Shadowheart

Chapter 24

Myx slowed, The Raven and TaiGethen closing up behind him. Ahead, Hirad could see that the nature of the passageway was changing, or at least its decoration. He looked behind him to check everyone once again.

'Where's Auum?' he asked, stopping.

'Helping,' said Rebraal. 'He'll find us again.'

'Helping in what way?'

'Hunting the hunters,' said Rebraal. 'It's better for him this way. And for us.'

‘Ihope you're right.'

The change in decor was abrupt. The pastel shades ended and in their place wooden panelling, dark stained, lined the walls. It affected the quality of the light, darkening the surroundings.

'What's this?'

'The next hub,' said Myx. 'Or rather, its borders. Not all of them are the same.' He smiled for the first time. 'Some former Masters had more style.'

He led them to the end of the passageway. Despite the magical augmentation, there was moss and mould in places on the wood. Hirad trailed a finger along it, feeling the slight dampness before replacing his glove. At a deep-blue painted door, Myx turned.

'We could face trouble in here,' he said.

'Whose is it?' asked The Unknown.

'Laryon's,' said Myx. 'Or it was. It is now an extension of Dystran's empire.'

'Well, it'll be a delight to clear it of all the detritus,' said The Unknown.

He drew his blade. Laryon. There was a name that would live with The Raven forever. Laryon had been the master mage who sacrificed his life to free The Unknown from his mask. He had long championed the release of the Protectors and among Xeteskian mages had been rare in being truly respected by them. Dead these six years, his spirit lived on.

Myx reached out his hand to the handle.

'Whoa!' hissed Denser suddenly. 'Are you sure about that?'

'This door contains wards for explosion and lock. I am tuned out of them both. Once opened, the wards are disabled.' He turned to The Unknown. 'Be ready, brother.'

'Raven, let's concentrate,' said The Unknown. 'Nothing good in here, all right? Thraun, you stay outside 'til it's clear.'

Myx opened the door. Lantern light flooded the corridor. He cursed and slammed it quickly shut again. The roar of a spell shivered the timbers and the air outside chilled dramatically.

'Three targets,' he said. 'Go.'

This time he put a foot to the door and kicked it back. He ran in, plucking his weapons from his back, The Unknown and Hirad directly after him.

'Myx, no!' shouted The Unknown, seeing the former Protector falter on raising his axe to strike. 'Clear the path!'

In front of them were two mages and another man, neither mage nor soldier. Half skidding on the ice of the spell they'd cast, The Unknown closed in on the mages, who abandoned their attempts to cast again and turned to flee. He didn't have time for the niceties of combat and clattered his blade through the midriff of one mage before he'd taken a pace. On his shoulder, Hirad swiped at the trailing leg of the second, his blade carving into bone and sending the mage down screaming in pain. Before they could turn to attend to the non-mage, an elven arrow had punched him from his feet.

The Unknown finished off the crippled mage and looked about him.

'It's clear, Thraun, in you come. Last in, close the door.' He raised his eyebrows at what he saw. 'Where the hell did all this come from?'

To all intents and purposes, they were standing in the hallway of a house. It was wood-panelled like the passage outside, hung with tapestries. Tables along the walls were littered with ornaments, some now broken by the fall of the unfortunate mages. Three doors led off the hallway and at the end of the hall, a stairway led to an upper landing.

'Laryon always was a man apart,' commented Denser.

'Sol, I am sorry,' said Myx.

'Don't be. Your training is ingrained. You direct, we'll fight when we have to.'

'Through here, the whole way,' said Myx. 'Dystran keeps a big research team in here and a standing guard. Something important is going on.'

To emphasise his point, there was the sound of movement from up the stairs.

'Any other ways out of here?' asked The Unknown.

'Three,' said Myx. 'All up the stairs.'

'Up?' asked Hirad.

'Don't forget, we are underground. It may look like a house but there are no windows, no gardens.' He turned back to The Unknown. 'We should clear the rooms on this level.'

'Darrick, any thoughts?'

'House clearance was never in my training, Unknown,' said Darrick. 'But I'd be guarding door and stairs while we did it.'

'Agreed. Rebraal, can you do the honours. Thraun, Denser, stay with them. We need one mage with us to operate a shield. Let's move. They aren't hanging around upstairs.'

Myx indicated the single door left. 'Research room.'

The Unknown nodded and led Hirad and Darrick forward. Behind them came Sian'erei, already casting.

'Shield up.'

'Keep it that way,' said Hirad. 'And stay behind us. We can't risk you.'

'You need a bowman,' said Rebraal. 'No arguments.'

'None offered.'

The Unknown kicked the door at its handle, the timbers cracking, the catch bursting and the door shuddering inwards. He and Hirad crouched, Rebraal covering the area within. It was empty of life but dominated by a long table covered with papers and a complex wooden model.

'Turn,' ordered The Unknown. They backed and turned. 'Thraun, in there. Denser, cover them. Myx?'

'Drawing room, both doors.'

'Rebraal, left hand, take the angle, we'll draw any fire.'

The Unknown led them across the corridor, past the waiting TaiGethen. Not a flicker crossed their expressions, their bows tensed and ready up the silent stairs. Defending mages had shields cast.

'Ready?'

Hirad nodded, choosing to unlatch the door and push it wide. A crossbow bolt buried itself in the wall opposite.

'Left edge, single target, red chair!' shouted Hirad, running into the room in front of his comrades.

The Raven warriors were presented with rugs, chairs, sofas, low tables and even a fire place. The crossbowman was crouched behind a chair, reloading. Mages stood by him, three of them. They cast but to no discernible effect, their arms quivering with effort, their faces betraying their anxiety.

'Oh dear,' said Hirad, hurdling a sofa, Darrick matching his move while The Unknown curved right.

Rebraal's bow sounded, taking the crossbowman in the hand, pinning it to the stock of his weapon. The elf followed into the room, reloading. Hirad landed, bringing his sword through from above his head and carving through the neck of the nearest mage. He went down in a welter of blood. Darrick, ever less dramatic, simply speared his target through the heart. The Unknown chose a similarly efficient path.

Three more dead, one soldier incapacitated. The Unknown hauled him up by his leather jerkin.

'Talk. How many in this complex?'

‘Idon't know. Ten?' Blood was pouring from his wound and he tried to support it, clutching the crossbow close and whimpering in pain. 'We were told to stay. You won't get out. They knew you'd come this way.'

'Who?' The Unknown shook him hard, drawing a gasp from him.

'All of them.' He managed a smile.

The Unknown dropped him, Hirad crashing his sword hilt into the side of his head, knocking him unconscious.

'Think he was telling the truth?'

'Every likelihood,' said Myx, looking into the room from a doorway.

'We'd better get out of here. We can't wait for-'

From the hallway, there was a shout of alarm. They heard the twang of bows and saw the glow of an Al-Arynaar FlameOrb. The volley was answered by shouts from above, the snap of crossbows and, lastly, a blinding bright blue light. Myx had taken half a pace into the room and turned just as the spell impacted. The detonation cracked the walls. The Protector was hurled across the room, thumping into the far wall and slumping down it. A gout of blue flame scorched the door frame.

Out in the corridor, they could hear the screams of the TaiGethen trapped outside. A burning elf staggered past and collapsed.

'What was that?' Hirad started towards the door but Sian'erei stopped him.

'We've lost the flow again,' she said, her eyes full of tears. 'They had no shield.'

Footsteps, a lot pf footsteps, were clattering down the stairs.

Auum led his Tai deeper and deeper into the catacombs. Denser had been right. The place was a chaotic structure but although it was below ground, their prayers had given them strength and he was treating the confusion of passages and directions like the rainforest paths. No outward logic but animals left their marks on their best routes and humans were no different.

They had established the direction The Raven were taking and had chosen a path that ran above them and to their right. While there was no direct route, the Xeteskians had left plenty of signs. Less dust on die ground, grease marks from fingers on walls, shinier surfaces where clothes had brushed past. Easy to miss unless you knew what you were looking for.

Auum was five paces ahead of Duele, Evunn a further five behind him. His Tai had bows ready while he had unclasped his jaqrui pouch and had a short sword in his right hand. He was concerned that his Tai were running short of shafts and, even with those he had given them, a prolonged hunt would exhaust their supply.

There were men ahead of them, there were men behind. The Tai moved without sound and without speech, their signals and gestures all the communication they needed. Auum upped his pace. He wanted to pick off those ahead. They were moving with some urgency, twenty or more, making no attempt to hide their advance, assuming they were the hunters not the hunted.

He reached a, junction of passageways. Left, he sensed the catacombs opening up. The air was a little fresher, circulating more freely. It was probably another hub but the corridor floor had a thin film of undisturbed dust on its surface. Interesting that no one turned left to get there. He checked right. The enemy were clearly audible still. He padded around the corner and set off, gesturing his Tai to maintain distance.

Auum was running now. The corridor, like every other, was blue-lit, palely decorated. It inclined slightly and gently curved away right. He breathed it in. It was short. He powered around the curve, feeling an opening on his left before he saw it. The prey were close. Breasting the rise of the curve, he saw the last boot disappearing around a left turn not ten yards ahead of him.

He took the earlier left, pacing parallel to the hunted, feeling his senses focus to every sound. Nothing came from behind him, it was all to his right. He felt for what he needed and in the currents of the air, he found it, a crossway right, curving back towards the enemy. The Tai closed swiftly.

From their ultimate destination, Auum heard an explosion. Dulled by rock but fed through the tunnels on a wave of air it was not far off. The enemy responded, breaking into a run. To Auum, it was an advantage. He pushed on, seeing them cross his path right to left. They wouldn't see him, his angle left him in the periphery of their vision and they were intent on their way ahead. Not people who would last long in the rainforest.

The last pair of soldiers moved away with Auum four paces from the junction. He didn't break stride, reaching into his jaqrui pouch and sending a crescent whispering away. It struck the back of his target's head, slicing through skin and bone, before jamming to a stop in a spray of blood and sending him sprawling into those ahead.

Duele and Evunn compounded the instant confusion moments later. Arrows flew either side of Auum, cutting down two more. Auum's blade chopped into the lower back of a man who hadn't even responded to the damage inflicted on the one next to him. He fell to his knees, still moving forwards, arms flying backwards. Auum caught his head and cut his throat.

Only now did the soldiers respond. Shouts echoed through the corridor, panic and order mixed with the sound of swords being wrestled from scabbards and soldiers turning to face their enemy. Auum took what advantage remained. He unsheathed his second blade, and plunged it in to the neck of a soldier, pivoted on his right foot and kicked out down and straight with his left, cracking the knee of another and finally danced back a pace to free himself from the press coming at him.

Duele had dropped his bow and joined him, Evunn rattled in another arrow which skipped off a chain link and buried itself in the arm of a different target. At the rear of the pack, Auum could see a mage beginning to prepare. Happy that he couldn't cast any destructive area spell without killing his own men, Auum stepped into attack again.

The Xeteskians were still in shock and their defence was poor. They tried to fit three in a fighting line. It was too many and all they could do was fence. The TaiGethen had no such restrictions. Auum's blades blurred in front of him. He chopped aside a halfhearted prod and slashed a deep cut into one soldier's face, ducked inside another strike and buried both blades into the chest of another. Both men fell back. Duele sent another crashing to the ground, throat slit and blood fountaining into the corridor.

The Xeteskians faltered, those at the front of the line unwilling to suffer the fate so quickly handed out to their comrades. Auum followed them as they began to edge away. A blow came in low, he jumped the blade, pirouetting as he landed and smashing in a high kick that broke the soldier's nose.

He had diem on the verge of breaking when the mage cast, his hands clutching hard at the air as if trying to crush a skull. Evunn cried out. He dropped his bow, his hands flying to the sides of his head. He crumpled, tortured choking the only sign he was still alive.

There were at least ten men between them and the mage. Too many.

'Duele, keep them busy.'

Auum took six quick paces back, watching Duele defend against two men, his body movements efficient, his swords working well against the heavier weapons of the enemy. At his feet Evunn stared at him, imploring the pain to stop. Ahead, the mage's hands tightened, the air between them diminishing.

Auum sprinted forwards. Two paces from the fight, he leaped forward into the air, swords before him. He passed like a spear over the soldiers and the mage, turning a roll in the air and landing flat on both feet. He spun round, crossed his arms over and out, his blades slicing into the mage's neck, almost severing his head.

There was no time to pause. Evunn was down. Anger flooded Auum. It was an emotion he shunned but now it fired his body, drove him to more speed, more precision. He moved in and with Tual guiding his every move, his Tai like a mirror opposite him, they brought death in the name of Yniss.

'Keep that bastard door shut!' Hirad shouted at Darrick as another heavy spell impact bent the timbers. It was smoking now but the general held the table against it, leaning in with everything he could muster. Rebraal was by him, waiting.

At the other opening nearer the stairs, Hirad kept the Xeteskians back. The hallway was full of soldiers, blood and charred flesh. Three bodies lay at the barbarian's feet. Blood from a cut to his forehead was dripping into his eyes.

The mages couldn't get an angle on him to cast offensive spells, nor on Thraun, who battered away at the enemy from the research room opposite him. But there seemed no end to the swordsmen. Behind him, The Unknown was tending to Myx but would soon be up to take the fight and Sian was searching the mana spectrum, hoping like them all that the Julatsan focus would form again.

Hirad kicked out straight, forcing his man back. He slithered on blood and fell but another took his place, sizing up Hirad before coming in two-handed, using the door frame to shield his open side. The barbarian beckoned him on.

'Like your friends,' he said. 'You're going down.'

The soldier didn't take the bait, preferring to defend the space. Hirad stepped in and slashed upwards. The soldier swayed backwards, fenced out with his blade, missing comfortably. Hirad stepped up on the downswing, his opponent off guard. His man stepped back further, blade cutting air again. Hirad smiled and rocked away himself.

'Nice try.'

Another spell crunched into Darrick's door timbers. The centre of the door splintered, shards of wood flew into the drawing room. The table heaved and Darrick was pushed well back.

'Next time!' he warned. 'They're winding up the ForceCones.'

'We need an angle,' said Rebraal.

'Then let's make one,' said The Unknown, voice loud and close in Hirad's ears. 'If we're going to go down,;it might as well be with their blood on our faces.'

Hirad grinned at his opponent, who beckoned him on.

'Soon enough, sonny. Soon enough.' He raised his voice. 'Hey Thraun, you all right?'

The scream of a Xeteskian soldier was all the information he really needed. Thraun spared him a glance, his feral eyes wild, his hair matted with sweat, and then another enemy took his fallen colleague's position and it began again.

Auum could hear the crash of another spell close by. He turned them all right and headed up a sharply inclined passage, sure of himself once more. Evunn's bow was over his shoulder, Evunn's arrows had been ripped from corpses and placed back in his quiver and Evunn himself hung between Auum and Duele. The elf was senseless. Not unconscious but talking nonsense, unaware of his surroundings. He was almost walking but lost his step so often it was easier to drag him. His eyes were unfocused and his arms twitched where Auum and Duele held them around their necks.

'Yniss tests us further,' said Auum.

‘Iam not sure that this isn't Ix demonstrating his power tonight,' replied Duele.

And it might have been so. The capricious God of the mana element was known for disrupting the works of Yniss, laughing in delight at the distress of his servants. Auum determined to have the last laugh. His anger had faded as the last Xeteskian fell in front of him, eyes wide with terror, drowning on his own blood. What had replaced it was perhaps more dangerous still.

He could hear the clamour of voices now. He heard a cry of pain, an order being given and the sound of running feet mixed with it. There was the echoing clash of steel; and on the air, he could smell fire and yet more death. He hurried them along a gloomy passageway where the light spells were weaker and the shadows a little more pronounced.

The construction of the corridors changed. They reached a junction where the walls were planked with wood. He edged his head around to the right. Two guards stood at an open door, looking in. Fools. Beyond them, the sounds of fighting were unmistakable.

'Found them,' said Auum.

They laid Evunn down. He had no strength to resist but smiled faindy and closed his eyes.

'Two targets,' said Auum. 'I'll take the left.'

The. TaiGethen elves stepped smardy around the corner, their bowstrings tensed. Sensing danger, the soldiers spun together. Their crossbows began coming to ready but death for them was already far too close for it to make any difference at all.