James Barclay - Rise of the TaiGethen

Pelyn surprised herself by throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him close.

‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘I am for ever in your debt.’

‘The way I see it, we’re even,’ said Tulan. ‘Ephram’s over there. Let him take you back to the hall and I’ll deal with all the Tualis. See you after lunch.’

‘You won’t find it hard to clear them? They’re our thread, we three.’

Tulan shook his head. ‘We must be able to cleanse our own or we cannot wear the Cloak. You taught me that. Now go, please.’

Ulysan, with Merrat and Grafyrre, had taken up a position from which they could see the wall of Katura. It was almost three quarters of a mile long with a single set of gates at the centre, a grand sculpted gatehouse surrounding them. All of it was made of wood, all of it vulnerable to man’s magic.

The wall only stretched around the north and west sides of the city. The other two sides were open but nestled against the lake or river, which offered some protection. Ulysan was not concerned about them. The enemy had no boats since they had come inland and attack from those directions was extremely unlikely. It was possible for men to stand across the river and hurl spells into Katura, but it would be simple to evacuate everyone beyond their range. What concerned him more were the land sides.

The forest ended, barring a thin scattering of trees, some two hundred yards from the walls. And while they would line the outer edge of that open space with pits and traps, that would not hold back an army for long. Worse, to the west there was a mixture of forest, farmland and open ground in a strip three hundred yards wide which stretched all the way to the base of the western cliffs. It made them weak.

‘Who’s going to tell Auum there’s not enough iron or steel on the whole of Calaius to do what he wants done?’ said Merrat.

‘I’m sure he already knows that,’ said Ulysan.

‘How is he?’ asked Grafyrre.

Ulysan shrugged. ‘I don’t know. He’s not returned from the Hallows. I will not rush him. We can handle things here until he gets back.’

Out here in the eaves of the forest the hammering of metal on metal was muted, through it echoed from the cliffs with enough volume to keep Tual’s creatures silent.

‘It doesn’t matter how thin they make it, I can only see us patching the gate and a couple of hundred yards of wall either side. And that’s the absolute maximum we’ll manage.’ Merrat shook his head.

‘Stone,’ said Grafyrre.

‘What?’

‘I know it was dismissed last night but we can’t ignore it. It’s stronger than wood and they have some cement here, though none of them are great masons. If we don’t have the metal, we’ll have to cement and dry-stone the gaps.’ Grafyrre pointed at the open western edge. ‘Particularly over there.’

‘It won’t withstand a barrage,’ said Merrat. ‘But at least it won’t burn or freeze. Ulysan?’

Ulysan didn’t respond at once but began to trot back towards the city.

‘We’ll have to take the trap detail for now, and perhaps some of the food gatherers too. With the quarry across the lake progress will be slow, but I don’t think we have much choice.’

‘I’ll oversee it,’ said Grafyrre.

‘Thank you,’ said Ulysan. He looked over his shoulder into the forest. ‘Take your time, old friend.’

Auum had long since finished weeping over Elyss’ body. He had prayed into the early hours of the morning before leaving the Hallows to let Tual’s denizens begin the reclamation of the body. Elyss lay among those who had slain her, but Auum felt no anger. Her soul had departed to the embrace of Shorth with that of their child. Though their bodies lay near to hers, the Beethans’ souls would travel a very different path.

‘The soul continues; the body must return to that from which it came,’ said Auum.

He had watched dawn break and had heard the city come alive to his orders. He took the opportunity to thank Yniss for the strength of the TaiGethen but he was not ready to return to the city just yet. He found a stream and washed himself and his clothes. Above, rain clouds gathered so he did not dress again; instead standing in a small clearing to let Gyal’s tears bless his body.

Auum felt calm. He dressed in his wet clothes and put his back to a banyan, chewing on a root tuber and a sweet herb while he replayed, over and over, the events immediately after Elyss had been shot. He had assumed rage had driven him but he was wrong.

Something more basic than rage had aided him in those moments — and it had only been for moments. It was a survival instinct, a primal reaction to protect himself and his loved ones.

It had given him the utmost clarity of thought and tuned his senses more keenly than any other moment in his long life. It had given him greater speed of limb too, but the true difference had been in his reaction time. At any other time in his life he would have marvelled at what he had achieved. Today he could only regret the necessity.

But through the confusion of emotions Auum could accept one thing. In that state he was a powerful weapon, and he presumed every TaiGethen had the ability to reach it. Yet he had no idea how to bring it out, how to trigger it, how to control it or how to shut it off.

Auum looked into the heavens and held a hand up, palm open to the sky. He placed the other in the mud by the side of the stream.

‘Yniss, hear your servant, Auum. You have shown me a great gift yet the price I have paid for it makes me wonder at its worth. If it is your will that I have my eyes opened to what I can become yet must continue to seek that ascension, then I accept it.

‘But I am troubled, Yniss. The tasks you lay before me and before all elves are stern indeed. The gift of clarity… You have shown me the dance but have not taught me the steps. It could alter the battle and allow us to win against the forces that will range against us.

‘All I ask, my Lord Yniss, is for a sign, a way towards understanding how I might defeat our enemies and help the elves to glory in your name once more.

‘I, Auum, ask this of you.’

Auum kept his head bowed and his eyes closed for a few moments. When he opened them, it was to see a pair of feet wrapped in tatty leather boots — TaiGethen boots. He let his gaze travel up the unkempt clothing to the face and its wild eyes.

‘I seriously doubt that you are any sort of sign for the good,’ he said. ‘Leave me.’

‘I heard your pain and I heard your prayers. I know what you lost and I grieve with you. But I also know what you achieved, and I can help. Have you forgotten how fast I used to be? How easy I found it to best you when we fought on the way back to Ysundeneth?’

Auum stared at him and an icy shiver ran down his back, slow as a single drip of water.

‘Then sit and speak to me. Unless this has to do with magic, in which case run back to your acolytes because I have no more use for you.’

Takaar sat.

Question: Which is more deadly, a slighted ClawBound or a wronged TaiGethen? Answer: A yellow-backed tree frog.

Elven playground joke

This far from Ysundeneth Hynd needed other mages to lend him their strength to help maintain his focus. But none of them had to endure the dual sledgehammers of pain and extraordinary nausea during and after the Communion.

When he’d stopped being sick and drunk the contents of both his and Jeral’s water skins, he looked reluctantly up at Ishtak, who was standing over him, that ridiculous sneer on his face.

‘I said I’d come when I was sure I wouldn’t puke on the high and mighty,’ Hynd said.

‘But he might still puke on you, Ishtak,’ said Jeral. ‘Which would do wonders for your body odour.’