Tinga turned toward the sound, and started moving. “Come on,” she said over her shoulder. “We’ve got work to do.”
Chapter Fifteen
_____
INDREE POKED HER head around the corner to get a look down the street. No immediate threat, but some distance down a goblin family was sneaking across behind the backs of a passing patrol of Knights of the Emperor. She didn’t like to imagine all the ways that could take a bad turn.
“The knights are out in force now,” she sent to Tane. “I’ve gotten word to everyone I can. Greymond, Bastian, Iskar, they all know the plan. They’ll gather anyone they come across and make their way to the waterfront.” She and her little band had been doing the same—they’d rescued more than a few from Endo’s knights, and most had been all too happy to follow them to the harbor. Any plan was better than nothing.
“Lady Abena is going to send reinforcements too, but it will take time,” Tane answered. “We’re on our way to Iskar now. Thanks for passing the message on to him. If we can get up to Endo aboard the Hesliar, we might be able to end this. Hold on as long as you can.”
“Stop where you are!” A loud voice from up the street. The black-clad figures had noticed the goblins, and now they were closing in.
“I have to go,” Indree sent. “People to help. Good luck. And… be careful.” There were a million other things to say, and no time to say them. Instead, she closed the sending.
She had less than twenty men and women she could count on to fight. They’d lost too many in the warehouse, including three artificers. The dozen or so people they’d picked up along the way were unarmed civilians, already weak from the siphon—Indree wasn’t going to ask them to put themselves in harm’s way. Her fighters still outnumbered the patrols they’d come across, but as far as magecraft went, there was only her, the three remaining Mageblades, and two artificers trained in mass production, not combat. The Knights of the Emperor had a major magical advantage, which made every encounter riskier than she liked. The patrol ahead was nine strong—small enough to handle in theory, but those three extra mages made it far from a sure bet.
Still, she had to do something. She wasn’t a constable anymore, but she’d sworn to protect the people of Thaless, and there was no one else.
“Nine ahead.” She pointed at two Silver Dawn agents. “You two, stay back and protect the civilians. The rest of you, with me. Mages, have shields ready—they’ve got more firepower than we do. Same as last time. Come on.”
Indree stepped out into the street ahead of the others, already chanting her spell. A silver shimmer in the air betrayed the presence of the shield she’d created—but not in front of her. It surrounded the goblin family ahead, a barrier between them and the approaching black-cowled knights.
“What?” The first of the knights to turn was a heavyset human man, and before he could blink Indree threw a wave of Astral force at him, hurling him back into her own shield. He hit hard, head-first, and slumped down to the ground. He didn’t get up again.
The other knights were chanting spells of their own now, but not fast enough—Endo’s thugs all had magic, but the average pro-magical fanatic wasn’t particularly well trained in combat spells. The mages threw up the shields she’d asked for, three of them layered atop one another, just in time to stop the first counter-spell. Another simple force-spell, same as hers—one of the easiest magicks to conjure up at a moment’s notice. It broke on the silver barrier with a flash. A few more waves of silver followed, and then, after a longer delay, a gout of spellfire—enough to break the first layer of shielding before it guttered out.
But the shields weren’t needed anymore. Now that they’d spent their first spells, the untrained knights would need a moment to marshal the power and presence of mind for another volley.
“Now!” Indree shouted, and rushed forward, through the shield, baton and pistol at the ready. A dozen fighters followed her, Mageblades and Silver Dawn agents and Bastian’s loyal muscle.
She smashed her baton into the jaw of the nearest target, a dwarven woman trying to chant another spell. The woman fell. A cowled gnomish man turned his attention to Indree, stuttering over his spell in the face of the sudden violence. Before he could recover, Indree judged the magical fields nearby, aimed her pistol to his left, at the shield she’d erected in front of the goblins, and fired. The ball curved away from the shield, went in one side of the gnome’s neck and out the other. He grasped his throat with a gargled cry and fell to his knees, bleeding through his fingers.
She took no satisfaction in that. Non-lethal force was her preference, the focus of her constable’s training. But these were violent insurrectionists marching through the streets of her city, and every one she left alive was another one to deal with later. When it’s over, I can worry about making peace with it. No time to be squeamish now.
Her squad had engaged the others, using numbers to their advantage. Three of them to each one of Endo’s followers. One group had already taken theirs down; only five knights were still standing. Five of their mages against six of hers, plus a dozen non-magicals on Indree’s side. The surprise attack had done more than just even the odds—it had unbalanced them in her favor.
But the remaining Knights of the Emperor weren’t—unfortunately—complete idiots. They managed to retreat behind a shield of their own, and launched another volley of spells from relative safety. Again, Indree and her mages shielded their fighters from several waves of Astral force.
Even with the numbers on her side, Indree recognized the problem immediately. Her people would overpower the knights eventually, but two magically fortified forces turned the fight from a quick ambush into a drawn out test of endurance. Spellfire. We don’t have time for this, not while the siphon is eating people alive.
She didn’t have to worry long.
From the other side of the knights’ shield, silver tendrils wrapped around two of the cowled mages, lifted them from the ground, and slammed them against one another. A wave of force knocked a third from his feet. The last two knights turned to see where the attack had come from, but it was too late. Dozens of armed men and women were already on them, charging around the shield Indree had put over the goblin family. The last of Endo’s mages went down under a shower of blows.
Every one of the newcomers wore a talisman at the shoulder, gems aglow.
“Inspector Lovial!” A high-pitched voice, with a tone of delight that the situation hardly merited. Bastian Dewglen fluttered toward her, clad all in green, with an emerald mask across his eyes. “It seems we found you at the right moment!”
“Thank you, Bastian.” Indree stowed her weapons and looked over the force he’d brought—there were others following behind him, at least as many again as the ones who had taken down the knights. Easily more than a hundred. “Are there more coming?”
“We’ve put out the word, but I suspect not many, at least not from among my contacts. This is what the Silver Dawn and I could put together between us. I know you made entreaties as well—did you have any luck?”
Indree nodded. “I think so. It will be enough. It has to be. How many talismans do you have?”
“As many as we could make,” Bastian said. “A few hundred. We can protect some, but not everyone in Porthaven. I did have my friends bring a few other items that just may prove useful, though.”
“That’s something, at least. Whatever happens, we’ll put up a fight. Come on. We need to get moving.” Indree strode toward the goblin family, and Bastian fell in beside her.
“Where is Vladak?” He asked as they walked. “I expected to see him in the fight.”
“He’s gone,” Indree said flatly.
Bastian’s round cheeks went pale. “Oh. Inspector Lovial, I’m sorry.”
“He’s not the only one. We’re going to lose more people today, Bastian. We… have to be prepared for that.” She kept walking, kept her eyes ahead. If she let herself dwell on anything but the task at hand, she didn’t know if she�
��d be able to come back from it.
The goblins cowered together in the middle of her shield; she let the protective spell drop as she drew near. There were four of them: two adult men and a pair of children, a girl and a boy.
“I’m sorry you were put in this position,” Indree said. “But you’re safe now. As safe as you can be, at least.”
“Safe?” One of the men, a goblin with olive green skin, looked at her incredulously. Dark circles hung below his eyes, and his voice was hoarse. The siphon working its magic. “I feel like… I don’t know what I feel like, but it isn’t safe. What is this?”
“A spell.” Indree answered. “It’s draining the Astral connection of any non-magical it touches. We’re trying to slow it down by gathering as many people as we can at the waterfront. Will you come with us?”
The man shook his head. “They’ll be waiting for us. We can’t—”
“Is this how we keep our children safe?” The other goblin, a man with deeper green skin, interrupted. He was holding the girl and boy close; the two younger goblins clung to him, clearly terrified.
“It is,” said Indree. “I don’t know any other way.”
“My friends have talismans that will protect against the spell for a while,” Bastian chimed in. “There is a… limited supply, but I will see that your children get them, at least.”
“Then we’ll come.” The darker goblin looked at his partner, who just nodded.
“We’ve got others like you with us already.” Indree pointed back at the small group of civilians. “Join them. We’ll look after you, whatever the so-called Emperor sends at us.”
“Speaking of which.” Bastian pointed down the street, toward the waterfront.
A group of black-clad figures was approaching, still distant. Several dozen at least, and more looked to be joining them. Larger than any of the patrols Indree had yet encountered, and gathering right in the middle of the path to the harbor. One of the knights must have gotten a sending off, warned his friends.
She whistled sharply, and then uttered a short spell to amplify her voice. “More coming!” All eyes turned to her. She lifted her baton, pointed it down the road. “Unfortunately for them, they’re in our way,” she said. “We’re going to have to change that.”
Then, with weapons in hand and a spell on her lips, Indree led her little army into battle.
_____
Tinga clambered out of the tunnel into the narrow alley just off the harbor, then turned to help Cestra and the others out while Lefty held the panel open with his brass arm.
The people they’d managed to gather together weren’t many: a kobold couple, a teenaged goblin boy a few years younger than Tinga and Cestra, a human man and woman and their young daughter. The others they’d approached had refused to come along, scared of what the Knights of the Emperor might do to them. But these six had agreed, and the Silver Dawn tunnels had gotten them all to the waterfront unseen.
Across the street from the mouth of the alley, an unkempt band of grassy parkland stretched along the sea wall—a broad, slightly raised barrier that held back the tides and served as a promenade. A crowd of fifty or so had formed there, gawking at the scene in the harbor. Even with the siphon draining the life out of them, they couldn’t resist the spectacle, and Tinga didn’t blame them. It’s not something you see every day.
Overhead, a trio of airships flew guard over the harbor’s mouth, blocking the way out. In and around them swooped a massive silver dragon, occasionally breathing a line of dragonfire across the path of any ship that tried to test its luck. Burning debris bobbed on the waves, all that was left of an airship the creature had apparently dealt with already; a short distance up the coast another airship bobbed helplessly on the waves just off shore, its envelope severely deflated. The line of Belgrian and Estian vessels that had been blockading the harbor had scattered, some trying to find a way out, others fleeing further in. Every Audish ship—as well as Rhien’s Aquilon—was pushing its ancryst engine at full speed for the shore.
Tinga helped the last man out of the tunnel, the human father. He was young, and in decent enough shape, but even so he could barely get up the rungs; she and Cestra had to grasp an arm each and pull him up over the lip of the hole. Astra, they’re running out of time.
“With them,” Tinga said, and pointed to the crowd. “With any luck, that’s enough to at least slow the siphon a little bit. Spread the word. Don’t let anyone separate you. We’ll be back with more.”
“Thank you, miss,” said one of the kobolds, a red-scaled man, hissing on the last word. He led the others out of the alley, and together they staggered across the street to join the people already there.
Tinga watched them go, barely able to keep their feet, and she felt a sinking dread in her stomach. “It’s not enough,” she said. “We don’t have time to do it this way. Five or six at a time isn’t going to make a difference.”
“Maybe not,” Lefty said. He was still holding up the panel, waiting for her and Cestra to climb back down. “But there ain’t nothin’ else.”
Cestra spread her hands. “He’s right, Tinga. There’s only three of us. We can’t—”
A booming voice cut her off, clearly amplified by magic. “Clear the streets, in the name of the Emperor! All of you, return to your homes!”
Tinga peeked around the corner. A half-dozen Knights of the Emperor were coming down the promenade, closing in on the crowd. Their leader—an elven man—was the one doing the talking, his arm outstretched, finger jabbing at the gathering.
“We can’t let them break this up,” Tinga said. “We’ll lose whatever momentum we’ve got. Come on.”
“Tinga, wait!” Cestra whispered behind her.
But Tinga was already moving. She sprinted across the street and over the grass, vaulted up on the promenade, pushed through the crowd. A series of stone pillars with chains between them guarded the steep drop at the edge of the sea wall, and Tinga scrabbled up atop one of them so that everyone could see her. “Don’t listen to him! Staying together slows this spell! If they force us into our homes, they kill us!”
An alarmed murmur went through the crowd.
“She’s right!” The goblin teen they’d brought through the tunnels spoke up. “I felt it when we joined you all. It’s still there, but… when we got close, it slowed just a bit, I think.”
The knights were nearly on them now. “The Emperor has given his orders!” The cowled elven man declared. “Disperse immediately, or we will resort to force.”
Lefty and Cestra caught up, came to Tinga’s side.
“You better have a plan, girl,” Lefty growled up at her.
“Sort of. Just… when I move, hit them with some kind of spell.” Tinga raised her voice once more. “We outnumber them! Come on!” And then she leapt down from the pillar, and charged directly at the Knights of the Emperor.
She could tell no one was following her, but behind her she heard Lefty bark a quick spell, and a wave of silver force surged past her, bowling over the elven man and the two knights behind him before they could get a shield up. The last two, a bit further back, just barely managed to protect themselves in time, blocking the wave with silver barriers.
Tinga didn’t hesitate, just let out a yell halfway between a battle cry and a scream of terror, and leapt onto the elven knight before he could stand again, pelting his head and shoulders with her fists.
And then the others came. Something in her cry, or just the fact that the knights were vulnerable now, spurred the crowd into action. All around her, men and women leapt on the downed mages, hitting and kicking them. They weren’t fast, and they weren’t strong, not with the siphon weakening them, but they outnumbered the knights nearly ten to one, and that was enough.
The two knights still standing tried to hold their shields against the onslaught, but dozens of fists and feet were already testing their limits. And then Lefty chanted another spell, and launched a hail of silver bolts from his fingers that passed ha
rmlessly through the crowd to explode in silver light against the magical barriers. It was too much; the shields failed, and the crowd rolled over the mages behind.
Tinga hopped to her feet; the elven knight wasn’t fighting back anymore. Unconscious or dead. She didn’t particularly care which just then. She turned to Lefty and Cestra with a wild grin. “That’s how we do it. It’s not just us three. It’s everyone. Lefty, can you make me loud? I need to be heard all over Porthaven. Like Endo in the sky just now.”
Cestra frowned. “That’s going to bring every knight in Porthaven to us. They’ll know exactly what we’re doing, where we are.”
“I know,” said Tinga. “But the amount of people we need, they were always going to notice. Trying to be sneaky isn’t getting it done, and we don’t have time. Lefty?”
Lefty gave her a slow nod, and there was something like grudging respect in his eyes. “I think maybe you’re right, kid. Sometimes you gotta go big.” He muttered some words in the lingua, and tipped his head at her. “Speak.”
“Alright, I—”
As Tinga spoke, a massive image appeared in the sky overhead. It was her. Exactly as she was, right down to the glowing talisman in her shoulder. A voice so loud she almost couldn’t tell it was hers said, “Alright, I—”
Her words caught in her throat. She hadn’t been ready for that. In theory, she knew what she had to say, but she didn’t know how to say it. How do I convince thousands of people? It’s going to sound like I’m asking them to march to their deaths.
Cestra took her hand, fingers trembling. She looked terrified, but she just said, “You can do this.”
Tinga swallowed, took a deep breath. “People… people of Porthaven.” The giant image above boomed the words into the sky. “You can’t listen to the mages in the streets. This spell… it slows down if it has to deal with a lot of us all in one place.” She looked over the crowd around her, trying to gauge the effects of her words; most just looked confused, and weary. They’re dying in front of me, and I’m asking them to risk their lives when I’m not even feeling the effects.
The Mage War Page 16