James Barclay - Beyond the Mists of Katura

‘That, human, is like a drop in the vast ocean that is the Calaian rainforest. It is a single footprint left by Yniss. I could count those trees before we arrived at the first. It would take you a lifetime to count those in our forest.’

Auum was possessed of a sudden longing to be back beneath Beeth’s canopy, sheltering from Gyal’s tears and glorying in Tual’s creatures and all the great creation of Yniss. It was godless, this human land. It had no soul.

‘One day I’d like to come and try,’ said Stein. ‘But before that I’ll take you to our great forests when this is done. . Grethern and Greythorne. They are places to lose yourself.’

Auum smiled. ‘I look forward to it.’

‘How many forests do you have?’

‘Just the one,’ said Auum.

‘Oh,’ said Stein, the smile on his face wider than ever. ‘We have two.’

Auum laughed and punched him lightly on the thigh. The two of them continued on in a companionable silence until Auum moved forward at a call from Grafyrre, who was running the head of the column with his cell. Auum had to confess that Triverne Lake was a place of beauty, set against the steep climbs of the Blackthorne Mountains. The lake was a vivid pure blue lapping on gentle shores, the vegetation surrounding it was lush and verdant and the wildlife, birds in particular, was plentiful.

They were less than a mile from the woodland and Auum intended to take a break just so that he and the TaiGethen could rest under the cover of green leaves, no matter how thin they were in comparison with the rainforest.

‘Do we have a problem, Graf?’

‘I doubt it but your orders were to alert you should our scouts not check in, and they haven’t done so since entering the woodland.’

‘Got their backs to the broadest trunks already or lying on the ground gazing up at the leaves, I expect,’ said Auum, doubting every word as he said it.

He looked to the south-east, knowing that Xetesk sprang from the ground down there somewhere, a stain tainted with the black of the Wytch Lords. If someone had alerted Xetesk to the movement of the elves and Julatsans, could they have had the time to conceal themselves in the woods? It was unlikely.

‘Even so,’ said Auum. ‘We will approach with caution, halt the column beyond the range of any spell and send in another cell. Just in case.’

They moved up to around two hundred yards from the first trees. There was still no trace of Nyann but nor was there any sign of an enemy. The shadows in the forest were deep but not impenetrable, certainly not to the elven eye. Auum was getting a cold feeling crawling up his legs and into his back and belly. He shook his head, unable to believe that he was afraid of a forest.

‘Nyann!’ he called, then, ‘Hassek, take your cell in. Silent and cautious.’

Hassek and his Tai hurried across the open ground towards the woodland. He hadn’t covered half the distance when there was movement in the fringe. Auum saw Hassek slow and stop. He raised a hand. Relief flushed through Auum, turning quickly to anger at Nyann’s failure to report. He saw her standing near the wide trunk of a tree and Hassek moved on.

‘What’s going on?’ asked Stein, walking his horse up.

‘Nothing much,’ said Auum. ‘Although. .’

Nyann fell forward, face down in the dirt. There had been a man standing behind her, holding her upright.

Stein hunched in his saddle as if ducking something.

‘Gods drowning, it feels like. .’ he said, then he swore and shouted. ‘Scatter! Ambush!’

Wards exploded in the middle and rear of the column. Auum had moved the moment Stein shouted, wrapping an arm around Ulysan and bundling him forward as fast as he could. He felt himself picked up and thrown by the pressure of a ward detonating behind him. Heat washed across him, and he and Ulysan were sent tumbling across the grass.

Auum rolled and got to his feet in time to see dozens of explosive spells ripping into the column. Flames roared skywards. Horses and riders were cast into the air and supply wagons disintegrated before his eyes. Elves and men were consumed by fire, turned to ash by the extraordinary heat, and survivors scrambled away, dragging the wounded with them. Burning bodies littered the ground. Man, elf and beast screamed in agony or terror.

Auum ran back towards the carnage. Mages flew overhead, fifty at least, coming down to land about two hundred yards behind them and immediately marching towards them, preparing new castings. Auum glanced behind him. No sign of Nyann or her cell now, just a line of enemy soldiers backed by yet more mages. There were cavalry there too.

‘Dear Yniss preserve us, we’re trapped,’ he whispered. ‘How could they have possibly got here so quickly, have laid so complete a trap?’

‘Doesn’t matter,’ said Ulysan. ‘We’ve got to get our people away from here, up into the foothills — anywhere.’

Auum gagged as the stench of burning flesh caught in his throat. TaiGethen, Il-Aryn and human lay dead together. He ran through the mess, shouting for anyone who could hear him to get away towards the mountains. There were so many bodies, so many dead and dying.

He saw a few cavalry still mounted, and among them, mercifully, Stein. He was organising an escape of sorts, though where they could all go to evade more castings was difficult to see. The terrain to the west became very difficult within a few hundred yards. It was strewn with boulders, set with scree slopes and sharp inclines, but if they could get over the first rises, they might just have a chance.

‘We’ve got to buy some time,’ said Auum. He ran into the midst of the escapees, conscious that at any moment new spells would start to fall. ‘TaiGethen, to me!’

He didn’t wait to see who was with him, there was no time for that. He prayed enough had survived and ran at the mages who had flown in behind them. Ulysan was at his shoulder. Duele was there too, all three of them saved by being at the head of the column. There were others too, he could hear their footfalls.

Ahead the mages had seen them.

‘Wait until they cast,’ called Auum. ‘Let’s make ourselves targets. Watch out for ice coming head on and use the shetharyn to evade.’

Auum ran as hard as he could, closing the gap to fifty yards. The mages had stopped and orders were called across their lines. Hands were outstretched and castings surged out. Orbs of deep blue fire shot flat across the open ground, and frost turned the grass black on a wide arc racing towards them.

‘Speed!’ yelled Auum.

He dropped into the shetharyn. All at once the paths of the orbs became slow and their impact points obvious. The frost was propelled on a hurricane of dread cold air, washing across the ground up to a height of about eight feet. Auum whipped forward, sensing his Tai following his instincts. Grafyrre was ahead of him, Vaart too, all sprinting headlong towards the frost, knowing the orbs would strike well behind them now.

Auum increased his speed. The leading edge of the cold was a handful of paces away and he could feel the ice blowing ahead of it. He ran forward two more paces and jumped, pushing off with his left foot and flattening his body as he reached the apex of his leap. His arms were stretched out like a bird’s wings and the hurricane scoured the ground below him.

Auum cleared it, bringing his legs under him and landing in a crouch, the frozen grass crunching underfoot. He sprinted on, jaqrui in hand. Fear replaced the smugness of the mage line. Some tried to form new castings but others were already backing away.

‘Jaqrui!’ called Auum.

Thirteen crescent blades whistled away. They struck torsos, chopped deep into arms held up in defence and bit into thighs. One, Ulysan’s he thought, clipped the top of a mage’s head clean off, spraying brain and gore in all directions.