‘Wrong way,’ the girl said, struggling and wriggling in Keira’s arms.
‘Stay still,’ Keira said. ‘We cannae go that way, that’s where the crazy Emperor is.’
She put her foot forwards, and nearly fell over as a pain tore through her head.
Keira go to fortress, she heard the child’s voice say in her head. Not leave city.
Keira staggered, while Kallie stared at them.
‘Be fucking reasonable, wee one,’ Keira cried, her head splitting. ‘We need to find yer ma and da.’
Mummy and daddy are in the fortress. Bad man hurting them.
Keira stopped, and turned to face the towers of the Great Fortress. The pain in her head ceased.
‘Are you sure?’ she said.
‘Sure about what?’ said Kallie.
Keira frowned at her. ‘I’m talking to the bairn.’
Karalyn pointed. ‘Mummy and daddy there.’
‘Shit,’ said Kallie, standing next to Keira as they gazed at the fortress.
Keira glanced at her. ‘Ye don’t have to come,’ she said. ‘I cannae ask ye to do that. But if Killop’s in there, I’m going in to get him.’
Kallie said nothing.
‘Well?’ said Keira.
‘Fucksake,’ Kallie said. ‘I’m not leaving ye now.’ She unslung her pack. ‘But I’m not lugging this with me.’
She pushed aside the broken door of the nearest building, and placed the pack inside.
‘We’ll come back for it later,’ she said.
Keira frowned. ‘Alright.’ She gazed down at Karalyn. ‘Let’s go rescue yer mummy and daddy.’
They set off, racing down the street, keeping to the shadows. Ahead the noise grew. They darted down a side street and cut across a series of alleys, trying to work their way around where the fighting was taking place. They came out onto a wider road, and almost ran into a crowd of Rahain soldiers. Keira skidded, and sprinted in the other direction, Karalyn clinging on, her fingers digging into Keira’s neck. Some of the soldiers turned and saw them, but most were occupied with fighting a large group of civilians that were attacking from the other side. One reached for his crossbow, and Kallie put an arrow through his neck, sending him flying.
Keira barged down another alleyway. Noise was coming from every direction, and she gazed up to get her bearings. Ahead, the tall towers of the fortress loomed. She shifted Karalyn to her left hip, and ran on, rushing across a street where groups of soldiers were engaged in a running battle with armed civilians. Rocks and crossbow bolts sped past them as they charged into a narrow alley on the other side, and kept running.
The sounds of fighting began to die down as they raced through the tight streets near the walls of the Old Town, and soon it was quiet. They slowed to a walk. Keira’s heart was pounding, and she caught her breath. They walked into a small square, the air heavy with mist. Not a sound of the violence behind them reached their ears.
‘This is weird,’ whispered Kallie, glancing around.
Keira looked up. Above the mist, the high walls of the Great Fortress rose into the night sky. All around was a dull red glow, as the clouds of smoke reflected the huge fires devastating other areas of the city. On the other side of the square was a short street leading to the gates of the fortress. It was close, just thirty yards away, but Keira’s legs felt heavy, and she stopped, and sat down by a low wall. She put Karalyn down next to her, while Kallie crouched close by, her gaze on the square and the fortress gates.
‘I want mummy,’ wailed Karalyn.
‘I know,’ said Keira. ‘Soon. Just need a rest first.’
She reached into her pouch and pulled out two sticks of keenweed. She lit them both and handed one to Kallie, who took it. They sat by the wall for a moment, smoking, the mist drifting by.
‘Here’s what we’re going to do,’ Keira said. ‘You’re going to stay here with Karalyn, and I’ll go in.’
Kallie said nothing, chewing her lip.
‘No,’ said Karalyn. ‘Me go too.’
Keira laughed, though it edged into tears. ‘No, wee one, I’m not taking you into that place.’
‘Karalyn hide from bad man.’
Keira frowned. ‘Aye. You hide out here with Auntie Kallie.’
‘No, hide with Keira.’
Keira glanced at Kallie. ‘Look after her.’
She stood, and was preparing to leap the low wall when a blinding pain ripped through her skull. She fell to her knees, holding her head in her hands.
‘No,’ said Karalyn, glaring at her.
‘Fucking stop that,’ Keira gasped, and the pain vanished. She fell back against the wall, panting. ‘Pyre’s arsecrack, my fucking head.’
Kallie stared from her to Karalyn. ‘Did she do that?’
Keira nodded. She picked up the dropped weedstick and relit it. She turned to Kallie.
‘What the fuck are we going to do? She’s not going to let me go in there alone.’
Kallie shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Wait until she falls asleep?’
Keira frowned at her. ‘That’s the most stupid idea I’ve ever heard. That could take hours.’
Kallie looked away. ‘Fucksake, I was only trying to…’ Her eyes widened.
Keira turned, and spat out the weedstick. Ten yards away, Karalyn was running through the little square, towards the gates of the fortress. She stopped, turned and gazed at them.
‘What the fuck’s she doing?’ Kallie cried, as Keira jumped to her feet. They vaulted the low wall, and sprinted through the mist towards the girl, who laughed and ran away. Keira lowered her head and raced towards her, heedless of the risks. She caught up with her a few yards in front of the gates, and scooped her up in her arms. Her eyes darted around, but no one was about. One door of the gates was lying open, and Karalyn pointed.
Keira glanced at Kallie, and walked forwards. She peered through the gap into the fortress. Inside, lamps were lighting the walls, and a large group of soldiers were in the hallway. Half were wearing battered armour, and looked exhausted, while the others were fresh, and getting ready to leave. Before Keira could move, a Rahain officer glanced in her direction. She froze, but his gaze passed over her as if he wasn’t there.
‘Karalyn hide Keira,’ the girl whispered in her ear.
Keira stayed still, gazing at the soldiers. Several more looked over at the door, but no one seemed to notice them standing there.
‘This is fucked up,’ murmured Kallie from over her shoulder.
Keira said nothing, and put a foot up onto the threshold of the gate. She squeezed through the gap in the doorway, and entered the fortress, Kallie at her back. They stood there a moment, as the soldiers went about their business. The fresher infantry was beginning to line up, an officer at their head. Keira stepped to the side, and they watched the soldiers march out past them.
Keira smirked, her confidence returning.
They strode up the passageway, ignored by the exhausted soldiers resting by the walls. Karalyn pointed again, and they followed her lead, coming to a tight set of spiral stairs leading upwards.
‘At least it’s not a fucking rope ladder,’ Keira said, as Karalyn raised her finger.
They entered the stairwell, and climbed the steps, up past other floors, unseen by any of the soldiers stationed there. Twice Keira paused, certain that she could hear someone following them, but each time she decided she was hearing the echo their boots were making on the iron steps.
Their pace slowed as they passed a fifth level. Keira’s calves were aching, but her pain was overshadowed by the pressure of mage energy coming from above. It felt like a barrier of sheer power, and moving was like trying to trudge through knee-deep mud.
‘What is that?’ Kallie gasped.
Keira said nothing, her strength focussed on climbing the last steps. She reached the top of the stairwell, and peered over the edge, Kallie joining her. Karalyn scrambled down and the three of them stared out onto the roof.
In the centre was the Em
peror, his hands raised, while above the sky was burning. The clouds swirled round in a blur, the wind howling, almost deafening her. On the roof, surrounding the Emperor, were five figures, chained to posts. Daphne was there, her head bowed, along with Agang, Dean and Laodoc, who sat slumped against their posts, and a Rakanese woman she didn’t recognise.
‘Mummy,’ cried Karalyn. ‘Daddy.’
Keira’s eyes went to the ground by the Emperor’s feet. On the stone slabs lay another figure.
‘Wee brother,’ whispered Keira. ‘Oh fuck.’
She lifted her right hand, and tried to draw upon the closest fire raging in the city, but nothing happened. She looked within herself, her heart racing, but found an absence where her mage power should be.
‘Fucking bastards,’ she groaned, her will almost breaking.
‘He’s killing them,’ Kallie said.
Keira gazed at Karalyn, but the girl was in near hysterics, weeping and staring onto the roof. Keira loosened her scabbard. She kissed Karalyn on the head, drew her sword, and climbed up onto the roof. She stood there for a moment, feeling the power of the Emperor gust around her like a warm wind, the eddies swirling against her face.
She stepped forwards.
‘Get away from my wee brother,’ she yelled.
The Emperor didn’t move, his gaze remaining upwards as the energy surging over the roof grew in intensity. She struggled forwards, fighting the waves of power rippling through the air.
‘I said,’ she screamed. ‘Get away from ma brother, ya fucked up maniac!’
The Emperor looked down, his eyes confused. He saw her, and smirked. Without interrupting his ritual, he nodded in her direction, and she was blown back by the explosive power as it hit her. The sword was wrenched out of her hand as she flew through the air. She collided with one of the five posts and collapsed to the ground, several ribs broken, and bruised all over.
Keira opened her eyes, and saw double for a moment, the hazy images drifting in and out of focus. The Emperor was continuing, paying her no more attention. She tried to move, but her body felt broken. She raised her head a fraction, blood coming from her forehead and obscuring her vision.
She noticed movement by the stairwell, a struggle. Kallie was wrestling with someone, a man, who lashed out and struck the Kell woman. Kallie fell back down the stairwell, disappearing from sight. The man picked up Karalyn. He turned, and saw Keira.
‘Kylon,’ she groaned. ‘No.’
He hesitated for a second, staring at her, then gripped Karalyn under his left arm and jumped up onto the roof. In his right hand he held a spear. His long black coat was fire stained and ragged, and his face a swollen mass of bruises, but his eyes shone like black diamonds.
Karalyn cried out, struggling, and Kylon rushed forwards, running towards the Emperor. He paused by the body of Killop, and drew back his right arm. At the last moment, the Emperor saw him, and lowered his head, frowning.
Kylon’s arm flew forwards, releasing the spear. It shot through the air, striking a gap in the Emperor’s armour under his left shoulder. The Emperor flinched, and the vortex above began to falter, the impetus lost. The Emperor flicked a finger, and Kylon’s head exploded.
Keira stared as his body fell to his knees, Karalyn struggling to be free of his dead grip. Around them, the mages stirred. Agang lifted his head, his eyes bleeding. Next to Keira, a woman groaned.
The Emperor looked down at Karalyn. He frowned as the vortex swirled in slow circles above them. He pulled out the spear from under his shoulder, as the girl freed herself from Kylon’s arm. She was weeping, and staring at the body of her unconscious father.
‘You?’ the Emperor said. ‘All this time I’ve been blinded by a little girl?’
He raised his finger.
An arrow flew over Keira, striking the Emperor in the throat. He staggered back a step, making a choking noise.
Keira lifted her head. The Emperor was clutching at the arrow in his throat, as Karalyn raised her arm towards him. He let out a long shriek that pierced the night air, and at once his mage powers vanished, and the swirling vortex dissolved, the glowing light within extinguished.
‘Now,’ said the voice of a woman lying chained to the post beside Keira. She turned. It was one of the frog folk, with big, wide eyes and long black hair. She was holding Keira’s knife, which had fallen from her boot. She pushed it into the fire mage’s hands. ‘Save us.’
Keira stumbled to her feet, and began to run. Her legs screamed in pain, but she ignored it, charging with her fading strength towards the platform where the Emperor stood. She passed the headless body of Kylon, then leapt over where Karalyn knelt hugging her unconscious father, her wee brother.
She landed on the platform, and sprang at the Emperor. She swung her left arm round his neck and plunged the knife in. He dropped to his knees as she twisted the blade in his throat, sawing through his windpipe and severing the arteries. He reached up with his right hand and grabbed her throat, squeezing. Her right arm moved in a frenzy, hacking and sawing as his blood pumped out all over her, spraying the platform as he fell. His grip on her throat increased, and in the seconds before her neck snapped she felt her knife cleave air.
She toppled to the ground, her closing eyes watching as the Emperor’s head bounced off the platform.
Keira smiled as her breath slipped away.
I am a goddess.
Chapter 38
The Fire Goddess
Plateau City, Imperial Plateau – 20th Day, Second Third Winter 507
Killop’s heart was pounding in anticipation as the chill wind swept the drifting snow across the frozen glen. Ahead of him on the steep path was a priest of Pyre, his guide to the mountain retreat where they had taken his sister. He hadn’t seen her since the priests had removed her from the village following the deaths of the Kalliver family, when Keira’s powers had been revealed. That had been back in the summer, and nearly half a year had elapsed. Killop had missed his twin. They had done everything together, and barely spent a single day apart in the years since their birth. Now it was the morning of their fourteenth birthday, and although he couldn’t wait to see her, he was worried.
Would she have changed?
The priest reached the top of a ridge, and waited for him to catch up. As he neared the summit, he saw the priest point. In the distance, nestled among a stand of fir trees, was a low building, built of stone with a thatched roof. Smoke was coming from a chimney. On the threshold sat a girl.
Killop blinked, and ran towards her, joy and relief flooding his heart at the sight of his sister.
She glanced up at him as he approached. He could tell she wanted to jump up to greet him, but she kept her smile wry. Despite the weather, she was wearing a loose tunic, and he could see the muscles in her upper arms. She looked fit, and strong.
‘Happy birthday,’ he said, stopping a yard from her. He longed to hug her, but felt awkward, as if he had remained a boy, while she was becoming a woman.
‘Aye,’ she said. ‘You too, wee brother.’
He lowered his eyes. ‘I missed you.’
‘Of course ye did,’ she smirked. ‘Ye must’ve been bored out of yer mind without me to entertain ye.’
He smiled, but couldn’t find the words to describe how empty the house had felt, or the long silences and angry glares from their ma and da, or how often he had wanted to speak to her. He started to cry.
‘Fucksake,’ she muttered, her face reddening.
The priest ambled towards them. He gazed at the tears rolling down Killop’s cheeks, and dug into the pockets of his long robes.
‘Big lads like you don’t cry,’ he said, looking embarrassed as he passed Killop a hanky. ‘Come on now.’
Keira stood, and punched Killop’s arm.
‘Snap out of it, ya eejit,’ she said with a smile on her lips. ‘We’re not bairns any more. It’s time to grow up.’
Killop felt a surge of energy flow through his body, jolting his heart and touching
every part of him, his fingers, his toes, his skin. All pain ceased, and he felt the wounds and bruises from the beatings he had endured disappear, healed in an instant.
He opened his eyes. A Sanang man was sitting before him in the grey light of dawn, looking exhausted.
‘Killop?’ he gasped.
‘Aye,’ he said, lifting his head from the stone slabs.
‘I am Agang,’ the Sanang man said. ‘Welcome back.’
Killop sat up, remembering. ‘Daphne?’
‘She’s fine,’ Agang said, pointing over to his left. Killop’s eyes followed, and he saw her, dressed in her nightgown, her crippled left arm held close to her side. She was crouching down, embracing their daughter. Before Agang could say another word, Killop leapt to his feet and ran to them. Daphne gazed up at him, tears falling down her face as she smiled.
‘Daddy,’ said Karalyn, reaching out with her arms.
He embraced them both, holding them as they held him, crying and laughing together, wishing it would never end.
Killop stopped, as his memories continued to return. He pulled back.
‘The Emperor?’
‘He’s dead,’ said Daphne.
‘The bad man’s gone,’ said Karalyn.
Killop frowned. He glanced around. They were high up on a roof over-looking the city. Around them were a few dozen armed fighters, made up of Kellach Brigdomin and Holdings folk. Most were standing clustered together, gazing down at something. Killop recognised Bridget and Dyam among them, their eyes wide.
He picked up Karalyn and stood, Daphne taking his hand. They walked towards the group, and folk got out of their way to allow them through. Bridget saw him, and rushed forwards. She threw her arms around him.
‘She did it,’ she said, as she started to weep against his shoulder. ‘I’m sorry.’
He looked down. The enormous body of the Emperor, clad in black armour, was sprawled headless on a low platform. A yard away was his severed head, enclosed in an enormous steel helmet. Lying next to it was another body.
Killop said nothing, his face crumpling as Daphne took Karalyn from him. He fell to his knees and wept over the body of his sister. He took her cold hands in his, staring at her, oblivious to anything else around him, his heart breaking as uncontrollable tears spilled down his face. The others who had gathered around said nothing as he broke down in front of them. Daphne put a hand on his shoulder.
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