Kara-Khitan.
Dochra: it is located on the shore of the Nu-I Lake to the southwest of Ardlark in the Great Plain. There is an artesian spring leading down to a small wet section of the lake. It has an oasis around it for growing dates and other
crops.
Doumbec: a small hand drum.
Dwarf (Dwarves/Dwarven): a race of humanoids that tend to live below ground. Most people cannot tell if there are any female dwarves as all of them are bearded and similar in appearance. They are skilled miners and artisans. Dwarves are one of the few races that are not fertile with Humans.
Dwarvenholme: the long-lost capital of the Dwarves. Many people regard its existence as a myth.
Intimations of Evil (Warriors of Vhast Book 1) Page 39