Sacrifice

by Christopher Mitchell

  Flora put her hands right next to the roaring fire, smiling. ‘Thanks.’

  Keira gazed at her hand.

  ‘There, that wasn’t so hard now, was it?’ Kallie said, unwrapping food from her pack, and laying out cheese, dried beef strips and hard bread onto a cloth on the ground.

  ‘Using fire to get warm is one thing,’ Keira frowned. ‘Using it to massacre folk is another.’

  ‘Baby steps,’ Kallie said. ‘When we left Domm you insisted that you wouldn’t use your powers for anything.’

  ‘It’s because I’m lazy, but,’ Keira said. ‘I mean, I could’ve spent ten minutes carefully building the fire up by hand, but I couldnae be arsed.’

  ‘All I’m saying is…’

  ‘I know what yer fucking saying, and all I’m saying is that it’s not the fucking same.’

  ‘It’s not exactly the same, but it’s a start.’

  ‘Stop fucking saying that,’ Keira yelled.

  ‘You know,’ said Flora, looking up, ‘you two argue like sisters.’

  Keira snorted.

  ‘It once felt like we were,’ said Kallie.

  ‘Before my wee brother dumped yer arse,’ Keira smirked.

  ‘Before he betrayed me by sleeping with that Holdings woman.’

  ‘Her name’s Daphne, have ye forgotten?’ Keira said. ‘Daphne fucking Holdfast.’

  ‘You ever met her?’ Flora said.

  ‘Who, me?’ said Keira. ‘Nope.’

  ‘I have,’ said Kallie. ‘She rescued us from a Rahain prison. I didn’t know it at the time, but she and Killop had just been together before they turned up.’

  ‘Been together?’ Flora said. ‘You mean? ’

  ‘Aye,’ laughed Keira. ‘They stopped off for a quick shag on the way before rescuing Kallie, can ye fucking believe it?’

  ‘Fuck you,’ said Kallie. ‘She was lucky I didn’t know. I would’ve ripped her head off.’

  ‘No chance,’ Flora said. ‘She’s a high mage, from what I’ve heard about her. A battle-vision specialist. She’d have cut you up into small pieces if you’d tried.’

  Kallie frowned. ‘She was pretty handy with a blade, right enough.’

  ‘Beaten in every department,’ Keira chuckled.

  ‘In every department?’ said Flora. ‘She must be gorgeous.’

  Kallie shrugged. ‘I’m not one to judge folk from the Holdings, but she seemed pretty ordinary to me. Lacey kept saying that she’d put some sort of spell on Killop, used her vision powers to make him love her.’

  ‘And do you believe that, Kallie?’

  ‘No. Killop wasn’t bewitched, he was besotted. Anyway, can we stop talking about it now? It took me ages to get over it.’

  ‘Ye know they’ve got a bairn, though eh?’ Keira said.

  Kallie frowned. ‘No.’

  ‘A wee lassie.’

  ‘That’s nice.’

  ‘I’m an auntie.’

  ‘So ye are.’

  ‘Auntie Keira.’

  Kallie gave Keira a cold stare, then got up and left the goat shed.

  ‘You shouldn’t do that,’ said Flora.

  Keira shrugged. ‘She dragged my arse all the way up here, and anyway, I’m only telling her the truth, it’s not my fault it hurts.’

  ‘That’s bullshit, Keira. You found a weakness, and you just enjoy poking at it.’

  ‘And you’re some sort of expert, are ye?’ Keira said. ‘If yer so packed full of wisdom, how come I’ve never seen ye with anyone? Your problem is that ye think yer smarter than everyone else. Puts folk off. ’

  Flora scowled, but said nothing. She picked up a stick and prodded the fire.

  The door opened, and Kallie came back in. She crouched by the flame.

  ‘We should get going,’ she said. ‘Got another eight miles to go before we hit the road to the coast. From there, our camp’s a twenty-minute hike up the glen.’

  ‘If yer friends are still there,’ Keira said.

  ‘You’re right,’ Kallie said, ‘they might have been discovered while I was gone. We’ll need to be careful. We’ll be passing close to a mining compound on the way, so we’ll have to keep our heads down.’

  ‘Why?’ said Keira. ‘I thought we were here to fight.’

  Kallie raised an eyebrow. ‘The compound covers hundreds of acres, Keira, and is guarded by an entire battalion of soldiers. Their camps are ten times the size of the old ones you fought after the invasion. You must have seen them on the way in, they’re too big to attack on our own.’

  Keira frowned.

  ‘We stuck to the mountain trails on our way south,’ said Flora. ‘We didn’t see any Rahain.’

  Kallie nodded. ‘Makes sense.’

  ‘What does?’ said Keira.

  ‘I’ve often wondered how you were able to pass through Northern Kell without stopping to fight. You still haven’t seen what the Rahain have done to it.’

  ‘But we’re in Northern Kell now,’ said Flora.

  Kallie laughed and shook her head. ‘We’re still in the mountains, away from the nightmare the lowlands have become. We even avoided the garrisons on the main pass to Southern Kell. We haven’t seen anything yet.’

  ‘So we’ll need help?’

  ‘Aye, Flora,’ Kallie said, ‘we’ll need to sit down and make a plan. Rally every rebel in the hills, and then choose where to strike.’

  ‘Sounds too fucking complicated,’ Keira said. ‘Just point me at the lizards. The sooner we’ve burnt them out of Kell, the sooner I can go back to Domm.’

  Kallie got to her feet, shaking her head. Flora stood, and slung her pack back over her shoulder.

  ‘Back into the sideways rain,’ she said. ‘Oh joy.’

  Keira extinguished the fire and they left the goat shed. The wind and rain had eased, and thick grey clouds covered the sky. They followed the path down the narrow glen, then through the shelter of a long stretch of trees, their brown and faded leaves piled deep on the wet ground. Moss covered every rock next to the tiny burn. Keira smiled. Home.

  Kallie led the way as they emerged from the trees. They came out onto a high platform, the lowlands of Northern Kell spread out before them. Keira stood by Kallie’s side and gazed out.

  She squinted through the murk. The land was unrecognisable. Mountains of ash and slagheaps littered the landscape. There was still some green patches here and there, but the ground was mostly broken rock, with landslips and giant, jagged crevices crossing the hillside. Every tree had gone, and smoke rose from a dozen locations. In the distance Keira could see lines of high walls, enclosing an enormous camp, where row after row of squat buildings were laid out, amid guard towers and hills of mined coal.

  Kallie spat. ‘Now do you see?’

  Keira said nothing. She wanted to look away, to pretend she had never seen it, but remained frozen where she stood. Her anger began to grow.

  ‘The Rahain did all this?’ asked Flora.

  ‘Aye,’ said Kallie. ‘Their stone mages levelled every village and opened up the hillsides to reach the coal easier. The whole land’s been ripped apart by earthquakes and mining. And they chopped down all the forests and woods, and dumped their mining waste into every river.’

  Keira felt her fists clench.

  ‘This,’ Kallie said, stretching out her arm, ‘is what we’re up against. That compound there is one of the largest in this area. There are a couple of bigger ones further north, but that’s the main one here. It sits where the old village of Dropbottom used to be, about thirty miles from the pass to Southern Kell.’

  ‘Aye,’ muttered Keira, ‘I remember it.’

  ‘Where’s your camp from here?’ Flora said.

  Kallie pointed to a range of hills to their left. ‘That way.’

  She turned, and began walking down the path. Flora glanced at Keira.

  ‘The Rahain really fucked you guys over.’

  ‘Aye?’ Keira said. ‘Now it’s my turn.’

  It was dark when Kallie led them up
another narrow glen. Flora struggled with the lack of light, and they had to take their time as she stumbled over every rock and tree root on the path. When they reached a waterfall, Kallie told them to wait, and she continued up the track on her own. She returned a few minutes later and gestured for them to follow her.

  They clambered up a steep incline to the mouth of a cave, where a Kellach was guarding the entrance. He nodded at Kallie and moved aside to let them pass.

  The cave stretched into a wide, twisting tunnel, and they emerged into a well-lit chamber, where a few rebels were sitting by a roaring fire. More were coming in from other entrances and all were staring at Keira.

  ‘Is it really her?’ said one.

  A tall man frowned as he approached, walking as if he thought he was important.

  ‘Is this the fire mage?’

  ‘Aye,’ said Kallie. She gazed around at the faces in the chamber. ‘This is Keira. She has returned.’

  About forty or so rebels had now gathered, forming a circle around Keira and Flora, who stood close to her .

  ‘Ya fucking beauty!’ cried someone, and the chamber rang out in cheers.

  ‘We’ll give it to those fucking lizards now!’

  The tall man continued to frown. ‘The fire mage, eh?’

  Keira frowned back at him. ‘Aye. And who the fuck are you?’

  ‘I’m the leader of the rebels in these hills,’ he said. ‘If you’re here to fight, then you’ll be under my command.’

  ‘The fuck I will,’ Keira said. ‘I commanded an army of a hundred thousand Sanang. I’m not going to be taking any fucking orders from you.’

  He turned to Kallie.

  ‘Did you not explain the situation to her before you came here?’

  Kallie shrugged. ‘She’s the fire mage, and I’m following her from now on.’

  ‘But…’

  ‘Me too, boss,’ said a female warrior with an enormous battle-axe strapped to her back. ‘Sorry.’

  The folk in the chamber began to chant her name, Keira, Keira.

  She smiled and raised her arms in the air. ‘Let’s plan our first attack over some whisky. Ye have got whisky, haven’t ye?’

  ‘Oh aye,’ said an old woman. ‘Loads.’

  ‘Ye know, Kallie,’ Keira said. ‘I might get used to being here after all.’

  Keira gazed through the lens of the long lizardeye at the enormous mining compound. It was several times bigger than any town in Kellach Brigdomin had ever been, and included the minehead, where a great wooden tower stood, surrounded by mountainous bins of extracted coal. Beyond that, a quarter of the compound was given over to dozens of long, low buildings where the slave-miners lived. It was surrounded by its own palisade fence. An army garrison occupied the third quarter of the compound, laid out like its own little town, while the final quarter was sealed off with a high wall, the area where the rich merchants and senior officers lived their pampered existence.

  The entire compound was enclosed by a series of ditches and palisade walls, and was protected on its landward flank by a fortress. On the other side, long palisade fences stretched a mile down to the cliff-edge. In this protected area, herds of cattle grazed and fields were being farmed.

  She felt a nudge in her side, and passed the lizardeye to Flora, who was lying on the raw stones of the hillside next to her, a look of deep fatigue in her eyes.

  ‘This the last one?’ she said.

  ‘Aye. The last big one, anyway. Kallie said there’s a few smaller places we’ve missed, but they can be mopped up after we’ve finished.’

  ‘They’re panicking,’ Flora said, peering through the Rahain-made instrument. ‘Loading up wagons, and soldiers are running around all over the place.’

  Keira chuckled. ‘Guess word reached them of our wee tour across Northern Kell.’

  ‘It’s only two days since we attacked the last place,’ Flora said. ‘Are you sure the imperials don’t have a vision mage?’

  ‘That’s what Kallie says. Think about it though. The bastards seemed surprised when we hit them, they never saw us coming. These guys down there must have seen the smoke rising from the last place, or maybe a survivor managed to escape.’

  ‘I don’t know, you were pretty thorough.’

  ‘As always.’

  ‘How you coping with it? I must admit, I wasn’t sure you’d do it all again, not after the Plateau.’

  Keira shrugged.

  ‘You sleeping alright?’

  ‘Whisky helps.’

  ‘You seem calm on the surface, but…’

  ‘Enough. Let’s just blow the shit out of this place, and get the fuck back to Domm. ’

  She turned her head and glanced at the dozens of Kellach rebels standing among the giant boulders of the broken hillside. The wood they had salvaged from the previous compound was being unloaded from six wagons, creating a great mound of fuel.

  Keira jumped down the slope towards them and Kallie saw her approach.

  ‘How’s the range?’ she said.

  ‘I can hit the front half of the compound from here,’ Keira said, ‘and the fortress. I’ll start with that, then work my way to the minehead.’

  Kallie nodded. ‘Where do you want the strike squads?’

  ‘Straight through the front gate,’ Keira said, ‘as soon as the fortress is ablaze. Make sure they stay clear of the coal bins, I’m going to light those fuckers up, they’ll burn for days, the amount of coal that’s been stockpiled.’

  Kallie nodded again, and started issuing orders to the others.

  Keira rubbed her hands, waiting for everyone to get into their positions. The warriors trooped off, leaving Kallie and a half-squad as the mage’s personal protection. Flora opened the storm lamp.

  ‘Not yet,’ Keira said. ‘Anyone got a drink?’

  A grizzled older man reached into his belt and pulled out a bottle. He bit off the cork and spat it out, then passed it to Keira.

  ‘Good man,’ she said, and took a long drink of whisky. She gazed at her right hand. Steady as fuck.

  ‘Alright,’ she said to Flora, ‘now.’

  The dark-skinned woman opened the storm lamp, exposing the flame within. Keira closed her eyes, feeling for the living fire, sensing its desire to spread and consume. She drew back her fingers as if taking a pinch of salt and a thin tendril of fire leapt out of the lamp, igniting the heap of wood in a great whoosh of flame. Flora stepped back, the heat intense. Keira smiled.

  ‘Someone spot for me,’ she said, and Kallie gestured to a warrior, who ran up the slope and lay down at the top.

  Keira flicked her wrist, and a ball of fire the size of a pumpkin soared through the air. Seconds later she heard it crash, and she glanced at the spotter.

  ‘You hit the inner wall to the right of the fort,’ the warrior yelled. ‘Pull back twenty yards, and angle thirty to the left.’

  Keira nodded, and sent over another fireball.

  ‘You hit a building inside the fortress,’ cried the warrior.

  ‘Good enough,’ she said. She increased the size of the next fireball to that of a wagon, and sent it on the same trajectory. She then fired off a dozen more in quick succession, sprinkling them around the same area.

  ‘The fortress is burning!’ the warrior called down to her.

  ‘The coal bins next,’ she shouted back. ‘Same routine.’

  She gazed at the pillars of smoke rising over the edge of the ridge, trying to remember exactly where the giant stores of coal lay. She flicked her wrist, and a smaller fireball whooshed towards the compound.

  ‘Too far to the left,’ cried the warrior. ‘Angle fifty yards to the right.’

  She tried again, and again, narrowing in on the bins, until the warrior whooped. Above his head the flames could be seen rising.

  ‘You got it!’ he yelled. ‘Pyre’s arsehole, it’s burning like an inferno.’

  Keira glanced at her diminishing supply of fuel. She weaved her hand through the air, pulling up everything that remained
, and sent it over to the compound, over to where she knew the minehead lay. She waited for the whump as it hit, and smirked.

  They clambered back up the ridge, leaving a smouldering black circle on the ground behind them, and gazed down at the compound. The fortress at the front was burning, flames ripping through its towers and interior buildings. The minehead had collapsed, and was on fire, but the light it made was insignificant next to the raging conflagration by the coal bins. Black smoke was pouring up into the sky from where the mountains of coal lay, and the heat from it was igniting the structures around it.

  Keira stared at the white-hot flames. From her attacks on the other compounds, she knew that the fire would rage on and on, until all the coal had been consumed, melting the rocks underneath the inferno, and scarring the land for years. She also knew that the cavern cities of the Rahain would be cold and dark that winter, and felt a savage revenge satisfied. Let those bastards suffer. Let their lizard arses freeze in the dark.

  ‘There’s the attack squads,’ yelled one of the warriors, pointing.

  ‘We’d better get down there,’ said Kallie. ‘There are still over a thousand soldiers in that garrison.’

  Keira nodded, smiling to herself.

  They sprinted down the loose rubble of the hillside, and ran towards the ruins of the fortress. They grew close enough to hear the screams from within, then turned and made for the main gates of the compound. Keira held her arm up as they ran, lifting a mass of fire from the burning fortress, and throwing it at the gates in front of where the attack squads had gathered. The gates exploded, their doors shattering from the burst of fire, and the attack squads funnelled through. Kallie swung her longbow off her shoulder, notched an arrow and shot down a Rahain guard up on the wall. Keira took another fireball from the fortress, and cleared the rest of the wall’s battlements, incinerating the other Rahain guards that were up there.