‘My job’s done,’ she said. ‘Let’s get out of here.’
‘You’re not staying?’ said Agang.
She snorted. ‘What would be the fucking point?’
‘You could be empress. You could rule the world.’
‘Why the fuck would I want to do that?’
She began walking back through the mass of gathered Sanang. Groups of them were peeling off from other sections of the wall to join the crowd waiting to pass through the breach. The ring of guards kept the area around Keira clear, and they moved up the bank, away from the walls.
Keira halted at the brow of the old earthen bank, and turned to gaze over the city.
‘That earthquake,’ Agang whispered to her, ‘it felt strange. Did you feel anything?’
She frowned at him. ‘I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.’
Agang nodded and looked away. His knee felt like it was on fire. Was this what being injured felt like? He realised that he had never appreciated what others being in pain meant, and if Leah was right, and he had only received a scratch, then he couldn’t begin to imagine how a serious wound would feel. True, he had been injured in the past, when he had suppressed his powers and endured a beating rather than reveal what he could do, but even then he had been blocking the pain, and had healed himself as soon as it had been safe to do so.
He forced back tears. Since his teens he had relied on his inner powers, and kept them secret from every living soul, and now they were gone.
‘Over there, boss,’ Leah said, pointing up at the battlements next to the breach in the wall. A group of crossbow-armed imperial soldiers had assembled, and were shooting down into the mass of Sanang as they entered the city. ‘That lot could probably do with getting a few bolts of fire shoved up their arses.’
Keira scowled. ‘Nah. As I said, I’ve done my bit. It’s up to them now.’
Leah’s eyes narrowed. ‘Eh?’
‘What’s the matter with you?’ Keira snapped. ‘You gone deaf?’
‘No, boss, I heard you.’
‘We’ll wait until most of the Sanang boys are through the wall,’ Keira said, ‘and then we’ll be off.’
No one spoke. Agang gazed at the city. The flames from the northern quarter were spreading south into the main residential areas and were edging in the direction of the markets beneath the walls of the Old Town. Above the roar of the fires, the sound of screaming and steel striking steel echoed across to the bank where they stood.
At the breach thousands of Sanang were still waiting to pass through, pushing and shoving each other to reach the city. Agang noticed the pressure change in the mass of warriors making their way through the gap, as if the way ahead was becoming blocked. The warriors compressed into a tighter mass as they strained to pass the breach.
‘What the fuck’s going on?’ Leah said. ‘Why are they stopping?’
‘Maybe the city’s putting up more resistance than we expected,’ Flora said. ‘And all those Kellach in there. They won’t go down without a fight.’
The Sanang gathered outside were still pushing forwards, but all motion at the breach had come to a halt. In the distance, Agang could see the streets behind the breach were blocked with Sanang warriors, unable to move in either direction. A roar of flames burst up from a few streets away, arced through the air, and rained down on the warriors caught in the tight press, sending them alight, amid screams and panic.
Agang’s mouth fell open.
The Sanang in the middle of the breach were trapped between the masses still trying to enter the city, and the warriors fleeing from the fire-rain in the streets beyond. The crush in the centre grew, and warriors slipped to the ground, or died where they stood, their chests collapsing under the tremendous weight of flesh.
The intensity of the fire-rain increased, lighting up the entire street beyond the breach, now packed with burning warriors.
‘Have they got a fucking fire mage?’ Flora asked, her eyes wild. ‘How are they doing that?’
‘Where the fuck is Kylon?’ Leah muttered, her eyes dark. ‘Boss, what’ll we do?’
Keira said nothing.
The Sanang pushing towards the breach began to realise what was happening on the other side of the wall, and the pressure lessened as they pulled back, streaming up the bank. Many stared at Keira, imploring her to help them.
A chant of ‘kill-kill’ filled the night air, a hundred thousand voices taking up the refrain.
The firewitch stood on the bank, her face impassive.
‘Boss?’ said Leah.
‘Look out!’ cried Flora, as a rock-shaped missile flew through the air from the battlements, heading right for them. Agang jumped to the side, his knee throbbing as the object landed and bounced along the ground.
It was the head of B’Dang D’Bang.
Smoke was rising from the black holes where his eye sockets had been, and his mouth was twisted in a grimace of agony.
One of yours I believe, fire mage.
Agang stumbled, the voice in his head thundering out the words. He glanced up at the others on the bank. Flora had fallen to her knees, her hands over her ears, while Fern was crouching by Keira’s side, weeping. Leah’s face was shining in the reflected glow of the burning city. Her eyes looked like she knew the end had come.
Only the firewitch seemed unaffected. She was upright, standing with her head high.
‘He was an arsehole anyway,’ she said, staring towards the city.
Agang followed her eyes, and saw a man standing up on the battlements.
‘Who’s that?’
‘The fucking Emperor,’ Leah said.
‘What?’ he said. ‘Guilliam?’
You have been a nuisance, fire mage, the voice hammered in their heads.
‘I did my fucking best.’
Now watch as I destroy your army.
Agang stared at the figure on the battlements. Could it really be the Emperor? The man raised his right arm, and held it out to the south, towards the small river that ran through the city .
He started to move his arm to the left in a slow gesture, and the land under the Sanang warriors buckled at the far end of their ranks, as if a giant plough was scraping through the earth upon which they stood. Rocks, soil, grass, all were churned up at lightning speed. The warriors in its path were thrown into the air like toys, ripped apart by the force of the attack. The land rose up, consuming line after line of the Sanang army, and heading towards the huge mass of warriors by the breach, who stood transfixed.
The force unleashed by the figure on the battlements halted before the breach and the land stilled. For over four hundred yards to the south, a swathe of ground fifty yards wide had been turned over, and no warrior who had been there had survived.
The Sanang warriors by the breach stared in silence at the devastation. Someone broke, and began running north, and within seconds hundreds, then thousands, turned to flee. The protective circle of guards around the firewitch contracted under the pressure, and pulled in to a few yards from where Keira was standing.
Look at them run, how pathetic.
The figure on the battlements raised his arm again, then swept it out towards the great mass of warriors stampeding from the breach. At once the heads of the warriors started to explode in a burst of scalp, skull and brain matter. It began with those closest to the walls, then spread through the screaming press of panicking warriors.
Agang crouched down and put his arms over his head as the gore splattered over them. Hundreds were falling, thousands, and decapitated bodies stumbled on before falling, adding to the heaps of headless corpses piling up on the bank. On and on it went, reaching north to find any who had fled that far, until every warrior outside the city was lying dead, their heads missing. Every surface was coated in a thick red layer of blood and bone fragments.
Agang stayed crouched, trembling and panting for breath. He closed his eyes and waited for death.
The voice laughed.
Lo
ok at your army now .
Agang opened his eyes. Apart from him, only Keira, Fern, Leah and Flora were still alive. The tight ring of guards was clustered headless around them. Flora was shaking and weeping, while Leah had her head in her hands. Fern had buried her face in Keira’s cloak, kneeling beside her.
The firewitch was standing in the same position as Agang had last seen her. She was covered in blood, from her hair to her boots, but her defiant expression remained.
Agang stumbled to his feet.
‘Who are you?’ he cried.
I am the Holder of the world.
The figure raised his hand again, and a sleek arrow of fire rose up from the burning city. It shot down towards Keira.
Leah pushed the firewitch out of the way as the fiery bolt neared, and it struck her in the chest and disappeared. For a moment Leah stood there, staring down at her body, then flames rose up from her mouth, and she screamed. Her eyes melted as a stream of fire rolled down her cheeks and she sank to her knees, then slumped onto the ground, her body smoking and smouldering.
Agang, Flora and Fern drew closer to the firewitch, who was gazing down at Leah’s body.
‘Save us, Keira,’ Flora cried, her hands trembling as she crouched by the firewitch’s knee.
‘She can’t,’ Agang yelled. ‘She lost her powers in the earthquake.’
‘What?’ Flora said, her mouth opening.
‘Shut the fuck up,’ Keira said. ‘Look at the three of ye. Cowering and skulking about won’t save yer arses. That prick up there on the walls is going to kill us. You could at least meet death with a bit of fucking dignity.’
Agang felt shame bite him, but his fear was greater, and he stayed where he was, crouching by Keira’s legs next to Flora and Fern as if they were her children. Amid his panic, he noticed that the pain in his knee had disappeared. He glanced up at Keira .
‘Come on then, ya fanny,’ the firewitch cried. ‘Or if ye don’t, I’ll fucking well come up there and…’
Keira choked and put a hand to her throat. Her eyes rolled up into her head and she fell forward, landing face down onto the bodies of dead Sanang.
Fern screamed, and ran to Keira, but before she got there, the figure on the battlements flicked his hand, and she, Flora and Agang fell, their hearts stopped.
Agang toppled to the ground, his conscious mind in a panic, but his body unresponsive. He lay on the blood-soaked earth, his mouth open, gasping for air. His eyes began to close.
The power within him rose, the power he had known since his teens, the power that had kept him alive countless times since then. His heart beat again, and he took a breath as his life force re-awakened.
He struggled to his knees, and glanced up. The figure on the battlements had gone. Behind the walls, the fires raged on, burning the city, while the heaped piles of headless Sanang carpeted the ground before the battlements.
He crawled over to Keira, and knelt by her body. She looked at peace.
She had been dead for a bare minute or two, but he knew he had to act quickly. Yet still he hesitated. What good would it do? He should conserve his strength, and run back to Sanang, leave this charnel house behind and hide somewhere deep in the forest. And yet.
Kalayne had said that only she could save the world.
He placed his hands on the sides of her head, and focussed. He had only attempted this twice before in his life. The first time had been a disaster, but the second had worked. He calmed his breathing and felt within her, searching through the lifeless nerves and veins. His power entered her heart and he sent a part of his own life into her.
Her heart started beating. He returned his focus to her head, coaxing the air and blood back. He sensed it circulate again, warming her, and bringing life back to every part of her body.
She gasped and shuddered, and Agang withdrew his hands .
Keira opened her eyes and stared at him. She retched, rolled over onto her knees, and vomited over the bloody earth.
Agang tried to get up, but stumbled over the body of a woman.
It was Flora. He gazed at her face, the white paint smeared red with blood. He was exhausted, but had to try. He leaned over, and placed his hands on the Holdings woman’s head. He controlled his breathing, despite the fear and fatigue coursing through him.
Her heart had been stopped for longer than Keira’s, but he could sense no major damage to any of her organs. He fired up her heart with a burst of energy that almost drained him, and he nearly lost his grip on her head.
He clenched his eyes shut, and urged himself to keep going, pulling air into her lungs, and driving blood to every tip of her body.
He blacked out and collapsed to the ground.
His head was lifted, and he awoke as a skin of wine was placed against his lips. He opened his eyes and saw Keira sitting before him, silhouetted in the darkness against the burning city.
‘Is that what you did to me?’ she said.
He gasped, too weak to speak.
‘What you did to Flora,’ Keira went on, glancing at the Holdings woman, who was crouching low next to her, vomit mixed with blood trailing down the front of her leather armour. ‘You did the same to me? You brought us back?’
Agang nodded.
‘Can you do the same for Fern?’
Agang glanced over at the body of the young Sanang woman lying a few yards away.
‘I’ll try.’
He crawled over to Fern, his head spinning, as Keira and Flora followed. He sat by her head, and placed his hands on the girl’s temples. At once he pulled back, flinching. He glanced over at Keira and shook his head.
‘Why not?’ she said. ‘You run out of power? ’
‘I have enough,’ he said, ‘but it’s too late. It’s been too long, her brain… it’s too late.’
‘Can you not fucking try, but?’
‘I could,’ he said. ‘I could restart her heart, and give her life, but she… she won’t be the same. Her eyes will open, but she’ll be empty on the inside. Believe me, you wouldn’t want to see her like that.’
Flora shuddered. ‘He’s a fucking soulwitch.’
‘And thank fuck for that,’ Keira said. She looked down at the young Sanang woman. ‘Sorry, ma wee Fern.’
She lit a weedstick and inhaled as she gazed around. The fires were still raging in the city, but the battlements were deserted, and the embankment sat in darkness.
She passed the weedstick to Agang. He took a draw and felt his energy levels return.
‘Come on,’ Keira said and, keeping low, she set off, clambering over the heaps of bodies. Flora and Agang followed, staying silent. It grew even darker on the other side of the raised bank, and they picked up their speed. Agang kept pace with the firewitch as she raced through the fields on the eastern side of the city. Flora started to lag behind and between them, Keira and Agang helped her along, until they reached a small patch of forest next to a stream a few miles from the city walls, just as the sky was beginning to lighten to the east. There they halted, and fell down onto the cold ground, a frost covering the hard earth.
Flora passed round a skin of water, and Keira lit another weedstick.
The Holdings woman wiped her face with a towel she had soaked in the stream, removing the white face-paint at the same time as the blood, and revealing her dark skin. She looked younger without the make-up, a young woman instead of the fearsome witch that had cowed the warriors of Sanang.
‘So all this fucking time,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘A soulwitch? Fucksake. You could have killed us any time you wanted.’
‘I wouldn’t have got far,’ he said. ‘Unlike Keira, I can only use my power on one person at a time, by physical contact. And, in Sanang all soulwitches are hunted down and killed. ’
‘Kalayne was right, then,’ Flora said. ‘Your secret came out anyway.’
He turned to Keira.
‘Have your powers returned?’
She took a long drag on the weedstick. ‘Aye.’
&nb
sp; ‘Then we should go back and fight.’
Keira snorted.
‘The old man was right all along,’ Agang said. ‘You were right. I was wrong. The church’s plan must have succeeded, and the Emperor has been given every type of mage power. Earthquakes, fires, the land chewed up, heads exploding, hearts stopping… His power’s unlimited.’
‘Which is exactly why I’m getting the fuck out of here.’
She spat on the ground.
He looked into her dark eyes.
‘What was it like being dead?’
‘I don’t remember.’
‘I’m not going back to the city,’ Flora said. ‘A few hours ago there were a hundred thousand Sanang warriors outside the walls, and now…?’ She shook her head. ‘The Emperor thinks I’m dead. He thinks we’re all dead. I’m going to crawl off somewhere, and hide. Forever.’
Agang bowed his head.
‘Look,’ said Keira, passing him the weedstick, ‘I’ve a feeling you might be a useful fucker to have around. You can go back to the city and fight if you want. Or, you can follow me.’
‘Where?’
‘The only place that’ll have me,’ she said. ‘Home.’
Chapter 36
Separate Ways
T ahrana Valley, Imperial Rahain – 20 th Day, Second Third Winter 506
Killop sent a spark from his fingers to the lamp on the bedside table, and the wick ignited. He rolled out of bed and glanced at Karalyn, who was standing up in her cot staring at him.
‘Mama?’
‘Aye, wee bear. We’ll find her.’
A wave of hope and fear from her washed over him. He stooped, and picked up his clothes from the floor. He pulled them on, then reached for the back of a chair where his leathers were hanging. He had said ‘we’ to Karalyn, but knew he should leave her with the clan while he searched for her mother. It would be too dangerous to…
The child’s anger surged through him, and he felt her in his head.
Karalyn go with dada. Karalyn find mama.
He realised that without her, he would have no way of knowing where Daphne was, but she might.
‘Aye, wee bear,’ he sighed, ‘you’re coming too.’
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