by Kyra Halland
The Sh’kimech screamed in rage and clutched at her with cold, greedy tendrils of power. They had come so close to getting what they wanted, a servant to do their will upon the surface of the world, new mindsouls to replenish the parts of themselves that the long ages had worn away an infinitesimal bit at a time.
No! she shouted in her mind, and the word seemed to tear itself from her throat as well, harsh and guttural. You will obey me, or I’ll send you back to sleep forever and never call on you again.
Reluctance filled them to return to their long, lonely exile, even though it had been self-imposed in the beginning. They released their grip on her. Sister. We must obey.
With the Sh’kimech no longer fighting to control her, Lainie pulled her mind and her power back out of the depths of the earth. She became aware of her body again, standing in the ruined town in the cold dusk. She had no idea how much time had passed while she struggled with the Sh’kimech for control of her mind and body; enough for the sun to dip the rest of the way below the tops of the mountains, but not long enough for the daylight to fade from the cloudy sky. The sharp chill of the Sh’kimech’s power still flowed through her veins and bones and muscles; her whole body trembled with power, but now it was under her control.
Her shield had collapsed while she was busy with the Sh’kimech, but no one had tried to attack. The dark power that she knew was rolling off of her must be enough of a deterrent. She could see Elspetya and Astentias behind their own shield, frantically consulting with their men, several of whom were sitting on the ground or leaning on others for support, still recovering from her last attack.
Beside her, Silas was holding her hand in a deathly tight grip. Blood soaked his sleeve and their clasped hands, but he didn’t seem to notice. The earth trembled beneath Lainie’s feet; the Sh’kimech were still flooding into him. She had fought them back, but he hadn’t. Distantly, on the edge of her mage senses, she felt their triumphant glee.
Their duplicity made her angry, even though it didn’t surprise her at all. She grabbed Silas’s shoulders. He tried to pull away, but she held him more tightly and pulled him down to her, and kissed him hard. You are mine, she told him. Not theirs. Mine.
Deep inside the darkness that filled him, she felt him stir in response. So much power, he thought with a hint of regret.
I know. You can use it. You can control it. But you can’t give yourself up to it. The Silas Vendine I know doesn’t let anyone else command him.
His will to resist the Sh’kimech grew a little, but still he hesitated.
Please, she begged. Don’t let them have you! We need you! Through her mage senses, she tried to show him the bright miracle that was the life they had created together.
His hesitation ended. With a tremendous effort, he pushed back the compulsion, the demands, the temptation of the vast, dark power he held and asserted his authority over it.
Finally, he was safe. Lainie withdrew her mage senses from him, and his arms came around her for a quick, hard hug. “The Silas Vendine you know doesn’t let anyone command him but you,” he said.
From behind her shield, Elspetya shrieked, “Don’t just stand there, you fools! Don’t you see they’re weak right now?”
Lainie’s attention snapped back to her enemies. A few of the Hidden Council mages were back on their feet, also behind the protective shield, and struggling to shape new attacks that wouldn’t quite take form. Beneath Lainie’s feet, the earth shook with the movement of deep, massive amounts of power. She glanced up at Silas; it wasn’t him drawing power.
“We’ll handle them, Madam,” said a deep voice with an odd, familiar echo in it. Lainie’s heart and breathing froze in horror at the sound. An opening appeared in the Hidden Council’s shield; the A’ayimat wiseman and the big hybrid mage stepped through it. A mist of deep blackness surrounded them. From the mist came a sense of greed and malice, ancient beyond knowing. The two mages began shaping the power surrounding them into a giant wave.
“Stop!” Lainie cried out through the choking fear that gripped her. “You don’t know what you’re doing! You’re fools if you think can control the Old Ones!”
Silas dropped her hand and began shaping an enormous ball of pure black Sh’kimech power. No traces of blue or amber showed in it. Another spasm of fear seized Lainie; had the Sh’kimech taken control of him again? “Drop the shield,” Silas said. His voice was harsh and strained, but it held none of that echo of other voices in it. He wasn’t being controlled by the Sh’kimech; he was controlling them.
Lainie let the shield go. Right away, the hybrid mage and the wiseman launched the wave of the Old Ones’ power towards her and Silas. As it bore down on them, roaring like thunder, Silas heaved his own attack, then Lainie threw the strongest shield she could muster, rose and amber and black, and braced herself.
The two masses of dark power met halfway across the intersection in an explosion that shook the earth and jarred Lainie to the bone. Dirt burst up from the ground beneath the force of the colliding powers. The Sh’kimech and the Old Ones, freed from the attacks they had been shaped into, whipped about like dark, screaming winds, seeking physical anchor.
Lainie let her shield down and pulled the loose power into her arms. The ancient beings wrestled for the chance to possess her, but she closed herself to them. “Can you hold the shield?” she asked Silas.
He nodded. “I’ve got it.”
As Silas took over maintaining the shield, Lainie shaped the dark power into another attack, packing it into as dense a ball as she could, careful not to draw any of it in. She poured amber and rose-colored magic into the attack as well, to strengthen and bind it. “Now,” she gasped.
Silas dropped the shield. Staggering under the almost physical weight of the power, Lainie heaved it forward with all her might.
The wiseman and the big hybrid mage had retreated behind the Hidden Council’s shield, where Elspetya and her mages were preparing more attacks. Lainie doubted the shield would be strong enough to withstand a direct hit from as much power as she’d just thrown at it.
The Hidden Council mages must have come to the same conclusion; instead of relying on a shield that couldn’t hold, they lowered it and hurled half a dozen or more half-formed bolts and waves and spheres of power at Lainie’s attack. The barrage of magic met in another giant collision, battering Lainie with another shockwave. Spent in the explosion, the Sh’kimech’s and the Old Ones’ power dissipated.
Still trying to catch their breath and steady themselves, Lainie and Silas started shaping their next round of attacks without stopping to put up another shield. While the Hidden Council mages were still recovering, Lainie launched a wave of rose and amber swirled with black, joined by a sweeping flare of Sh’kimech power from Silas. The Hidden Council mages hastily raised their shield; Silas and Lainie’s attacks hit it with an impact that shattered the shield and sent the mages stumbling back.
Silas brought a ball of dark power fringed with amber and blue into his left hand and flung it towards the enemy. Lainie immediately followed it with a burst of her own power.
Half of the Hidden Council mages threw shields; the others, partially protected by the shields, launched their own attacks. Some of their attacks collided with Silas and Lainie’s, while others made it through. Lainie and Silas dodged them, then threw another round of attacks.
Working in perfect coordination, the Hidden Council mages continued shielding in turns to protect the mages who were attacking, conserving their power and fending off Silas and Lainie’s assault. Madam Lorentius and Lord Astentias stayed to the rear, directing the renewed fighting while keeping their own strength in reserve.
Lainie and Silas adopted the same strategy of trading between shielding and attacking, but quickly found themselves on the defensive again, under constant barrage and only able to throw one attack at a time. If those Mage Council enforcers in Sandostra had used such well-coordinated tactics, Lainie thought as she launched another attack then ducked back b
ehind the shield that Silas was holding, she never would have beat them. For all the Hidden Council’s many faults, they were well-prepared to engage in full-out battle against a truly desperate opponent. If she and Silas couldn’t start making some headway, they were going to be physically worn down if not depleted of magic before much longer.
The wiseman and the hybrid mage stepped out in front of the shields again and hurled a smaller wave of the Old Ones’ power towards Lainie and Silas. Lainie pulled in Sh’kimech power and threw it, raw and unshaped, at the wave; Silas followed with another sphere of black, amber, and blue. The Old Ones’ power rolled right over the two attacks.
“Shield!” Silas shouted. He and Lainie threw a shield a heartbeat before the wave of ancient, malign power crashed into it, knocking them backwards.
Lainie regained her footing and tried to catch her breath. Silas was breathing hard as well. Despite the cold winter dusk, they were both dripping with sweat. Lainie was running low on her own power and on the reserves of Wildings and Sh’kimech power she had taken in. Another attack and another crashed into their shield; the Hidden Council mages hadn’t eased up on the barrage. Lainie reached down into the earth; it was getting harder to do, exhausted as she was, and the flow of amber power through the ground was sparse.
The big hybrid mage and the wiseman had retreated behind the shield, and another dark fog was starting to gather around them. If they kept this up, the Old Ones were going to take over their bodies, and then there would really be trouble. And as long as Madam Lorentius had those two and so many other mages fighting on her side, Lainie and Silas would keep getting pounded while Madam Lorentius and Lord Astentias remained untouched.
“We gotta get rid of those two,” Lainie gasped as a plan took shape in her mind.
“Got any ideas?” Silas asked.
“Yeah.” It would take pretty much all of what she had left, but it should get rid of the A’ayimat and the big mage, the most immediate danger. With any luck, it would also take care of the rest of them, all in one blow.
Still the attacks from the Hidden Council came without stopping. Lainie poured a little more magic into the shield to strengthen it against the assault. “How are you doing on power?” she asked Silas.
“Some left. It’s getting hard to draw more, though. You?”
“Nearly gone. I’ve reinforced the shield, but I need you to hold it for me for a bit.” She dropped to her knees and laid her palms flat against the ground. “Pull in as much power as you can. Wildings power too, if you can get any, but don’t go too deep. I’m going deep, and I might need you to bring me back.”
Silas nodded. A look of intense effort came over his face as he drew more power. More attacks pounded against the shield. “I’ve got as much as I can,” Silas said, his voice hoarse and strained.
“Good. Keep holding the shield for me,” Lainie said.
He looked at her hands on the ground, then a feral grin came onto his face. “Like the avalanche?”
She nodded, and he laughed. “Just try not to get us killed,” he said.
“I’ll do my best.”
Slowly, Lainie withdrew her own power from the shield as Silas fed more power into it. Bolts and spheres and waves of power continued buffeting the shield; it shuddered beneath the strain, but held firm, though the lines of tension deepened in Silas’s face. Lainie didn’t care to test how long he could maintain the shield by himself against the ongoing attacks; she needed to be quick about what she was going to do.
She closed her eyes and centered her concentration, then reached deep into the earth, and deeper still, until she lost all sense of her body and surroundings. The Sh’kimech inside her clamored with curiosity, and more clustered around her in their underground realm, wondering what she was doing.
Those are your enemies, she said. The ones who trapped some of you in the bullets. You’re going to take your vengeance on them now. We’ll do what we did when we brought down the mountainside.
Eagerly, the Sh’kimech crowded into her. They were so excited, they didn’t even try to take control of her. She gathered them together, along with all her strength and will. With a mighty push, she drove them as hard as she could through the ground, beneath the crossroads and the enemy shield to where she sensed the hybrid mage and the wiseman drawing the Old Ones from the earth, and up through the surface.
Even with her awareness separated so far from her body, the noise as the Sh’kimech burst up from beneath the ground was deafening. We did it! the Sh’kimech cried as a rain of rocks and clods of dirt pelted down on Lainie’s head and back.
You did, she told them. Thank you. You can go home now.
Pleased with their vengeance, the Sh’kimech retreated without argument. We will do this again sometime, Sister. Any time you wish.
Lainie pulled her awareness back to her body. The shield was still up, but no more attacks pounded against it and Silas had eased back on his efforts. Lainie’s breaths came in hard gasps; the underground attack had taken as much of her physical strength as it had of her power.
On the other side of the crossroads, a crater, darkly shadowed in the moonlight, had appeared in the ground where most of the Hidden Council mages had been standing. Elspetya was struggling to get to her feet with assistance from Lord Astentias. Lainie swore; she had hoped that attack would be enough to take out all of them. Three other mages were trying to get up, but the rest of the mages, including the hybrid mage and the wiseman, lay on the ground, looking like broken toys in the light of the rising moon. The whole group was unshielded. One of the surviving mages began to form a weakly flickering rust-red attack.
“You can drop the shield now,” Lainie said. The shield faded as Silas pulled the power remaining in it back into himself. With the last dregs of her own power, Lainie reached out and snatched the enemy mage’s attack from his hands. The sickly-sweet taint on it made her stomach twist. Demonsalts; just her luck. Instead of cravings, though, she felt only revulsion.
She pulled the drug-tainted power towards herself, careful not to take any of it in. The stream of rust-colored magic stretched thin over the distance between her and the mage it belonged to. With a hard tug, Lainie ripped the power out by the roots, and the mage let out a stricken wail. Quickly, Lainie shaped the stolen power into a ball, still handling it with great care, and heaved it back at him. It struck him, knocking him back with an explosion of his own power. He lay crumpled and still on the ground where he fell.
One of the other two mages had put up a thin, wavering shield; behind it, the other started to form another attack. A blast of blue and amber from Silas shattered the shield, then he fired two shots from his gun and those two mages fell.
Madam Lorentius and Lord Astentias were the only ones left. The white-haired mage threw a shield as he stepped in front of Elspetya, then he cupped his hands in front of his chest. A brilliant ball of silver power appeared there, growing rapidly brighter.
Silas aimed his gun at Astentias and fired. A blue beam entwined with amber and black shot out, shattered the shield, and pierced the silver sphere, hitting Astentias square in the chest.
“Merlovan!” Madam Lorentius gasped as the beam of power continued to pour into him. Cracks appeared in his body, revealing a brilliant, writhing mass of blue, amber, black, and silver power. Astentias let out an inhuman shriek, then disappeared in a blinding explosion.
“Merlovan!” So much anguish filled Elspetya’s voice that Lainie might almost have felt sorry for her. Almost, if she hadn’t caused so many other people just as much agony and grief. “You will pay for this!” Elspetya cried out, her ragged voice piercing the cold, moonlit evening. Deep violet power began to take shape in her right hand, shimmering against the black velvet of her gown.
Lainie tried to call up power and came up completely empty. She didn’t even have enough left to draw more power from the earth. There was nothing inside but yawning, aching emptiness. She glanced at Silas. He shook his head slightly; he was done, too.
She drew her revolver and aimed it at Elspetya’s heart. Her arm shook under the weight of the gun and the responsibility that lay upon her to stop this woman. Silas raised his gun, taking aim as well.
“The weapon of Plain cowards and foreign barbarians!” Elspetya mocked them as dark purple power swelled in her hands.
“It was good enough for your men when they captured my husband,” Lainie answered. “And for Carden’s miners when they killed my brother.”
“Damn you, I only did what I had to do!”
Elspetya launched the mass of deep violet power towards them. At the same instant, Lainie and Silas both fired. Elspetya fell backwards, blood flying from her head and chest, as Lainie and Silas dove to either side, out of the path of the oncoming power. They had won, Lainie thought as her grandmother’s final attack hurtled between them. Then she hit the ground hard, and the world exploded into violet-tinted darkness.
Chapter 27
LAINIE CAME TO, lying on the cold ground. Above her, the moon and a handful of stars showed through tattered clouds. The deep ache of magical hunger chewed all through her body. She turned her head and saw Silas laid out flat on the street a couple of measures away. An overwhelming need swept over her for food and sex and sleep, preferably all three right now in the greatest quantities possible, but, gods help her, she couldn’t move so much as a finger. “Baby?” she said.
“Huh?” came the reply.
“You okay?”
“Yeah.”
“They shot you.”
“Nothing serious. I’ll live. You? And baby?”
The thought wandered idly through her mind that she needed a new nickname for him. Between calling Silas “baby” and the real baby, things could get confusing. Maybe she should stick to “honey.” A single tiny shred of power had regenerated while she was lying there; she used it to reach deep inside herself. She feared to find that the spark of her baby’s life had gone out, but there it was, bright and strong, pulsing rapidly with his heartbeat. Him – a boy, she somehow knew. “We’re fine,” she answered. “He’s one tough little kid.”