James Barclay - Rise of the TaiGethen

‘What damage?’ demanded Jeral, suddenly feeling nervous. ‘Talk to me, Hynd.’

‘You have to understand how much of a mage’s ability is based on confidence in the unbroken flow of mana, and how dangerous it is if that flow is interrupted. We’ve all experienced it in simulations, and not all of us have come through them unscathed.’

‘But the flow isn’t interrupted, is it?’

‘Not right now,’ said Hynd. ‘But what about in the next moment, or the next? It eats away our confidence, and a mage worrying about the flow cannot make a solid construct.’

‘But you have to risk it, right?’ Jeral spread his hands. ‘Every time I pick up my sword I’m gambling that the enemy I face isn’t as good as me. Warfare is a gamble for every one of us. We need you.’

‘I’m just being honest,’ said Hynd. ‘I’ve seen the look on many of our mages’ faces. They feel betrayed that they weren’t told, and they’re scared of what might come next.’

‘But you, Hynd,’ said Jeral. ‘If I asked you to fly, you would.’

Hynd held his gaze for a moment before letting it drop and shaking his head.

‘I don’t know, Jeral, I really don’t.’

Jeral couldn’t believe what he was hearing. ‘All right, maybe flying’s a bad choice. An orb, then. You’d do that, right?’

Hynd didn’t answer.

‘Gods on a pyre,’ hissed Jeral. ‘I’ve got to have spotters and I’ve got to have ground casting.’

‘I cannot promise you much of either,’ said Hynd.

Jeral jabbed a finger towards the city.

‘That city is full of Sharps. Most of them aren’t soldiers but every one of them is a dangerous fucker who’s scared of nothing but our magic. We have to have an open field when we get inside. Right now they could hide around every corner and pick us off one by one. Without you we’ll lose hundreds of men winning this thing.

‘You have to help me. You have to clear the ground of cover so my soldiers, who have not turned into total cowards, can see who the fuck they are fighting.’

‘It is not cowardice,’ said Hynd.

‘What would you call it, then?’

‘I will cast,’ said Lockesh.

Jeral started. ‘My lord?’

‘I will cast, like any common mage. I have not lost my… confidence.’ He glared at Hynd. ‘Let it be known. I will lead any mage with the courage to join me onto the field come the dawn.’

‘Thank you, my lord,’ said Jeral. ‘Every soldier is indebted to you.’

‘I merely wish to get this done and to be able to walk out of here alive.’

‘Great,’ said Jeral and he punched Hynd hard on the shoulder. ‘Then we’re done.’

‘Not quite,’ said Sinese, clearly raging at Lockesh’s seizure of the moral high ground. ‘I would speak with you, Jeral, about a proper chain of command.’

‘Knock yourself out, but I’m not going to start reporting to you.’

Dawn arrived, and those few on the ramparts were afforded a view that would take the heart from many. With those first rays of sunshine pushing the shadows of night back into the forest, the enemy had emerged from the eaves of the forest to stand in ranks that stretched across the width of the blackened open ground.

Auum, with the bruised Pelyn beside him and a handful of TaiGethen spread along the ramparts to either side of the sundered gates, looked at the force ranged against them and could only pray for divine intervention.

Below Auum, the gates had been re-erected. Carpenters had patched the timber, and steel plates had been reattached, but it was no more than a token effort and the humans would know it.

‘They’ll come on hard and they won’t stop until their work is done,’ said Auum. ‘Are your people ready?’

Pelyn nodded. She was rubbing at her arms and her voice shook but not from fear.

‘A few have fled across the lake, looking for sanctuary in the heights above the quarry, but most have stayed. These are city people, proud people, and they know no other life. They’ll stand and fight when they must.’

Auum had ordered the city evacuated behind a line to the rear of the hall of the Al-Arynaar. Katurans were hidden in the ghettos to the south of the city and scattered among the buildings in the outer circles. Only the TaiGethen prowled the areas nearer the gate, tasked to attack mages wherever they could once the invasion began. They had built many street barricades, but all of them were wooden and none would stand up to more than a couple of castings.

The archers were hidden on the roofs and upper floors of the tallest remaining buildings. There was no shortage of arrows and poison, but the mages and shields would have to be taken down before they could be effective.

‘Here they come,’ said Auum.

The human army began to march. Auum watched them until they stopped to prepare their barrage.

‘Fall back. Let them use their spells. We can do nothing here but offer them targets.’

The defenders dropped from the ramparts and the Al-Arynaar dispersed into the depths of the city to stand with their nominated militia groups. The TaiGethen gathered to pray in the lee of the walls. When they were done, Auum faced them.

‘Sell your lives at a high price if you have to sell them at all. Look to your brothers and sisters. May Yniss guide your every footfall. Marack, Illast, Acclan, Thrynn, take your cells to the west. Keep low, strike and run. Merrat, Grafyrre, Merke, Oryaal, Corinn your cells go to the east. Ulysan and I will free-run as decoys. If we can kill the magic then we can still win. Tais, we move.’

Auum took Ulysan and ran down the main street, past the gutted and shattered buildings of the Gyalan, Ixii and Tuali ghettos and up to the outer of the four circles. The main street ran directly into the marketplace, but within the circles the alleys and side streets provided good cover. Much of the first circle facing the gate still stood, but enough buildings had suffered significant damage to persuade Auum not to hide there for too long.

A whistling and roaring filled the air. Auum watched orbs and ice boulders soar high over the walls and come smashing down in the streets just beyond the gate. Only three mages flew in the sky. Castings smashed into the fragile gates and pounded the walls to either side.

From beneath an awning that hid them from the spotters, Auum and Ulysan saw the gates disintegrate and the remains of the gatehouse rock on its foundations and tumble outwards, ripping holes the size of carts in the walls to either side. Orbs flew in again and again, melting the thin metal, popping lines of rivets and blasting stone to fragments.

Abruptly, the focus changed; the humans had seen something. The walls to the west of the gate were targeted hard. Other spells arced over the same section of the walls to land squarely in the Gyalan ghetto. Houses blew apart, timbers flew high into the air, spinning through clouds of splinters, clay and mud. The walls burst inwards, ice boulders crashing through them and flame orbs consuming the wood, between them creating a gash thirty feet wide.

Through the gap, Auum could see the humans begin their charge on two fronts.

‘Ulysan, with me.’

The TaiGethen pair ran behind the barrier of the first circle. Castings were dropping all around them, rattling the ground beneath their feet, sending clouds of dust billowing along the tight streets and filling their noses with the smell of burning and the foul stink of magic.

‘Take the next right,’ said Auum.

An ice boulder drove into the building directly in front of them. Auum pushed Ulysan left and dived to the right as timbers exploded from the sides of the building. The boulder tore straight through, front to back, and cannoned into the building across the ring. The whole structure collapsed, sloughing into the road, covering everything for twenty yards around with thick freezing dust.