The ClawBound roared together, the panther clouting a hapless Black Wing across the jaw with one paw and landing on top of her victim and biting down hard on the neck. Weaponless but never helpless, the bound-elf jabbed straight-fingered into the girth of his target, caught the sword arm in his other hand and bit forward himself, his teeth shearing through nose and tearing away. He spat out the flesh and flew in again.
Auum crashed a fist into his next enemy’s chin, spun, and delivered a straight kick which caught the man on the point of his jaw. He stumbled back, bringing up his sword in defence, but Auum had dropped to his haunches. He swept away the Black Wing’s legs and broke the man’s neck as he fell, catching his head and twisting hard. He stepped away from the battle, knowing he was covered, and turned to see where they had positioned themselves. While a great number of the strangers had run, panicked way beyond organisation, the braver were on their way back. He could see weapons glinting in the early light and heard more orders bringing men into the street at their backs. It wouldn’t be long before they were cut off and overwhelmed.
Fortunately, The Raven had seen the danger too and FlameOrbs soared out over his head.
‘Press in!’ shouted Darrick, slashing at the arm of a Black Wing, his sword biting deep. ‘We need to break them. Come on. Erienne, Orbs to the rear. They’re massing.’
Hirad hadn’t noticed. He had cuts on both arms now and the edge of a blade had nicked his left ankle as its owner had fallen dead but he didn’t care. This was what he lived for. Next to him, The Unknown hammered in blow after blow, his massive muscles delivering awesome power only matched by Aeb. The Black Wings were falling back before them, and with no escape right because the TaiGethen were there, were breaking towards the stockade.
The barbarian closed with a wiry old fighter, his tattoo dulled with age. Probably a man that had served with Travers. Their swords met high and Hirad pushed back hard but the man stood his ground, driving his heels into the mud for purchase. His fist whipped in. Hirad saw it and angled his head, the blow missing him left. He stepped back smartly, hauling his sword in front of him and striking out again. Slightly unbalanced, the Black Wing only just blocked. Hirad struck again, right to left. Another block. Jabbed straight. Blocked again. The man was good. But not that good.
Needing to change his point of attack, Hirad leapt to the left while his sword moved right, sweeping across his enemy’s body, forcing him to block away. He saw his peril just too late, began to turn square, but Hirad sent in a haymaking punch with his left hand that caught him on the ear and sent him stumbling into the path of Aeb. The Protector split the fighter’s skull with his axe, gore and brain spattering the ground and his mask.
Erienne’s FlameOrbs lit up the sky, racing away to the right to splash down on undefended bodies. What small order existed in the forty or so gathered there dissolved in an instant and the air was filled again with the screams of the burning and dying.
‘Raven!’ called The Unknown. ‘Pushing left, let’s go!’
The Black Wing resistance on the street was faltering; some had already made the run back towards the stockade and the remnants, just five, were staring full-face at death. Thraun and Darrick went at them, the pair working like they’d fought together all their lives. The shapechanger’s powerhouse blows rained down on the Black Wings, the sword in his hand wielded like a twig, while Darrick’s fencing skills left little to chance, his quick feet making him so hard to track. They’d downed another three before the final pair turned tail and ran.
‘Come on, Raven. They can’t be allowed to shut the gates.’
Hirad led The Raven down the street. He glanced at the stockade. Not a man moved on its parapet. They were close now, he could feel it. He ran as fast as he could but with ten yards to go the TaiGethen cruised past him, the ClawBound pair right behind them, Rebraal on their shoulders. They seemed to be making almost no effort and Hirad found himself wondering just how fast they could go.
‘Keep inside the shield!’ shouted Hirad. ‘There’ll be archers in there.’
Rebraal heard him and relayed the message, the elves all slowing. In a group, they chased the two survivors into the compound of the stockade. There were men ahead of them. Dozens of them. Hirad slowed. Behind him, the gates swung shut with a thud, the bolts thrown across. He looked quickly around him. Archers and crossbowmen now lined the ramparts. Swordsmen emerged from buildings to their left and the shadows on their right.
The Raven, a TaiGethen cell, a solitary Al-Arynaar warrior and a ClawBound pair. And they were surrounded by seventy at least. Too many.
‘Any ideas?’ asked Hirad.
The panther growled but was held in check by her partner. The enemy were waiting.
‘We can’t take all sides on at once,’ said Darrick. ‘What have we got spell-wise to disable one side? Somewhere we can back against.’
‘Denser’s got to keep up the HardShield,’ said Erienne. ‘I can’t deal with the area on my own.’
‘Keep thinking,’ said The Unknown.
A door ahead opened and a man walked out. Smeared face, one milky-white eye. Selik.
‘Welcome to Understone,’ said Selik.
‘I could take him from here,’ said Ren quietly.
‘Don’t do it,’ said Darrick. ‘We need time to think.’
‘Now, as you can see, your valiant but doomed efforts to take what I have in my possession are at an end. Actually, I’m hurt you think that I wouldn’t want to return the statue fragment myself.’
‘Anything that hurts you is fine by me,’ said Hirad. He was desperate to rush Selik but knew he’d never make it across the open space. ‘But we don’t have to fight here. Just give the thumb to us and no more of your men will have to die.’
‘I fail to see that you are in any position to make demands, Hirad Coldheart,’ said Selik. ‘And in case you hadn’t noticed, you are harbouring mages. I am at war with mages.’
He waved a hand and a dozen arrows and crossbow bolts hurtled down, all bouncing from the HardShield. Ren’s answering shaft took one of the archers down.
‘As we can see, you are shielded,’ said Selik.
‘And you are not,’ said Hirad. ‘The next arrow is for you.’
‘Unwise,’ said Selik. ‘You would all be killed as a consequence. I am aware of your skills but even you will see this as a situation you have lost. Put your weapons down and I might spare your lives. Erienne, it would be delightful to remake your acquaintance.’
Erienne ignored him though a shiver passed across her body.
‘We don’t have time for your games,’ said Hirad. ‘We have a sick elf here and you are holding the cure.’
‘Oh, I am sorry,’ said Selik. ‘Ilkar off-colour, is he?’
‘This is getting us nowhere,’ whispered Darrick. ‘Unknown, any thoughts?’
The big man shook his head.
‘I have,’ said Ilkar.
‘Am I interrupting something?’ asked Selik. ‘I think I made myself clear, did I not?’
‘What exactly?’ asked Darrick.
‘A mage can reverse the flows from any spell or construct and in doing so draw mana in from a wider area.’
‘I said, put your weapons down. There’s no room for debate,’ said Selik.
Hirad held up a hand. ‘Ren, put your bow on him. Don’t shoot,’ he said before turning to Selik. ‘Actually, we’re just debating whether to surrender or go down in a blaze of glory. You can attack now if you want but you’re first to die, Selik, and we’ll see fifty of your men go with us. Or you can wait and maybe we’ll all stay alive.’
And he turned his back on their captor, who just shook his head at the Black Wings’ questioning glances. ‘Be quick about it. I am impatient for your surrender.’
Erienne looked square at Selik and put a finger to her lips, feeling the voices of ancients in her head. Something flooded from her across the space to the Black Wing captain. She wasn’t sure she was in control of it but she knew it h
ad worked.
‘Wait,’ she whispered. ‘Wait.’
‘Erienne?’ asked Denser.
‘Just buying us a few heartbeats. It’ll wear off momentarily.’
None of the Black Wing soldiers was moving. The sounds of the world about them had faded. It was as if they were standing in a painting, looking at still life.
Hirad hadn’t noticed the change. ‘Are you helping us, Ilkar?’
‘Look,’ replied Ilkar. ‘I’m dying already. But we needn’t all go. I can make the difference you need.’
‘You’re staying with us and we’re getting you out of this,’ said Hirad. ‘We’ll get the thumb and stop the plague.’
‘Hirad, you don’t understand. There is no cure. I’ve got Elfsorrow and I will die of it. All you can do is stop more catching it. And I’d rather die trying to save my friends.’
Hirad felt stunned. He’d assumed there was hope. He’d come charging in here because he could still save Ilkar. And now he found he couldn’t.
‘You didn’t tell me,’ he said.
‘Would it have made any difference?’
‘Probably not.’
‘So I’m going to do this.’
‘What?’ asked Hirad.
‘Ilkar’s suggesting a focussed backfire,’ said Erienne. ‘He can form the shape of a spell like FlameOrbs then detonate it within himself. And because the shape is within him, it will hold together for longer and draw in far more energy than it should.’
‘But how . . . ?’ began Hirad.
‘I’ll have to be high up.’
‘No way,’ said Hirad. ‘No way. There has to be another answer.’
‘Hirad, there isn’t.’ Ilkar clutched his arm. ‘Please let me do this. It’s all I’ve got left.’
The reality hit Hirad like a hammer. His grip on his blade weakened and he let it fall. The thump was unnaturally loud on the packed ground.
‘That’s better,’ said Selik from behind them.
The sudden resumption of reality made Erienne jump. She wanted to repeat the casting but realised immediately she didn’t actually know how. There was so much she still had to learn.
‘Shut the fuck up, Black Wing,’ grated Hirad, not turning. ‘You can’t die, Ilkar. You were there at the start. We can’t do this without you.’
‘You don’t have any choice,’ said Ilkar. ‘I am dying and you can’t save me.’
Hirad fought to keep himself together. They were in a desperate situation already and Ilkar had just made it worse. He couldn’t afford to lose control now. He set his jaw.
‘Please, Ilkar, don’t.’
‘I have to,’ said Ilkar. ‘Goodbye, Hirad.’
‘No.’ Hirad could feel his throat tighten.
‘You have always been my closest friend,’ said the elf. ‘Don’t forget me.’
Hirad looked around at them all, their desperate faces. At the tears flowing down Ren’s cheeks as she fought to keep her aim, not daring to turn round. He felt the briefest of kisses on his cheek, saw Ilkar caress Ren’s head, heard an incantation and then he was gone, shooting up straight into the sky.
‘Get back down here!’ shouted Hirad. ‘Ilkar, no!’
Arrows followed Ilkar skywards, none of them even close to their target.
‘What’s this?’ Selik’s voice was laden with sarcasm. ‘The Raven flying away, are they, Hirad? Those that can. Some bond.’ He laughed.
Hirad would have pitched after him then but The Unknown had a strong hand on his shoulder.
‘Wait,’ he said. ‘Soon.’
Hirad craned his head high. Everyone in the compound was doing the same. He watched as the elf manoeuvred himself above a parapet and ten archers, underneath which upwards of fifteen soldiers stood ready.
‘Ilkar!’ called Hirad. ‘Fly away. Please fly away.’
But the words caught in his throat. He leaned into The Unknown, felt the big man’s hand tighten and waited.
Above the compound Ilkar hovered, the pain in his stomach excruciating and threatening his concentration.
‘Just one more time,’ he said to himself. ‘Just one more time.’
He clung on to the ShadowWings, his body poised a hundred feet from the rampart, aiming to remove the archer threat in one go. It was the shortest side of the stockade, the one closest to The Raven and the easiest flank for them to defend. Partitioning his consciousness, he pulled the shape of FlameOrbs together, saw the lattice shape closing, felt the flows moving as they should, coursing around and over the shape, the excess filtering away into nothing.
He was ready. He began to descend, picking up speed. He sealed the shape, refusing to let the excess bleed away. The spell reacted, pulsing larger and larger as it dragged in, the flows becoming stronger and stronger. Thirty feet from the parapet, with arrows flicking past him, he lost the wings and plummeted. He opened the spell out, reversing the flows in an instant, feeling the pressure build and the shape decay as he had been cautioned against ever since his training began. The sphere flattened, became an unravelling cylinder, sucking in mana energy to accelerate its demise. There was no way he could contain it, his mind was not strong enough. No one’s would have been.
He heard Selik’s laughter choke in his throat and Hirad shouting words to him that he hoped he could take with him to the afterlife. They made him smile.
He opened his eyes, saw the stockade rush towards him and the men on it trying scramble clear. Too late. Much too late.
He struck.
Chapter 49
‘Down!’ roared The Unknown, and The Raven hit the dirt.
Hirad saw Ilkar plunge into the rampart just left of centre, the spell he’d kept within him detonating just before he connected. The explosion drove out and down with incredible force. Mana fire gouged out, destroying archers on the parapet, a great sheet of flame washing across the stockade, blasting away timbers, tearing men apart and hurling their bodies high into the air.
Below Ilkar’s body, the parapet gave way, bringing timbers and planks crashing down in front of a wall of flame. The flame speared out into the compound, the swordsmen in its path vaporised. A great whoosh of hot air surged over The Raven where they lay. Timbers bounced end over end in all directions, the explosions rang in Hirad’s ears and the agonised cries of the dying sounded in his head.
‘Shield down,’ said Denser.
Hirad heard The Raven begin to move but couldn’t take his eyes from the fires. In the centre of them, Ilkar’s body lay, consumed by flames of his own making. Dead. After all they had survived together.
He heard a concerted roar and the sound of running feet. The dirt by his head sang, an arrow skipping off a stone inches away. He could hear the Black Wings coming but he felt weak inside, unable to react.
But into his confusion came a voice.
‘Hirad, move!’
The Unknown stooped and grabbed his collar, jerking him from the ground. His face was too close to focus on.
‘Hirad, don’t let this be a waste. We have to move. Get in line.’
Hirad’s vision cleared. He couldn’t allow Ilkar to have thrown his life away.
‘I’m with you.’
He grabbed at his sword and moved. The Raven had backed up as close to the fires as they dared but there were gaps in the line where he and The Unknown should be standing.
He started to run, heard The Unknown clash swords right behind him and saw Denser spread his arms wide.
‘Down!’ shouted Erienne. ‘Down!’
Hirad dived straight forward, feeling a thump as The Unknown dropped beside him. The freezing chill of an IceWind washed over their heads into the approaching Black Wings. The screams began but Hirad didn’t stop to look, already scrabbling up and racing for the Raven line, the enemy closing fast to his left.
The Unknown was right by him again and they slithered and turned together. The Black Wing charge had been literally shattered. More than ten had been caught in the blast, their flesh solidifying, the blood freezing
in their veins, hearts stopping as the ice rushed through their chests. Bodies had fallen to break into shards, and where the spell had caught a trailing arm or leg the victim writhed, shivered stumps clutched in disbelief, the sounds they made awful.
The Unknown tapped his blade on the packed earth, waiting. A surge of anger enveloped Hirad and he roared into the faces of the Black Wings.
From the right, the Black Wings ran in. Hirad snapped his blade to ready, blocked up and swept back low, the keen edge of his blade slicing through ribs and gut. He wrenched it clear and checked his next target.
‘Ren, seek the archers,’ said The Unknown. ‘Denser, Erienne, offence. We can’t afford a shield. Cast whenever you’re ready.’
Behind them weakened timbers continued to fall, and now the Black Wings came in from three sides.
On The Raven’s left the TaiGethen and Rebraal launched a stinging attack. All four had dual short blades drawn and used them to devastating effect, forcing the Black Wings back. Beside The Unknown warrior, Aeb, his axe and long sword whirling, practically struck the head from his first enemy and crashed his sword again and again on the weakening upper defence of the next, eventually breaking through to carve the blade through shoulder and deep into chest.
The Unknown himself fought silently and powerfully, his dagger flicking everywhere, defence that could attack at will. He slashed it across the face of one man, who reacted by bringing his blade up to block the return blow only to catch the Raven warrior’s sword in his waist. The Unknown turned it, pulled it clear and kicked the body away.
Hirad had no such pretensions to silence. Looking for a way through to Selik, he bellowed into the faces of those against him, using his sword two-handed, driving his arms to work it through again and again, his muscles beginning to protest. He ignored the pain, leaning in and butting the nose of his nearest enemy before heaving his sword through close to his own body and into the man’s ribs. He forced the blade clear, raising it to block the next Black Wing’s strike and sweeping immediately down to hack into his leg. The man fell on his dead companion and Hirad chopped down on his neck to finish the job.
The Raven Collection Page 210