James Barclay - Beyond the Mists of Katura

Bynaar was irritable but in the end unconcerned by the escape of some elves into the Blackthorne Mountains. He felt their survival was unlikely and, even if they did reach Wesman lands, their capacity to inflict damage could only help Xetesk’s cause.

But he could not shake off an unwelcome anxiety. His latest contact with Kerela had not gone well. The Julatsans and their cursed elven allies had been irritatingly persistent. She had accused him outright of betrayal and said some unsettling things about the Septern Manse and the movement of the most powerful of the elves. If she was right then he could cause significant problems. He could not afford to have the Wytch Lords move until he was ready.

Bynaar sat with a jug of wine in front of a dying fire as night closed in. He had much to read but had instead spent most of his time staring at the flames as they danced, rose and fell, finding comfort in their patterns.

‘What an interesting creature.’

The words startled him enough to cause him to spill his wine and send his parchments tumbling to the floor. The voice was melodious, rolling the language easily and imbuing it with a unique and compelling rhythm.

Bynaar pushed himself from his chair and turned from the fire, blinking the glamour from his eyes. At least the figure by the balcony doors wasn’t there to kill him or why had he chosen to speak? Bynaar wondered if he had fallen asleep but dismissed the notion the next instant. More pressing concerns raised themselves.

His familiar was where he had left it, curled up on the back of his chair in classic feline repose. Of course it should have transformed by now and flown to the attack, but it appeared not to have noticed the intruder. It hadn’t even raised its head. That was quite impossible.

The figure moved from the balcony towards the pair of luxuriously upholstered chairs in front of the fireplace. Bynaar did not move, letting his eyes track and watch the elf, who had an effortless grace and a presence that utterly dominated his. He had a wild look to his eyes but it clashed with an equally frightening intelligence. He radiated power of a sort Bynaar could sense but not penetrate.

‘You must be Takaar,’ he said.

‘Yes,’ said Takaar.

‘You do understand that one word from me and your life is over.’

Takaar muttered something to himself and smiled. ‘That I am in this room should tell you I do not fear that.’

‘What have you done to my. . pet?’

‘Nothing.’ Takaar pointed at a chair. ‘May I?’

‘Apparently I am powerless to stop you. Help yourself to wine.’

Takaar sat but ignored the wine. ‘I had no wish to disturb its sleep so I have created a silence where it may continue to rest. It is not a cat, though, and it has energies that connect with your own. Very interesting.’

Bynaar studied him. There was no way Takaar should be able to detect the bond between a mage and his familiar. He thought for a moment, realising it was unusually quiet in the house and without, even for this time of the night.

‘You’ve created silence for this whole room too, haven’t you?’

Takaar smiled. ‘Was that inference or detection?’

‘I’m not about to reveal that.’

Takaar’s smile vanished and he cocked an ear and tutted.

‘Well I think it’s clever even if you don’t.’

‘You think what is clever?’ asked Bynaar.

Takaar stared at him for a moment. ‘I wasn’t addressing you.’

Bynaar didn’t know how to take that so he ignored it. The elf was probably just thinking out loud. Bynaar clacked his tongue.

‘So, here you are. I’m assuming I am not an assassination target so what is it you want?’

Takaar’s eyes widened and a childish grin came over his face. He leaned forward, his voice barely audible.

‘I want to help you win the war.’

‘That’s not something I expected you to say.’

‘You expected me to threaten your life if you didn’t call your dogs away from Julatsa’s walls?’ said Takaar.

‘Something like that.’ Against his better judgement Bynaar was curious. ‘So how do you propose to accomplish this, and why would you?’

Takaar’s expression changed almost every time he spoke. The impishness had gone and in its place was gravitas. It was most unsettling. Bynaar wondered if Takaar was quite all there.

‘Because the elves desire the death of the Wytch Lords and because you are destroying this land in pursuit of a spell you can never recover. Knowing that, you must cancel your alliance with them and destroy the Wytch Lords now because it will be your only opportunity.’

‘But that leaves us with rivals, and we don’t want rivals,’ said Bynaar.

Takaar’s expression darkened and he stared to his right, nodding his head.

‘You must not condescend to me. I am, as always, just clinging on. Sometimes I slip.’

Bynaar frowned. ‘You’ve lost me completely. What do you mean, slip?’

‘I mean,’ said Takaar, now adopting the expression of a mother instructing a dim child, ‘that those who choose to laugh at me and undermine me are sometimes removed. Auum says I cannot control my anger. I am starting to think he is right.’

The threat that flowed from Takaar was palpable and probably carried on lines of magical energy. Bynaar felt weakened by it.

‘I meant no dishonour or disrespect. But I take it you are aware of Xetesk’s intentions? We will suffer no rivals.’

Takaar’s hands fidgeted in his lap. ‘I don’t have much time and you aren’t listening . You have no rivals for Dawnthief because you will never find Dawnthief.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because Septern still has it.’

This Takaar was nothing if not surprising.

‘And you know this because. .?’

‘I am a better mage.’

Bynaar put his hands on his face and rubbed at the corners of his eyes with his index fingers. He declined the challenge and decided to approach from a different direction.

‘I can accept that. You are clearly extremely talented. So tell me, how do you propose to help me defeat the Wytch Lords?’

Takaar chuckled and the humour remained in his eyes. Bynaar felt relieved and cursed himself for it.

‘Our greatest warrior has travelled to the east to challenge Ystormun. Ystormun will come to the battlefield because he hates Auum with a passion that has stood the test of centuries. It will prove his downfall. I will go to him to provide the strength of magical power needed to tame the beast. You are the college with the means of caging him.’

‘You’re naive if you think Ystormun will leave the cadre to kill one elf. Even if he wanted to, the cadre would not allow it. Together they are a considerable power since the Sundering. With even one gone, they are severely diminished. It would hand us the. .’

Bynaar sat back, suddenly understanding.

‘Now explain to me again why Dawnthief is beyond our grasp.’

TaiGethen scouts were several hours run out of Carusk, Sentaya’s home village, covering all the approaches to gauge the size of the oncoming force and to ensure no Wesman scouts could view their defensive preparations.

While the Il-Aryn trained hard to respond to various situations with defensive castings, Stein had organised his mages to set wards across wide swathes of the countryside. Half a day out and the castings were not dense, but there were enough of them to seed doubt in the minds of the marching warriors.

Closer to the village borders and its rough stockade, the wards became more tightly packed and focused, designed to inflict the maximum damage by spreading fire or ice across many more than those unfortunate enough to trigger them. And when the damage was dealt, the remaining wards were designed to obscure the defenders until the last moment and provide opportunities for bowmen and elven mages to cast freely.