Geomancer

T HIRTY -S EVEN

Tiaan was woken by thuds and crashes that shook the building. A gloomy light came through the ice. She ran to the entrance but the plug remained in place. 'Ryll?' she yelled through the space around the block. 'What's happening?'

There was no answer. She heard more thuds, a roar of pain from a lyrinx, higher screams. With a hiss-thump, something came through the wall, pinning the bearskin to the floor. It was a spear from a clanker javelard.

Tiaan did not waste time wondering how she had been tracked, or how they had got clankers up here. Somehow they had, which showed an absolute determination to take her back or destroy her. Why? It could not be because she'd run away from the breeding factory. No runaway was worth such a hunt. Was it because she'd saved the life of the enemy? It could be. The Histories of the lyrinx wars contained many tales of treachery and, whatever it took, the traitors were always hunted down. The Council of Scrutators believed in making examples.

They must also be hunting her because she was an artisan. The secret of controllers would be invaluable to the enemy and Gi-Had was making sure they did not get it.

Either way she could never go home. And to make matters worse, withdrawal still ebbed and flowed within her. When a pang struck she was incapable of thinking about anything else.

Throwing on her coat, she took up the spear and waited. Faint cries came from outside, and the roars of lyrinx. The building shook as if a catapult ball had struck it. Ice fell from the roof.

The trapped feeling grew. Tiaan hacked at the wall with the spear, but had not made more than a fist-sized indentation when there came a ghastly echoing scream from outside, a lyrinx death-cry, surely.

The sounds of battle continued. Tiaan had just resumed her futile work when the ice plug was thrust in and Ryll's head appeared. He scrabbled through the gap, kicked the plug back and gasped, 'Get ready!'

'My people have come!' She did not say it with any joy.

'And they tried to kill you before.'

Ryll began to claw at the wall: across, down, across, up, with the same furious energy as he had shown in scouring his way into her ice sphere after the avalanche. The raking strokes flung ice halfway across the room. There was an intense look on his face that she had not seen before. Fear? Or fury at what was happening outside?

The plug ground forward. Ryll leapt across the room and slammed it back. Anguished cries came from the other side. He jammed the spear into the ice in front of the plug, bound her wrists with a strip of leather and resumed his frantic work.

The plug moved, hit the spear and stopped. His gouges in the wall had now outlined a block almost her size. Putting his shoulder to it, he heaved. The block did not budge. Shaking his head, Ryll gouged faster.

Another blow shook the plug, snapping off the point of the spear. The plug crept forward. Was it better to be captured, or taken by Ryll? Could she escape both? Indecision paralysed her.

The plug was heaved through and a soldier's head appeared, a savage, bloody, human face. Tiaan shrank away.

The soldier cried, 'Run, artisan!'

Ryll jerked her against his side. 'If you want to see your crystal again,' he said in her ear, 'you'll come with me.'

Tiaan tried to swallow. Her dry tongue rasped against the roof of her mouth.

The soldier's face hardened and he levelled the crossbow. From this distance he could not miss. His finger tightened on the release. Ryll twisted violently but the impact slammed him into the wall and her hand slipped free. A gasp escaped him. The soldier dropped the crossbow and lunged at Ryll with the spear. Ryll slashed and then weaved away, holding his shoulder. The soldier went after him.

Tiaan took two steps but a pang of withdrawal drove her to her knees. She cried out with the agony of longing, so strong that she lost track of the struggle on the other side of the room.

A blurry face appeared in the tunnel. Irisis crawled through, carrying a bloody sword, and fell on the pack. Not finding what she was looking for, she put the sword tip to Tiaan's throat. The withdrawal eased.

'Where is it?' Irisis ground out. 'Where is the crystal?'

'They took it from me,' Tiaan whispered. 'Can't you tell?' She held out a shaking hand.

Irisis glared into her bloodshot eyes. Tiaan caught her breath, expecting to be skewered through the throat, but Irisis turned away.

'What are you doing?' cried the struggling soldier. 'Take her!'

'She doesn't matter,' snarled Irisis over her shoulder as she scrambled down the tunnel. 'The crystal does.'

Ryll drove the soldier back to the tunnel with sweeps of his good arm. The man took refuge there, roaring, 'Help! I've found the artisan.'

Tiaan watched, numb inside, her arms around her pack. Nothing mattered now but the crystal – she had to get it back.

Ryll kicked ice in the man's face, grabbed her, hit the block with his good shoulder and it fell through. Freezing air roared in. Wrapping his arms around her, he forced through the wall with his back. As the soldier darted forward, stabbing with the spear, Ryll leapt onto the domed roof and kicked with both feet. The block fell in, then the ones on either side. He almost went with it as the rest of the roof collapsed.

The soldier disappeared under the ice blocks. Ryll gave a convulsive twist in mid-air, his vestigial wings flapping uselessly, and tumbled off the side. Tiaan saw her chance to escape them all. She ran around the corner but her legs stalled, as if she was hobbled. She tried to go on but the withdrawal would not allow her. She must be going the wrong way – away from the crystal.

Ryll hobbled into view, his muzzle darting from side to side. Not seeing her against the wall, he went the other way, disappearing into the driving snow.

Where could the crystal be? Probably in the main ice house. Creeping along the wall, she came face to face with Gi-Had. Each stopped, staring at the other. Gi-Had was terribly wounded. Claw marks across his chest had exposed ribs and breast bone. His coat was crusted with frozen blood.

Even so, his face lit up. 'Tiaan!' He threw out his arms. One bloodstained hand had two fingers missing.

Tiaan stalled, her mouth open. His reaction made no sense.

He took a staggering step toward her. 'What is the matter, artisan?'

She choked. 'I… can't,' she gasped. 'Must find the crystal…' She backed away.

'Why, artisan? Why?' Gi-Had fell to his knees.

She turned, desperate to escape the look in his eyes, but crashed into Ryll, who grabbed her. She struggled weakly. As the lyrinx carried her away, she caught a last glimpse of the overseer, supporting himself on the tumbled blocks of the ice house. He was staring after her. She knew she would never see him again. Despair and self-loathing boiled up inside her.

Ryll ran through the fog and ducked behind another ice house.

'Where are you taking me?' she gasped.

'Far away,' the lyrinx said.

'What about the other lyrinx?' Her mouth was dry.

'They will die defending us,' Ryll said gravely.

'Even the children?'

She could see the pain on his face now, more poignant because he was unlikely ever to have children of his own. 'Alas! There are many soldiers and four clankers. You humans are deadly ingenious. We had no chance. The catapults killed three of us in our sleep.' His head darted around, then he jerked her back.

Two soldiers ran across the gap between the ice houses, calling out to a third Tiaan could not see. 'The roof's collapsed. She must be under it.'

'Irisis was in there too,' said the other.

Ryll's hand went across Tiaan's mouth. He dragged her the other way.

'Where is my crystal?' she mumbled. Without it, her dreams were nothing.

'Gone with Besant. It is safe with her. You'll see it again, soon.'

The withdrawal eased at once. Tiaan looked around. Purple blood ran in a thin stream from his shoulder. Behind them the wind blew a clear passage through the snow clouds.

'There they go!' someone roared. Something flashed between the two furthest snilau. Nish squinted against the snow.

'Hey! It's Tiaan. The beast is getting away with her. Get moving, Ky-Ara.'

Pur-Did thumped on the roof and the clanker began to move, sluggishly and with much groaning of the drive trains. He tried to aim the javelard but the pair had disappeared. Nish opened the top hatch.

'What's the matter?' he yelled down.

'Oil has gone cold. I can't go any faster until it warms up.'

'Anything I can do to help?'

'Not a thing!' Ky-Ara was manipulating the knobs in jerky motions that betrayed his anxiety. 'Not a damn thing!'

Ullii huddled up against the back corner, shaking. Any kind of violence was unbearable to her. Nish wondered what had happened to Irisis. He'd not seen her since the skirmish started. She could well be dead.

The clanker ground around in a great circle before Pur-Did picked up tracks heading toward the edge of the plateau, which was not far away.

'Follow them!' Nish shouted, unnecessarily. The shooter smiled at his naive enthusiasm.

Ky-Ara called up through the hatch. He sounded uneasy. 'I must let the sergeant -'

'No time!' Nish yelled. 'If the wind comes up we'll lose them. They'll be over the edge, and by the time we get the clankers down they'll have gone into the mountains where we can't follow.'

If there's anyone left to follow, he thought. The carnage had been terrible. They might run their quarry down only to find themselves alone. And then, barring a lucky shot from the javelard, they would also die. How quickly the advantage had been lost.

The clanker turned onto the tracks, bumping lethargically along. Nish cursed their slow pace. The lyrinx had seemed to be limping but must be going faster than this.

Up ahead, the footprints descended into a gully, ploughed through deep snow, and up onto the side where the cover was thin. The operator kept going straight.

Nish swung inside, ignoring Ullii cowering in the corner. 'Down there!' he cried, pointing. 'Can't you see?'

'Deep drifts that way,' said Ky-Ara. 'We'll never get through them. It's quicker along the rim.'

The clanker did seem to be speeding up. They tracked along the edge, a shorter distance than the winding gully bottom.

'I can see them!' Nish roared. He stuck his head out the back. 'Fire! Fire, damn you!'

The man did not fire. 'Bloody fool!' said Nish, climbing onto the top. 'What's the matter?'

Pur-Did said patiently, 'I can't train the javelard that low.'

Nish threw himself back in, issuing instructions. 'Down there! He's got to have the front pointed down or the spear will go over their heads.'

'We know our jobs, artificer,' Ky-Ara said coldly. 'Keep out of our way and let us do them.'

He slowed, turned and tipped the front over the edge. The mechanical legs pounded. The lyrinx came into view, running down the valley, hauling Tiaan by one arm. The beast was limping badly. Oh, for a crossbow!

Fire! Nish said to himself. Now; now!

The shooter did not fire. The angle was still not right. Nish felt like kicking him off his seat and using the javelard himself.

'Just not low enough,' Pur-Did called through the hole, picking icicles from his warty nostrils. 'Try a bit further down, Ky-Ara.'

Ky-Ara reversed the machine, its iron footpads squealing as they cut through snow to stone beneath. Gravel showered down the side of the gully, the clanker turned and, moving much faster now, clattered along the rim. A few hundred paces on they tried again. Here the rim was benched, allowing the clanker to get further down. Ky-Ara moved it into position. They waited.

Tiaan and the lyrinx appeared. Her hands were bound, though surely she could have outdistanced the hobbling creature had she chosen to. Was she a traitor after all?

Agonising seconds passed but still the shooter did not fire. 'Go!' Nish roared, pounding on the roof.

'Damn thing's jammed.'

Soon it would be too late. The lyrinx had only checked for an instant. As it continued, Nish noticed something strange about this one. It had no wings.

'Free!' yelled the shooter. 'Turn around, Ky-Ara. If we can't get it coming, we'll get it going.'

'Blasted shooters!' cursed Ky-Ara. 'Useless clowns.' He turned, backed, turned again. Nish kept his eye to the porthole. The fleeing pair ran right below them. A pang struck Nish's heart. He did not want her to die.

'A bit further down at the front,' Pur-Did yelled.

Ky-Ara hesitated. 'We're too close to the edge.'

Nish's fury boiled over. Was he the only one who wanted to catch them? 'If you don't want to be a clanker operator, just say so!' he said in a deadly voice. 'I'm sure my father the perquisitor can replace you.'

Ky-Ara choked, looked around wildly, and then edged the machine forward, sideways and forward again. His teeth began to chatter as he waited for the call, 'Enough!'

It did not come, because rock beneath the right-hand side crumbled and they slipped sideways. A whole slab gave; the clanker tilted over. Ky-Ara moaned, frantically working to right the machine, but it was too late. The clanker rolled, crashed onto its roof and kept rolling.

Ullii screamed. Ky-Ara did too. Nish put his arms over his head and went with it. They rolled three times before landing upside down with a bone-shaking crash that pushed the front half of the roof in. The clanker rocked back and forth, metal plates squealing, then came to rest. Loose objects rained down, including Ullii's goggles, which smashed.

Ky-Ara hung from his straps, making the most ghastly keening sound Nish had ever heard, like a rabbit being dismembered by an owl. Blood trickled from his left nostril. The clanker was wrecked and the operator would never get another one. 'Incompetent fool!' Nish said, trying to ignore his own contribution to the disaster.

Up the back, Ullii lay curled up in the corner, still screaming. She had lost her mask and earmuffs. Crawling across, Nish put his hand over her mouth and nose. After several deep breaths she stopped screaming. Placing the earmuffs and mask on her, he pushed at the hatch. It was jammed; he had to kick it. He and Ullii scrambled out.

The machine had crashed onto a boulder, crushing javelard and catapult. Pur-Did lay further up the slope, a bloody smear against the rocks. The machine had come down on top of him.

Tiaan and the lyrinx had disappeared around the bend. Nish was furious with Ky-Ara, and with himself for pressuring him. The whole manufactory had slaved for a month just to produce this clanker. His feelings for Tiaan seemed to have vanished. Screams came from inside the crashed clanker, unnervingly high-pitched and shrill. It did not sound like a soldier.

Tiaan ran past, turned the next bend and there in front of them, extending well out over the abyss, was a wooden platform decked with round timbers that rattled in the wind. A curving walkway ran to it. Besant stood on the edge, beside a strange structure shaped like a bird's wing. The pack strapped to her chest surely contained the precious crystal.

Tiaan ran forward with a glad cry but had just set foot on the walkway when a catapult ball shattered the timbers to splinters. Ryll dragged her to safety. Whatever Besant had planned, they could no longer reach her.

A second clanker had come over the slope to their right, firing across the outcrops and boulder fields along the edge of the plateau. The shooter trained his javelard on the lyrinx while the operator worked furiously to place another ball in the catapult. She knew them both, Rahnd and Simmo.

'Go!' Ryll roared. 'Fly, Besant!' He pointed further along the cliff.

She made an arm gesture Tiaan could not interpret, held the wing out and, as a spear shivered through the platform, dived off.

Tiaan held her breath as the wing curved around, caught an updraft and lifted. Besant's great wings unfurled and she rose above it. Tiaan felt a fizzing sensation behind her temples, like sherbet dissolving on the tongue. Though she had never experienced it before she knew what it had to be. Besant was using her own strange version of the Secret Art to keep her massive weight aloft.

She spiralled around, the wing flier trailing below on ropes. The clanker struggled to train its catapult on her. Besant pointed with one arm to a flat place further along the escarpment.

Ryll set off at the fastest limp he could manage, with Tiaan dragging behind. He kept to the shelter of the boulders and she lost sight of the clanker. She saw Gi-Had's tormented face again. He was a decent man. Had he really ordered this force to kill her, or had she just imagined it? Tiaan felt guilty, ashamed. She wanted to run to the machine, give herself up and take the consequences. She tried to pull free.

The lyrinx held her effortlessly. 'Besant has your crystal. If you don't come you'll never see it again.'

As they reached the flat spot the clanker fired. The spear carved an arc across the sky, passing between Besant and the wing. Tiaan breathed again. Besant turned, heading toward them on a long, sweeping trajectory.

'As she comes by,' said Ryll, 'jump for the harness hanging below the wing. Fasten the straps around you.' He gripped the bolt buried in his shoulder and with a groan and a furious flickering of skin colours, wrenched it out.

'Yes,' she said. Wherever the amplimet went she had to follow. Without it she would go insane. She stared at Ryll's haggard face. 'What about you?'

He studied the bloody bolt. 'I stay behind to defend you.'

'To die!'

'To do my duty, that others more worthy may live.'

Besant came streaming in. Tiaan tensed but as the flier approached an updraft hurled the wing upwards, away from the cliff.

'Ready?' Ryll said.

'My hands are numb.' She felt numb all over. Only an acrobat could make such a leap.

He slashed the bonds at her wrists. Tiaan flexed her fingers but could not feel anything.

'Jump!' cried Ryll as the wing rushed past.

'I can't. I'll miss!' That was certain – it was too far out. And was the fate that awaited her in the lyrinx lair any better than at the hands of her own people?