How could a mere word cause such feelings? How could it make her brothers and sisters get up and follow Obli?
She stopped again, a fearful panic rising in her, threatening to choke her as she grappled with its implications.
‘You okay?’ Sami asked.
‘What if it’s not a holy man, Sami?’ she said, her voice quavering. ‘What if… holy fuck, oh no, please no.’
She collapsed to her knees, trying to breathe.
‘Shella!’ Sami cried, putting his arm around her.
She stared at him. ‘What if they’re all following Obli?’
They ran together through the streets, over long bridges, alongside canals, into the steadily thickening crowds.
Masses of people were all heading in the same direction: west. Everywhere Shella looked, more were joining the flow, having come from every corner of Arakhanah within reach. If the rumour spread to the entire city, then tomorrow would be even busier, and the days to come. No child or older person could be seen in the crowd, whose ages ranged from late teens to forties. Many were smiling, or laughing, and looked relaxed, as if they were on a day out.
‘What are you doing?’ she had asked the first group they had come across.
‘Leaving,’ they had replied, laughing as if a load had been lifted from their shoulders.
‘Why are you going west?’ Shella had persisted.
‘To hear the one who called us to leave.’
When he had heard that, even Sami was convinced that Obli was somehow involved.
They pushed their way through the masses of people, edging closer to the front of the crowds, then halted as they reached a bridge over an arm of the river. Hundreds were lined up in queues waiting to cross.
‘We need to move faster,’ Shella said. ‘Where is there on the western side of the city that could hold thousands of people?’
‘There are the big fields over in Newmarsh District,’ Sami replied. ‘Used to grow rice, but they all dried up when they diverted the canals a few years back.’
‘Big, dry, empty fields?’
He nodded.
‘Okay,’ she said, ‘how do we get there quicker than everyone else?’
‘Boat,’ he whispered.
She nodded, and they slipped out of the crowd to the left, away from the bridge, and toward the riverside quay a mile upstream.
She swore as they reached the dockside’s long pier.
‘Seems like others have had the same idea,’ Sami said, looking down at the empty wharves.
‘Wait,’ she said. ‘There’s one.’
They sprinted down the pier, towards a single-sailed barge, the captain punting from the rear of the craft.
‘Hoy!’ Shella shouted.
The captain looked up.
‘You for hire?’ Shella asked, as they came alongside the craft.
‘Sure,’ he said. ‘Jump aboard.’
Shella and Sami stepped down into the flat-bottomed barge, and the captain moved across to the other end, which then became the rear.
‘Let me guess,’ he said, smiling. ‘Newmarsh District, by any chance?’
‘Yeah,’ Shella replied. ‘How did you know?’
‘This will be my fourth trip in the last couple of hours,’ he chuckled, patting the stuffed money-belt at his waist. ‘Thirty bits each, please.’
‘What?’ Sami shouted. ‘You’re joking!’
‘You can go back to walking if you like,’ the captain said. ‘I can turn around now?’
‘No,’ Shella said, sitting on the wooden bench running down the centre of the barge. ‘We’ll pay.’
The captain pushed the pole down into the shallow mud-bed, and the barge moved off. The wind picked up as they left the shelter of the harbour, and the sail snapped and filled. The captain pulled the pole back up into the barge, and squatted by the rudder, guiding the craft as it skipped through the rougher waters of the river.
Brick-built houses, workshops, warehouses, depots, harbours and quays flew past on either side, as their craft raced through the city.
‘There’s so much of it,’ Shella said.
‘And this is just one tiny corner,’ Sami said. ‘Imagine going on a tour of the whole thing.’
‘Imagine leaving it.’
He looked at her.
‘Do you want to?’ he asked.
‘Do you?’
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘And no. I want to, but I’m scared. Where would we go?’
‘There’s nowhere to go,’ she said, spitting over the side of the barge. ‘That’s the problem.’
‘And how would you know?’
‘There’s something I haven’t told you,’ she said. ‘A while back, I went up north for a job interview at the big reclamation project.’
‘When?’ he asked. ‘Wait, that time you told me you were working a short contract out on the salt pans?’
‘Yeah.’
‘It worries me Shella, that you can lie so easily, even to me.’
‘I didn’t tell anyone about the job,’ she said. ‘I didn’t want it getting out, when I hadn’t decided if I even wanted it or not. Anyway, I went up there for a couple of days, saw the project, and got to read through their survey reports. Did you know that we’ve been sending out scouts for years, decades even? Searching all around, looking for anywhere to settle.’
She turned to face him.
‘There’s nowhere, Sami.’
‘So that’s it, then?’ he said. ‘Is that what you’re going to tell Obli when we find her?’
Shella shook her head, saying nothing. Her mind was a blur of emotions, raging against each other. Desire against fear, hope against despair. What would she say to Obli?
‘Here we are,’ the captain said, as they pulled alongside a section of dilapidated harbour. ‘Can’t take you any closer, I’m afraid. As you can see, the waterway ahead is blocked.’
Shella paid the captain, and they climbed up the wooden pier. From the top they could see hundreds of vessels, from tiny skiffs to large galleys, filling the river upstream of where they stood. To their left, behind the harbour buildings, were the big fields that Sami had mentioned.
They were filled with thousands of Rakanese, who packed every corner of the vast open space, and the streets and roads round about. There were tents dotted across the fields, and everywhere the noise of people echoed through the air. The atmosphere was festive, as if everyone was enjoying one of the more relaxed holy days.
‘There must be sixty thousand people here,’ Sami said, looking around.
‘And this is just the beginning.’
Shella and Sami barged and elbowed their way through the pressing crowds, heading towards a cluster of tents in the middle of the first field, guessing that this might be where Obli could be found.
It was slow going, and the sun had passed its peak by the time they approached a cordoned-off area. Surrounding the cluster of tents was a ring of men and women, each with a scarlet sash tied round their left arm. Every one of them held a long spear, and they were keeping the crowds from getting too close to the tents.
Several of them aimed their weapons at Shella and Sami as they pushed their way to the front. The noise was almost overwhelming, with thousands of raised voices.
‘We need to see Oblikanawara!’ Shella shouted at the guards.
‘Yeah,’ one replied, ‘you and everyone else.’
‘She’s our sister!’ Shella yelled.
The guard smirked. ‘We’re all brothers and sisters now.’
‘Wait,’ Sami cut in, before Shella could say something stupid. ‘What about our brother, Commander Pavukanawara? Can we see him, please?’
The guards looked at each other. ‘Names?’ one said.
‘Shella and Samikanawara,’ Sami replied.
‘Okay, stay here,’ the guard said. ‘I’ll be back in a minute.’
As he raced off towards the tents, Shella looked at Sami.
‘How did you know?’ she said.
‘I had a hunch,’ he sa
id, ‘that if anyone in the family was going to start up a group of vigilantes, it’d be him.’
Shella nodded. ‘Fair enough.’
Their brother Pavu soon approached, and Shella and Sami were waved through the cordon, and into the relative calm of the cluster of tents.
‘Glad to see you made it, Shella,’ Pavu said. ‘I’m surprised at you though, Sami. I had you down as a stay-at-home.’
‘Noli asked us to come,’ Shella said, earning a snort of derision from Pavu. ‘We haven’t decided if we’re part of… whatever this is, yet.’
‘This is the beginning of the new world, Shella!’ Pavu said, stretching out his long muscular arms. ‘Obli will lead us to a future where we can live freely, and…’
‘Cut the crap, Pavu,’ Shella said. ‘None of you know the first damn thing about what you’re doing.’
Before Pavu could respond, she swept past a couple of guards into the largest tent.
There, in the centre, she saw Obli standing, a crowd assembled in a half circle before her.
She looked radiant and composed. Sunlight was entering the tent through an opening, and a shaft fell across her, illuminating her long, white gown. She was wearing a wreath of flowers on her head; water-lilies and orchids.
‘She looks like a vision!’ Sami gasped.
Obli saw them both, and smiled.
‘Come,’ she said. ‘Friends, this is Shella, who I have spoken of before. She is to be treated with the utmost respect.’
The crowd moved to let her through.
‘Sister,’ Shella said. ‘May we speak in private?’
Obli nodded. She took Shella and Sami through to a small enclosed sitting room at the rear of the tent, while a guard took up position outside.
As soon as they were alone, Shella reached out and grabbed Obli’s arm.
‘What the hell are you doing, Obli?’ Shella whisper-shouted. ‘Where are you leading these people?’
Obli’s mouth opened in shock.
‘We’re leaving!’ she said, her smile returning.
‘Yeah, so I hear,’ Shella said. ‘Only, where? Where are you going?’
‘Oh, I don’t know yet, exactly,’ Obli replied. ‘In some ways, it doesn’t matter. We will choose a direction, and begin. And somewhere along the way, we will find our new home.’
‘Are you fucking insane?’
‘Calm down, Shella!’ Sami said, pulling Obli free.
Shella closed her eyes and breathed, trying to regain her composure.
‘So, Obli,’ she said, ‘there’s no plan?’
‘Plan?’ said Obli. ‘How could there be a plan? This migration is fated, it’s destiny, and I am merely the spark that lit the fire.’
Shella shook her head.
‘But what about water supplies, food, maps, tents, wagons, or where people are going to take a dump? You’ll need to list all the flow and clay mages you have, and get them organised. And how are you going to gather the money to pay for everything? You’ll have to fleece the migrants for cash and donations. Also, you’ll need…’
‘This is good, Shella,’ Obli said. ‘This is exactly why I need you here. I don’t know anything about these details, but you do.’ She opened the tent flap and called for someone.
Moments later a young man came in, with a pencil and paper.
‘Write down everything she says,’ Obli instructed him.
‘Shella,’ she said. ‘From the very beginning, please.’
Shella sighed, a long sigh of resignation.
‘Okay,’ she said. ‘Water, let’s start there.’
A few hours later, Shella and Sami stumbled back out into the daylight.
‘My head hurts,’ Sami said. ‘How do you know all that stuff?’
‘What I advised back there,’ she said, ‘is probably out-weighed ten to one by what I don’t know, and can’t foresee.’
‘Seemed pretty thorough to me.’
One of her recommendations had already been put into action. All members of the leadership now carried a token, moulded on the spot by a clay mage, which would allow them passage through Pavu’s guards.
Others were entering the cordoned-off area just as they were departing. To their right stood representatives of the Rakanese parliaments, councils, unions and assemblies. Beyond them, Shella could also see a party of delegates from the embassy of the Realm of the Holdings, their height and dark skin standing out among the shorter, paler Rakanese.
Sami raised an eyebrow. ‘What do they want?’
‘If I had to guess,’ Shella said, ‘it would be to make sure that Obli doesn’t set off in the direction of their lands.’
‘Which way do they live?’
‘Far to the north-west,’ Shella said. ‘The Forbidden Mountains run north almost to the ocean, but there’s a narrow pass at the coast that leads to a plateau, which the Holdings farm. The pass is blocked with a wall.’
‘Who built it?’ Sami asked, as they moved back through the thick crowds.
‘They did.’
The sun was low in the western sky by the time Shella and Sami reached their family home in Brackenwell. Exhausted and hungry, they trudged up the steps to the front door and let themselves in. The sound of children was coming from the dining room, so they headed in that direction.
Noli was at the head of the table, exactly where they had last seen her. Shella wondered if she had moved from the seat the whole time. She looked more tired than they did. Around the table sat all of the brothers and sisters who had remained, and the children sat two to each adult.
‘Shella!’ Noli cried as she saw them approach. ‘Where is Obli?’
Shella sat at the table, and pulled a dish of food towards her.
‘She’s not coming back,’ she said, as she started to eat.
‘Is it true?’ said Lenni.
‘Is what true?’ Shella replied, mouth full of food.
‘That Obli is leading them?’ he said, his voice rising in exasperation.
‘Yeah.’
The adults at the table let out a collective gasp. Noli put her head in her hands.
‘We didn’t believe it,’ Zonnie said, ‘when people started coming round to tell us that Obli was in charge of this madness. I mean, half the city following Obli?’
‘Did you speak to her?’ Chapu asked.
‘Yeah.’
‘I take it she didn’t listen to what you had to say?’ Lenni said.
Sami glanced at her.
‘Look,’ Shella said. ‘This whole thing is way bigger than us now. Half the family are sat here, while the other half are out in a field on the edge of the city, but remember that the same thing is happening in every house in this entire quarter. And tomorrow it will spread to the rest of the city.’
‘At least you’ve come back to us,’ Noli said. ‘Thank you for that.’
‘Well,’ she said, shifting in her seat, ‘not exactly.’
‘What do you mean?’ Noli asked, her face hardening.
‘Sami and I,’ she said, ‘are only here to tell you what happened. And to get our things.’
The table fell into silence.
‘You’re not leaving,’ Noli said. ‘I absolutely forbid it.’
Shella sat back in her chair. ‘Ahh, Noli,’ she sighed. ‘I’ve been meaning to have this conversation with you for a while. I’m a grown adult, and you cannot tell me what to do.’
‘While you live under my roof…’
‘Precisely,’ Shella said, ‘and as of today, that is no longer the case. I’m leaving.’
‘This madness will lead to nothing but ruin!’ Noli cried, angry tears spilling from her eyes.
‘Maybe,’ Shella said. ‘Maybe not. It’ll be hard, but we may find a new home.’
‘Not for the ones that leave!’ Noli screamed. ‘For those left behind! Who will work in the fields and factories? Who will keep the salt and sewage from the water? Who will grow the food for the spawn pools? We will be a land of children and old folk, with almost
everyone of working age gone!’ She wept, rage twisting her face. ‘You selfish bastards. You’ve got an hour. Get your things, then get out.’
Shella and Sami were packed and ready in half the time, and stole out of the house, avoiding the anger and resentment emanating from those siblings choosing to stay behind.
In the dimness of the street lamps, they made their torturous way back west to Newmarsh District. The crowds were still growing, heaving, and flowing like a river towards Obli.
At the inner cordon their new clay tokens got them through the lines of guards, and they walked into the command tent as Obli was speaking.
They waited in a corner, as Obli delegated out several responsibilities, for wagons, a treasury, stores, logistics, water stocks, sometimes repeating word for word what Shella had told her earlier.
Please don’t rely on me, Shella silently begged her sister.
When Obli had finished, she looked up and beckoned Shella and Sami over.
‘Listen friends,’ she said to the crowd in front of her, as Shella positioned herself by Obli’s side. ‘This is my sister Shella. She is my most trusted mage and counsellor, and stands to my right at the very heart of this holy migration. And bear witness to me now, as I hereby appoint Shella as my deputy and second in command. You will listen to her words, and obey them as if they were my own.’
She turned, smiling at Shella, who felt a weight the size of a mountain range form in the pit of her stomach.
‘I present to you Shellakanawara,’ Obli said to the crowd, who fell to their knees, their heads bowed. ‘The Most Holy Migration’s High Mage!’
With that, Obli stood aside, to allow Shella to bask in the adulation of the kneeling crowd.
Oh fuck, she thought.
Chapter 7
Bars Between
Rahain Capital, Rahain Republic – 26th Day, First Third Summer 504
Daphne tried to imagine herself as a killer. True, she had taken the lives of many in the Sanang forest, and during her escape from the Holdings, but that was as a soldier, or in self defence. What she was being asked to do now was different. Murder.
Douanna and Teolan had filled her head to bursting that first night in Jade Falls, trying to persuade her of the righteousness of their cause. They had targeted several key members of the war coalition for their greed, arrogance and aggressive natures. They had no interest in creating the conditions for a coup, they had told her. They merely wanted to nudge Rahain back onto its proper course, as they saw it.
The Magelands Box Set Page 9