by Mike Maddox
Niaal sighed. "We are at war against an illness, Captain. We are not fighting an enemy we can readily understand. If it were a simple case of sending men over the top, of throwing numbers at it, then we would."
Krillan squared his shoulders. "And I should volunteer to be the first."
"I'll make sure we bear you in mind, Captain." Grefno said, turning from the window.
Niaal drew a shape in the air. It showed the ambushed patrol the two Sages had discussed earlier, the images transmitted from suit cameras. The men were pointing and firing at indistinct shapes in the air, whispers of coloured smoke, lit by magical brilliance from within. Niaal continued. "Our neighbours remain a real and constant threat. These images show a border patrol, ambushed yesterday by magical attack."
"Then surely this is a threat for the army to deal with? This is our area of expertise." Krillan said. "Unless..." and here he paused. "Unless you think the illness itself comes from our neighbours?"
"I think we have said enough for now, Krillan. Rest assured all is being done." Grefno made a gesture and the window vanished. "You will return to the village and enforce the cordon around it. It may be that we require you to stay there until a cure is found."
"Honoured Sages, and if a cure is not found?" The silence hung heavy in the room.
Grefno smiled sadly at him. "Then you will no doubt do your duty. You may go, Captain."
Krillan stood to attention, clicked his heels, and with a smart about turn marched cleanly out of the door and to his duty.
At first it had been just a whisper, barely that. An almost imperceptible voice in the night speaking to him of power and re-birth. As the creature grew that whisper had increased in volume until the voice of the thing had become almost deafening. Now it writhed in its lair and sung and wailed of a power unimaginable. A power that would chain the greatest Mages of Inan to his will. A power that would flow through him and encompass the entire planet.
Niaal looked at the shell of a man that sat on the throne before him. Already his flesh was beginning to atrophy as the creature took hold, spreading its taint through the channels of magic that flowed through the Mage. Niaal took a step back as the Mage's belly began to distend, a vile liquid beginning to trickle from his pores. The transformation was alarmingly rapid and Niaal began to worry that the creature would bear its hideous progeny before his plans had a chance to come to fruition. No matter, with the whole of Allesh ignorant to his scheme and General Vale playing into his hands, he still had control. If the end of the old order was to come sooner than Niaal had at first anticipated, well, that suited him just fine.
"Goodnight Pillian," he said, leaning over and closing the Mage's eyes.
Niaal surveyed the throne room. What had once been the seat of all power in Allesh was now beginning to crumble as the Mage's last powers diminished. Soon the whole Castle would succumb and once its last remains had sunk into the soil, Niaal would construct a new demesne where the whole of Inan would come to pay tribute. And that palace would never crumble and Niaal's power would never wane.
Leaving the throne room through a concealed door he descended into the darkness, weaving his way through the tunnels beneath the Castle and towards the lair of the worm.
Leah threw down her pen and sat back in her chair, rubbing her eyes. She picked up the clock beside her and let out a moan. Midnight. For the fifth night in succession she had been at her desk until midnight, studying for exams that she might now never even take. She had read the same paragraph three times in a row, and knew this was her brain telling her to stop.
She went over to the bedroom window and flung it open, enjoying the sudden sharp of the cold night air.
Tip-toeing out onto the landing, she gently eased open the door to her mother's bedroom. As usual, Saran was lying on her side, an arm outstretched towards the empty space beside her. Leah silently closed the door and went back to her room. An owl hooted outside.
Looking along the road she saw the night watchman making his slow steady way, the lamp hanging from the pike slung over his shoulder. All seemed calm and all was in its place.
Leah shivered, and pulled the window closed, drawing the curtains. She slid into bed and blew a kiss to the candle on the other side of the room. It interpreted the gesture and blinked the room into gentle darkness.
Leah was up early, leaving her mother a note saying a), that she loved her, b) sorry about leaving the kitchen in a mess and c), that she loved her again. Being the first at work was a novelty she thought she'd never see, but the sudden emergency meant that everything had changed. Despite the fear and panic that had gripped the village, Leah felt excited.
It was just a sickness, therefore it could be cured. That's why they tended the Gardens. They made ingredients for the Sages to use in their magic, and medicines for treating the sick.
As she was now the most senior person on site, Leah found herself rising to the task in a way she would not have thought possible only a week ago. She felt guilty every time it crossed her mind, but she realised that this was what she had always wanted. Managing the Garden, ordering the production of herbs and potions, running the whole show.
Today she was synthesising chemicals from one of the larger fungi. Fifty feet up, she worked at a computer terminal set in a small ledge, carved into the side of the great mushroom.
Heights didn't bother Leah. Falling and dying bothered her. Falling and being badly injured and then dying in unending agony stretched out over months and years worried her more. But not the actual heights themselves. Best thing was to keep your mind on the job at hand.
"No use. Bored." She switched off the terminal, tapped her harness once, and jumped off the ledge. The zip line sung and whined as she gently slid down to earth. As the ground rushed up to greet her she saw Gim and Rendolph making their way through the gates, smiling like idiots. Which was only appropriate, when all was said and done.
"Good morning gentlemen. I use the term sarcastically, of course." She brushed past them, pulling a clipboard from her satchel as she passed by.
"Sorry we're late," said Gim, helpfully. Rendolph slapped him on the back of his head.
"We're not late. We're early."
"Oh yeah. Sorry we're early. Weren't our fault."
Leah laughed. "Did you get the rest of those seed pods sent off last night like I asked? Or will I have to take my top off and wrestle you in warm scented mud as a punishment?"
The two boys looked at each other, suddenly very unsure on what the correct answer was at this point in time. "Um..." began Gim, his jaw slacker than usual.
"Too late!" said Leah, snapping her clipboard shut. "I want the fertiliser servers up and running within the hour. I'm sure that will be much more fun than seeing my lithe, toned, yet delightfully feminine naked body."
Making their way into the staff room, Gim and Rendolph hung up their coats and quickly changed into their work overalls. Neither of them commented on the rows of unused overalls hanging on the pegs. Or why they were unused. Only last week there had been thirty Gardeners here. Now there were just the three of them. The lockers and shelves were still full of personal effects, pictures of loved ones, spare tools and books. The clutter of their dead colleagues was almost unbearable.
Gim knocked over a walking stick. It had belonged to Fricka, the aborealist. "We should tidy this place up," he said. "Someone should come and get their things. It's not right having them here like this. It's depressing."
Rendolph picked up Fricka's stick and put it back in its place. "It'll be alright. Don't worry."
Gim glared back at him, eyes suddenly full of tears "How? How will it be alright? They're all dead, Rendolph. They're all dead and we don't know what killed them or if we'll be next."
Leah didn't know what to say. He was right, this was terrible. Awful. She put her hand in her bag and pulled out one of the small blue phials the Chemical Warrior had given her. "Here," she said, handing it to Gim. "Take this. It'll help calm you down."
Gim took it, glaring at it defiantly. "Bloody chemicals. They control us too much. We should be in tears, should be grief stricken!" He looked up. "We should be too afraid to work here."
Rendolph put a hand on his shoulder. "I know. There'll be time for that later. Really, there will, but right now we need to get the job done."
Glaring at his friend, Gim slid the blue phial into his wrist-port, furious at the wave of calm and well being that shot through him. Rendolph smiled, then gestured at the overalls that hung accusingly on the wall. "It's what they would have wanted."
Out of respect for her friend Leah counted to twenty, allowing the Blue time to kick in before speaking up. "No it isn't," she coughed. "What they would have wanted was to still be alive so they could make your life miserable for being idle useless half-wits."
"That's not funny," Gim said, starting to smirk.
"No," said Leah. "It isn't. So why are you laughing?"
"Because the Blue is making me feel happy when I know I should be miserable. It's just not right. Bloody scientists, can't get anything right, can they?"
Leah picked up her workbag and slung it over her shoulder. "Come on," she said. "Let's get on with it. We need to harvest the spores before lunchtime, or we'll never get the extract up to the Castle in time. Dammit, where are those soldiers we were promised?"
"Ah." Rendolph looked guilty. "I passed them on the way in. They're by the main gate awaiting orders. Forgot to mention them. Sorry."
Leah playfully smacked him around the head with her bag.
As Leah stood in the soft morning rain, she felt a sudden deep connection to it all. To history, to her people. This was what she was here for. This was what they worked so hard for. To preserve their way of life. To defend their borders against the enemy, and maintain the health of the citizens within.
The Castle shimmered in the distance. Somewhere within its walls, the Mage sat. Leah turned her gaze to the village. There were thirty new households grieving, children who would grow without a parent. Did the Mage know their pain; did he share in it? Or was he above even that?
Thirty Gardeners, struck down by the sickness. There had been many theories doing the rounds, as to why it picked on some people and not others.
Something had happened here, in the Garden, while the three of them had been absent. But what? The official explanation was that one of the herbsmen must have brought the sickness in with him and infected the others. But surely the incubation time couldn't be so immediate? It would take days for someone to get sick. If indeed it was a sickness. The Chemical Warriors had suspected that it might be some new biological weapon, and yet there was no trace.
What then? Why these people here, why now? There had been isolated cases in the village for the last two months. Unrelated people suddenly taking sick and dying. From first symptom to death was ten days. There was no cure.
No. That wasn't right. There is always a cure. She remembered her father's words. There is always a cure, but first you have to find it.
They would find a cure. The Mage would find a cure.
The soldiers were waiting for her at the gate. One or two made a half-hearted effort to come to attention, but thought better of it. She was not an officer. She was a Gardener. A burly Sergeant tipped his hat and smiled.
"Morning, Miss. Three Company militia reporting for duty." Leah smiled at him. It was Wallas, an old friend of the family. Like Leah's father, Wallas had been a veteran of the Great War.
"Good morning, Sergeant Wallas. Thank you for coming at such short notice. With the Gardeners all gone we have no alternative but to call in help from the military. You are most welcome."
"It's alright, Miss. Wish it were in happier circumstances is all. Where do you want us to start?" Wallas was the same age as her mother, and it took Leah by surprise that he was looking to her to lead.
"That's a good question. I don't know really. I'm not a manager, not used to this sort of thing at all."
"Well, imagine we're new starters, first day on the job."
Leah smiled, gratefully. "Good idea. I'll take you to the changing rooms, get you kitted out, show you the toilets, kitchen, that sort of thing. Then I'll see about getting some sort of plan together. It'll take a while to show you how to tend the plants properly, but there's no reason why we shouldn't get back on track with tilling and sowing."
Wallas shouldered his rifle, casually. "Very good Miss. Lead on."
Leah turned to face the soldiers, waiting expectantly. "Right, if you'd all like to follow me then -"
"Squad! Attention. By the right, MARCH!" Wallas bellowed.
"Ow! That was right in my ear."
"Sorry, Miss."
"It's alright. Come on, let's see if we can't sort this mess out together, before your beloved captain gets involved, eh?"
"Captain Krillan is a stickler for detail, Miss."
"Yes. Yes he certainly is. If by that you mean he's a prick."
"Oh, not for me to say, Miss. That he's a prick and everyone knows it. Wouldn't do, would it?" Wallas smiled at her. "He was a good old boy, your dad. He'd have been proud to see you like this. Running things. Sorting things out. His job meant so much to him. He said plants could cure anything if you only found the right one."
"Thank you Sergeant. He spoke very highly of you too."
CHAPTER THREE
The woods were a mile or so outside the village and, whilst not part of the Gardens as such, they had long been assumed to be more or less the preserve of those who worked there. In the summer months the villagers would often stroll through the woods. Children would play in the branches and young men would hunt rabbits or wildfowl. Some people came here to gather firewood, flowers or forage for edible fungus and wild fruits. It was a good place, and one that belonged to everyone, young and old. Leah loved the woods more than the Garden, truth be told. She delighted in the wildness and unpredictability of nature. It was also a good place for a Gardener to gather specimens from time to time.
Despite the increased workload of running the Garden, Leah thoughts increasingly began turning back to her approaching exams, and she found herself wondering if the plants there might be of some use in her studies. If she could produce a new magical application for an everyday species, then it would help her grades no end.
As she made her way along the road that lead towards the woods, she could see soldiers ahead, unloading something from the back of a transport. Krillan's men, not the boys helping Wallas in the Garden. They were unravelling razor wire and sandbags. A yellow barrier had been erected across the road.
"What's all this about?" Leah asked the nearest guard.
"Roadblock, Miss. Orders from the Castle."
"Alright. I won't be long. I'm just off to the woods. Make sure you remember to let me back in again, won't you?"
"Sorry Miss, no one's to leave once the roadblock's in place."
"Yes, but it's not in place, is it? And you've obviously seen me, so you'll remember to let me back in again." The guard stared at her blankly. "Oh this is getting us nowhere, is there an officer here? A sergeant or something?"
A voice sprung up from behind the transport. "Ah. Miss Carleaf. A pleasure as always." Krillan's voice.
"Captain Krillan, I need to go to the woods. There are valuable specimens there that I'm due to harvest today."
"Miss Carleaf, we are in the middle of a national emergency. The Castle, village and the surrounding area are to be cordoned off. Anyone attempting to cross the border will be shot. Dreadful inconvenience this I know, but there we are. Orders are orders."
"Captain, this sickness, whatever it is, may well be airborne you know. Putting up a roadblock isn't going to stop it."
"Thank you, Miss Carleaf. Obviously that had never occurred to us." The smile never left Krillan's face. "However, if a person was carrying the disease and wanted to cross the border then a roadblock and a rifleman could at least contain them."
"What? So we all die here?"
Krillan coughe
d, awkwardly. "Yes Miss Carleaf. If need be, then we die here. We have our orders, and will honour them."
"Look Captain, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. Please forgive me. However, I really do have to get across to those woods over there." She pointed to a copse, about half a mile distant. "There's no one living there, at least there shouldn't be, and I promise to come straight back. Feel free to keep a marksman on me at all times in case I do a runner."
"Yes, well, sorry to keep you Miss Carleaf, but I have a lot to do. Sorry for the inconvenience this causes, but there we are. Orders." He turned on his heel and marched off, barking out instructions to a group of soldiers who were making a mess of erecting a barrier.
Leah looked at the wood and sighed. So close, and yet it might as well be a million miles off for all the difference it made.
She looked up as a Thought Ship make its way towards the Castle. "Alright for you lot in there. Don't see anyone putting roadblocks up to stop aircraft."
With a humph, loud enough for the soldiers to notice, Leah made her way back to the village with the empty basket slung over her shoulder.
Mornings were always worst on the anniversary. The worst day of the year, without doubt, but one which thankfully had become less painful with the passage of time.
The first anniversary had been awful. Worse than she had expected. The second was no better, and the third no real improvement on that. But she had flu on the fourth, and somehow the fever and the headache seemed more real to her than the pain of loss. She realised then, with a rush of guilt, that she was getting over it. At that point she decided it was time to let herself heal. Besides, she had Leah to care for. The child was marvellous, but she was too young to carry her mother like this.
Saran was not a strong person, but she could be very stubborn. If she coped at all it would be because she had decided to and there was no one who could tell her otherwise.