Sacrifice

by Christopher Mitchell

  ‘But everyone’s in the tavern, they’re all wondering where you are.’

  Keira swigged the whisky.

  Flora sat back, frowning. ‘They’ll think you’re scared.’

  Keira snorted. ‘Of what? ’

  ‘I don’t know, of facing them I suppose. Scared of breaking down and admitting that you’ll miss them.’

  ‘Agang and Laodoc? Miss them? Ha, yer just being fucking ridiculous now.’

  ‘Do you know that Dean’s going as well?’

  ‘Is he? So what. He’s a useless wee twat, we’re better off without him.’

  ‘He’s too inexperienced to be going on some crazy mission,’ Flora said. ‘I’ve tried to talk him out of it, but he seems set. If you could speak to him, Keira, he’ll listen to you.’

  ‘Why the fuck would I want to do that?’

  ‘Because he’s just a kid.’

  ‘If he’s old enough to be shagging Dora, he’s old enough to get himself killed in some pointless fight.’

  ‘That doesn’t make any sense.’

  ‘Stop fucking nagging me, Flora. Go back to the party and leave me be.’

  The Holdings woman stood.

  ‘Do you want me to open those shutters for you?’ she said. ‘The sun’s come out.’

  ‘I like it dark.’

  Flora nodded, then left her room, closing the door on the way out.

  Keira took a swig of whisky, then leaned over to the floor and picked up the cloak she had worn for four days over at Dermot’s place. She rifled through the pockets, then smiled as she found what she was looking for. She withdrew her hand, a tight bundle of stolen weedsticks grasped in her fingers.

  She pulled one free of the bundle, lit it off the bedside lamp, and inhaled.

  An hour later, fuelled by whisky and a potent blend of Sanang narcotics, Keira decided it was time to go to the party. She tucked a weedstick into her belt pouch, and tossed the empty bottle of whisky into the corner of the room to join the others.

  She heard the noise coming from the tavern as she went down the back stairs, a low roar of conversations, laughter and music. Bar boys and girls squeezed past her in the corridor, taking plates filled with lunch from the kitchens out to the customers, and her stomach growled. She entered the tavern, and swaggered through the crowds, passing a small group of guitar-strumming musicians playing by the hearth. The shutters were wide open, letting in the afternoon sunshine, and the blustery wind smelled of the ocean.

  The pile of luggage had gone from the floor, and Keira glanced around. She spotted Flora and the others sitting in the corner. Their tables were filled with plates, jugs and bottles, and everyone was eating and drinking. Keira frowned as she saw Bridget and Bedig sitting with them, along with the pale, blonde-haired lassie whose name she had forgotten.

  Those that noticed her approach fell silent. She reached the table and poured herself an ale from the jug.

  ‘Alright, ya stupid fucks,’ she said. ‘I thought I’d come and laugh at you, off on yer fucked up wee mission to find the frog-woman. Ye’ll be lucky if ye make it past Kell.’

  ‘And a good afternoon to you, Mage Keira,’ Laodoc said, before anyone else could react. ‘Many thanks for your words of encouragement, I will treasure them in my heart.’

  Keira frowned at him, and sat. She glared at Bridget.

  ‘I see all the fuck-ups are leaving,’ Keira smirked. ‘The old, the bairns, the useless.’

  ‘Go fuck yourself,’ said the pale, blonde woman.

  ‘Leave it, Dyam,’ said Bridget. ‘She’s just trying to get a rise out of us.’

  ‘Indeed,’ said Laodoc, ‘and using bravado to cover the fact that she’s too afraid to leave the security of Domm and venture back out into the world.’

  Keira’s rage boiled over. ‘Just because yer an old bastard, don’t think I won’t punch yer fucking teeth in.’ She gazed around the table at the angry faces. ‘I’ll kick all yer arses.’

  The table sat in silence, and Keira drank down her ale and poured another.

  ‘It’s not too late, Flora,’ Agang said.

  ‘You’re more than welcome to join us,’ said Bridget.

  The Holdings woman shook her head. ‘I’ve made my decision.’

  ‘Good luck to you, young lady,’ Laodoc said. ‘It has been a privilege to get to know you during my stay here.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Flora said. ‘I’ll miss you all, especially you, Agang, we’ve been through so much together, and I don’t think I ever actually thanked you for saving my life. So, thank you.’

  Agang smiled.

  She turned to Dean, who was sitting next to Dora.

  ‘One last time,’ she said, ‘please stay, Dean.’

  The young man stared at the table. ‘Sorry, but I’m going.’

  Dora sobbed.

  Keira sniggered. ‘You should go with them Dora, at least then I wouldn’t have to put up with all yer snivelling.’

  ‘I want to,’ she said, ‘but my ma and da say I can’t.’

  ‘Fucksake,’ Keira laughed. ‘At your age I did what the fuck I wanted, not what I was told to do.’

  Two woman approached the table, longbows slung over their shoulders.

  ‘Boss,’ said one to Bridget, ‘both wagons are loaded up and ready to go.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Bridget said. ‘Everyone, this is Bonnie and Lola, they’re coming along with us. I figured we were a bit light on muscle for this trip, and these two have seen plenty of action. Brynt recommended them to me, they were part of his hunting squad back in the Severed City.’

  The two women nodded at the group.

  ‘Nice to meet you,’ Laodoc said. ‘That brings the number of our party up to eight. ’

  ‘Hopefully small enough to travel unnoticed,’ Bridget said.

  ‘Ye’ll never make it past Kell,’ Keira muttered. ‘The lizard soldiers are too scared to go near large mobs of refugees heading south, but they’ll mince a wee group like you.’

  ‘What the fuck would you know?’ Dyam said.

  ‘A fuckload more than you, ya cow. I’ve been all round this fucking world.’

  ‘And all it seems to have taught ye is how to be a twisted bitch.’

  Keira clenched her fists.

  ‘Dyam, enough,’ Bridget said.

  Kelpie walked over.

  ‘I hope you all enjoyed your lunch?’

  ‘Very much, Madam Kelpie,’ Laodoc said. ‘Thank you for your generosity.’

  ‘Aye, thanks,’ Bridget said, standing.

  ‘No problem,’ Kelpie said. ‘It’s been a pleasure to host ye, Laodoc, and I’ll be sad to see ye go.’

  ‘Aye,’ Keira said, ‘sad that yer takings will be down.’

  Kelpie nodded. ‘That too.’

  ‘Goodbye Flora, Kelpie,’ said Bridget. ‘And to you, Keira.’

  ‘Whatever.’

  The others got to their feet. Bonnie, Lola and Dyam left the tavern, while Flora gave Agang a hug.

  ‘Take care,’ she said.

  ‘And you.’

  Laodoc paused in front of Keira. ‘We will see you again, mage, of that I have no doubt.’

  She ignored him.

  Dean pushed away Dora’s embrace, and ran from the tavern, his cheeks wet. Bridget frowned, and caught Laodoc’s eye.

  ‘Time to go,’ she said.

  The old man nodded, and they left the tavern.

  ‘Farewell Keira,’ Agang said, and followed them .

  Bedig approached, and got down on one knee. He leaned over to whisper in her ear.

  ‘Fucking sort yourself out, Keira, you’re a mess.’

  She said nothing, continuing to stare out of the window, and she heard him walk away.

  ‘There, there,’ Kelpie said, as Dora collapsed in tears.

  Keira turned. Flora was sitting shaking her head, while Dora and Kelpie sat opposite, the older woman comforting the younger.

  ‘You should have stayed in your room,’ said Flora.

  ‘Misb
ehaving, was she?’ Kelpie said.

  ‘Just the usual.’

  ‘That bad, eh?’

  ‘Shut it, the pair of ye,’ Keira snapped.

  ‘Don’t you speak to me like that,’ Kelpie said, ‘not after ye don’t show up for four days. Ye’ve lost me a lot of money.’

  ‘Well I’m back now.’

  ‘Aye,’ Kelpie said, standing, ‘and ye’d better start paying yer way now that Laodoc and Agang aren’t here.’

  She strode off towards the bar.

  Keira removed the weedstick from her pouch, and lit it. She put her feet back up onto the stool and inhaled.

  ‘Stop wailing,’ she said to Dora. ‘Yer ruining ma smoke.’

  She gazed at the red-faced lassie, tears rolling down her cheeks.

  ‘Ye’ll forget him soon enough,’ she said. ‘Here, have some of this.’ She passed Dora the weedstick. ‘That’ll shut ye up for a while.’

  The afternoon wind picked up as they sat in the corner of the tavern drinking, Flora matching her whisky for whisky. Dora was snoring, her head on the table, as the crowds began to gather to hear Keira speak.

  ‘What story have you got lined up for them?’ Flora slurred.

  ‘Fuck knows, hen,’ Keira said. ‘I’ve done the flying carriages to death, and the exploding heads. ’

  ‘Maybe it’s time for something they’ve not heard before.’

  ‘Aye, or I could just make something up,’ she laughed, filling her whisky glass. ‘The stupid arseholes would never notice.’

  Bay approached the table.

  ‘Hi, Mage,’ she said. ‘Is Dora all right? Is she drunk?’

  ‘She’s upset about Dean going,’ Flora said.

  ‘Aye?’ Bay said, sitting. ‘Was that today?’

  ‘Yeah,’ said Flora, ‘a few hours ago.’

  Bay nudged Dora with her elbow, and the snoring ceased.

  ‘Never knew what she saw in him, to be honest,’ Bay said. ‘He always had his head in a book.’

  Keira saw Kelpie over by the bar. The older woman nodded, signalling it was time for Keira to begin.

  She banged her glass on the table. ‘Settle down, folks,’ she cried. ‘It’s time for a wee story.’

  The crowd quietened, filling every table in the place.

  Keira swallowed. Here we go again.

  ‘I want to tell ye about the time I was leading the Sanang army, and we were attacked by thousands of flying carriages, and…’

  ‘We’ve heard it a hundred times,’ shouted someone, amid a mummer of agreement.

  ‘Where’s the old Rahain guy?’ cried another voice.

  ‘Aye, we want to hear him speak!’

  Keira scowled. ‘Well ye’ve got me today. The scaly old bastard’s fucked off, probably for good.’

  The faces of the crowd looked disappointed.

  ‘All right,’ she said, ‘there was the time, back when I was in the alliance army, that we assaulted a gatehouse of the Rahain Capital…’

  ‘Heard it before,’ cried someone.

  Kelpie was giving her worried glances as the crowd grew restless. Keira downed her whisky.

  ‘Ya bunch of ungrateful bastards,’ she said, refilling her glass. ‘Here’s one ye’ll have not heard before, I promise you that. ’

  She paused, for a second unsure, then drank her whisky and ploughed on.

  ‘It was after I had been captured by the Rahain. They kept me chained up, with a bag over my head. My brother was also a prisoner, and they showed him to me, then told me that they were going to kill him if I didn’t do what they said. Then they flew me off, wrapped in chains at the bottom of a flying carriage, with fifty crossbows pointed at my back.’

  She took another drink, her head swimming. The crowd remained silent, waiting for her next words.

  ‘The carriage landed, and I was dragged outside. We were on top of a ridge, overlooking this city. It was weird, they’d told me I was going to see a refugee camp, but this place was built up, bigger than any town in Kell or Domm. Then they told me that everyone in the city was dead, poisoned by chemicals in the water, and all I had to do was burn it all up, purify the land with fire.

  ‘So I stood there, looking down at the city. It stank. The streets were covered in a thick layer of poisoned mud, but the folk there weren’t all dead. I saw hundreds of them, thousands, diseased and dying, staggering like walking corpses. There were piles of them heaped up on every corner, skeletal and rotten, children…’

  She paused again. The tavern sat in absolute stillness, with every eye on her. Flora’s mouth was open.

  ‘The lizards ordered me to burn the city, and I told them to go fuck themselves, but they said they would kill Killop, and then me, and I looked down into the camp, and the folk there, they were already dying, already as good as dead, and all I was doing was ending their pain, and so I hardened my heart and did it.

  ‘I burned them,’ she said. ‘I burned an entire city of refugees.’

  Some in the crowd stared at her, while many looked away. A few were weeping.

  An old woman approached. She shook her head at Keira, spat on the ground in front of her, and walked out of the tavern. Others followed and before long the place was empty and quiet .

  ‘Was that true?’ said Bay, her eyes wide.

  Keira nodded.

  Bay stood up and walked away.

  ‘What the fuck were ye thinking, Keira?’ said Kelpie, marching over.

  ‘Just giving them what they wanted.’

  ‘Well if I hear that story again, yer out, understand?’

  Keira watched her stride back to the bar, then turned to Flora.

  ‘It’s just you and me now, hen.’

  Chapter 10

  Babysitting

  H oldings City, Holdings Republic – 13 th Day, Last Third Summer 507

  ‘Come and fly, daddy,’ Karalyn whispered as he slept, and Killop felt his dreaming mind lift into the air and hover over the sleeping citizens of Holdings City. Around him whirled the consciousness of his daughter, laughing and spinning.

  He looked down over the Lower City, the streetlamps marking out the main routes and landmarks. The university, the courts and market halls, and the great cavalry fortress, that used to house the garrison of imperial soldiers, and was now home to the army of the new regime. Across the river, the Upper City was bathed in shadow and darkness, with a few lamps marking the royal ramp and Holders Square, close to where he was sharing a room with Karalyn and Daphne. The twin clusters of palace and cathedral sat side by side atop the rocky summit, rivalling each other in bulk and height.

  ‘Let’s fly,’ urged Karalyn.

  ‘Shall we wait for mummy?’

  ‘Mummy not sleeping.’

  Killop frowned.

  ‘All right, wee bear. Let’s fly. ’

  Karalyn squealed, and took off over the plains at lightning speed, dragging Killop with her. They sped west, crossing fields and plantations, and great herds of cattle.

  The air pressure changed, and they slowed as a force began to pull them back the way they had come.

  ‘Daddy,’ Karalyn cried, as fear shot through him. ‘It’s alright, daddy.’

  Their speed increased tenfold, and the land beneath became a blur. They crossed two rivers, then a patch of ocean, then travelled above the spine of a great mountain range running south-east for mile after mile. They slowed as they came out of the mountains, and Killop saw a mighty city lie before him, larger than anything he had believed possible. It stretched out for dozens of miles in each direction, and was criss-crossed by a vast network of canals. Large sections of the city lay unlit and abandoned, with a glow of lights coming only from the centre, where they were headed.

  ‘Do you know where we’re going, wee bear?’

  Karalyn nodded. ‘The bad man.’

  Killop frowned. It could only mean the Creator, and they were going in without Daphne.

  They hurtled over the canals, and entered a tall brick-built structure. In
a large hall a man was seated upon a throne, raised high above the gathered army officers and government officials, and Killop flinched as they passed through his eyes and into his mind.

  Killop froze, trying not to breath or make a sound.

  He opened his eyes, and saw that he was looking out from the point of view of the man on the throne.

  Guilliam? Killop frowned. How was this happening?

  ‘Your Majesty,’ said the officer on his knees before the throne, ‘yesterday’s casualties from ill health and disease came to five hundred and sixty-two.’

  ‘An average day, then,’ the Emperor said. ‘Why are you even bringing this to my attention?’

  ‘But your Majesty, thousands more are sick, and the lack of sanitary conditions endured by the soldiers is sure to mean that more will die unnecessarily.’

  ‘I factored that in, you idiot,’ the Emperor snapped. ‘Why do you think I assembled such a large army? I knew that the feeble constitution of most Holdings soldiers wouldn’t stand up well in the fly-ridden swamps of Arakhanah. I took a guess that maybe half would perish from the conditions alone, and the numbers would seem to bear me out.’

  ‘Half, your Majesty?’ the officer said. ‘Such a toll.’

  ‘Soldiers die. Next.’

  The officer got up from his knees, bowed, and backed away. An official took his place, kneeling before the Emperor.

  ‘I bring a message from Lord Chancellor Prior in the imperial capital, your Majesty,’ she said. ‘He advises that troops are required to enforce the blockade of the Old Realm. It appears that the rebel Holds have been successful in smuggling in more arms and supplies to bolster their illegitimate regime.’

  ‘Tell him no,’ the Emperor said. ‘I can’t spare any troops for him. Once Ghorley has finished recruiting my new army in Rahain, then he will be welcome to some, but until then, no.’

  ‘Yes, your Majesty. However, Lord Chancellor Prior requested that I inform you that he feels that the rebel Holds will be a formidable force militarily if the smuggling is allowed to continue.’

  The Emperor snorted.