The Magelands Box Set

by Christopher Mitchell

  ‘We saw them,’ Larissa said, ‘over the ridge three miles from here.’

  ‘We’ll leave them be,’ Killop said, ‘unless they venture any closer to the valley.’

  ‘Another day stuck here, then,’ Dominic frowned. ‘The map must be wrong. We arrived four days ago, and there’s been no sign of any city.’

  ‘That’s because it’s beneath our feet, dumbass,’ Bridget said. ‘We just need to find a way in.’ She picked up a stick, and began drawing in the dirt.

  ‘Look,’ she said, drawing a straight line. ‘That’s the far edge of the valley, to our east, where the entire mountain range drops away hundreds of feet. We’re here.’ She drew a cross. ‘And the city is here.’ She drew a half circle around the cross.

  ‘But we’re running out of food,’ Dominic said. ‘Not being allowed to move during the day means we can’t get enough from hunting or fishing.’

  ‘The chief’s right on this,’ Bridget said. ‘If a single winged gaien locates our position, then our entire plan for settling here fails. We need to collect all the food and water we can from sunset to sunrise, until we find a way into the city.’

  ‘Folk are getting restless,’ Larissa said, ‘and you’ve no idea how difficult it is to keep control of a hundred bairns. The teenagers are pretty angry with us for separating the two throwers from the others, and keeping them at the opposite end of the camp.’

  ‘Believe me,’ Killop said, ‘I know the problems teenage mages can cause. It’s for our own good that we keep the throwers away from any sources of flame.’

  ‘Lilyann is going to be trouble,’ Larissa said, shaking her head. ‘The cheek of that lassie.’

  ‘Let me know if she causes any more problems,’ Killop said. ‘We’ll tie her up if we have to.’

  Bridget laughed.

  Killop turned to her. ‘Get the scouts out at sunset.’

  ‘Some aren’t back yet from last night,’ Bridget said.

  ‘Then feed them, rest them, and send them out again as soon as they’re able.’

  She nodded.

  ‘We should get some sleep,’ he said, lying down in the shadow of the branches. ‘It’s going to be another long night of chasing rabbits and collecting berries.’

  Killop slumbered in a half-doze, his mind flitting from Daphne to the memory of the vast Rahain caverns he had seen while a slave in their capital. Daphne had lived there the whole time he had been a captive, and he tried to picture where she might had stayed, though he had never seen it.

  His heart groaned from the waste. They had been so close to each other for nearly a year, and he had only seen her twice in that entire time. He remembered he had avoided her when she had visited Laodoc’s mansion, to avoid upsetting Kallie. If only he had acted on his feelings, then they might have spent more time together, and she might not have died.

  Someone touched his arm.

  He opened his eyes. It was still daytime, though the sun was lowering in the western sky.

  ‘Scout’s have returned,’ Bridget said.

  ‘Good news?’

  She nodded, and grinned.

  ‘Thank fuck.’

  He followed her to where two exhausted young scouts were lying under the shade of a thick canopy of brambles, their clothes covered in dust and grime.

  ‘Chief,’ one of them gasped.

  ‘Don’t get up,’ Bridget said. ‘Rest, and make sure you get plenty of water.’

  They nodded. Killop noticed that they were twins, from the children’s camp, two of the oldest they had found, but still young. A flash of guilt passed through him at the knowledge of how hard he had been driving his people.

  ‘Tell me,’ he said as they gulped down water from skins, ‘what did you find?’

  As soon as it got dark, Killop set off, taking the young scouts, Bridget, Larissa and half a dozen warriors. The twins led them for several hours along a ravine that forked off from the main valley east of their camp.

  When the seven stars had passed overhead, the twins stopped, and pointed at the side of the cliff, where a small patch of deepest black stood out in the darkness.

  ‘Bridget,’ Killop said, ‘you’re a good climber.’

  She made a gesture in the dark that he couldn’t make out, and turned to the cliffside. She leapt, and scrambled up the rough slope, until she disappeared into the black void.

  Killop strained his eyes, and saw her head appear over the side.

  ‘It’s an easy climb,’ she said. ‘Even you should be able to manage it, Chief.’

  They took it in turns to scale the side of the cliff, up to the edge of a cave.

  ‘It goes straight for fifty yards, Chief, then turns down and to the right,’ said one of the scouts.

  Killop nodded, and they began walking into the tunnel. The darkness within was utter, and he put his hand up onto the smooth wall to guide his way. He felt the turn, and the ground began to slope away from them. Once they had gone twenty paces past the corner, he stopped the others.

  ‘Torch,’ he said.

  One of the warriors pulled out a long bundle from a bag he was carrying.

  ‘Cover your eyes,’ Killop said as he took the end of the torch.

  He brought his hands close together. Sparks, like small streaks of lightning, arced out from his fingers, the blinding light filling the tunnel. He aimed the sparks at the torch, and it burst into flames.

  ‘We might have to pair you with Lilyann, Chief,’ Larissa said, leaning back against the wall. ‘You’re probably the only sparker who could control her.’

  Killop grimaced.

  ‘I’ve seen what he’s like with women,’ Bridget said. ‘She’d have him wrapped around her little finger in no time.’

  ‘Don’t tell me ye used to go out with him?’ Larissa said. ‘I thought there was something between the two of ye.’

  ‘What?’ Bridget cried. ‘Fuck no. He’s shagged two of my best friends. Do you think I’d go near him?’

  Killop heard some of the warriors snigger.

  ‘Fucksake you two,’ he said. ‘I know you love talking about my sex-life, but not in front of the scouts.’

  Larissa started to blush, then scowled instead, while Bridget bit her tongue.

  Killop looked around, his eyes attuned to the light. The walls were smooth, like underground river channels.

  He turned to the twins. ‘How far did you get?’

  ‘Not much further than here, Chief,’ one said.

  ‘We recognised it as a tunnel,’ said the other.

  ‘And came back to report.’

  ‘Well done,’ Bridget said.

  Killop passed the torch to a warrior, and they made their way down the tunnel. The slope went on for a few minutes, then opened out into a vast chamber, carved out of the rock. The torchlight did not extend up to the ceiling, which hung in the gloom above their heads. Broken fragments of stone lay scattered across the ground, each coated in a thick layer of dust.

  One of the warriors coughed.

  ‘This will take some cleaning,’ Bridget said.

  ‘The whole clan could fit in this room,’ Larissa said.

  Killop nodded at Bridget.

  ‘You two,’ she said to the scouts, ‘go back to the camp and tell Dominic to bring the whole clan up here. Tell him to send groups of thirty, spaced out. Take two nights if necessary, but secrecy is the priority. You got that?’

  They nodded.

  ‘And you,’ Killop said to a warrior, ‘go with them.’

  ‘Aye, Chief.’

  The three padded off back through the tunnel, disappearing into the darkness. Killop turned, gazing around the hall. Much of the broken stonework littering the floor appeared to have come from a giant statue, the pedestal of which stood in the room’s centre.

  Killop examined the inscription, engraved into a smooth stone plaque.

  ‘Grand Mage Moatoahan, Mother of Agonite City,’ he read.

  ‘Killop,’ Bridget said, from the far wall.

&nbs
p; He walked over. She was standing by a series of three enormous archways, which led from the hall in the opposite direction from where they had entered.

  ‘Which one shall we try first?’ she said.

  Killop shone his torch down each. The left went up, as did the right, but the central opening, which was by far the widest, sloped steadily down.

  ‘The middle one.’

  He turned, and beckoned the others. He took a fresh torch from a warrior and lit it from his own.

  ‘Larissa,’ he said, ‘you and the squad stay here. Start clearing up, and keep a torch lit. See if you can find any ventilation shafts. A cavern of this size must have a few.’

  ‘Aye, Chief. What will you be doing?’

  ‘Me and Bridget are going to explore.’

  ‘Have fun,’ Larissa said, a slight smirk at the corner of her lips.

  Bridget rolled her eyes, and followed Killop, and they entered the central tunnel.

  Together, they walked down the wide passageway, until the light from the hall behind them faded into darkness.

  ‘She fancies you, did you know that?’ Bridget said.

  ‘Larissa? No way. She barely likes me.’

  Bridget laughed. ‘That’s just her way. She’d never let on in front of you how she felt.’

  ‘I’m not thinking about seeing anyone else.’

  She nodded. ‘That’s what I figured.’

  The wide corridor levelled out. Ahead of them, the walls were marked with a long series of openings on each side. The ceiling of the main tunnel rose high above them.

  They kept walking, the light from the flame illuminating the carved reliefs on the walls between the openings. Depictions of mages, rulers and Rahain warriors adorned the delicate slabs. Traces of paint could be seen in the deep grooves of the sculptures.

  ‘It’s like they’ve only just left,’ Bridget said.

  Killop looked through one of the openings. ‘Another tunnel.’

  ‘We could be down here days, exploring,’ she said.

  ‘Let’s stick to the main route for now.’

  They walked on. After several minutes, Killop stopped.

  ‘Did you feel that?’

  ‘Aye,’ she said, ‘and I can smell it too. Fresh air.’

  After another minute, the tunnel came out into a vast boulevard, as grand as any they had seen in the capital. A wind was blowing from the left, a chill dawn breeze.

  They quickened their pace, and walked into the growing wind. They passed caverns on either side, but kept going until Killop thought he could see a pale glimmer ahead.

  He held the torch up into the wind, and a gust blew out the flames.

  As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he made out a lighter patch just ahead of them, and they inched forwards.

  The floor in front of them came to an abrupt end, falling away down into darkness. Killop and Bridget gazed up and around. It was like a knife had sliced through the huge tunnel at an angle, shearing away everything beyond with surgical precision.

  They gazed out into the grey dawn, a yellow glow of light growing from behind a range of mountains in the east. Below, the cliffs fell away to a valley hundreds of feet beneath them.

  ‘Fuck, Killop,’ Bridget said. ‘The edge of the city.’

  ‘The Severed City,’ he said, staring out.

  They stood side by side, and watched the sun rise over the mountains, sending golden rays of light down into the valley below, where a large river flowed amid brown and empty scrubland.

  ‘Look down there,’ Bridget said. ‘Maybe we should take the clan over that river, and into the mountain range on the far side. The Rahain would never find us there.’

  ‘No, Bridget,’ he said, ‘not when thousands of our folk are living as slaves on this side of the valley. We stay and we fight.’

  Killop awoke, alone in his dark chamber.

  He found the matches by his side, and lit the wick of the oil lamp. He waited as the flame took hold, sending a warm light throughout his small room.

  It had been nineteen days since they had discovered the Severed City, and he had awoken alone each morning since. Apart from prison, he couldn’t remember when he had last slept alone so often. On the road, and in their old camp, he had bunked up with others or stretched out under the seven stars, always where he could hear the snores and breathing of other people. In Laodoc’s academy, he had slept with Kallie, and before that he had been chained up with his fellow captives.

  There had been many times when he had longed for solitude and privacy, and now he had it in abundance.

  He had never woken up with Daphne, he realised. Never shared a bed with the woman he had loved more than anyone. A few moments of passion on his cell floor had been all the time together they had managed.

  He pushed his blankets to the side and got dressed. He blew out his lamp, pulled open the thick woven rug that was acting as a door, and stepped outside into a larger chamber. The bright dawn coming through a window to the east almost blinded him for a moment. He blinked, and smiled. Every morning, sunlight flooded the rooms where the clan had settled, having chosen to make their home on the edge of the rift.

  There was a long stone table in the centre of the chamber, its surface a massive single slab of limestone, with stone benches around. He had chosen this room as his chief’s hall. There was enough space around the table for forty, and the room could fit the entire clan if they squeezed in.

  Off the chamber were several smaller rooms, and it was here that his other captains slept: Dominic and Dyam in the room nearest the main door; Bridget in the room to Killop’s left, and Larissa the next room down.

  Kalden, who also had a room off the hall, was sitting at the table, relaxing in the sunlight. He was talking to Brodie, whose crutch was propped up against the bench.

  ‘Morning,’ Killop said to them as he sat. He took a cup, and filled it with water from a jug.

  ‘Chief,’ Kalden nodded.

  ‘How’s the new brew doing, Brodie?’ Killop asked. ‘Will any be ready for the ceremony?’

  ‘Aye, Chief,’ he said. ‘It’ll be a wee bit green, but it’ll do the business.’

  ‘At last,’ Kalden said. ‘I haven’t had a drink since the old camp. How come it’s took you so long?’

  ‘Fuck off,’ Brodie said. ‘I’ve not even had twenty days, and I had to practically set up from scratch, and that was only after I’d found a decent water supply. I’d like to see you fucking try to make ale any faster.’

  ‘Steady, old man,’ Kalden frowned. ‘I was only saying.’

  ‘Did you set up down by the wells?’

  ‘No, Chief,’ he said. ‘I’m over by the underground stream in the northern caverns. The water there is crystal clear, and fresher tasting than the stuff from the wells. It’s also next to the northern entrance gate, where there are berries and wild vines and hops growing. It’ll take some time, Chief, but I reckon I’ll be knocking out a fine brew before long, and then maybe I’ll set up a still.’

  ‘Have you taken on any apprentices yet?’ Killop asked.

  ‘I’ve got myself a boy and a girl,’ he said, ‘both wide-eyed and clueless. Still, they do what they’re told, mostly.’

  They looked up as the rest of his advisors entered the hall from the main passageway.

  Bridget and Larissa were laughing, Dominic and Draewyn were arguing and Dyam trailed along behind, blinking and looking tired. They quietened as they approached.

  ‘Good news,’ Killop said to them. ‘Brodie here says the ale will be ready for after the ceremony.’

  The others let out a small cheer.

  ‘About fucking time,’ someone muttered.

  ‘Will we let the children have any?’ Draewyn asked.

  ‘If they’re twelve or over,’ Bridget said. ‘None for the younger ones.’

  ‘As long as everybody remembers it’s only a few days old,’ Brodie frowned. ‘I’ve had to doctor it, to adjust the alcohol content, so no one blame me if you all
feel a bit grim tomorrow.’

  Killop watched as they all sat.

  ‘Today’s founding ceremony will mark a few changes. Bridget?’

  She nodded.

  ‘Since we arrived,’ she said to the others, ‘we’ve been busy exploring, clearing up, discovering hidden corners of our new city, but we’ve got to get ourselves more organised. We need to start thinking about the future, about how we can bring in more food, and grow our own. We were lucky to find the fish pools in the lower caverns, and even luckier to discover the vats of oil.’

  ‘Pyre is with us,’ Draewyn said.

  ‘Would make a fucking change,’ Bridget muttered.

  ‘Pyre or not,’ Killop said, ‘it’s given us a head start. Bridget and I have made our minds up about everyone’s roles here. From now on, she’s in charge of running the caverns.’

  He nodded to her.

  ‘Dominic,’ Bridget said, ‘you’re in charge of the city’s defences, with Dyam as your second. Post guards at the western and northern entrances. No one is allowed to leave in daylight unless directly sanctioned by me or the chief. You’ll have thirty full-time warriors under your command; all other able-bodied adults under forty are in the reserve.’

  Dominic and Dyam nodded.

  ‘From now on,’ Bridget said, ‘all children under twelve will spend each morning having lessons. Draewyn, pick ten tutors. Teach the history, songs and language of our people to them, so they don’t forget who they are. Let them play in the afternoons. All older children will be apprenticed to an adult, who will be responsible for passing on their skills and knowledge. Draewyn, you’re also in charge of that.’

  ‘Aye, Herald.’

  ‘Brodie,’ Bridget said, ‘you’re in charge of food gathering and the fish-pools. Take on as many apprentices as you need. Also, look into any way we can grow our own food, and preserve it. Lastly, make sure all food is shared out fairly.’

  ‘Aye.’

  ‘Kalden,’ Bridget went on, ‘pick ten, and form a squad to police the city. Lock up any troublemakers overnight and bring them here in the morning to be judged. Keep the teenagers out of trouble, especially our two throwers.’

  Kalden nodded.