The Magelands Epic: Soulwitch Rises (Book 7)

by Christopher Mitchell

  ‘I thought you were going to,’ said Daphne. ‘It was your idea.’

  ‘Shit,’ said Karalyn as Gorman opened his eyes. Daphne reached out with her thumb and forefinger and gouged them down into his eye sockets, scratching as he cried out in agony. His arms and ankles had been tied together and he thrashed around on the floor.

  ‘A little help?’ said Daphne.

  Darine came over, her eyes wary. She pressed down on Gorman’s legs, holding them still. Lennox remained where he was, watching.

  ‘I’ve got them,’ Daphne said, her finger and thumb still embedded in Gorman’s eye-sockets. ‘Are you ready to go in as soon as I lift my hand?’

  ‘Aye,’ said Karalyn.

  Her mother whipped her hand away, and Karalyn drove her powers into the bloody eye-sockets. The protective coverings had gone, and she entered Gorman’s mind. It was powerful, with both vision and flow skills at his disposal. He also had an ability to self-heal, and that power was already straining, channelling growth to the stumps at the ends of his arms, and repairing the damage to his eyes; while his rage consumed his every thought; his hatred for the lowly, mortal inhabitants of this accursed world, like mere insects to be crushed beneath his heel. How he loathed the Holdfasts; the vermin of the Star Continent; the mage power that went wrong; the Creator’s mistake that ended up destroying him; Gorman’s hatred bristled and boiled at the thought that he was now under their power; he would kill them all; despoil and desecrate their corpses; violate their fragile bodies…

  Karalyn slammed her control down onto his mind, shutting his consciousness away into a small corner as her powers spread throughout his thoughts and memories. His shaking ceased, and his body lay still.

  ‘Are you in?’ said her mother.

  ‘Aye. He doesn’t like us very much.’

  Daphne sat down on the floor. She glanced up at Lennox. ‘Make yourself useful, son, and bring us over some whisky.’

  The soldier frowned, and Karalyn longed to grab him and run away somewhere; away from everyone else, where they could forget the past and bring up their children together, but the Quadrant had gone.

  ‘Has the excitement rendered you deaf?’ said Daphne.

  Lennox rolled his eyes and walked over to the bar.

  ‘Is Racine coming back?’ said Karalyn.

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Daphne. ‘Gorman seemed to think so.’

  ‘I heard them talk about it,’ said Lennox, walking back with a bottle. ‘They took Corthie because he’s a Kellach with battle-vision.’

  ‘You heard them?’ cried Daphne. ‘Why didn’t you say so before?’

  He crouched down by Karalyn and opened the bottle. ‘I was working for them at the time.’

  ‘Did they say anything else?’ said Karalyn.

  ‘Aye,’ he said, glancing at her. ‘Racine said he would make a good sample to take to a place she called Lostwell.’

  ‘Never heard of it,’ said Daphne. ‘Is it in Rahain?’

  ‘No idea. It’s not a name I’m familiar with.’

  He took a slug of whisky, then passed the bottle to Karalyn.

  ‘It’s time to find out,’ she said, sending more tendrils of power into Gorman’s mind, reinforcing the control she had established. ‘Ask him anything you want.’

  She took a swig of whisky, feeling Lennox’s eyes on her.

  ‘All right,’ said Daphne. She faced Gorman. ‘Where is Corthie?’

  The archmage’s face remained expressionless, his healed eyes glazed over; then his lips began to move.

  ‘My sister took him to Lostwell.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘As a sample of the goods this world has to offer.’

  Daphne’s face darkened. ‘What, as a slave?’

  ‘A warrior-slave. His skills are formidable. My sister is good at making money, and the Iron Brigade will make us very rich.’

  Daphne frowned. ‘Where is Lostwell?’

  ‘Far away.’

  ‘Where?’

  ‘Far away. Not here.’

  ‘How do we get there?’

  ‘The Quadrant.’

  ‘But you lost it. My daughter stole it from you.’

  ‘Yes. We had to take a wagon to get to Kellach Brigdomin, though it was unlikely that Agatha would have allowed my sister and I to use the Quadrant for our own purposes.’

  ‘What purposes?’

  ‘To raise an army of Kellach to take to Lostwell; to show the dealers the potential of the Star Continent; what it could offer. Agatha disapproved. She said the priority was destroying the Holdfasts in order to secure the pacification of this world, and everything else would have to wait.’

  ‘What does Agatha want?’

  ‘To rule.’

  ‘How many... people like you are there?’

  ‘Seven gods came to this world,’ he said. ‘Six remain.’

  Daphne lit another cigarette. ‘Go through them, and describe what they can do.’

  ‘Agatha is the leader; she is the oldest, and has every type of mage power. Witten has fire powers, and is always by her side. Belinda was equal in power to Agatha, but is lost to us, her mind gone; and Gregor is dead. He had flow powers, and was the youngest of the seven. Asher fights alone; with fire, stone, battle-vision and death powers, she has never been beaten. Lastly, there is my sister and I, possessors of death powers and battle-vision.’

  ‘We’ve seen them all, then,’ said Karalyn.

  ‘Who are they?’ said Lennox.

  ‘There was another,’ Gorman went on. ‘The first.’

  Daphne frowned. ‘Who?’

  ‘The one who created this world for us to hide in; for us to rule.’

  ‘The Creator?’ said Karalyn.

  ‘Yes. He became trapped in his own creation; and it killed him.’

  ‘What?’ said Darine. ‘Is he saying the Creator’s real?’

  ‘Was,’ said Daphne. ‘I watched him die.’ She turned to Karalyn. ‘I’ve heard enough. We need to get the Quadrant back, then go to this Lostwell place to fetch Corthie.’

  ‘I want to hear more about the Creator,’ said Darine.

  Daphne shook her head and stood, then drew her sword. ‘Stand back.’

  ‘Wait,’ said Karalyn, ‘maybe…’

  Her mother swung her blade down, slicing through Gorman’s neck in one blow. His head rolled to the side, the eyes still open.

  Jemma screamed, and put her hand over Cole’s face, as Lennox and Darine stared at Daphne.

  ‘Three down,’ her mother said; ‘four to go.’

  Karalyn jumped to her feet, her fists clenched. ‘You didn’t need to kill him, mother; I could have scoured him like Belinda.’

  ‘Too messy,’ said Daphne. ‘We’d have to nurse him for thirds, and we’ve already got one baby and another two on the way.’

  ‘How do we get the Quadrant?’ said Lennox.

  They turned to him.

  ‘Simple,’ said Daphne. ‘We wait for Racine to re-appear, then we ambush her.’

  ‘What?’ said Jemma, standing as she clutched Cole close to her.

  ‘Maybe they should go to their room,’ said Darine.

  ‘No,’ said Daphne. ‘We may only have one chance to use the Quadrant, so we need to stay together; we’re not leaving anyone behind. We’ll take Jemma and Cole somewhere safe, then we’ll go and bring Corthie back.’ She glanced at Karalyn. ‘I assume Lennox is coming?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ she said. She caught his eye. ‘Do you want to, even after what I did to your mind?’

  ‘Aye,’ he said, ‘but what about Rainsby?’

  ‘I’m not saying we’re back together, but you should come. I don’t want the twins to be without their father. As for us, we’ll see.’

  ‘I’ll take that for now. Where are we going?’

  ‘I already told you - somewhere safe,’ said Daphne. ‘Karalyn knows where.’

  ‘And we’re going to use this Quadrant device to go there? How?’

  ‘You saw R
acine use it, didn’t you?’ Daphne said.

  ‘Aye, but how does it work?’

  Daphne glanced at her daughter. ‘Only she knows.’

  ‘What about me?’ said Darine. ‘Can I come?’

  Daphne raised an eyebrow. ‘But you don’t know where we’re going.’

  ‘I’ve learned things tonight that I never thought possible,’ she said, taking a shot of whisky. ‘I want to know more, and I want to feel part of something again, only this time on the right side. Kelpie and Koreen have been good to me, but I don’t want to live in Westgate all my life; and Lennox is my best friend.’ She glanced at him. ‘Sorry about Cain.’

  Lennox glanced over at the body of his friend. ‘He never forgave me for Libby.’

  ‘So, can I come?’

  Daphne walked up to her. ‘What do you really want, Darine? No, don’t tell me, I just saw it in your mind as clear as day. Your children are still trapped in Rahain; you want them back.’

  ‘Aye.’

  ‘You read minds too?’ said Lennox.

  ‘Yes.’

  He glanced at Karalyn. ‘Still so many secrets.’

  ‘You’ll learn about them soon,’ said Daphne. ‘Now all we have to do is wait.’

  They settled into the tavern, waiting for Racine. Darine was sent upstairs to gather some of their luggage, while Daphne sipped whisky, staring at the space where the archmage had been when she had disappeared; a sword by her side, and her new armour clasped round her left arm. Karalyn and Lennox sat in a booth close by, but he said nothing, so she did the same.

  She wondered what he was thinking; surely he must have questions about what had happened, but maybe he was still processing the memories she had restored. The last time she had put someone’s correct memories back into their head was when she had been persuading her father that her mother was cheating on him. She had removed certain memories and replaced them with false ones; and then, after her confession, she had gone into his mind and put the right ones back. Her father’s face had transformed from rage to relief and shame, and he had wept in her mother’s arms.

  With Lennox, she had been far more brutal, stripping out over two and a half thirds of memories, amounting to his entire time in Severton. She had done it protect the twins, but were her mother’s hands any cleaner than his? What about her brother’s? She knew Keir had killed many when he had defended Rainsby; and would do so again if he had to; was she the only one in the family sickened by the thought of taking another life?

  ‘I miss the cottage,’ he mumbled.

  ‘What?’ she said, turning.

  He glanced at her. ‘I miss the life we had.’

  ‘So do I.’

  ‘Maybe you should remove Rainsby from my memories.’

  ‘Funny,’ she said, ‘my mother suggested the same thing; but what would be the point? I’d still know.’

  ‘You’re right. I shouldn’t be allowed to forget what I did. Will you tell the twins when they’re older? Or maybe I should.’

  ‘There’s no need. Time for another secret.’

  He narrowed his eyes. ‘Go on.’

  ‘My dream mage powers,’ she said, ‘they came on at birth, well, from before my birth. It’s the same with the twins. I can already feel their nascent powers developing inside me. They’re going to be dream mages. In a way, they already are.’

  Lennox said nothing.

  ‘They’ll be inside your mind whether you want them there or not,’ she said.

  ‘I thought you blocked my mind? Racine and Gorman tried to read me but couldn’t. At the time I thought it had been Sable’s doing, but as soon as my memories returned I realised it must have been you.’

  ‘I protected you from vision mages, so that my mother couldn’t read you. I didn’t do anything about dream mages.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘It’s not going to be easy, you know,’ she said. ‘Imagine toddlers with the power to wipe people’s minds and read their every thought.’

  ‘It can’t be that bad.’

  ‘No? Ask my mother. I did a lot of terrible things when I was a little girl, and when I was a teenager. And think, there will be two of them to mind.’

  ‘Are you trying to put me off?’

  ‘Is it working?’

  ‘No.’ He looked into her eyes. ‘I love you. I understand why you did what you did, and if I have to spend the rest of my life making amends for what happened in Rainsby, then so be it.’

  She glanced away. She loved him too, but didn’t want to say it.

  ‘I think that’s everything,’ said Darine, standing by a pile of luggage in the centre of the room.

  ‘Thanks,’ said Daphne, her gaze still focussed on the spot where Racine and Corthie had vanished, a cigarette dangling from her fingers.

  ‘Should I, eh… move Gorman?’ Darine said, glancing down at the severed head.

  ‘No,’ said Daphne. ‘Leave him where he is. I want his sister to see what happens to people who take my children.’

  Lennox leaned over to Karalyn. ‘Your mother’s something else…’ His voiced tailed away as Racine appeared in the room, in the same position as when she had left; her white hair shining in the lamplight.

  Daphne sprang to her feet, her sword in her hand as Racine scanned the tavern. Her eyes caught sight of her brother’s body, lying without its head or hands, and a look of shock passed over her face.

  ‘Where’s my son?’ cried Daphne as she charged. Her blade flashed through the air, but Racine side-stepped and raised her hand, sending out a broad wave of Sanang death powers around her. Karalyn sent forth her own powers, shielding them from Racine. Lennox ran in with his mace raised, but she dodged him with battle-vision speed. She drew her own sword with her free hand, the other still flooding the room with dark, soulwitch energy, one touch of which would be enough to kill. Karalyn stepped down from the booth, straining to keep Racine’s power from getting through her defences. The archmage was powerful, as Agatha had been when Karalyn had faced her under the old Senate in Rahain. Racine’s reserves seemed deep, and she increased her powers as she strode forwards with the sword.

  Daphne, Darine and Lennox attacked, but Racine twisted and parried, all the while getting closer to where Karalyn was standing. Lennox got himself between them. but Racine’s speed was too much, and she delivered a raking blow down his front, ripping through the moulded leather chest plate and spraying blood across her cheeks. Lennox sank to his knees as Daphne leaped at Racine from behind. The archmage swung her arm and struck Karalyn’s mother in the face with the butt of her sword, sending her flying backwards. Racine rushed at Karalyn, her sword raised, her face dark with rage.

  She stopped, staggering, her eyes going down to the sight of a crossbow bolt protruding from her chest. Karalyn’s eyes turned to the front door of the tavern, where Carrie was standing, a bow in her hands.

  Darine ran over as Racine sank to her knees and ran her sword through the archmage’s back, then kicked her over. Karalyn dropped to her knees to check on Lennox, who was sitting with his back to a table leg, blood seeping down his chest.

  ‘Darine?’ said Carrie, shaking her head as she walked across the room. ‘Weren’t you supposed to have been killed in Liberton? Anyway, it’s good to see you.’ She narrowed her eyes at Daphne and Karalyn. ‘Holdfasts. You found Lennox, then? You got him killed already?’

  ‘I’m fine,’ he grunted. ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘Looking for you, you fool. I was getting drunk in the village when these armoured folk ran past in a panic. Spoke to a couple, they told me that a Captain Lennox was in the World’s End. Where’s Cain?’

  ‘Dead.’

  ‘Did he bring it on himself?’

  ‘Aye.’

  ‘I killed him,’ said Darine.

  ‘Never mind that now,’ said Daphne, lifting the Quadrant as she knelt by Racine’s unconscious body. She held it out to Karalyn. ‘Now let’s kill her and go.’

  Karalyn got up from Lennox’s side
and walked over to her mother. She took the Quadrant.

  Command me, Karalyn.

  Daphne stood, and raised her sword. Before she could strike, Karalyn crouched down and touched Racine’s hand.

  Tahrana Valley, Rahain. Go, she told the Quadrant, imagining a place she had been before.

  In an instant they were there, on a rocky hillside half a mile from the lights of a farm, a cold wind gusting along the valley from the west. Karalyn gazed down at Racine, then leant over and prised open one of her eyes. With her fingertips she removed the thin protective covering, and entered the archmage’s mind.

  She paralysed the woman’s movements, and kept her consciousness subdued as she looked through her recent memories. She saw her brother, bound and hooded, then watched him being handed over to a group of men wearing strange uniforms, inside a badly-lit building. There were no signs of where it was, no windows with a view, and then it was over. Racine stepped back from the transaction, and activated the Quadrant.

  Karalyn cursed. She had hoped to discover something useful, to show her mother that kindness and mercy could bring a reward.

  She gazed at the device in her hands.

  Quadrant?

  Yes, Karalyn? What do you desire?

  Can you take me Lostwell?

  No. You have never been and so cannot imagine it.

  But I’ve seen it in Racine’s head.

  It is not enough.

  Why?

  It is not enough.

  Karalyn bit back her tears as she imagined the danger her brother was in. She glanced back at Racine and went back into her head, finding her controls still in place.

  Remember who saved you, she said to the unconscious woman, burning the Holdfast name into her memory. When the time comes, remember.

  She released the woman from her powers.

  You will wake up in five minutes.

  She gripped the Quadrant.

  World’s End. Go.

  Her mother’s glaring face was the first thing she saw upon her return to the tavern.

  ‘Please tell me you dropped her over a cliff, daughter.’

  ‘I let her go. There’s been enough bloodshed today.’

  ‘Damn it, girl. That wasn’t your decision to take.’

  ‘I took it regardless, mother.’