by Mike Maddox
As Grefno summoned his strength for one last attack, the creature flicked its tail, sending him crashing to the ground. He landed badly and did not move again.
Satisfied, the creature reared up to its full height, took one last look around the market square, and then slithered over the wall and into the well, following Leah down into the darkness.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Across the face of Inan, on every continent, magic, the stabilising factor in the culture of a whole world, began to buckle and shift. Imaginary creatures battled in the sky while the computers on board fighter aircraft wrestled with entirely imaginary numbers that were attempting to bring them down. Sea monsters swarmed ashore in ever greater numbers. Ordinary people briefly developed superhuman powers, and then lost them again as suddenly. Terrified and looking for blame, neighbour accused neighbour and country accused country.
On the Allesh/Prash-Romari border, General Vale gazed down on the great plain that lay ahead of him.
There had been no word from the Castle. This was only to be expected. To ensure the surprise of the attack, all comms had been silenced. The Sage Niaal had overseen this directly, giving it his personal attention.
In a few short hours time Vale would give the signal to attack, the magical artificers would raise the protective screen that had hidden the army from prying eyes and they would swarm down across the border into neighbouring land.
But what would they find when they got there?
As soon as she reached the bottom of the well, Leah started running, still unaccustomed to the feel of the armour she was wearing. The helmet allowed her to see in the dark, which was an unexpected bonus. She found she could also pick up trails and traces through the visor of the helmet. Some, she quickly realised, were infrared, other were indicators showing directions of airflow, chemical make up of the atmosphere, and electrical activity.
Leah was also delighted to find that that as she ran, the suit helped her. She was much faster than she would normally be, more agile. Which made her wonder if she was stronger too?
Following the tunnels, Leah easily made her way towards where she and Rendolph had seen the Meadowsweet roots. Covering ground far quicker than they had before, Leah stopped, appalled to find herself facing a rock fall. The tunnel had collapsed, blocking her way completely. Leah wracked her brains, trying to remember if there was another way, if they had seen another tunnel on their journey, and as she did so she was amazed to see a map of the tunnel system suddenly displayed on the inside of the visor. It showed the route she had just taken in red. In green was a map of what she supposed must be the entire tunnel system, taken from her memory.
"That's clever," she said, to no one. "Trouble is, how accurate is my memory?"
The red line of the path she had travelled was accurate, as the armour had worked out her position to an inch. She could see where the red and green paths diverged in places, however, where her memory had let her down.
The green map showed another tunnel leading off from the one she had travelled along. She retraced her steps carefully and found that there was indeed another path. Presumably it was one of the routes the worm took in order to avoid the Meadowsweet roots. Looking behind her for any sign of danger, she set off down the path, following the green bouncing line in front of her. The Meadowsweet wasn't far. All she needed to do now was find it, and bring it back to Grefno, if he was still alive.
The suit emitted beeps and clicks as she went, presumably feeding her information, but Leah could only guess as to what it all meant. There were no bright red signs saying 'DANGER!' so she assumed it was safe to continue.
Soon she ran through some chambers and caverns that she remembered passing with Rendolph. The roots of the Meadowsweet weren't far now. Of course, how she was going to get it out again was another matter entirely.
Turning left, Leah crossed a small patch of wet ground. The visor started to display so much information that Leah found it difficult to see where she was going. She tried making the information go away, but had to give up, raising the visor and looking out with her own eyes. Of course, once the helmet was off, she could see nothing at all, being suddenly plunged into pitch black darkness. "Could really use a torch here," she said aloud.
At once the suit punched out a powerful light, illuminating the tunnel.
"Ah. That's good. Thank you, suit." Leah crouched low to look at the water. "Voice activated, eh? Well if you're listening, I could really use half a dozen bronzed fire-fighters right now." She looked around the cave, warily. "Oh well. Can't win them all.
Suddenly, the suit rippled, causing Leah's muscles to tighten and her heart to beat faster. With a shock, she realised that it had very slightly upped her adrenaline levels. Slipping her helmet back on she saw a large bright red sign saying 'Danger!'
"Right then. Thanks, suit," said Leah. The green map had been over written with a red path as she had made her way along it. A yellow dot showed her position. A red dot was making its way slowly towards her, from the way she had just come. It was to this that the danger sign was attributed.
"Time to go!" Leah ran, following the tunnel round to where the Meadowsweet had been.
The Meadowsweet roots were poking down from the dry earth ceiling, and it took Leah a mere matter of seconds to collect a large enough sample for synthesis. "I need somewhere to keep this," said Leah to the suit. At once a flap opened on the shoulder section, and a small black cylinder fell out. "Thanks."
The end of the cylinder unscrewed, and Leah found to her joy that it was just big enough to hold a fairly decent sized sample of roots. Resealing the cylinder, Leah noticed a button on its side. She pressed it and, with a snap, the cylinder extended into a spear, its head crackling with an electric charge.
With one eye on the steadily approaching yellow dot of the worm, Leah headed up the tunnel. She needed to get back to the surface before the beast caught up with her.
In the darkness of the Mage's inner sanctum, the hideous thing that had once been the Mage writhed and slopped against the glistening membrane of the egg sac.
Soon it would feed.
It snaked its thoughts out across the face of the planet, drawing in its brethren, the skinless, eyeless creatures that had once gone by the name of Mage, but were now no more than beasts. Worms.
They embraced each other through the magical conduits that surrounded the world of Inan, revelling in the rage and destruction that had been unleashed though their manipulation. In every nation, in every city-state or empire across the vast span of the two great continents, the things that had once been the Mages, the magical giants of the world of Inan, finally withdrew and succumbed to the magical infection that had been plaguing them the past months. Bad things happened in ever-greater numbers.
One by one, the Mage's physical shapes bloomed and blossomed under the weight of the sickness. Joined to one mind, they sat in their towers, their laboratories and temples, and waited for the feast to begin.
Leah carried on up the corridor, all too aware of the worm, which was now gaining on her. She had found several more rock falls, making her veer away from the routes that would take her back to Grefno and Krillan and the open air. Instead she was being forced deeper and deeper underground, away from her friends and safety.
It was one thing for her to have the Meadowsweet in her hand, but it was another entirely getting it to Grefno.
Leah emerged into the large cavern where she and Gim had been trapped by the vortex previously. Quickly she ran to the trapdoor and found that opening it with the suit on was a great deal easier. The chamber below was now dry, the water levels having receded. Leah crossed to the edge and climbed the ladder set into the wall. The map on her visor said she would find a staircase that would lead up to the Castle if she kept going. What she would do there, she didn't know, but it seemed a better option than facing the worm.
In the village, Grefno was sitting, propped against the wall of one of the shops, drinking bottled water. Krillan came across the market pla
ce, rifle in hand.
"You were lucky," he said. "I thought the worm would finish you for good."
Grefno smiled back at the Captain. "Me too. I think I popped a rib, though."
"You should get to the hospital and have it looked at."
Grefno pulled himself to his feet, wincing slightly. "Alright, I promise if we survive this and save the world, I'll get checked out by a doctor."
Krillan and Grefno turned and surveyed their ragtag army. The brown clad militia had been joined by one or two blue uniformed guards, who had managed to escape the slaughter in the Castle. A party of burly farmers, armed with hunting pieces had also joined them, together with some of the braver villagers.
"We have a chance to stop this!" Grefno shouted to the assembled crowd. "We have a chance to stop this tonight. Leah Carleaf, one of the only surviving Gardeners, has gone down into the caves that run beneath the town to find a certain herb that we can use to destroy the worm. We need to make sure she gets it out in one piece. To that end we need men to go down after her." There was a murmur of dissent. "I'm not expecting any of you to engage the worm. Just find Leah, and bring her and the herb back with you." He paused. "At the same time, I need another group to come to the Castle with me. We have unfinished business there that will bring an end to the chaos that currently engulfs us. Captain Krillan, take ten men and go down the well. The rest of you follow me!"
The group split into two,
With a nod to Krillan, Grefno and his troop set off up the hill towards the Castle as Krillan led his men to the lip of the well.
The officer who greeted Rendolph seemed tired and harried. Around him, men were rushing into forward positions.
"So, you're Rendolph? I believe you have a message for the General?"
"Yes, it's most urgent."
The officer touched his wrist-port and an image appeared in the air in-front of Rendolph. It was General Vale.
"Good evening, Gardener Rendolph. You will appreciate that time is short, so please keep what you have to say to a bare minimum. I believe you have suffered no small inconvenience to get here, so I will give you five minutes."
"Right," said Rendolph. "Grefno sent me to give you this," he said, holding up the wooden data stick. "It will tell you everything you need to know."
"We have no way of safely transmitting the data, and it will take you another two hours to reach me on foot. Plug the stick into your own wrist-port and tell me what it says."
Rendolph slid the wooden rod into his wrist-port and at once felt Grefno's thoughts around him. Calm, ordered, peaceful. Rendolph closed his eyes for a second and then spoke. "There's a worm. A Hirvan beast. It's responsible for the sickness. It's been in the water supply and is responsible for making us sick." He saw the General tense in front of him, suddenly paying him more attention.
"To whom am I speaking?" said the general. "Is that you, old friend?"
Rendolph felt Grefno's thoughts inside of him, forcing a smile that he knew was not his.
"It's a bit hard to understand, really. It seems he's sort of planted his personality into this data stick. I think he wants you to be absolutely certain of what he's asking you to do here." Rendolph said. "He really is worried about this worm thing."
"Then why doesn't he have it killed?"
"We're working on it. The thing is, the sickness has affected the Mage. Grefno says one of the Sages, Niaal, has found a way to attack the Mage, and has probably killed him."
The General stiffened at this, though he made no reply. Rendolph continued. "He says that all the Mages in Inan are linked together somehow. Some suicide pact that apparently exists to make sure that if one attacks the other they all go the same way. He says it was supposed to make the world a safer place, but it has done the exact opposite." Rendolph stopped, wondering how this was going down with the General. "Because the Mages are all joined to each other in some magical way, by making one of them sick, he's infected the rest. So magic's gone all screwy. All over the planet. Niaal hopes to use the confusion to rule the world. It's all part of his plan, all part of his scheme. The war is a diversion. He says it's given you a reason to go away and fight, and in doing so leave the Castle open to attack from within. You have to call off the attack and return to the Castle at once. Our neighbours are not our biggest problem, aggressive and nasty though they might be. You're to call off the attack and return to the Castle at once, as quick as you can."
"Colonel?"
The officer with Rendolph snapped to attention.
"Sir?"
"Code blue. Repeat code blue. We're calling off the attack. The protective screen to remain in place, all units to withdraw, effective immediately. Contact air support and tell them we need the ten fastest ships they have and we need them immediately." He turned to face Rendolph. "Gardener Rendolph? You will consider yourself under my command. Let's see if we can't get you to earn that armour." He turned to one of the officers in his headquarters. "Have a squad of assault commandos fully tooled up and ready to take off as soon as the aircraft touch down. Light weapons, going for speed and agility over firepower. We have a long night ahead of us, gentlemen."
Leah was lost. According to the data projected onto the inside of her visor, she should be standing inside the Castle. In fact she should be in the energy vent that led directly up to the Mage's chamber. Instead she was in a cold, damp place, the walls wet with brown slime. Instead of the blue pulsating mass of light she was expecting to see, there was nothing except a sickly green glow and water lapping at the lower end of the chamber.
All three versions of the maps currently were in broad agreement with each other. It was just that they were so obviously wrong.
She was halfway across the chamber when in the gloom in front of her she saw the unmistakable shape of the worm. Catching sight of Leah it sprung up, tensing itself ready to leap towards her. Without waiting for any further encouragement, Leah started to run. Lights flashed and blinked inside her armour, but she had no time to pay them attention even if she'd known what they meant.
"Help me, suit!" she called, and at once she felt her limbs being aided by the armour. The worm hissed its rage and then began sliding after her.
The floor of the chamber was wet, and gently sloped downwards as she crossed it, meaning that she was soon knee deep in water. With a final beep, the lights on her suit flashed a bright red and went dead. She panicked, realising that it was almost impossible to move her limbs.
"Marvellous. That was the battery warning light, I take it?"
Leah began unbuckling her armour, pulling off her greaves and chest plate as she waded through the water.
She looked around the chamber; the beauty of the Mage's quarters was something she had only ever seen in books. If this was indeed the Mage's chamber she had entered, then it was heartbreaking to see it defiled in this way.
With a deafening roar, the worm rose up behind her, crashing its way through the chamber. Leah waded through the water trying to get to the door on the far side before it did, hoping that she would still have a chance of escape. But the worm was too fast.
Leah stood, holding the spear in front of her, with no clear idea of what to do next.
"Right. I've got a spear. I've got a spear packed full of Meadowsweet. I've got a spear packed full of Meadowsweet, which I think is fatal to worms. Now what?"
To her enormous delight, the spear gave a small beep. "Separate battery pack?" The spear beeped again. "Oh, I love you, spear. Now, what do I do with it?"
"Keep very still," said a voice, from behind her. "It's deciding what to do next. You have something that worries it, or else it would have attacked."
"Who's there?"
"You're safe, as long as you do as I say. I'm one of the Sages. My name is Niaal."
Niaal! Thoughts of Wallas flashed before her eyes. Dead because of him. Her mother close to death, all because of him. Rendolph, the people in the village, all because of him. Rage pulsed through her like an angry red tide, filling
her with the urge to kill him.
"Honoured Sage?" Leah said, her voice trembling with fear. "Please help me!"
"It's alright, child," said Niaal, coming closer. "It's Leah, isn't it? Leah Carleaf? One of our Gardeners. Wherever did you come by that armour you just discarded by the way?"
"I... I took it from the body of another Sage. Grefno. I found him dead outside and hoped the armour would save me," she lied.
"Good thinking," smiled Niaal. "Grefno dead, eh? Well that's a turn up."
Niaal stepped around Leah, never once taking his eyes off the worm.
"Why doesn't it attack, Leah? What have you got that is making it so hesitant?
Normally these things will kill on sight. So what makes you so special?" He swept his hands over the spear. "Ah. Meadowsweet. You have been doing your homework, haven't you?" Niaal stepped back. "It can smell the Meadowsweet and is scared of it.
"Yes. Grefno told me it would kill the worm. He said I was to find a Sage and give the Meadowsweet to him. He said they'd know what to do with it."
"Thought so." Niaal kicked her in the small of the back, sending her flying. "Liar! Grefno's as alive as you are! I'd have known if he died."
Leah span round, pointing the spear at Niaal.
"That won't work on me, child. It only kills worms."
"You mean this stuff actually works?" Leah beamed. "Thank you, Niaal. That's wonderful news!"
The worm hovered, swaying between the two of them. She pointed the spear at Niaal's heart. "I can still run you though with it though."
"Yes, you could. But then I don't think there's any real chance of that happening, do you?" Niaal spread his fingers and Leah felt herself pushed down to the floor. "I'm no ordinary Sage, you stupid child. Not some half-wit like poor old Grefno, but a fully empowered Magus, filled with the magical tides of the entire world. There is nothing I cannot do right now!"