Needs of the Empire

by Christopher Mitchell

  The firewitch filled three mugs with wine, a weedstick hanging from her lips.

  ‘I want you to drink that in one go,’ she said to Agang, handing him a mug. ‘You need to catch up.’

  ‘I haven’t drunk in a while,’ he said. ‘I’ll do it, but I warn you, I might throw it all back up.’

  Keira laughed .

  Agang lifted the mug. He knew he wasn’t going to throw anything back up, but he wanted to look as though he might. Alcohol had no effect on him but now, he felt, was not the time to admit that particular ability. He raised the mug to his lips and drank the contents.

  He grimaced and coughed, while Keira and Niall laughed. The firewitch refilled his mug.

  ‘Right,’ she said. ‘Let’s get to know each other. We all have to tell a secret. Agang, you first.’

  ‘It’s your game,’ he said. ‘You should go first.’

  ‘Fair enough,’ she shrugged. She frowned. ‘All right.’ She took a draw of her weedstick. ‘Don’t tell Kylon this, but I went into his tent earlier and moved all his stuff around. He fucking hates that. He’ll go spare when he wakes up.’

  Niall laughed as he drank his second mug of wine.

  She smirked at him. ‘You next.’

  The trooper’s smile dropped. He glanced about, checking no one was awake.

  ‘I’m in love with Flora,’ he whispered.

  ‘Ha!’ Keira cried. ‘I fucking knew it.’

  ‘How?’ Niall said, his eyes wide. ‘I’ve never told anyone before.’

  ‘I’ve seen ye gawking at her when you think nobody’s looking,’ she said. ‘Why do you not tell her?’

  ‘There’s no point,’ he said. ‘She prefers girls.’

  Keira’s eyes narrowed. ‘I think you’ve just given away one of her secrets, not yours.’

  Agang glanced over at the sleeping form of Flora, curled up in blankets by the low fire.

  ‘I don’t know why she was keeping it quiet,’ Keira went on. ‘None of us give a shit.’

  Niall re-filled his mug, but if Keira noticed she didn’t react.

  ‘It’s because of Sanang, I think,’ he said. ‘She’d heard that the people there don’t look too kindly on it. Think it’s unnatural or something.’

  ‘Fucking idiots,’ Keira said. She glared at Agang. ‘You people are fucking savages. ’

  ‘I was going to change all that,’ he said, ‘if you’d let me. I would have slowly turned Sanang into a more peaceful, tolerant country, like the Holdings.’

  ‘It was like that when the queen was in charge,’ Niall said. ‘Things have probably changed now that the Emperor is doing the bidding of the church.’

  ‘Another reason to kick their arses,’ Keira said.

  ‘And then what?’ Agang said. ‘Are you going to make the world a better place?’

  ‘Me?’ she smirked. ‘I’m only in this to overthrow the Emperor. I’m not interested in what happens after, so long as I can get home.’

  ‘Wasn’t your home destroyed by the Rahain?’

  ‘Aye, much of it. But way down at the bottom enough of my folk survive. Far away from every other fucker. Aye, I’ll go down there, and the rest of the world can get to fuck.’

  She stubbed out a weedstick, and lit another.

  ‘Your turn,’ she said to Agang.

  He frowned. He wondered if he should make something up, but the firewitch seemed perceptive enough to catch him out, even though she was as drunk as he had ever seen her. He buried his deeper secrets, and selected a lesser one.

  ‘I killed B’Dang’s brother, eleven years ago,’ he said. ‘He doesn’t know.’

  ‘Aye?’ Keira laughed. ‘Bit risky telling us, don’t you think? If the baldy wee bastard found out he’d kill you.’

  Agang shrugged. ‘He wants to kill me anyway, but he obeys you.’

  ‘Fucking right he does.’

  Niall put down his mug. ‘Was his brother an arsehole like him?’

  Agang shook his head. ‘He was my best friend, when I was the leader of a warband in my early twenties.’

  ‘Then why did you kill him?’

  ‘Because he found out something that the warband would have killed me for, had they learned it.’

  ‘And what’s that?’ Keira said .

  ‘A secret for another night.’

  She snorted. ‘Fair enough.’

  A log on the fire subsided, and the flames dropped lower. Niall and Keira sat in silence, and Agang noticed their eyelids drooping.

  He gazed around. There was no hope of escape, even if they both fell asleep. The firewitch’s tents were surrounded by a thick ring of guards. He spotted B’Dang’s body, lying unconscious by the cage-wagon.

  ‘I still dream of burning the frog city,’ said Keira from the shadows. Agang turned to her.

  ‘What?’

  ‘The fucking Raka-something frog city,’ she said, her voice low and slurring. ‘I still dream of their screams as I torched them. There, you can have that one. Thought I owed you a better secret than the shit one I gave you before…’

  Her eyes closed, and her head leaned back against the cart.

  Agang glanced at Niall, but the trooper had also fallen asleep.

  He leaned over and withdrew a long knife from the belt of a Sanang officer snoring by the fire. He got to his feet, and scanned the sleeping bodies to check for any movement. Beyond a circle of warmth, the ground was sparkling with a layer of frost, and the light in the eastern sky was starting to grow.

  Agang crept over to where B’Dang lay, and pressed the knife to his throat.

  He hesitated. He knew he would be punished if he were caught, and would be the obvious suspect if the camp awoke to find B’Dang dead with a slit throat. Could he make it look like an accident? He slid the knife into his boot and raised his hand towards B’Dang.

  A shout rang out from the ring of guards, and moments later a horn blew.

  Agang froze.

  He heard stirring from the campfire behind him, and darted back to Niall’s side as Flora sat up.

  ‘What’s going on?’ she groaned, as more horns were blown .

  ‘I don’t know,’ he said.

  She stared at him, and grabbed her crossbow. ‘What the fuck are you doing?’

  He raised his palms. ‘Keira let me out.’

  She frowned.

  Agang caught something move in the sky, and squinted into the growing light. Flora turned to see what he was looking at.

  ‘Holy fuck!’ she yelled. She punched Niall on the arm, but the trooper fell over onto his side and continued snoring.

  ‘Winged gaien!’ Flora shouted, staggering to her feet. ‘Winged fucking gaien!’

  Kylon appeared by the fire, dishevelled. He stared up at the sky, a frown on his lips.

  ‘Who the fuck are they?’ Leah cried as she came out of her tent, buckling on her armour.

  Kylon knelt and nudged Keira, who didn’t respond.

  ‘Fuck,’ he said. ‘She’s out.’ He noticed Agang, and his frown deepened.

  ‘Keira let him out apparently,’ Flora said.

  Kylon stood. He pulled a long wooden tube from his leather overcoat and put it to his eye, gazing in the direction of the hundreds of tiny specks in the south-eastern sky.

  ‘Rahain markings,’ he muttered, lowering the tube. He scanned the people by the fire.

  ‘Leah, wake up B’Dang. Flora, find me a stick of keenweed from Niall’s supply. Agang, sit still and don’t move a fucking inch. I’ll be back in a minute.’

  He turned and disappeared into his tent. Leah looked around for B’Dang, while Flora rooted in Niall’s pockets, her crossbow trained on Agang.

  Agang kept his eyes on the sky. A fleet of carriages flown from Rahain could only mean one thing. An imperial army. He swallowed, as he realised that he no longer knew who he wanted to win. His head wanted the empire to smash Keira and B’Dang, and put him back on the throne, but his heart was pondering the possibilities of the new order that the firewi
tch would create if she were successful.

  ‘They’re fast,’ he said. ‘They’ll be here in a few minutes.’

  Flora glared at him as she clutched a smokestick in her hand. Behind her, Leah and the Sanang chief were gazing up at the sky.

  ‘How the fuck do they know we’re here?’ B’Dang cried.

  ‘The mage-priests will have been watching the army since it crossed the frontier,’ Flora said. ‘Remember Benel? There will be at least one on board that fleet with similar powers.’

  ‘Fuck,’ spat Leah. ‘The winery was a fucking trap.’

  ‘What?’ yelled B’Dang.

  ‘How do you beat the Sanang?’ Leah went on. ‘Lead them to a mountain of booze and attack the following dawn.’

  B’Dang gazed up, his mouth open.

  Kylon came out of his tent with a bucket of water and emptied it over Keira’s head.

  ‘Ya fucking fanny,’ she shrieked, lashing out with her fist.

  Kylon swerved to avoid the blow.

  ‘Get up.’

  ‘Fuck off,’ she growled. Her hair was soaked, and water was dripping from her chin. Her eyes closed.

  Kylon knelt by her. ‘Up.’

  She began snoring.

  He shook her by the shoulders. ‘Leave me alone,’ she muttered. ‘I’ll fucking snap yer neck.’

  Kylon turned to Flora, his hand out-stretched. She lit the weedstick and passed it to him. He waited for Keira to exhale, then pinched her nose and placed the smokestick in her mouth.

  She inhaled, then spluttered and began to cough. She toppled over onto her knees, retching.

  B’Dang started to laugh, then noticed Agang.

  ‘What the fuck?’ he cried, staring. He narrowed his eyes and put a hand to his neck, then gazed at the blood on his fingertips from the small slit Agang’s knife had made .

  Agang smiled.

  ‘I’ve got him covered,’ Flora said.

  Kylon stood, as Keira vomited dark red liquid onto the ground. He jumped up onto the front of the cart she had been leaning against, and stared out over the camp. He shook his head, as horn blasts echoed across the lines of campfires and tents.

  ‘Here they come!’ someone shouted.

  Agang looked up and gasped. The flying carriages were much larger in the sky, and were hurtling towards the Sanang camp, their gaien at full speed.

  ‘There’s one aimed right at us,’ Leah cried.

  ‘Weapons,’ Kylon yelled. ‘There’s a carriage coming for the command tents.’

  The guards and officers around the fire scattered, running to their tents for their armour and swords. Kylon looked down at Keira.

  ‘You ready?’

  ‘Go fuck yourself.’

  ‘Stay close, Fern,’ Flora said to the Sanang girl, as she checked her crossbow. ‘Sit by Agang so I can see you both. And kick Niall.’

  Fern planted her boot in the trooper’s chest, but he just groaned and rolled over.

  Two hundred yards to their left, the first carriage was released, the cables binding it to the gaien cut. The wooden tube glided in. It had long triangular wings on either side, and steel plates reinforcing its nose-cone. It smashed at a low angle into a line of tents, ploughing through ropes and canvas and digging into the hard frozen soil. Agang stood to get a better view.

  ‘Sit the fuck down,’ Flora yelled at him.

  He glared at her but obeyed, his last glance before he sat that of the side doors of the carriage opening and the ranks of soldiers within aiming their crossbows.

  The screaming began as Agang took his place next to Fern.

  ‘Get ready!’ Leah cried.

  Agang looked up. The closest carriage was now only a few hundred yards away, part of the enormous first wave that was assaulting the camp. There were further waves behind, still some miles distant, but gaining with every second.

  The carriage’s cables were cut, and it soared towards them. Guards and officers panicked and fled from its path, diving out of the way. Agang sat frozen as the carriage landed by the outer ring protecting the command tents. It went right over his cage-wagon, crushing it in a second as it gouged out a furrow. It carried on, passing the campfire where they sat by a few yards, killing any that remained in its way. It ground to a halt as it was flattening Keira’s tent.

  ‘Down,’ Flora yelled, and Fern and Agang dived to the ground. Kylon crouched behind his shield, covering Keira as she knelt, her head bowed. Leah was behind the nearest cart, her longbow ready.

  The carriage doors opened, and two dozen bolts were fired from each side. Kylon’s shield took three, but his grip remained firm. Agang felt the air whistle over his head as Flora shot her bow into the mass of Rahain emerging from the carriage. Kylon dragged Keira round to join Leah behind the cart, from where she was loosing arrows into the advancing soldiers.

  Agang noticed Niall’s crossbow and picked it up. He crouched next to Flora, and began shooting.

  She glanced at him, an eyebrow arched, but said nothing.

  B’Dang yelled out from the left, and charged at the Rahain with a force of Sanang that he had rallied. Several were cut down as the imperial soldiers turned to aim their crossbows at them, but they covered the distance to the carriage in seconds, swarming round it. The Rahain soldiers dropped their crossbows and drew their swords, and formed a wall with their shields. The two sides met in a crash, but the Sanang were stronger, and began pushing the Rahain back.

  Flora relaxed, and lowered her crossbow.

  ‘That was fucking close,’ she said.

  Agang placed the crossbow next to Niall.

  Flora eyed him. ‘You changed sides?’

  ‘I didn’t want to die. ’

  More Sanang joined those fighting the Rahain next to the command tents, and Agang gazed around. Dozens of carriages from the first wave were landing all over the valley where the army had camped, smashing through tents and clusters of unprepared warriors.

  ‘This is a fucking disaster,’ Flora muttered.

  ‘Don’t be a miserable wee cow,’ said Keira.

  They turned. The firewitch was standing, her eyes red and her face blotchy. She was smoking the keenweed that Kylon had given her. He was lurking behind, unshaven and scowling, his long overcoat scuffing off the ground.

  ‘Build up the fire,’ Keira said.

  Leah picked up an axe and started to hack a wagon apart, while Fern loaded the pieces onto the fire.

  Keira put out her hand, and the flames ripped through the new wood, growing in heat and intensity. Soldiers were ordered over to help, and soon a bonfire was raging. The last of the Rahain that had attacked the command tents had been killed, and the soldiers re-formed their protective ring around the firewitch as she prepared.

  The second wave of imperial flying carriages was closing in as Keira rolled her shoulders. She took a swig of rum from Fern, and squinted up into the sky.

  ‘Come and get it, ya scaly bastards,’ Keira cried, and raised her left arm.

  A stream of fire twenty yards long arose from the bonfire and shot through the air. It hit the lead carriage, slicing through it from front to back. The carriage broke apart, spilling its contents down on the empty land beyond the edge of the camp.

  The army let out a cheer.

  Keira frowned. ‘Need something different, that’ll take way too long.’

  She stared at the sky, then grinned.

  Keira raised her hands, and more fire rose up from behind her, creating an enormous ball of flame hovering above the camp, like a cloud. Soldiers were breaking up the flying carriage that had landed nearby, and lines of them were feeding the flames, as Keira spread her arms and the cloud grew.

  She kept her left arm raised, grunting under the effort, while she started to flick the fingers of her right hand. Slivers of fire spat out from the cloud, each a yard long. Only a few at first, then Keira cried out, and a great burst of fire arrows erupted from the cloud of flame, tearing towards the fleet of gaien and carriages. Like a dense hailst
orm, they ripped through wood and flesh until the sky was bright with falling carriages on fire.

  The camp fell silent as it watched. Agang’s eyes were wide. Thousands of fire arrows raced across the sky, tearing through gaien wings, and engulfing their cargo. Carriages tumbled from the sky, while others flew on in flames. The third and final wave soared into range, and Keira increased her tempo, her face alight in the reflected glow of the fireshow above, and her heels dug into the hard earth beneath her. Agang got to his feet, and this time Flora said nothing.

  A low chant of ‘kill-kill, kill-kill’ droned up from the camp as the last of the flying carriages were consumed in the firestorm. The whole army picked up the chant and it grew louder.

  Keira screamed as she turned night into day and the sky burned, amid the growing roar of ‘kill-kill’.

  She raised her head and swung her arms out to the side, and the fires above whooshed and went out, plunging the ground into the gloom of a cloudy winter’s dawn on the Plateau. The sun was shielded behind a thick front, and scattered fires from the wreckage of the Rahain fleet lit up the fields surrounding the camp.

  The army went silent. Agang turned to face the firewitch.

  She looked him in the eye.

  ‘I’m a fucking fire goddess,’ she said, then fell to the ground. Kylon was by her side in an instant, Fern close behind.

  Agang gazed out over the carnage covering the valley. The first wave of the assault had caused considerable damage to the camp. Lines of tents had been destroyed, and corpses covered the ground. There were still a few pockets of Rahain fighting, though many appeared to be fleeing to the east. Agang could see a line of them heading away in the distance, running from the massacre of the second and third waves.

  Flora glanced at him, then down at Niall.

  ‘Look at him,’ she said. ‘Slept through the whole thing.’

  She kicked him, and he rolled over. His eyes were open, and two crossbow bolts were embedded in his chest.

  ‘Fuck,’ Flora cried, and fell to her knees. ‘Fuck.’

  She took the dead trooper’s hands and clutched them between her own.

  ‘He’s still warm,’ she wept.