The Magelands Box Set

by Christopher Mitchell

  A suspicious look crossed the Domm woman’s face. ‘Mind if I listen?’

  Bridget shook her head. ‘Get yourself a drink and sit down.’

  Dyam took a mug of ale and sat. ‘Have I missed anything?’

  ‘Not really,’ Bridget said.

  ‘I think it best if Agang tells his story,’ Laodoc said. ‘Then we can talk.’

  Bridget nodded. ‘Go for it.’

  Agang cleared his throat. ‘The first time I heard the name Kalayne, I was a captive. It was Winter’s Day. Keira had conquered Sanang, and she was assaulting the Holdings frontier wall, and I asked Kylon why they were trying to destroy the world…’

  Agang spoke for an hour, continuing while they ate the dinner served up by Bedig at the small table. Bridget and Dyam remained silent throughout, as he described the visions of Kalayne, and the attack on the imperial capital by Keira. Their expressions grew more intense as he told of what the Emperor had done from the battlements.

  When he finished, the others sat without speaking for a long while.

  ‘Thank you for dinner,’ Laodoc said.

  ‘No problem,’ said Bedig. ‘If you’re planning on staying for a while, I can nip over to the market for some blood pudding and bread in the morning.’

  The Brig man got up, and started to clear the table of plates.

  ‘Let me get this straight in my head,’ Dyam said. ‘You’re saying that this emperor, Guilliam, now has the powers of every mage in the world?’

  ‘We think so,’ said Agang. ‘We saw him use fire, flow, vision and stone at least. We’re just assuming he probably has life powers as well.’

  ‘So Keira failed to stop him,’ Bridget said. ‘Kalayne was wrong.’

  ‘No,’ Agang said. ‘Kalayne was right. He said that the church was planning something, and they were. We arrived too late, though.’

  ‘And the Emperor slaughtered the entire Sanang army?’ Dyam said. ‘Leaving who, just you and Keira?’

  ‘And Flora,’ Agang said.

  ‘I don’t understand. How did you three manage to survive?’

  ‘We ran away.’

  ‘Bullshit.’

  ‘Excuse me?’

  Dyam shook her head and turned to Bridget. ‘They must think we’re as gullible as bairns.’

  Agang said nothing, biting his lip.

  ‘Come, my friend,’ Laodoc said. ‘Everything you have said is the truth, is it not?’

  Dyam laughed. ‘Only if you believe that the Emperor was clever enough to use different powers to destroy a whole army, but then somehow he missed the fire mage. Are you saying he just let her go?’

  Agang bowed his head. ‘No.’

  ‘Tell us what really happened,’ Bridget growled, ‘or you’re not welcome here. I won’t have liars staying in this house.’

  Laodoc’s tongue flickered, and his heart pounded. He gazed at Agang, willing him to speak.

  ‘When he was finished with the army,’ Agang said, his voice a low whisper, ‘the Emperor then struck down Keira. He stopped her heart. I guess he didn’t want to mutilate her body like he had with the Sanang, so he could show it off to the people of the city, I don’t know.’

  ‘He killed her?’ Bridget said.

  ‘And Flora. And me.’

  Laodoc frowned. ‘You left out that part of the story when you told me, my friend.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Agang said.

  ‘Wait,’ Bridget said. ‘The Emperor killed you and Keira and Flora?’

  ‘He stopped our hearts.’

  The others looked at each other in bewilderment.

  Agang stood, and went over to where the bottle of whisky sat. He poured himself a large measure and drank.

  With the eyes of the others on him, he raised his head.

  ‘I am a life mage,’ he said. ‘As Laodoc knows, I can heal.’

  Laodoc nodded. ‘He can; I’ve seen it.’

  ‘But I’m not just a hedgewitch. My powers go to the top of the scale.’

  ‘My friend,’ Laodoc said, ‘what does that mean? I have researched all the skills of the various mages that inhabit this world, and have read nothing of any higher Sanang power.’

  ‘When the Emperor stopped my heart,’ Agang said, ‘my healing power restarted it. And then I restarted the hearts of Keira and Flora, and put life back into their bodies.’

  ‘You brought them back from the dead?’ Bridget gasped.

  ‘I did.’

  The room fell into silence.

  ‘I heard Leah died outside the walls,’ Bedig said. ‘Could you not bring her back too?’

  ‘The Emperor had burnt her body up,’ Agang said. ‘I couldn’t do anything for her, I’m sorry.’

  Bedig bowed his head.

  ‘My friend,’ Laodoc said. ‘I’m confused, but at the same time exhilarated to think that you possess such power. Bringing life back to the dead?’

  Dyam frowned. ‘I might need to see some proof.’

  ‘How?’ Bridget laughed. ‘Yer not suggesting he kills one of us first, are ye? Or are ye expecting him to bring our dinner back to life?’

  Bedig rubbed his stomach. ‘Please don’t.’

  ‘You may make light of it,’ Agang said, ‘but every mage of my kind is hunted down and killed in Sanang. That’s why I’ve kept it a secret for so many years, and why I found it so hard to tell you.’

  ‘We’re not making light of it,’ Bridget said, ‘it’s just a fucking lot to take in. So how does it work? Can ye go to a graveyard and summon the bodies to rise?’

  ‘No,’ Agang cried. ‘The person has to have been dead for a few minutes at the most. Their brain, heart and other organs must still be capable of working, otherwise, otherwise…’

  ‘What?’

  Agang bowed his head. ‘If life is given to a corpse that is cold and beginning to rot, then the thing that rises is no longer the person they once were. Mindless abominations, grotesque puppets, under the control of the mage that raised them. Keira and Flora had been dead for only a few moments, for them it would have been like being in a deep, dreamless sleep.’

  ‘Could you do it to something small, like a rat?’ Dyam asked.

  Bridget smirked. ‘I didn’t know you had a pet.’

  Dyam scowled at her. ‘I’m the kind of person who needs evidence to believe the unbelievable.’

  ‘I’ve never tried,’ said Agang.

  ‘But you’d be willing to?’

  ‘I suppose so, if it’ll make you believe me.’

  Dyam stood. ‘Stay right here.’

  She darted to the front door, and left the cottage.

  Bedig laughed. ‘Is she really away to get a rat?’

  ‘Fuck knows,’ said Bridget. She took a sip of whisky. ‘So, boys, that was all very interesting, but I have to ask, what the fuck’s it got to do with me?’

  ‘Just before Keira began the assault on the city,’ Agang said, ‘Kalayne spoke to her. He said that only she could save the world, but also, that he’d had a vision of her with Shella, the Rakanese mage.’

  ‘So?’

  ‘Well, Miss Bridget,’ Laodoc said, ‘it would seem that in order to set events in motion, Keira and Shella must meet. Agang and I have already failed to persuade Keira to seek out Shella, so therefore only one alternative is open to us.’

  ‘Which is?’

  ‘We find Shella, and bring her to Keira.’

  ‘Do you know where she is?’

  ‘No, we do not,’ Laodoc said. ‘The last time I saw her she was in Plateau City, before the alliance forces set out for Rahain. As chancellor, however, I did hear that she had become the Rakanese ambassador to the Emperor’s court, but I don’t know if she still holds that position. In fact, with the current situation in the imperial capital, I would doubt very much that she still resides there.’

  ‘So you want to find Shella,’ Bridget said, ‘but you have no idea where she is, or even if she’s still alive. She might have died in the siege.’

  ‘No,’ sa
id Agang. ‘Kalayne saw a vision of her in the future. She’s alive.’

  Bridget rolled her eyes. ‘Let’s just say for now that that’s true. I’m guessing you want me to help you?’

  ‘We want you to lead the expedition,’ Laodoc said.

  Bridget laughed, long and hard. Laodoc glanced at Agang, and shrugged.

  ‘Ye think I’m just going to pack up and leave, so soon after we got here?’ she cried. ‘Yer out of yer minds. We could be hunting this Shella for thirds, years, and never find her. She’s probably gone back to Arakhanah.’

  ‘I doubt it,’ said Bedig, looking up from washing the dishes. ‘She’d never go there to hide, too many folk know her there, and hate her.’

  The others turned to the tall Brig man.

  ‘Of course,’ said Laodoc, ‘you were with Shella in Akhanawarah, and Plateau City. Do you have any idea where she might have gone? Where would she consider safe?’

  Bedig rubbed his chin and stared into the fire.

  ‘Leave him a moment,’ Bridget said. ‘The gears of his brain grind slower than most.’

  The door opened, and Dyam burst in, holding a leather bag at arm’s length.

  ‘Got one,’ she cried, walking over to the table. She held the writhing bag aloft. ‘Everyone see it moving, aye?’

  Before anyone could reply, Dyam swung the bag down, battering it off the surface of the table, making the whisky glasses jump. She did it again, and a third time, then emptied the bag out onto the floor at Agang’s feet. Laodoc peered down at the dead rat, hiding a grimace. Bridget got up, and walked round so she could see.

  ‘Go on then,’ said Dyam.

  Agang leaned forwards, stretching out his arm until his fingers touched the body of the rodent. He closed his eyes, and felt for the creature’s heart through a tangle of broken bones and bruised tissue. He sent a powerful wave of healing to repair its flesh, then jolted its heart.

  The rat wheezed, opened its eyes, swayed, then scurried off through a gap in the floorboards.

  ‘Great,’ Bridget yelled, ‘now we’ve got a fucking rat in the house. Good thinking, Dyam.’

  ‘That was amazing,’ Dyam said, glancing at Agang. ‘I believe you now.’

  ‘I remember,’ said Bedig.

  They all turned.

  ‘There was a little town that Shella used to talk about,’ he said. ‘I’ve never been there myself, but it was a secret, in other words even her sister the queen knew nothing about it. Shella said that she had gone against orders and let a small group of refugees settle, and set up a town.’

  ‘And where is this town?’ Laodoc said.

  ‘Not sure, exactly,’ Bedig said, ‘but Shella told us it was at the first river they came to after crossing the Basalt Desert into Rahain.’

  ‘And do you know its name?’

  ‘Aye,’ he said. ‘Silverstream.’

  Chapter 8

  Bloodless

  Holdings City, Realm of the Holdings – 3rd Day, Last Third Summer 507

  ‘Men are arseholes,’ Chane said. ‘Most are too shy to talk to me, and the good-looking, confident ones are already taken. Or it turns out they like guys.’

  ‘You’ve just been unlucky,’ said Daphne, passing her a weedstick as they leaned back against a wall. ‘You’ll find someone. Which one of them likes guys, by the way?’

  Chane took a draw. ‘Don’t laugh,’ she said. ‘Agang.’

  Daphne raised her eyebrows. ‘Really? Why would I laugh?’

  ‘Because I spent so much time chasing him, even after I found out. It’s embarrassing.’

  ‘It happens, Chane. Don’t worry about it, at least you got away in time.’

  ‘Yeah, thank fuck.’

  ‘Did you sleep with him?’

  ‘We shared a bed,’ she said. ‘Most nights, in fact. But he just lay there like he was my brother.’

  Daphne grimaced. ‘Awkward.’

  ‘That doesn’t even begin to describe it.’

  A young man in a pale green uniform approached.

  ‘Ma’am,’ he said to Daphne. ‘The company is in position.’

  Daphne nodded. ‘Tell them to wait for my signal, then move in.’

  The man ran back up the alleyway.

  Daphne scanned the rooftops. The day’s light was darkening into dusk over the city, and a long shadow was being cast by the outcrop of rock where the Upper City sat. She glanced at Chane, pulled on her battle-vision, and set off.

  The streets were deserted, and there was no noise except for the low roar of fighting elsewhere in the city, fuelled by the numerous diversionary units sent in to attack the old capital’s key points. Daphne sprinted down a lane, with Chane close behind, until they reached a high wall. They halted, and Daphne pushed a line of vision up to the roof of the building opposite.

  ‘Clear,’ she said, and Chane braced herself against the wall, the fingers of her hands interlocking. Daphne stepped back a few paces, surged her battle-vision, and ran at Chane. She leapt into the air, her foot landing in Chane’s grip, and hurled herself up onto the top of the wall, and over to the other side. She glanced around, but the barracks of the cavalry garrison were quiet and empty.

  She stayed under the shadow of the wall and ran to where a postern gate was positioned. There were no guards on duty at the gate, the widespread disturbances having ensured that the entire garrison had been called out.

  Daphne swung the bar from the gate and pushed it open. She signalled to the militia of the Hold Fast Company who were waiting in the shadows of a side street, and they began to file towards the gate.

  Chane entered first.

  She grinned at Daphne, her eyes dancing, as the troopers followed through after her.

  ‘This way,’ Daphne said, and ran by the wall towards the compound’s corner tower, a square block that rose above the height of the exterior walls. She paused to allow the troopers to catch up, and they lined up against the wall behind her. She steadied herself and scanned the top of the tower with line-vision. Up on the battlements a squad of troopers were gazing out over the city, watching the lights from several fires that were burning. None were looking back within the compound.

  She ran on, and reached the doors of the tower.

  ‘Crossbows,’ she said to the troopers nearest her, and they passed the word down the line.

  She nodded to Chane, and kicked the door in. They burst into the tower, the Hold Fast troopers spreading through the building as fast as they could enter. Daphne led a detachment up the stone stairs, and emerged onto the open rooftop.

  ‘Put down your weapons,’ she cried to the squad of imperial soldiers, who turned to stare at Daphne and the crossbow-wielding troopers on either side of her. ‘This is the Hold Fast Company, and you are now our prisoners. Who’s in charge?’

  A woman stepped forwards, her arms raised. ‘I’m the sergeant here.’

  ‘Order your squad to disarm.’

  The woman scanned the group of green-uniformed troopers, many of whom were fresh-faced.

  ‘You heard her,’ she said. ‘Drop your bows.’

  Daphne turned to one of her officers as the imperial soldiers threw down their arms. ‘Collect their weapons and take the prisoners downstairs. Put a guard on them, and leave a squad up here to watch the compound.’

  ‘Yes, ma’am.’

  Daphne returned to the ground floor, where the rest of the company was waiting. Chane was standing by an enormous winch, around which was coiled a thick chain.

  ‘Open up the bridge,’ Daphne ordered, and a squad of troopers took hold of the winch’s long handles, and began to turn. The chain tensed, then started winding round the iron mechanism, foot by foot as the troopers grunted with the effort.

  Daphne nodded to Chane. ‘Send the signal.’

  ‘Yes, ma’am.’

  Chane ran up the stairs and out of sight.

  ‘This is treachery,’ shouted one of the imperial soldiers as they were being led off to a side room.

  Daphne smi
led.

  ‘The signal’s up,’ said Chane, as she bounded back down the steps.

  ‘Open the gate,’ Daphne cried, and troopers removed the long bar from the wide doors that led out onto the street. They pushed them open, and Daphne strode outside. The sound of the river mixed with the cries of hundreds of approaching troopers, the force her father had gathered.

  The tower gates led to the widest bridge over the great river of the Holdings, one of three crossings from the sprawling Lower City to the sheer cliffs of the Upper City. The other bridges were narrow, and led to steep flights of steps hewn from the cliff-face, but the crossing that led from the city garrison could accommodate a pair of carriages side by side. The portcullis that blocked the way was hanging high, raised above the road as it led onto the bridge.

  Chane stood at her side as the Holdings rebels grew nearer.

  ‘Excellent job, Miss Holdfast,’ cried an older man, who stopped as he drew near to the tower, out of breath.

  ‘Thank you, Lord Holdsmith,’ Daphne said.

  The man spat and coughed, and lit a cigarette. ‘Feels like I’ve ran through half the damn city.’

  Chane nudged her, and she turned to see a trooper leading a pair of horses towards them.

  ‘Ma’am,’ the trooper saluted, ‘as you requested.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Daphne said. She glanced at Lord Holdsmith. ‘If you’ll excuse me.’

  She leapt up onto the saddle, and took the reins, while Chane mounted the other horse. They kicked their heels, and their mounts took off, galloping through the gates and onto the bridge, while the troopers cleared a path for them.

  On the other side of the bridge was the wide royal ramp, which went up a gradual slope to the buildings clustered on the summit of the Upper City. They overtook the leading troopers of the rebel force, and the clatter of their horse’s hooves against the bridge changed as they started up the ramp. The cobbles beneath them sparked as they cantered up the slope, leaving the force behind.

  Daphne slowed as they approached the top, her vision-assisted eyesight taking in every detail of the buildings crowded together upon the summit. To the left, rising above low stables was the Old Tower, its roof gone, and its walls crumbling and blackened with fire damage. Ahead was the road leading to Holders Square, where the palace lay. Daphne gazed up at the great edifice, squeezed into the tight space of the Upper City. Added to and modified over centuries, it wore many differing styles and architectural fashions. As a young woman she had always pictured it as the grandest building she had ever seen, but now knew it was tiny in comparison to the great buildings of state she had seen in Rahain, and much smaller even than the palace in Plateau City that Keira had destroyed.