Ravensoul

Chapter 21

With Jonas anchoring the Balaian end of the Klene, it was a stable, secure edifice. With him standing inside when the link to Balaia was broken, it became as a loose end of rope flailing in the gale of inter-dimensional space. Sha-Kaan did his best to moderate the buffeting but, with the Klene only tethered in Beshara, it was a bumpy ride.

‘I have to find safe purchase quickly or return to Beshara,’ said Sha-Kaan. ‘We are vulnerable this way.’

‘Who can you feel?’ asked Jonas.

Sol and Jonas were each being held in one of Sha-Kaan’s front claws. The great dragon was being as gentle as he could but with each violent shift of the Klene, the claws tightened reflexively. Sol could focus on nothing. The pain in his back was immense and the shuddering and shaking of the Klene made him nauseous.

‘Old friends,’ said Sha-Kaan, and the wistful quality of his voice brought a smile to Sol’s lips. ‘The great Septern and Hirad Coldheart. So long dead it is both pleasure and pain to feel their minds once more.’

‘Go for Hirad,’ said Sol. ‘He’ll have Ilkar with him. We can work out what we need to do.’

‘I will see what I can do,’ rumbled Sha-Kaan. ‘His mind is not as tuned as once it was.’

Even through his pain, Sol had to suppress a laugh. ‘Hirad, tuned? When did that ever happen?’

‘He had more ability about him than you know,’ chided Sha-Kaan.

‘I miss Hirad’s talents every day,’ said Sol.

The Klene bounced once before ceasing its random movement. Sol breathed deeply, his stomach settling, his eyes able to focus.

‘I have him,’ said Sha-Kaan.

The Klene was smaller than Sol remembered. Still grand with its huge fireplaces, Kaan crests, mural-painted walls and oppressive heat but somehow lessened.

‘What happened to all the drapery and antechambers?’ asked Sol.

‘We are not as strong as once we were,’ said Sha-Kaan. ‘We can no longer afford such excess.’

Sol caught Jonas’s eye and saw the sadness there.

‘I am a very old dragon,’ continued Sha-Kaan. ‘It is inevitable.’

Sha-Kaan released the pair of them and Sol felt at the wound in his back.

‘Jonas, come and help your father, would you? Tell me what you can see.’

Sol pulled up his shirt at the back. Jonas took in a sharp breath.

‘You need attention, Father. That must hurt.’

‘What is it?’

‘Splinters of wood. Some quite big, really. Do you want me to-?’

Sol felt a touch on his back and winced.

‘No, no. Don’t move them. I’ve lost enough blood as it is. Dammit.’

Sol moved onto his hands and knees. The pain eased a little. He crawled across to the wall of the Klene and lay down on his side.

‘Hardly the heroic arrival I’d envisaged,’ he muttered.

The main door to the Klene swung back. Fresh air flooded in. Sha-Kaan rumbled happily to himself and shifted forward a little way. Four figures appeared in the doorway, silhouetted against the light. Others were clustering outside. There was a hubbub of voices. Sol managed a smile when he saw Hirad’s face. It might have been the face of a dead merchant but the joy in the eyes and the display of every rotting tooth in his mouth was the old Hirad, pure and simple.

‘Sha-Kaan,’ Hirad said. ‘Now here’s something worth coming back to life for.’

He walked in and placed a hand on the tip of Sha-Kaan’s muzzle. Ilkar, Sirendor and Auum were just behind him. If Sha-Kaan was perturbed by the sight of his old Dragonene, he did not show it. The great dragon pushed forward fractionally, dumped Hirad on the seat of his breeches and laughed, a huge guttural sound more akin to a building falling than anything else.

‘Very funny, Sha,’ said Hirad, standing again.

‘It is good to feel you again,’ said Sha-Kaan. ‘The body is substandard, frail human, but your soul is every bit as strong. Well met.’

‘What are you doing here? The Garonin after you too, are they?’

‘They are failing to beat us on Beshara. But not here. You need help.’ Sha-Kaan inclined his head fractionally in Sol’s direction. ‘And your king needs attention now.’

Sol waved weakly. ‘Good to see you lot. Ilkar, a little help?’

Ilkar trotted over, leaving Hirad talking to Sha-Kaan.

‘The best help you can give us is torching Denser. Bastard traitor is going to kill us all,’ Hirad was saying.

‘Killing him will not solve your problem,’ said Sha-Kaan. ‘My Dragonene reaching a new safe dimension will. That will secure the future for us all. That is where we must focus our efforts.’

Sol tried to raise himself to speak but his head was too foggy. Ilkar’s hand on his shoulder was enough to stop him trying further.

‘Don’t move, Unknown, you’re a bit of a mess.’

‘Will he be all right?’ asked Jonas.

Sol nodded. Ilkar didn’t.

‘Ilkar is a fine healer. Watch and learn,’ said Sol. He caught Ilkar’s expression. ‘What’s up? A quick bit of wood extraction and some Healing Hands should do the trick. Easy for you.’

‘You don’t know, do you?’

‘Know what?’

‘Julatsa has fallen. The Garonin have taken the Heart. Nothing I try is easy any more.’

Sol sighed and moved a hand to squeeze Ilkar’s forearm. ‘It all starts to make sense, doesn’t it? Sorry, Ilkar. But we knew it was coming, didn’t we?’

‘I feel empty, Unknown,’ said Ilkar. ‘Hollow. And the void wind is stronger now. I’m not sure how much longer I can cling on to this body.’

‘Try and keep strong,’ said Sol. ‘Look, I’ll be fine. Just bandage me up or something.’

Ilkar’s expression turned to one of slighted hurt. ‘I may have lost my college but I think I can do a little better than bandages, Unknown. Now try and relax and don’t say anything. I need to concentrate.’

Sol winked at him and settled down onto his front to give Ilkar room to work.

‘Sha-Kaan, we need to get the dead that Denser rounded up away from here. All Xetesk’s returned dead. Hundreds of them. Just outside the walls of the city is far enough. They have to be close enough to feel the souls of those who brought them back. Can you do it?’

Sha-Kaan grumbled in his throat. ‘Travel without the beacon of a Dragonene is difficult. Tiring.’

‘We can’t leave them. They’re trapped in the city and right in the path of the Garonin.’

‘I will not know when I have travelled far enough,’ said Sha-Kaan.

‘Oh you will,’ said Hirad. ‘Because every one of them will start to scream when the pain in their souls grows unbearable. Then it’s time to stop.’

Sha-Kaan considered for a moment. ‘Bring them inside.’

Hirad ran to the door. Sol could hear him shouting for the dead to come in, not to be afraid. The latter would be difficult for them.

‘And afterwards. After I have ferried them to safety. What must we do?’ asked Sha-Kaan.

‘Find a Wesman Shaman able to perform the ritual of opening,’ said Ilkar.

Sol coughed. ‘No.’

‘What did I just say?’ said Ilkar. ‘Hold still and shut up. This is delicate, all right? Jonas, can you give me a hand? I need you to staunch the blood while I cast.’

‘Hold on,’ said Sol. ‘Hirad. I’m not leaving my wife and son in Xetesk to die.’

‘There’s no time, Unknown; you know that.’

Sol tensed. ‘Then we have to make time. I’m not sacrificing my life until I know my family will be safe.’

‘What are you talking about, Father?’

Sol closed his eyes, cursing himself for a fool.

‘Father?’

‘Do you trust me, Jonas?’

‘I love you, Father. I won’t let you die.’

Sol blinked back his tears. ‘Trust me now. Help me. Be brave and be strong. We have a lot of work to do.’

Jonas nodded but there was confusion in his face. ‘Tell me what to do.’

Hirad was walking back into the Klene. The dead were following him, albeit rather reluctantly.

‘Sol.’ It was Auum.

‘Yes, my friend.’

‘I will find your wife and son. I will see them to safety. Don’t go back to the inn. Come east. Seek me.’

Sol nodded, wincing as Ilkar probed his injury a little roughly.

‘I am in your debt.’

Auum bowed. ‘Any debt was repaid a very long time ago.’

The TaiGethen leader turned and trotted out of the Klene, hurrying the last of the dead inside, where they stood in fear, crowding as far from Sha-Kaan as they could. Behind them the Klene door clunked shut.

‘Hang on,’ said Hirad. ‘We’re going for a little ride.’

‘Now is the time of our greatest peril.’

Denser’s voice boomed out from the top of his tower. The Intonation spells turned every flat surface into an amplifier for his words. His voice carried out over the college, across the apron and into the wider city beyond. He was a just a speck from Diera’s vantage point just inside the college gates. She hadn’t wanted to hear him but knew she had to. Young Hirad, holding her hand tight, was at her side, and she hadn’t missed the positioning of three college guards nearby. Life with Sol had taught her many and varied things.

The crowd that had gathered after the entire college guard had walked every street, summoning the population to hear their Lord, was easily fifteen thousand strong, probably twenty thousand. Perhaps eight thousand were Xeteskian born and bred, survivors of the demon invasion and utterly loyal. The rest were refugees and migrants, curious and anxious.

‘But it is also the time of our greatest opportunity. Any of you who have come to our great city for protection will know first hand how dangerous and deadly our foe is. But their advance will break against the walls of Xetesk. We are prepared and we are strong. We will defeat them.

‘And from the ashes Balaia will grow again. Stronger and better than ever before. Under the leadership of Xetesk as the lone college of magic, there will be an end to magical conflict. There will be stability and there will be order. There will be growing wealth for all those who work with us.

‘We don’t want to rule this great country. We want to lead you forward to a brighter future where you can make every choice yourself. But for that to happen, I need your trust. And I make you this promise. Xetesk will protect you in the days to come. We will keep you safe and we will keep you from becoming hungry or thirsty. And when the battle is done, we further pledge to reward you for all that you do for Xetesk.

‘And now I ask you, Xetesk, my brothers and sisters, are you with us?’

Diera had to admit the roar of approval was impressive. Hirad cheered too. She kept her mouth firmly closed.

‘Please, my people, enough,’ said Denser, and his voice cast a shroud over the noise. ‘Our time is short before the Garonin are at our gates. We must all pull together. Next follows instruction on how you can help and where you must go when the general alarm sounds. Listen closely because your lives truly are at stake.’

Diera felt movement around her and she clutched Hirad in front of her. Gentle hands touched her arms.

‘My lady Diera, here is no longer safe for the wife and son of The Unknown Warrior.’ An elf stood in front of her. He seemed to have appeared from nowhere. ‘I am Auum. Do you remember me?’

Relief cascaded through Diera’s body. ‘Yes, of course I do. Sol said you were in the city. Surely you are a divisive element under the new terms pushed under my door. Haven’t they arrested you?’

Auum raised his eyebrows. ‘They have tried. Come with us; we will keep you safe.’

They began to make their way back through the crowd to the gates of the college. Guards tracked them all the way. And others. Mages planted in the crowd. Auum’s hand moved minutely. His Tai disappeared.

‘Where are we going?’

‘Somewhere quiet,’ said Auum.

‘Sol will come back for me. I need to wait at the inn.’

‘No. The college is watching your home. Trust me. Your husband knows where to find you.’

Auum led her quickly through the crowds massed around the gates and across the apron. Diera could see others moving in the periphery of her vision.

‘We’re being followed,’ she said.

‘Yes.’

Auum headed for one of the east-facing alleys that snaked away from The Thread. Home to tenements and warehousing mainly, they were a quiet, narrow maze where only the unwary would tread after dark, even this close to the college itself. Auum upped his pace. Once inside the alley, the noise of the crowd diminished. Another voice was speaking from the tower. Diera caught snatches of it and didn’t much care for what she was hearing.

‘What’s going to happen to the city?’

‘Denser thinks to raze it to the ground in an effort to stop the unstoppable,’ said Auum. ‘Stand over there, under that overhang.’

Diera led Hirad to where she was directed. Despite the bright sunlight, the alley was gloomy and frightening. Buildings leaned across it from both sides. The ground was mainly mud with weeds and tufts of grass here and there. The overhang sheltered a pair of doors on runners that let into a warehouse. Diera backed into the shadows and pulled Hirad close to her. The little boy was too scared to utter a sound and clung on to her arms, digging his fingers into her flesh.

‘It’ll be all right,’ she said, though it looked anything but.

Auum had stopped about ten yards from the entrance to the alley and had turned to face it. Diera heard careful footsteps. One by one, eight men appeared. Six guards and behind them two mages in skullcaps and long dark robes. Old Xetesk garb. She shuddered.

‘You have one chance to turn and go,’ said Auum. ‘You will not be harmed.’

‘A lone elf is in no position to make bargains,’ said one of the guards. He signalled behind him. ‘Cast at will.’

‘You are mistaken,’ said Auum. ‘A TaiGethen is never alone.’

Two shapes dropped from the rooftops at the end of the alley. A blur of movement and both mages crumpled. Auum moved, his speed truly startling. The guard in front of him had no time even to raise his sword to his waist. Auum’s blade flickered in the mottled gloom and he buried it to the hilt in the guard’s neck. Diera covered Hirad’s eyes.

‘Every guard is to be valued and respected,’ came the voice from the tower. ‘No violence against them can be tolerated. Every mage is one who might just save your life.’

Auum had not paused. He dragged his blade clear, dropped and swept the legs from under another guard. A second blade was in his other hand. He rose and stabbed down. The guard’s cry was cut off. He jerked and was still. Auum was still rising. He twisted in the air and kicked out straight, catapulting a third guard backwards. His Tai’s blades whispered. The guard was dead before he hit the ground.

Three remained. Their confidence was gone. Two of them dropped their swords and held out their hands.

‘No prisoners,’ said Auum.

His Tai brought each man down. Blades bit into throats. Blood surged out over the ground. One more. He clutched his blade in both hands and faced Auum. The elf nodded and brought his blades to the ready. The guard struck forward. Auum was not there. One of his blades knocked aside the powerful thrust. The other swept through the back of the man’s neck from close quarters. He fell without a sound.

Diera mouthed silently. She had seen fighting before. She had seen Sol kill four men in a similar alley in the port town of Arlen years ago. That had been shocking in its brutality. But the speed of the violence she had just witnessed was terrifying. Sol had said the TaiGethen were the fastest he had ever seen. He had not done them justice.

‘I am sorry you had to see that but I could not have you any further from us. Enemies are all around.’ Auum cleaned and sheathed his blades. ‘Ghaal, Miirt. Ahead. Bring the cleaner team to clear this alley.’

‘Why did you have to do that? They had surrendered to you. That’s murder.’

Auum’s face bore no guilt.

‘We cannot risk discovery.’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘Come,’ he said. ‘Trust me.’

Auum trotted away down the alley. Diera shuddered as she turned her back on the bodies and followed him. Hirad seemed happy to run. It relieved the tension in both of them. The base of the alley opened out into a small square. Gated and fenced gardens were at its centre and it was ringed by the houses of the wealthy, all shuttered and dark. Shapes moved on the roofs. Like cats only much bigger.

Auum crossed the cobbled street and into the gardens. Diera followed him. Through the trees was an ornamental lawn. She stumbled to a stop and once again clutched Hirad to her. The boy had started to cry and tried to crawl up her body. There were wolves. Lots of them. And a man in their centre with his hand ruffling the fur of a pair of them like they were nothing more than pet dogs. The man smiled at her.

‘Diera,’ he said.

‘Thraun?’ she said, fear turning to hope. ‘Is that you?’

‘Back and running with the pack.’