Sacrifice

by Christopher Mitchell

  Keira looked up at the Great Fortress. Its walls seemed more solid than before, and light was spilling out of the windows on the top floor. What was that bastard doing up there?

  ‘Come on,’ said Kallie. ‘We haven’t got all fucking night.’

  ‘Aye,’ Keira said, turning. They began to walk down the road towards the gates, and Keira stopped again.

  ‘Fuck!’ she cried. ‘Pyre’s fucking arsecrack.’

  Kallie frowned at her.

  ‘That wee prick, Kylon,’ Keira said. ‘We fucking left him up there.’

  Kallie glanced at the tall tenement. Its outer walls were fractured, and smoke was belching from the broken windows of the upper storeys .

  ‘I’m not going back in there,’ she said. ‘The fire’ll get him anyway.’

  ‘Aye, probably,’ Keira said. She spat on the ground. ‘Shit way to go, but.’

  ‘He fucking deserves it.’

  Keira glanced down at Karalyn nestling into her left side. ‘Aye, I guess he does.’

  They turned and set off down the road again. After ten minutes they came to Welcome Square, the central point of the Kellach quarter, where a crowd had gathered. Most were armed, and several were brandishing burning torches, while families huddled together near the derelict fountain in the middle of the open space.

  Nods greeted them as they passed a collapsed tenement and entered the square. Down one side, bodies were being laid onto the ground in rows, and relatives and friends of the dead mourned over them. Lamentations filled the air, along with angrier voices. Keira and Kallie kept moving through the crowd of Kellach and Holdings until they reached the other side.

  ‘Nearly fucking there,’ Keira grunted, shifting Karalyn to her right hip.

  They turned a corner and followed a narrow street for a hundred yards, avoiding the fragments of debris covering the road. In the distance, Keira saw the walls of the city. Some stretches were intact and standing tall, while others had collapsed. They arrived at a low, stone building, and stopped at a closed gate. Keira took a key from her pouch and unlocked the large wooden door, and they stepped inside.

  ‘Fuck, it’s pitch black in here,’ she said. ‘Get the lamp lit.’

  Kallie entered the building and put Flora down onto the floor. She unhooked the lamp from her belt, and found her box of matches.

  ‘That’s better,’ Keira said, as Kallie lit the wick, sending light outward from where they stood. ‘Shit.’

  The central section of the long roof had collapsed, and large shards of glass and twisted wooden beams lay blocking the passageways between the rows of storage sheds.

  ‘What shed’s the wagon in?’ asked Kallie .

  Keira glanced at her keys. ‘Fourteen.’

  ‘Right,’ she said. ‘You stay here. I’ll find it.’

  The fire mage nodded, and Kallie took the lamp and the keys and walked towards the sheds. Keira sat down by the door next to where Flora lay, the light from the fires in the city providing a low level of illumination. Karalyn was still asleep in her arms, so she put her down next to the Holdings woman. She slung her pack off and found a blanket, then covered the girl with it. She glanced at Flora. Her eyes were closed. Keira placed a finger under her chin, and felt around, but there was no pulse.

  ‘Don’t you fucking die on me,’ she cried. ‘It’s not allowed.’

  Keira put her ear to Flora’s mouth, listening for breath.

  Nothing.

  She touched her skin.

  Cold.

  Keira fell back against the wall and clenched her fists, tears spilling from her eyes. Silent sobs wracked her chest, and her heart ached. She had first seen Flora in the Kellach camp outside Plateau City, then led her halfway round the world, only to get her killed in the same place they had met. Her wee white-faced witch. Why had she never told her how she felt?

  What did she feel?

  She gazed down at Flora, then took another blanket from the pack and lay it over her still body, kissing her on the forehead.

  ‘Goodbye, wee Flora.’

  She leaned against the wall, and wondered what everyone in the World’s End was doing. Sleeping probably, she realised, remembering the hour. She thought back to her comfortable bed at the rear of Kelpie’s tavern, and shook her head. What was she doing in the fucking imperial capital? The one place she had never wanted to see again, and somehow she had been lulled into complacency, even after the Emperor had returned from the Holdings. No. That wasn’t right. She glanced at Karalyn. The lassie was why she had stayed, and it was her job to make sure the girl was kept safe, at least until she could be handed over to her parents.

  She heard distant cries from outside, and a scream. She peered through the crack in the door, but saw no one out on the street. She leaned her head back against the wall, and closed her eyes.

  Someone kicked her.

  ‘Get up,’ yelled Kallie.

  Keira opened her eyes. ‘Flora.’

  ‘I know,’ Kallie said. ‘It’s a fucking shame, but there’s nothing we can do for her now.’

  ‘Did you find the wagon?’

  ‘Aye. It’s fine,’ said Kallie, ‘but the horses are dead.’

  ‘Fuck.’

  ‘We have to move, Keira.’

  ‘Aye,’ she said, stretching her limbs, her gaze on the covered body of Flora. ‘I know.’

  ‘No, we have to move now. Something’s happening outside.’

  Keira squinted through the gap to the street. There was no one there, but the cries and shouts were much louder, and closer. Mixed in was the sound of steel striking steel, and the thud of boots on the cobbles. She caught a glimpse of uniforms at the end of they street as they dashed by.

  ‘Soldiers?’ she said.

  ‘The Emperor must have sent the army out.’

  Keira got up. She pushed the door open another foot, and glanced down the street. To her left, the sky was lightening, a faint glow appearing above the remaining battlements. She ducked back inside as another group of soldiers rushed by, heading in the direction of the gates.

  ‘What the fuck are they doing?’ she muttered. She turned back to Kallie. ‘We’ll have to get out on foot. We’ll walk up to where Killop’s staying.’

  ‘If we can get through the walls,’ Kallie said.

  Keira felt for her power.

  Nothing.

  Maybe this time it was gone for good.

  She pulled the pack over her shoulder and picked up Karalyn, who stirred.

  Keira took a breath, and stole a last look down at Flora.

  ‘Let’s go.’

  They ran down the street, keeping to the thick shadows of the buildings on their left. They paused at a crossroads, then sped down the road towards the gates. A hundred yards ahead of them stood the gatehouse. It remained upright, though long, jagged cracks marked the stonework, and the wooden gates were hanging off their hinges. In front of the gates a handful of Kellach and Holdings folk were fighting a group of Rahain infantry in imperial uniforms. The soldiers were kneeling in lines, firing crossbow bolts into the civilians, who were charging them with swords and axes.

  Keira and Kallie raced up the street. The Rahain were facing away from them, and Keira dived into a doorway when they were only twenty yards away.

  ‘Look after the lassie,’ she said to Kallie, putting Karalyn and the pack down and drawing her sword.

  Kallie stared at her. ‘Use yer powers.’

  ‘I cannae,’ Keira said.

  She ran back into the street before Kallie could say anything else, and charged the backs of the Rahain soldiers, her sword raised. When she was a yard away an arrow flew past her shoulder, and struck a soldier in the back of his neck, almost taking his head off. Keira screamed, and lashed out with her sword, cleaving the nearest soldier from the neck down. The others turned to her in shock. She felt the old memories of countless fights take over, and ploughed through the group of Rahain, while arrows continued to strike those out of her range .

  S
he was joined by the group of armed Kellach and Holdings civilians and together they slew the last of the soldiers.

  ‘Thanks,’ panted a Holdings man, leaning on his long axe. ‘You saved our arses there.’

  ‘Nae bother,’ Keira said, taking an offered bottle of something from a tall Kellach fighter. She took a swig. ‘Cheers.’

  ‘We’d better get the fuck out of here,’ said another. ‘More soldiers are coming.’

  ‘What the fuck are they trying to do?’ Keira said.

  ‘Seal the quarter,’ said the Holdings man. ‘They’re rounding up everyone, and taking them to the Great Fortress.’

  ‘You getting out of the city?’

  ‘Aye,’ said the Kellach. ‘I’m not fucking hanging around for the Emperor to turn up. I was here last time he paid us a visit.’

  ‘We’ll come with ye,’ Keira said.

  ‘We?’

  ‘Aye, wait a minute.’ She ran back to the doorway. Karalyn was standing next to Kallie, peering out.

  ‘Come on, let’s go,’ she said, picking up the girl.

  ‘No, want to walk,’ cried the girl.

  ‘No fucking time for that,’ yelled Keira, as she and Kallie ran out onto the street. They joined the group, and together they ran for the gates.

  When they were halfway there a Holdings fighter shouted, ‘Get down!’ Keira glanced up and saw a great mass of dark red fire fly over their heads. It struck the gatehouse with a blinding flash, and the structure went up in thick, oily flames. The heat was intense, and the group juddered to a halt, and started to retreat.

  Keira.

  The fire mage froze. She recognised the voice.

  I’m intrigued to see you alive. Intrigued and also glad. You will make a fine specimen for my next attempt.

  ‘Keira, move,’ cried Kallie. ‘The fire’s spreading, but we can run to the collapsed part of the wall. Don’t stand there gawking, come on. ’

  Keira’s legs refused to obey.

  I’m coming for you, fire mage.

  Karalyn screamed, and Keira blinked. She glanced at Kallie, who was staring at her. The fire from the gatehouse was starting to engulf the nearby buildings, and the other fighters had scattered. They were alone.

  ‘The bad man’s here,’ whimpered Karalyn.

  ‘What?’ said Kallie, looking around.

  ‘It’s me he’s after,’ Keira said.

  ‘How the fuck does he know yer here?’ Kallie cried.

  I see all , said the voice of the Emperor inside Keira’s head. I see every mage in the world. All of them. You can run, but I’ll find you. I’ll find all of them.

  ‘Sounds like a fucking challenge,’ Keira muttered. She glanced at Kallie, then ran, the Kell woman sprinting after her. They raced down a street away from the burning gatehouse, then turned and headed towards a section of the wall where it had collapsed. A few civilians were already there, climbing over the rubble in the direction of the rising sun.

  Keira heard the stamps of boots, and swerved to her right as ranks of Rahain soldiers charged down the street past a burning tenement block. In their midst strode a figure, standing taller and broader than any Kellach Brigdomin, clad in a full set of black armour that glinted in the firelight.

  Kallie skidded to a halt, her eyes wide, and started to back away. Keira joined her, and they retreated into the doorway of an abandoned and closed-up shop. They huddled in the corner as the Rahain sped by. The Emperor raised his hand, and the civilians trying to flee over the rubble dropped like scythed wheat.

  Keira swallowed, and put Karalyn down.

  ‘Stay with yer Auntie Kallie,’ she said, kissing her. She gazed at the Kell woman. ‘Look after her.’

  She stood, and strode out into the street.

  ‘Couldnae get enough of me the first time eh?’ she sneered at the Emperor .

  Keira flexed her fingers and felt for her powers as the Emperor turned to face her, silhouetted by the flames from the burning tenement. The company of Rahain continued on towards the collapsed wall until the two stood alone in the street, the Emperor towering over her.

  ‘Ye think yer smart, wee man,’ she cried, ‘just cause ye’ve grown a foot or two? I’ve seen bairn’s shites that were harder than you.’

  ‘The things I’m going to do to you,’ the Emperor said from behind his iron mask. ‘I’m going to enjoy breaking you.’

  Keira squinted. ‘Is that supposed to make me feart? Oh, I’m fucking quaking here.’

  Just a little bit longer, keep him talking a little bit longer.

  He raised his hand.

  ‘Don’t ye want to know how I escaped last time?’ she said.

  ‘I’ll find out everything I want when I have you in chains.’

  ‘Nah,’ she said, her hand poised behind her back, ‘I have a better idea.’ She whipped her hand round and spread her fingers. With a deafening roar the fire raging in the tenement toppled down from above and fell upon the Emperor, drowning him in an inferno of flames. Keira was thrown off her feet by the force of the explosion, and she landed in a heap by the wall of the building opposite.

  She raised her head, groaning. Her vision spun, and the stink of her singed hair filled her nostrils. All she could see were the flames roaring on the street only a few yards in front of her. She began to crawl away from the heat when she noticed something move. She stared as a figure rose from the flames, tall and dark.

  Keira groaned. ‘Now that’s just bullshit.’

  The Emperor strode towards her, his armour glowing hot, its black enamel blistering off.

  ‘You want me to kill you?’ the Emperor said, his voice raging and booming in her head. She flinched. ‘I will,’ he went on, ‘but not before I have shredded and flayed your mind and your body.’

  ‘Dream on,’ she gasped, as he leant over her.

  His head whipped back as an arrow pieced his right eye socket. He staggered, and Keira felt hands grab her shoulders .

  ‘Run, ya stupid cow,’ screamed Kallie, hauling her to her feet. As Keira got up, Kallie notched, aimed and loosed another arrow, striking the small gap between his helmet and armoured shoulder where the flesh of his neck lay undefended. The arrowhead drove deep behind his ear, and the Emperor fell to his knees. Kallie turned and ran, pulling Keira along with her. She shoved open the door of an empty shop where Karalyn was sitting. She was on the floor, rocking back and forth, her knees up at her chin.

  ‘It’s alright, wee one,’ cried Kallie. ‘I found her.’

  Karalyn reached out with her arms and Keira embraced her.

  ‘Come on,’ said Kallie. ‘Two arrows won’t stop him for long. We need to run.’

  ‘It doesn’t make any difference,’ she said. ‘He’ll find me wherever I go.’

  Kallie slapped her.

  ‘Don’t talk shite, and don’t give up. Take Karalyn and follow me.’

  Kallie slung the pack over her shoulder and pulled an arrow from her belt quiver, her longbow resting in her left hand. She ran to the back of the shop and kicked the door down.

  Keira picked up Karalyn, and stumbled after the Kell woman, her body aching.

  ‘Hold on tight, wee one,’ she said, as she kept up with Kallie. They ran down alleyways, but soldiers were now occupying every weak point in the wall around the Kellach quarter. They kept running, Kallie turning back towards the centre of the city, and the Great Fortress. She stopped at a small squat building, and pushed the door open. Keira followed her in, her knees buckling.

  ‘Down here,’ Kallie said, shoving furniture out of the way to reveal a trapdoor.

  ‘The tunnels?’ Keira gasped. ‘Aye. You go first.’

  Kallie lifted the trapdoor, and climbed down the steps dug out of the ground. Keira put Karalyn down, and looked out of the open door onto the street .

  ‘Go after yer Auntie Kallie,’ she said. ‘He won’t find you if I stay up here.’

  ‘No, Keiwa come,’ Karalyn said, starting to cry as she stood by the trapdoor.

&nbs
p; Keira knelt by her and stroked the hair out her eyes.

  ‘If ye go down there, Auntie Kallie will keep ye safe, but if I go too, then the bad man will find us all.’

  ‘Don’t be silly,’ the girl said, sobbing. ‘Karalyn hide with you.’

  Keira gazed at the girl. Had the Emperor been telling the truth about being able to see every mage? The more she thought about it, the more like bullshit it sounded. And even if it was true, then she’d make sure Karalyn got away even if the Emperor did find her. Now that her powers were back she wouldn’t be easy to capture.

  She smirked.

  ‘Alright then, ya wee toerag,’ she said. ‘Let’s hide in the tunnels.’

  Karalyn reached out and took her hand.

  Last one down’s a stinky poo.

  Chapter 34

  Made to Endure

  O utside Plateau City, Imperial Plateau – 19 th Day, Second Third Winter 507

  Killop gazed at Daphne. Her eyes were closed, and her chest was rising and falling in time with her breath. Her dark skin glowed in the reflected lamplight within the small stables where he had laid her body down. He had checked her for injuries, but had found nothing, ruling out a blow to her head, and he was starting to believe something or someone had harmed her mind instead.

  The Creator. It had to be. Daphne had been unconscious for nearly an hour, since the moment the earthquake had ceased. The two events were connected somehow, and both had something to do with the Creator, he felt certain of it.

  He heard the door to the stables open behind him.

  ‘How is she?’ said Chane.

  ‘The same.’

  The Holdings woman walked over and crouched by him. She looked exhausted, and was covered in smeared ash. She lit a cigarette as she frowned at Daphne.

  ‘I’ve taken care of the horses,’ she said. ‘Moved them a quarter of a mile up the track and put them in a barn. Took a while to calm them down. The earthquake and fire freaked them out.’