The Magelands Epic: Soulwitch Rises (Book 7)

by Christopher Mitchell

  ‘Darine,’ he said, ‘fetch whisky, water and glasses for the dining room. I... I need to leave.’

  The young woman nodded as Kendrie rushed from the room.

  ‘I’ll bring it all through for you,’ Darine said, wiping her hands on her apron. ‘I’ll just be a minute.’

  ‘Thanks,’ said Karalyn. She returned to the small room. Kelpie had moved her chair so that she was sitting next to Koreen, and the two women were embracing. Karalyn sat and lit a cigarette, noticing how few she had left in the packet.

  Koreen nodded to her. ‘You mentioned Kalayne?’

  ‘Aye. Do you know the powers he possessed? I have the same. That’s how I know we weren’t followed. My family’s enemies have no idea we’re here.’

  The door opened and Darine walked in carrying a tray. She placed onto the table a full bottle of whisky, a jug of cold water and three sets of glasses.

  ‘Kendrie’s away, boss,’ she said. ‘Do you want me to open up?’

  ‘No,’ Kelpie said. ‘We’re staying closed today.’

  Darine nodded, biting her lip.

  Koreen glanced at Kelpie and Karalyn. ‘Can she stay and listen?’

  ‘Who is she?’ said Karalyn.

  ‘Her name’s Darine. I brought her out of Rahain after she deserted from the Army of Pyre.’

  Karalyn frowned.

  ‘I left them before the war started,’ Darine said, her chin held high, but her eyes cast downwards. ‘I’m not part of anything they did, but it’s true. I was Army of Pyre.’

  ‘She’s an honest lass,’ said Kelpie, ‘which is why she’s working here. Nowhere else would take her.’

  Without hesitating, Karalyn went into the young Domm woman’s mind, and found, amid the shame and conflicted pride, that she was telling the truth. Though she had love for her old friends and comrades, her heart held nothing but hatred for the Army of Pyre. She also saw the long years of enduring the harsh and cruel training regime, and the loss of the twins she had left behind in Rahain.

  ‘She can stay.’

  ‘Thanks,’ said Darine. She pulled a seat over and sat by the table. ‘From Kendrie’s reaction, your father was well-loved. Who was he?’

  ‘Do you remember I told you about Killop, Chief of the Severed Clan?’ Koreen said. ‘This is his daughter, Karalyn. Half-Kellach Brigdomin; half-Holdings.’

  Darine nodded, her eyes wide. ‘And the injured woman upstairs?’

  ‘My mother,’ said Karalyn. ‘The First Holder of the Holdings Republic.’

  ‘What!’ cried Kelpie. ‘I didn’t know that. You mean to tell me that one of the rulers of the empire is lying upstairs in my spare room?’

  ‘Aye.’

  ‘Pyre’s knackers,’ the old woman muttered.

  ‘Tell us what happened,’ said Koreen, as Kelpie opened the bottle of whisky.

  Karalyn told them everything she knew about the attack that had claimed her father, and the more recent attempt on the Holdfast estate; and they listened in silence.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ said Kelpie, ‘that such a dreadful thing has happened to your family.’

  ‘I offer my sympathy for your loss,’ Darine said. ‘Your father was slain protecting your brother and sister; his death had meaning.’

  ‘But how does the story end?’ said Koreen. ‘How did you get here?’

  ‘Aye,’ said Kelpie. ‘Yer ma’s wound was fresh; I ministered to it myself. How could she have been stabbed in the Holdings?’

  Karalyn lifted her eyes.

  You will all forget that question, and never ask it again. How we arrived is of no importance to you; and say nothing of my mother’s position as First Holder. That is our secret.

  They blinked, and Koreen rubbed her forehead.

  Karalyn stood. ‘I’m going to check on my mother.’

  ‘You do that, hen,’ said Kelpie. ‘We’ll be here if ye need us.’

  ‘I’ll take Cole. He’ll be needing fed and changed.’

  Kelpie stood and lifted the sling from over her shoulder, then handed Karalyn the bundle. Karalyn glanced down into the baby’s face, and sent happy dreams his way. She nodded to the others and left the room. The bar was still and empty, its doors locked. She filled a jug with cold water and walked through the side corridor to the stairs. The Holdfasts were occupying two rooms on the middle floor, under Kelpie’s own quarters. She knocked on her mother’s door, and entered.

  Her mother glanced up from the bed, her face mirroring the pain she was in. Her back was propped up by pillows and cushions, with thick blankets pulled up to her waist, while Corthie and Jemma were sitting by the bedside.

  ‘Mother, you’re awake,’ said Karalyn. ‘Do you need more dullweed?’

  Her mother was silent for a moment, then shook her head. ‘No, I want to be lucid. I’ve suffered through worse before.’

  Jemma stood and put her arms out for Cole. Karalyn passed her the child, and Jemma held him close, rocking back and forward.

  ‘I’ll go and change him,’ she said, then turned for the door.

  Karalyn’s mother waited for her to leave, then lit a cigarette from a silver case on the bedside table.

  ‘I told them about father,’ Karalyn said, sitting where Jemma had been.

  ‘Who?’ said her mother. ‘Kelpie?’

  ‘Her and a friend of hers who knew father from before; Koreen.’

  Her mother frowned. ‘I remember the name. I think she lived on her own up in the mountains when we stayed in Slateford. How did they react? Let me guess; they’re drinking whisky?’

  ‘Aye. Kelpie’s closed up the bar for the day.’

  Corthie coughed. ‘Can I open a window?’

  ‘No,’ said his mother. ‘It’s freezing outside.’

  ‘Can I go, then?’

  ‘Where?’

  ‘I don’t know. Explore the World’s End, maybe. I won’t go far, I promise.’

  ‘Alright.’

  He flashed a grin and sped from the room.

  Daphne sighed from the bed and glanced at her daughter. ‘Kellach Brigdomin, Kara-bear? Of all the places in the world, you chose the one that I had expressly told you I never wanted to visit? And how did we get here? I have a memory of you telling me something, but I was bleeding into the rain and mud, and I don’t know if it was a dream.’

  ‘It wasn’t a dream. I used something; a device I stole from the Rahain. It allows me to travel from one place to another in a second.’

  Her mother looked sceptical. ‘What date is it?’

  ‘The sixteenth.’

  ‘Of which third?’

  ‘The same as the one we were in two days ago when we were attacked,’ said Karalyn. ‘I know it’s hard to take, but it’s the truth.’

  ‘And you can go anywhere with it?’

  Karalyn paused. ‘I’m not entirely sure. I thought I could, but when I asked it to take us somewhere safe, it said I had to pick somewhere I knew; somewhere I’d been before.’

  ‘Wait, it spoke to you?’

  She shrugged. ‘Aye. Not to anyone else, though.’

  ‘The Empress is aware of this device?’

  ‘Aye.’

  ‘So, you’ve stolen it a second time?’ She shook her head. ‘That’s how you travelled from the Plateau to Holdfast so quickly. May I see it?’

  Karalyn stood, and walked to wardrobe by the end of the bed. She opened it and dug under a thick pile of blankets. She felt the warm metal against her fingers.

  Command me, Karalyn.

  Not just now.

  Her mother narrowed her eyes. ‘I felt something there, weak, but as if someone was using mage powers.

  ‘It was me,’ Karalyn said. ‘The Quadrant always asks me what I want whenever I pick it up. “Command me”, it says; and it knows my name.’

  She handed the device to her mother who stared at it.

  ‘Hmmm, no voice for me. A pity.’

  ‘Aye,’ said Karalyn, masking her relief.

  ‘The things I could do wit
h this,’ her mother went on. ‘The power it bestows. The Rahain must have used it for their assassination attempts in the capital. Jump in, kill, then jump back out again.’ She held it up to the light, examining its shape, and the etching and jewels that ran down the edge. She glanced at her daughter. ‘How exactly did you steal it?’

  ‘I sneaked into the old Senate building in the Rahain capital and took it from them.’

  ‘That’s my girl. Right, with this we could be back in the Holdings tonight.’ She nodded. ‘I thought I was going to be stuck on this wind-blasted rock for thirds. You should ask Kelpie to come up here so I can thank her before we say goodbye.’

  ‘No.’

  Her mother frowned.

  ‘We’re not going back to the Holdings,’ Karalyn said, ‘or the Plateau. We’re staying here, where the family is safe.’

  ‘What utter nonsense. I have a damned country to run.’

  ‘They’ll have to do without you for a while.’

  A flicker of anger shot over her mother’s face. ‘You must not defy me on this, daughter. This is serious. I cannot abandon the Holdings and the empire. We’re at war, girl, don’t you understand?’

  ‘I understand. I also know that a group of archmages is trying to kill every member of our family, and I’m not going to let them do it. Corthie managed to kill one of them, but we got lucky; Gregor underestimated us. We’ve come up against Asher twice, and she kicked our arses both times. There’s more of them in Rahain. No, it’s too risky. The only place we can be safe is here.’

  ‘A tavern?’

  ‘Kellach Brigdomin,’ she said. ‘In a few days we should go down to the lowlands and head west to Severton; once you’re well enough to travel.’

  ‘By wagon?’

  ‘Aye.’

  ‘Why not use the device?’

  ‘Because, if you could sense something when it spoke to me, then maybe others can as well, and I’m not taking any chances. I’ve used it a total of three times; it’s for emergencies only.’

  Her mother shook her head. ‘You’re not making this easy. You’re stubborn; obstinate even.’

  ‘I get that from you.’

  ‘Why Severton?’

  ‘It’s where we know the most folk, and it’s big enough to hide in. The home of the Severed Clan.’

  Her mother frowned. ‘The Severed Clan hated me. Their entire leadership resented me being in Slateford at all. They thought I’d got pregnant and trapped your father; their beloved chief. Then you scalded his mind, and he was unconscious for days. Yes, we were really popular with the Severed Clan.’

  ‘They were all friendly towards me when I was there ten years ago.’

  ‘Oh, they’ll like you; you’re his daughter, and they’ll dote on Corthie. Me? Maybe not so much.’

  ‘Sorry, mother, but there’s no choice. I’m not using the Quadrant; you’re stuck here. Think of the positives – you’ll have time to recover, and time with your family.’

  Her mother frowned. ‘I think I’d like that dullweed now.’

  Karalyn heard a noise from outside and walked to the window. The glass was old and warped, but she could make out a crowd standing on the street by the tavern doors.

  ‘Looks like there are a lot of unhappy customers.’

  Her mother’s face clouded over in pain for a moment, and Karalyn saw how weak and tired she looked. Her withered left arm was hanging down over the bed sheet, the fingers curled into themselves.

  ‘I’ll need to get new armour made for that,’ she said, noticing her daughter’s gaze, ‘because when I fight Asher again, I’m going to kill her.’

  ‘Then you need time to train.’

  ‘That,’ she said, ‘I’ll concede.’

  ‘There was a knock on the door.

  Yes?’ called Daphne.

  The door opened and Darine entered.

  ‘Kelpie sent me,’ she said. ‘She’s decided to open up for the day to hold a minding for Killop. Word’s spread round the village about his death, and everyone’s come. Koreen’s going to speak.’

  ‘You should go,’ Daphne said to her daughter, ‘and take Jemma and Cole, and Corthie if you find him. I’ll stay here and rest.’

  Karalyn nodded, then leaned forwards to kiss her mother on the cheek. She left the room behind Darine, and they collected Jemma and the baby and went downstairs. Darine opened the door to the bar and Karalyn saw that it was packed out with villagers, who were squeezing into every available space.

  ‘Make way for Killop’s daughter,’ Darine cried, and the crowd turned. Some stared, while others called out messages of commiseration. Darine led her through the bar, to a table where Kelpie and Koreen were sitting, a position from which they could address the whole tavern. Karalyn and Jemma took seats to Kelpie’s left, and the old woman rapped her knuckles onto the table. The crowd quietened.

  ‘Many have sat at this table,’ she said, her voice filling the room. ‘Those old enough will remember the time we had Keira staying here, before she ran off to save the world. We’ve had Rahain, and Holdings, and even a Sanang once; and lately we’ve had Koreen, who served with Chief Killop and Empress Bridget in the old wars. Today,’ she said, gesturing a hand towards her left, ‘I’m proud to introduce you to Karalyn, the daughter of Chief Killop; Jemma of Hold Fast; and baby Cole, Killop’s grandson.’ She paused for a moment, her gaze running over the crowd. ‘Ye all know the sad news they have borne here with them. Chief Killop is dead. He died a hero, protecting his children from a powerful mage; a fitting end. He served under my command at the battle of Marchside, and I stood and watched as he and his sister destroyed an entire assault that was charging the Kell lines.’ She glanced over to Koreen.

  ‘I was there also,’ she said. ‘After that victory, Killop and Keira then led us through the darkness, and she burnt the Rahain stone-throwing machines; while he sacked their baggage camp.’ She took a sip of whisky. ‘But you’ve all heard the story of Marchside a hundred times. I fought with the twins at the Northern Pass of Kell, when we killed thousands; I was by their side when they first met the old mage Kalayne; and when the Chief of the Kell was betrayed and killed by the Rahain, along with my twin brother. I thought that day would be my last. Keira wanted to hurl herself at the enemy for vengeance, but there were thousands of them, and we were down to a squad. It was Killop who refused. He told his sister to save her strength for another time…’

  Koreen took another sip of whisky as the crowd listened in a silence broken only by the sound of tears, and the roar of the fire burning in the hearth.

  ‘Then there was Marchside,’ Koreen went on, ‘and after that we had to leave Kell. When Brig was invaded, Kelpie’s sister led us over snow-covered mountains in the middle of winter so we could have a last stand at the old temple under Fire Mountain. Killop was an officer by then, leader of a hundred warriors, and Keira was… well, Keira.’ She paused again. ‘You all know what happened next. It wasn’t pretty, and I don’t like to remember it. I doubt any one of us who watched Fire Mountain be destroyed would ever wish to return to the site – I certainly don’t. I was taken prisoner, along with Killop and the future empress, and we endured thirds together in cramped and stinking cages, as wagons bore us off to slavery in Rahain.’

  To her left, Darine glanced away, tears in her eyes, and Karalyn wondered what version of history she had been taught by the Army of Pyre.

  ‘Of course,’ Koreen went on, ‘I know well that he went on to greater things; fighting in the battle that decided the war of the alliance against Rahain; a battle which led to the release of the vast majority of Kellach Brigdomin slaves held captive there. Many of you here today know exactly what I speak of, and know how much that single battle meant. However, to me Killop will always be my squad leader, and serving alongside him and his sister was the privilege of my life.’

  She raised her glass.

  ‘To Killop ae Kellan ae Kell.’

  Chapter 15

  Turbulence

  Souther
n Plateau – 28th Day, Last Third Autumn 525

  Nyane gripped the side of her seat as the carriage plunged through the sky, her stomach threatening to disgorge its contents over her fellow passengers. The straps were digging into her shoulders and waist, but without them, they would be rattling around the inside of the carriage like dried peas.

  ‘This is wild,’ cried Ravi, his eyes alight. He peered out through one of the round windows at the dark clouds surrounding them. A flash of lightning reflected off his face. ‘Did you see that? This is some storm.’

  Nyane glanced over to the carriage pilots. ‘Could we not fly round it?’

  ‘We’re trying to guide the winged gaien under the clouds, ma’am,’ one said. ‘Things should settle down soon.’

  The wooden tube bucked in the wind, and the boards holding it together creaked and squealed; the reinforcing bands of steel straining under the pressure.

  ‘Has a carriage ever been torn apart by a storm before?’ said Ravi.

  Nyane glared at him. ‘We shall be fine.’

  ‘Fuck,’ Ravi said, his eyes going over the people sat by him, ‘imagine if this carriage crashed. Four mages gone, just like that; and one of them the Herald of the Empire.’

  ‘Tabor’s only a trainee,’ said Belinda. ‘He’s not a proper mage yet.’

  The young Holdings man opened his mouth to say something, but the carriage lurched again. The Empress had sent him along with the others for a trial period, to learn if his vision powers could reach Stretton Sands. Nyane smothered a frown. The boy was younger even than Keir, and untested as a mage.

  ‘A tad harsh,’ said Ravi. ‘Trainee or not, he’ll end up a dark red splodge on a hillside if we crash, same as the rest of us.’

  ‘We are not going to crash, Ravi,’ said Nyane. ‘In a couple of hours this journey will be over, at last, and we can rest in Rainsby, with solid ground under our feet.’

  ‘Six days in a fucking carriage,’ Ravi said. ‘I won’t be sad to see the…’

  ‘A word about your language, Ravi,’ Nyane said. ‘Some of the vocabulary you employ is completely unnecessary.’