‘I’m not a child,’ he snapped, taking the skin from Agang’s grasp.
Agang backed off.
‘It’s time for lunch anyway,’ said Dyam, pulling off her pack. ‘Dean, help me unpack whatever we’ve got left.’ Tara barged past her, heading for Laodoc. She stood in front of him, and unleashed a torrent of Rakanese in his face.
‘Enough,’ said Lola, and the young woman fell silent, but continued to glare at Laodoc.
‘Sorry, everybody,’ he said. ‘Damn these old legs.’
‘Let’s just recover our strength,’ Agang said. ‘We can get a few more miles done this afternoon.’
Lola snorted. ‘Maybe if you carry him.’
‘Look,’ said Agang, ‘I understand that you’re all frustrated, but we have to deal with the situation we’re in. We need to stick together, now more than ever. Soon we’ll be in Silverstream, a town where we won’t understand anything that people are saying, a town that’s stayed hidden for years. They’re probably going to be suspicious, and worried that the world has finally caught up with them.’
He gazed at them all.
‘We’re hoping to meet Shella there,’ he went on, ‘so remember this. The only person among us that she’s ever met before is Laodoc. This old man is the only link we have to her. To help us, he’s walked over a hundred miles through these hills. Is a little patience too much to ask?’
Lola frowned. ‘Ten minutes,’ she said, and walked off, Tara close behind.
Dyam glanced over at Agang, and smiled.
‘Thank you,’ said Laodoc.
Agang shrugged. ‘I meant what I said.’
He knelt, his hands out-stretched. ‘Now, where does it hurt?’
Their route that afternoon took them through a tight ravine, its bottom muddy and littered with fallen boulders. They scaled a long rocky slope, scrambling over the rough ground, and down into a deep valley, thick with spruce trees. Laodoc pushed himself on, Agang’s healing keeping him on his feet for hours.
As they descended the slope, Tara cried out, pointing. Laodoc glanced up, and lost his footing on the loose rocks. The ground shifted beneath his feet and he slid down the hillside, his arms flailing. His leg hit a tree trunk, and he swivelled, coming to a halt next to an great boulder. He groaned, and clenched his eyes shut, the pain in his leg excruciating. He heard footsteps close by.
‘Shit,’ said Dyam. ‘Agang, get over here.’
Laodoc opened his eyes, biting his lip to keep himself from screaming. Agang was running towards him, while Dyam knelt by his side. Agang put a hand on his leg.
‘Broken.’
Lola came into view. Behind her Tara was standing. ‘Fix him,’ said the Lach hunter.
‘I can’t,’ Agang said. ‘He’s too weak. I don’t think he’s eaten anything today. If I try to heal his leg, he’ll go into a coma, maybe worse.’
‘But you’re a fucking mage.’
‘I can only work with what I’ve got,’ Agang yelled, his eyes narrowing at Lola. ‘The body needs some reserves for my powers to work. Older people have less reserves anyway, and Laodoc’s are utterly exhausted.’ His voice lowered. ‘I’ve already healed him so many times, he has nothing left to give.’
Agang faced him. ‘But I can ease his pain.’
Laodoc felt a soothing sensation through the Sanang man’s touch, and he gasped in relief.
‘Thank you,’ he said.
‘I’ll make him a splint,’ said Dyam. ‘Dean, help me.’
‘Why do I always have to help you?’ the young mage said.
‘Don’t fucking test me,’ Dyam snarled. Dean backed away.
Tara started talking, her voice rising in an angry tirade. She kept pointing further into the forest.
‘Look,’ said Lola, ‘the lassie’s obviously desperate to get home. I reckon from the way she’s carrying on, it must be close. Maybe I should go with her. If it’s nearby, she can show me the way, and then I can come back for the rest of ye. ’
‘That’s a good idea,’ said Agang. ‘We’re not going to be able to move Laodoc for a while. He needs rest and food before I can heal his leg.’
Lola swung her pack to the ground. ‘I’ll leave this here with ye.’ She turned to Tara. ‘Come on, then. Silverstream.’
Tara grinned, and the two walked off through the trees.
Laodoc lay still as Dyam prepared a splint, using an axe to pare down and trim a sturdy branch, while Dean sat watching. Agang straightened his leg, dulling his pain with every slow movement, until it lay flat.
‘How bad is it?’
‘Two breaks,’ Agang said, not looking up.
‘Could I have some water, please?’
‘Of course,’ Agang said. He folded a cloak, and slid it under Laodoc’s head to prop him up, then passed him the water skin. The old man took a drink. Dyam held the splint out against his broken leg, then removed it and began to make adjustments.
Laodoc frowned. ‘Where’s Bridget?’
Dyam glanced around. ‘Fuck. Where’s she got to?’
‘I didn’t see her come down the slope,’ Agang said.
‘Bridget!’ Dyam yelled. ‘Shit. I’d better look for her.’
She passed the splint to Agang, and stood. ‘Dean, come with me, help me look.’
The young mage grunted and got to his feet.
‘You go that way,’ she pointed, and they split up, each taking a separate route back up the rocky hillside.
‘I hope she’s all right,’ Laodoc said, as Agang started to strap the splint to his leg.
‘Just focus on staying still,’ Agang said, leaning over to tighten the straps. ‘Right, the splint’s on. How’s the pain?’
‘Bearable.’
Agang slumped back against a tree. He opened Lola’s pack, and pulled out a cloth package. He unwrapped it, and offered Laodoc a greasy strip of dried pork. He took one for himself and started chewing.
Laodoc stared at the piece of gristle, and laid it down .
‘No,’ Agang said. ‘You have to eat. If you don’t, I won’t be able to heal you.’
The Rahain man picked it up, closed his eyes, and took a bite. A wave of nausea washed over him, but he swallowed, and managed to keep it down. He raised it to his mouth again, then stopped, as a piercing cry rang out over the hillside, echoing off the other side of the valley.
Agang sprang to his feet, his hand on the hilt of his sword, and gazed around.
‘It came from where Dean was headed,’ he said, turning to Laodoc.
‘You’d better go.’
Agang frowned, his eyes darting between Laodoc and the hillside.
‘I’ll be back as soon as I can,’ he said, and sprinted up the hill.
Laodoc watched him leave, and took another bite.
A voice hissed at him in a foreign language.
He turned, and saw two Rakanese approach, each aiming a Rahain-made crossbow at him. They glared at him with venom in their eyes. One of them shouted at him, and he picked out ‘Rahain’ among the stream of words.
Laodoc dropped the strip of pork and raised his hands.
One of the Rakanese lifted his crossbow and took aim.
There was a blur of movement and Bridget appeared, running out from the cover of the trees. She grasped the crossbow and ripped it out of the hands of the Rakanese, then shoved him to the ground. She then punched the other Rakanese in the face before she could raise her weapon, and sent her flying into the undergrowth.
‘Behind you,’ Laodoc said, as the male Rakanese got back to his feet, a knife in his hand.
Bridget turned, a look of rage on her face. The two began to pace round in a circle, each staring at the other. Bridget was unarmed, but stood a good foot and a half taller than the Rakanese with the knife.
‘We’re looking for Shella,’ Laodoc cried. ‘Shellakanawara.’
The man’s eyes glanced towards him, and Bridget leapt forwards. She gripped the man’s wrist and squeezed. He yelled out in pain and dropped the knife
. There was a crashing noise of sliding rocks, and Dyam stumbled down the hill.
She gazed at the two Rakanese. Bridget was still grasping onto the man’s arm, and was forcing him down to his knees. Dyam picked up his crossbow.
‘Let him go,’ said Laodoc to Bridget.
‘He was going to kill you.’
‘I know, but you stopped him. Let him go, Bridget.’
She released the man. He raced off ten yards, then turned, and hurried back to where his companion lay in the undergrowth. He reached her side and crouched down.
‘We need to go,’ said Bridget.
‘How?’ Dyam said. ‘Laodoc can’t walk.’
‘I’ll carry him.’
The Rakanese man let out a loud cry. They turned to face him. He was staring at Bridget, hatred twisting his features.
‘What did you do, Bridget?’ Dyam said.
The Brig woman said nothing.
‘She punched her,’ said Laodoc.
Tears were rolling down the face of the Rakanese man.
Laodoc saw figures run from the forest. They surrounded the small group, crossbows pointed at them. All were Rakanese.
Dyam dropped the crossbow, and put an arm out to touch Bridget.
‘Don’t move,’ she whispered.
The Rakanese man cried out to the new group, and Laodoc could see rage grow in their wide eyes. They gestured with their crossbows, and Bridget and Dyam raised their arms. Several approached, and threw hoods over their heads. Crossbows were shoved into their backs, and they were marched off into the forest. Others came to where Laodoc lay. They took an arm or leg each, and lifted him.
Laodoc cried out in agony as the splint on his leg buckled under the strain. He closed his eyes.
When he came to his leg was on fire. Pain seared up from his foot to his hip. He opened his eyes. He was lying inside a cold wooden hut. Dyam and Bridget were sitting on one side of him, Agang and Dean on the other.
As soon as the Sanang man heard his cry, he placed his hands onto Laodoc’s leg, and the pain faded to a dull ache. Laodoc shivered, shaking on the packed earth floor of the hut. Dyam pulled off her cloak and laid it over him, while Agang took his hand.
‘Once again,’ Laodoc said, ‘I owe you all my thanks. Why on earth you ever agreed to travel with such a feeble old man is beyond me.’
‘You’re a tough old bastard,’ Bridget said.
Laodoc gazed at her. ‘Did you kill that woman?’
Bridget nodded. ‘Aye. I didn’t mean to, but. I was just so angry. I had no idea I could kill someone with one punch. I tried to say sorry, but they didn’t understand me.’
‘The Rakanese are frail creatures next to the Kellach Brigdomin,’ Agang said. ‘To them you must appear like ferocious giants.’
‘And the cry we heard?’
Agang nudged Dean.
‘That wasn’t my fault,’ said the young mage. ‘I thought they were going to shoot me.’
Dyam raised an eyebrow. ‘It was you that let out that howl?’
Dean glowered.
‘I found him surrounded by Rakanese,’ Agang said. ‘I tried to communicate with them, tell them who we were looking for, but they weren’t in the mood for a discussion.’
‘Where are Lola and Tara?’ asked Laodoc.
‘We were hooded all the way here,’ said Dyam. ‘Didn’t see anyone.’
‘Same with Dean and I,’ said Agang. ‘Hopefully they’ll come along soon, and get us out of here.’
‘Where is here, do ye think?’ said Dyam. ‘Are we in Silverstream?’
Agang leaned over to the wall, and put his eye up to a narrow gap in the slats.
‘Maybe,’ he said. ‘I can see other huts. ’
There was a sound from outside, of people approaching. The wooden door opened, and a Rakanese man entered, followed by more with crossbows. The small group of captives edged back.
‘Is Shella here?’ said Agang. ‘Shella?’
A hooded figure came through the door.
‘Who are you and what the fuck do you want?’ said a woman’s voice from under the hood. ‘Holy shit. Laodoc?’
She pulled back her hood.
‘A pleasure to meet you again, princess,’ Laodoc said, trying to raise his head.
She stared at him, then at Agang and the others.
‘How did you find me?’
Agang stood. The Rakanese guards in the room tensed.
Shella turned to them and yelled something. The guards nodded, then filed out of the hut, leaving Shella alone with the captives.
‘You were going to say something, Agang?’ she said.
‘How do you know my name?’
‘We’ve met,’ she smirked. ‘Do you not remember? Outside the walls of Plateau City, while your army was besieging it.’
‘You were there?’ Agang said. ‘With the Emperor?’
‘He was only a king at the time. Anyway, don’t get distracted. How did you find me?’
‘We met a young woman, called Tara. We saved her from some Rahain bandits, and she led us here.’
‘Tara? Thought she was dead. The border guards told me you killed one of them. If you hadn’t been mentioning my name, they would have executed you all by now.’
‘That was me,’ said Bridget. ‘I did it.’
‘It was an accident,’ said Laodoc. ‘I saw it happen. Bridget didn’t intend to kill her.’
Shella frowned.
‘Laodoc needs help,’ Agang said. ‘He’s hurt.’
Shella approached the old man .
‘Don’t bullshit me, you fork-tongued old bastard,’ she said. ‘Why are you here?’
‘To tell you something,’ Laodoc said. ‘We’re here because of a prophecy made by the Kellach mage Kalayne, in which he saw you and Fire Mage Keira together. We beseech you to help us fulfil this prophecy, so that the Emperor’s hold over this world can end.’
Shella starting laughing.
‘Kalayne’s dead.’
‘What?’ said Agang, his face greying.
‘Yip. He didn’t see that coming. I know all about his prophecies.’
‘Then you’ll help us?’ said Laodoc.
‘Nope,’ she said. ‘I want you to fuck off, and forget you were ever in Silverstream. Here’s the deal. I’ll stop the militia from executing you for murder, and you can say thank you and leave.’
‘I’m afraid my leg is broken,’ Laodoc said. He caught Agang’s eye. ‘I’m not able to walk at the moment.’
‘He can’t be moved,’ said the Sanang man. ‘Not until his leg’s properly healed. At his age, that might take some time.’
Shella frowned. ‘How bad is it?’
‘Fractured in two places.’
‘Fucksake,’ Shella muttered. ‘Okay, you can stay until it heals, but not a day longer.’
The door opened, and Tara walked in, followed by Lola. Shella glanced at the tall Lach woman.
‘Fuck me, another one.’ She shook her head. ‘I suppose you’ll want housed and fed. What a ball-ache.’
‘It’ll give us time to catch up,’ said Laodoc.
Shella smirked. ‘Oh yeah, professor snake-eyes? I bet my story blows the shit out of yours.’
Chapter 20
Weighing the Odds
O utside Royston, Imperial Holdings – 12 th Day, Last Third Autumn 507
‘This is insanity,’ Kylon muttered, as Daphne lit another cigarette. ‘Four days we’ve been camped here. At any moment of the Emperor’s choosing, his forces could wipe out every trooper that survived the battle. What the fuck are your leaders thinking?’
Daphne said nothing, her gaze scanning the long lines of tents by the main road outside the town of Royston. She knew Kylon was right. Troopers had been arriving in small groups every day since the defeat at the Red Hills. Most were unarmed, and many were injured. They had been refused access to Royston, and had been left to look after themselves, while the remainder of the rebel leadership were safe behind the high walls of the tow
n. Daphne had been the highest ranking rebel to stay outside with the soldiers, where she could keep an eye on the remnant of the Hold Fast company that had made it off the battlefield.
‘It’ll end today,’ she said, ‘one way or another.’
Kylon frowned as they sat on the low bank overlooking the fields of tents.
‘That’s if they listen to you. ’
‘I hope they do,’ she said, ‘but I’m not completely out of ideas about what to do if they don’t.’
‘The Emperor’s laughing at us,’ he said. ‘He’s picking off the rebel Holds one at a time, while the only force in the country large enough to stand up to him sits here and festers. Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t Royston supply the steel that makes your weapons? Why haven’t these troopers been re-armed? Why is no one training and drilling them? Why are none of their officers out here? Why…?’
‘Enough, Kylon,’ she said. ‘You know the answer.’
‘Aye, but I can hardly believe it. All it took was your father and Faden to be killed, and the entire rebellion crumbles into ash and dust.’
‘The other Holders are still in shock after seeing our cavalry annihilated,’ she said, ‘but that’s not why I wanted to talk to you.’
‘It’s because you don’t trust me.’
She took a draw of the cigarette. ‘A judgement I’ve arrived at based on the evidence of your own actions. I explicitly forbade you from bringing Karalyn onto the battlefield, and you disobeyed me.’
‘If I’d obeyed you, dear Lady Holdfast, then we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Your corpse would be rotting with the others in the shadow of the Red Hills. As would Killop’s. I took a calculated risk.’
Daphne frowned.
‘Your daughter put a vision of the future into my mind,’ Kylon went on, ‘seen from your eyes. In it, the Emperor was about to kill you, so I knew what would happen if I did nothing. She also demanded that I take her out there, to save you.’
‘So you listen to the word of a one-year-old, but not me?’
‘I do when that one-year-old happens to be the most important person in the world. Remember that my oath is to her, not to you, or Killop. Karalyn is my mistress and I am her servant.’
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