She leant down and picked Karalyn up.
‘Right, ya wee toerag,’ she said, as the girl wriggled in her arms. ‘Time for bed.’
‘You’re a stinky poo.’
‘And you’re a cheeky wee cow.’
‘Cows go moo. You’re a stinky poo.’
‘Aye?’ Keira said, putting the girl down, and raising her hands like claws. ‘If you’re a cow, then I’m a big fierce bear, who’s going to fucking eat you, em… who’s going to eat you.’
The girl shrieked, and ran round the bed. Keira got down on all fours and chased her, roaring and growling as Karalyn half-laughed, half-screamed. Keira cornered her against the wall. She picked her up and threw her onto the bed. She sat down next to her and grabbed her foot.
‘I’m going to eat this first,’ she growled, and the girl wept in laughter as Keira tickled her toes.
Keira smiled down at her. This auntie shit was alright.
Keira rolled over and fell out of bed, crashing down onto the floor.
‘Fuck,’ she groaned, opening her eyes as her dream came back to her. Had Daphne been in her head again? Taking fucking liberties, just coming in like that. What if she’d been thinking about guys or something? She would have to speak to her about it.
Her eyes widened as she remembered Daphne’s message. At the same time she heard a wail coming from Karalyn’s room.
‘The Emperor,’ she muttered, scrambling to her feet. She pulled on her clothes and made it to the crying child’s room in a few strides.
‘It’s alright,’ she said, picking the girl up and rocking her. ‘We need to get dressed and go.’
She put the girl down and lit a lamp. She was in the middle of pulling out some clothes for Karalyn as Flora walked in, scratching her head.
‘What are you doing?’ she said. ‘You leaving now? Without saying goodbye?’
‘Shut up and get dressed,’ Keira said, as she pulled a woollen dress over Karalyn’s head.
‘Eh?’
‘We need to get the fuck out of here. Now. That mad fucking bastard’s about to perform the same shit that he did last year, and he’s doing it right fucking now. You remember? Earthquakes, crazy mage shit? A hundred thousand heads exploding?’
Keira finished tying Karalyn’s boots, and had picked her up as the tremor hit the tenement. She was knocked from her feet, landing on her back on the floor, Karalyn held tight to her chest. The lamp smashed against the rug, setting it alight, as the floor buckled. The walls curved and swayed, and the roof fell in on them. Keira rolled over, shielding Karalyn, and crawled under the bed. The floor gave way, and they soared down, crashing into the floor below, landing on a table. It collapsed, and Keira lay still, every part of her aching, Karalyn whimpering in her arms. A cloud of dust descended on them as the tremors stilled.
‘My fucking back,’ she groaned. She gazed up at the dark hole in the ceiling above, where flames were licking the sides of the bed. She tried to move her legs, and they responded. She wriggled her toes. ‘Thank fuck.’ She gazed at the girl lying on her chest. ‘How ye doing, ma wee toerag? Ye alright?’
Karalyn looked up at Keira, her eyes wide. She didn’t seem to be injured, so Keira edged off the table as debris fell through the hole from the floor above. Keeping Karalyn held tight in her arms, she staggered to her feet. She was in an abandoned apartment, stripped of anything valuable, and covered in a thick layer of dust. She stumbled to a broken window and gazed out.
‘Shit,’ she said, her eyes taking in the scene of devastation. A dozen fires were burning in the Kellach quarter, and half of the buildings had collapsed. The Great Fortress loomed tall and undamaged amid the rubble and ruined streets. She tried to reach out to the nearest flames, but her powers had gone. She remembered back to when the Emperor had annihilated her army. It had taken a few hours for her powers to return that time, but whereas before she had felt relief at the loss of her skills, now a feeling close to panic was creeping through her.
‘Don’t get carried away,’ she muttered to herself.
‘I want to see mama,’ said Karalyn.
‘Aye, I’m sure ye do, hen,’ Keira said. ‘That might not be the easiest thing right now, but.’
‘I want mama!’
‘Alright, alright,’ she said. ‘We cannae leave Kallie and wee Flora, but. We have to go upstairs and help them.’
She carried the child across the room, hearing the floorboards creak and move under her boots, and made it to the front door. It was locked, so she stood back and kicked it open, sending splinters of the doorframe flying out. They went into the stairwell. It was in darkness, but Keira knew where the steps were, and edged towards them.
Halfway up the stairs, she put her foot down on a step that gave way, and they nearly toppled over the edge. Keira dived back, staying close to the wall.
‘That was fucking close, eh?’ she laughed. She peered up into the darkness. ‘This is fucked up, I cannae see a thing.’ She took a breath. ‘Flora!’ she yelled.
Nothing.
‘Where the fuck are they?’
‘Karalyn find them,’ the girl said.
‘What? Are your powers fine?’
The girl didn’t respond.
Keira remained still in the darkness of the stairwell, her back against the wall, wishing she had stayed in Domm.
After a minute, Karalyn wriggled in her arms.
‘Flora coming,’ she said. ‘Karalyn woke her up.’
‘Good lass,’ Keira said, kissing her on the head.
A door above opened, and Flora staggered out onto the landing, holding a lamp in her outstretched arm. She was still dressed in her nightgown, smeared with patches of blood and dust. She squinted down at Keira and Karalyn, swaying in the lamplight.
‘Where’s Kallie?’ Keira cried.
‘Here,’ the Kell woman said, coming out behind Flora. She was fully dressed and had a large pack over her shoulder next to her longbow. ‘I managed to grab the stuff ye’d packed.’
Keira noticed smoke coming out of the doorway behind the two women at the top of the stairs. Flora staggered, and Kallie caught her by the arm. She took the lamp, and clasped her other arm round the Holdings woman’s shoulder.
‘Watch the steps,’ Keira said, as they began their descent. She began to move down herself, avoiding the gaping hole she had made on the way up. She made it to the next floor’s landing, and put Karalyn down.
‘Yer wee, but yer heavy,’ she said as the girl clung onto her leg.
She leaned back against the wall and watched as Kallie helped Flora down the stairs. When they reached the landing, the Kell woman lowered Flora to the floor, where she slumped.
‘Hey, don’t stop,’ Keira said. ‘There’s another four fucking floors to go.’
Kallie grimaced, and pulled Flora back to her feet. Keira sighed, and picked up Karalyn.
Keira glanced at Kallie as they made their way to the next set of steps.
‘Looks like it’s the Kell doing all the fucking work again.’
It took an hour of slow and tiring effort to negotiate the four flights of stairs to the ground floor. Many of the wooden steps were loose and cracked, and parts of the roof continued to fall around them. Halfway down, Keira realised in the light of Kallie’s lamp that Karalyn was asleep in her arms. Flora struggled the whole way, with only Kallie’s strong arm keeping her upright.
When they reached the last step, Keira staggered forward into the hallway and put Karalyn down. She took the pack from Kallie’s shoulder and found a cloak, which she rolled up and placed under the child’s head. She dug into the pack, and found a small pouch. She took out a stick of keenweed and lit it as Kallie lowered Flora down.
‘What now?’ said Kallie.
‘We see if our wagon’s in one piece,’ Keira said. ‘The building where it’s being kept is on the way to the gates, so if it’s fucked we should still be able to get out of the city.’
Kallie nodded down at Flora.
Keira
frowned. She took a long drag, and crouched down next to the Holdings woman.
‘You alright?’
Flora looked up at her, but her eyes were bloodshot and half-closed.
‘She might have whacked her head when she fell,’ Kallie said.
Keira touched Flora’s head, feeling through her hair. She withdrew her hand and squinted in the lamplight at the blood on the tips of her fingers.
‘Yer going to be alright, wee Flora,’ she said, but even to her own ears she sounded like she was lying.
Kallie joined her by Flora’s side, and they crouched in silence for a moment.
‘We’ll have to carry her and Karalyn,’ Keira said. ‘That’s if yer coming?’
Kallie nodded.
‘Good. I’ll take the pack and Karalyn, you take her.’
‘Aye.’
Kallie took a long woollen tunic out of the pack, and pulled it over Flora’s shoulders, trying to avoid the wound at the back of her head. She picked her up in both arms. Keira stubbed out the weedstick, feeling the false energy flow through her. She tied up the pack and slung it over her back, then lifted Karalyn in her left arm, holding her close.
The two women caught each other’s eye, and nodded.
With her free hand, Keira pushed open the door to the street and stepped outside. Though it was still night, the sky was lit up by the fires burning through the Kellach quarter. In the light of the flames Keira gazed at the half-ruined street. Some of the tenements had collapsed completely, while others like her own were still standing. Debris littered the road, with roof tiles, masonry and splintered wooden beams strewn around. A few Kellach were wandering around, or were standing gazing at the devastation.
Keira looked up at the Great Fortress. Its walls seemed more solid than before, and light was spilling out of the windows on the top floor. What was that bastard doing up there?
‘Come on,’ said Kallie. ‘We haven’t got all fucking night.’
‘Aye,’ Keira said, turning. They began to walk down the road towards the gates, and Keira stopped again.
‘Fuck!’ she cried. ‘Pyre’s fucking arsecrack.’
Kallie frowned at her.
‘That wee prick, Kylon,’ Keira said. ‘We fucking left him up there.’
Kallie glanced at the tall tenement. Its outer walls were fractured, and smoke was belching from the broken windows of the upper storeys.
‘I’m not going back in there,’ she said. ‘The fire’ll get him anyway.’
‘Aye, probably,’ Keira said. She spat on the ground. ‘Shit way to go, but.’
‘He fucking deserves it.’
Keira glanced down at Karalyn nestling into her left side. ‘Aye, I guess he does.’
They turned and set off down the road again. After ten minutes they came to Welcome Square, the central point of the Kellach quarter, where a crowd had gathered. Most were armed, and several were brandishing burning torches, while families huddled together near the derelict fountain in the middle of the open space.
Nods greeted them as they passed a collapsed tenement and entered the square. Down one side, bodies were being laid onto the ground in rows, and relatives and friends of the dead mourned over them. Lamentations filled the air, along with angrier voices. Keira and Kallie kept moving through the crowd of Kellach and Holdings until they reached the other side.
‘Nearly fucking there,’ Keira grunted, shifting Karalyn to her right hip.
They turned a corner and followed a narrow street for a hundred yards, avoiding the fragments of debris covering the road. In the distance, Keira saw the walls of the city. Some stretches were intact and standing tall, while others had collapsed. They arrived at a low, stone building, and stopped at a closed gate. Keira took a key from her pouch and unlocked the large wooden door, and they stepped inside.
‘Fuck, it’s pitch black in here,’ she said. ‘Get the lamp lit.’
Kallie entered the building and put Flora down onto the floor. She unhooked the lamp from her belt, and found her box of matches.
‘That’s better,’ Keira said, as Kallie lit the wick, sending light outward from where they stood. ‘Shit.’
The central section of the long roof had collapsed, and large shards of glass and twisted wooden beams lay blocking the passageways between the rows of storage sheds.
‘What shed’s the wagon in?’ asked Kallie.
Keira glanced at her keys. ‘Fourteen.’
‘Right,’ she said. ‘You stay here. I’ll find it.’
The fire mage nodded, and Kallie took the lamp and the keys and walked towards the sheds. Keira sat down by the door next to where Flora lay, the light from the fires in the city providing a low level of illumination. Karalyn was still asleep in her arms, so she put her down next to the Holdings woman. She slung her pack off and found a blanket, then covered the girl with it. She glanced at Flora. Her eyes were closed. Keira placed a finger under her chin, and felt around, but there was no pulse.
‘Don’t you fucking die on me,’ she cried. ‘It’s not allowed.’
Keira put her ear to Flora’s mouth, listening for breath.
Nothing.
She touched her skin.
Cold.
Keira fell back against the wall and clenched her fists, tears spilling from her eyes. Silent sobs wracked her chest, and her heart ached. She had first seen Flora in the Kellach camp outside Plateau City, then led her halfway round the world, only to get her killed in the same place they had met. Her wee white-faced witch. Why had she never told her how she felt?
What did she feel?
She gazed down at Flora, then took another blanket from the pack and lay it over her still body, kissing her on the forehead.
‘Goodbye, wee Flora.’
She leaned against the wall, and wondered what everyone in the World’s End was doing. Sleeping probably, she realised, remembering the hour. She thought back to her comfortable bed at the rear of Kelpie’s tavern, and shook her head. What was she doing in the fucking imperial capital? The one place she had never wanted to see again, and somehow she had been lulled into complacency, even after the Emperor had returned from the Holdings. No. That wasn’t right. She glanced at Karalyn. The lassie was why she had stayed, and it was her job to make sure the girl was kept safe, at least until she could be handed over to her parents.
She heard distant cries from outside, and a scream. She peered through the crack in the door, but saw no one out on the street. She leaned her head back against the wall, and closed her eyes.
Someone kicked her.
‘Get up,’ yelled Kallie.
Keira opened her eyes. ‘Flora.’
‘I know,’ Kallie said. ‘It’s a fucking shame, but there’s nothing we can do for her now.’
‘Did you find the wagon?’
‘Aye. It’s fine,’ said Kallie, ‘but the horses are dead.’
‘Fuck.’
‘We have to move, Keira.’
‘Aye,’ she said, stretching her limbs, her gaze on the covered body of Flora. ‘I know.’
‘No, we have to move now. Something’s happening outside.’
Keira squinted through the gap to the street. There was no one there, but the cries and shouts were much louder, and closer. Mixed in was the sound of steel striking steel, and the thud of boots on the cobbles. She caught a glimpse of uniforms at the end of they street as they dashed by.
‘Soldiers?’ she said.
‘The Emperor must have sent the army out.’
Keira got up. She pushed the door open another foot, and glanced down the street. To her left, the sky was lightening, a faint glow appearing above the remaining battlements. She ducked back inside as another group of soldiers rushed by, heading in the direction of the gates.
‘What the fuck are they doing?’ she muttered. She turned back to Kallie. ‘We’ll have to get out on foot. We’ll walk up to where Killop’s staying.’
‘If we can get through the walls,’ Kallie said.
K
eira felt for her power.
Nothing.
Maybe this time it was gone for good.
She pulled the pack over her shoulder and picked up Karalyn, who stirred.
Keira took a breath, and stole a last look down at Flora.
‘Let’s go.’
They ran down the street, keeping to the thick shadows of the buildings on their left. They paused at a crossroads, then sped down the road towards the gates. A hundred yards ahead of them stood the gatehouse. It remained upright, though long, jagged cracks marked the stonework, and the wooden gates were hanging off their hinges. In front of the gates a handful of Kellach and Holdings folk were fighting a group of Rahain infantry in imperial uniforms. The soldiers were kneeling in lines, firing crossbow bolts into the civilians, who were charging them with swords and axes.
Keira and Kallie raced up the street. The Rahain were facing away from them, and Keira dived into a doorway when they were only twenty yards away.
‘Look after the lassie,’ she said to Kallie, putting Karalyn and the pack down and drawing her sword.
Kallie stared at her. ‘Use yer powers.’
‘I cannae,’ Keira said.
She ran back into the street before Kallie could say anything else, and charged the backs of the Rahain soldiers, her sword raised. When she was a yard away an arrow flew past her shoulder, and struck a soldier in the back of his neck, almost taking his head off. Keira screamed, and lashed out with her sword, cleaving the nearest soldier from the neck down. The others turned to her in shock. She felt the old memories of countless fights take over, and ploughed through the group of Rahain, while arrows continued to strike those out of her range.
She was joined by the group of armed Kellach and Holdings civilians and together they slew the last of the soldiers.
‘Thanks,’ panted a Holdings man, leaning on his long axe. ‘You saved our arses there.’
‘Nae bother,’ Keira said, taking an offered bottle of something from a tall Kellach fighter. She took a swig. ‘Cheers.’
‘We’d better get the fuck out of here,’ said another. ‘More soldiers are coming.’
‘What the fuck are they trying to do?’ Keira said.
The Magelands Box Set Page 194