RIELLE
Looking past the fighters, Rielle saw a twilight scene. She made out a pale, undulating wall—a natural but steep slope. A smooth surface unbroken by footprints lay below her feet. They were about to arrive in a small, dried-out lake bed.
The enemy had formed a line around the top of the wall, effectively surrounding the Restorers’ army. Rielle estimated they numbered around a half of Baluka’s fighters. Good odds, perhaps, unless every one of the dead worlds held as many of Dahli’s followers.
“I suspect the ground is not stable,” she warned.
Baluka turned to Rielle. “I’ll move us from here.”
She nodded, and a moment later felt Baluka now propelling the entire army closer to the world. He skimmed towards the top of the lake bank. Dahli’s fighters followed. Once above the bank, a landscape riddled with similar depressions appeared. Baluka skimmed towards one of the few upper areas large enough to hold the Restorers’ army.
Dahli’s fighters immediately moved into a single mass. Since no command had sounded in the place between worlds, the reaction must have been planned, perhaps even rehearsed. The enemy blurred as it shot forward, reaching the area Baluka was heading towards before him.
Rielle cursed silently as the Restorers stopped moving. Whoever was controlling the enemy’s movements was stronger and therefore faster than Baluka. Baluka could head for another patch of high ground, but he would never get there before Dahli’s fighters—and he and the other non-ageless in the Restorers’ army were bound to be running out of air.
She turned to find him looking at her. His expression was grim as he nodded.
“Take over,” he said.
A quick glance told her two more sites large enough for the army were close by. She chose one and started for it—fast, but not as quick as she could be. As she’d hoped, the enemy immediately streaked towards it. She sped up to match their pace, then at the last moment darted away and shot to the other site. The world vanished into streaks of grey. She wasted no time bringing them into the world, lowering Baluka’s group to the same level as the rest of the army, and immediately created a shield to protect them. The sound of air being sucked into lungs broke the silence as the non-ageless among them caught their breath.
Baluka glanced at her, his eyes wide, then turned away to watch the enemy. Dahli’s fighters were now forced to separate into three groups, hemmed in by the precipices of sunken lake beds. The general leading each group of the Restorers’ army moved to the centre so they could consult with Baluka.
“Do you want to move to a position between our army and theirs?” Rielle asked.
“No. Levitate us a little so we can see clearly.”
She hardened the air and soil beneath the feet of Baluka’s group and the generals and lifted it so they could see over the heads of the rest of the fighters. Dahli’s followers stood still, watching but making no sound or movement.
“Are the lake beds really unsafe, or was that a delaying tactic,” General Hapre asked.
“Most probably a delaying tactic,” Baluka replied. “Gaining time to get messages to the rest of Dahli’s forces. I’d rather not wait for those forces to arrive.”
“No.” Hapre agreed.
After checking that all of the groups had erected shields Rielle shrank hers to encompass only Baluka’s. She could have continued protecting them all, but Baluka wanted to be able to skim around the battlefield at any moment and if Rielle went with him the other groups would be left vulnerable.
“Why aren’t they attacking?” Ankari asked.
“We’re the invaders,” Baluka replied. “We go first.”
Hapre made a small noise of disagreement. “Another delaying tactic.”
“Then we’d best get started,” Baluka murmured. He drew a deep breath. “Let’s give them no more time to prepare against us,” he called out. “Attack!”
At once, the air hummed and flashed. Stilled and heated air met invisible barriers covering the three enemy forces. Dahli’s fighters didn’t respond except to ward off the attack, convincing Rielle that they were indeed waiting for reinforcements.
“Those not fighting, watch for arrivals,” Baluka ordered, then added in a quiet voice. “Perhaps we can kill a few before they shield.”
A chill ran down Rielle’s spine at the word “kill.” All through the preparations, she had refused to think about what this rescue of Qall might force her to do, but the few times she’d slept, her dreams had been full of reminders of the price her conscience had paid for the two murders she’d committed.
Both were in my defence, but Sa-Gest was not attacking me directly and I could have found another way to make sure Gabeme didn’t come back to harass the artisans in Valhan’s new palace. Both had been situations she’d been ill prepared for. Now, however, she was deliberately aiming to kill Dahli’s followers at any opportunity. It ought to feel justified, but she could not help seeing the situation from the perspective of the enemy. They believe the worlds need Valhan. Perhaps some have selfish motivations, but they are strong enough they’re willing to risk their lives for Dahli’s cause.
Right now, she didn’t care if the Raen returned. She wasn’t sure if she would have joined the army if its only mission had been to prevent Valhan’s resurrection. It wasn’t even her promise to protect Qall that had overcome her determination to never kill again. It’s Qall. Despite his moods and occasional selfish moments, I like him. Though I can’t read his mind, I know he is good natured. He deserves a chance to grow into whatever unique person his messed-up life has shaped him into. Or whoever he is despite the things that have been done to him.
“Shadows!” Ankari warned.
Rielle did not waste time looking to see where the woman indicated. She read the information from Ankari’s mind. Sure enough, a pattern of human shapes was emerging within the ever-darkening twilight, a few paces behind one of the enemy’s forces. There was no time to judge how quickly the newcomers were arriving and how long it would take for a strike to reach them. Rielle drew from her store of magic, hardened the air beyond her shield into missiles, then sent them towards the group.
For a few heartbeats, she remained frozen, heart racing. Striking before a sorcerer arrived in a world was a tactic Tarran had taught her. Given no warning, defence was faster than offence. Creating shields required only as much time as a sorcerer needed to call up magic, reach out and still the air. Missiles of air were formed as quickly, since they were made in the same way, but it took extra time to propel them to their destination, even if the missile was formed close to the target.
But given warning—the sight of a target coming out of the place between—a sorcerer could create and project a missile before they arrived. Or heat the air to a high temperature in the place they were appearing in. Or remove all air, so any non-ageless sorcerers would suffocate.
The latter options were more brutal, but also more reliable as they didn’t rely on exact timing, but she couldn’t bring herself to be so cruel. Even so, part of her did not want to know if her strikes were effective or wasted. It wanted to look away. But before she could, the newcomers arrived …
… and at once six or seven of them fell.
Her heart sank, and it did not rise again when two of the fallen got up, having only been knocked down by a victim standing before them. I can’t be happy to kill, but neither can I be happy that people survive who support Dahli’s aim to kill Qall and all who oppose the Raen.
“Well done!” Baluka said, squeezing her shoulder. Then he cursed as he noticed that two of the Restorers had fallen. Dahli’s fighters had begun striking at the Restorers’ army while the new arrivals had provided a distraction. The sound of air humming with power and impacts grew abruptly louder.
“That must be who they were waiting for,” Hapre said.
“No. Here comes another lot!” Lejihk shouted. “Ah! Too late.”
Sure enough, a group of Dahli’s followers had appeared beyond one of the other fighting
forces. It immediately joined them. Yet at the same time, sorcerers within the enemy began retreating from the front. They gathered at the back and, as Rielle watched, four joined together and disappeared.
“They’ve depleted their magic,” she noted, reading the information from other enemy fighter’s minds.
“Leaving in small groups wastes magic,” Hapre said. “They know it too. Dahli ordered they do it this way, but they don’t know why. The newcomers only know that they’re to take exhausted fighters to meet Dahli.” She shook her head. “It doesn’t make sense. It takes as much magic to transport forty as four. Better to wait until more are exhausted before fleeing.”
“Are they gathering more power?”
“Perhaps. But from where? Several of the worlds leading to this have already been drained.”
“Unless they left a few intact. An escape route as well as a source of strength.”
“That would be a risk.” Hapre frowned. “What if we found and stripped them?”
“Could one of us investigate?” Rielle looked at Baluka.
His brow wrinkled as he considered. She could see he was tempted. This escape route would be guarded, if it existed. He couldn’t send any but his strongest to investigate, and he needed his strongest here.
“No. It could also be a trap,” he said. “I know I’d have people in place to deal with a scout—even a powerful one like—”
“More reinforcements!” Lejihk warned.
Rielle turned to see shadows appearing behind the third group of Dahil’s fighters, and for the next stretch of time her focus was on sending strikes to catch them at the moment they arrived. This time she managed to eliminate nine of them.
“Eliminate,” she thought, tasting bile. I’m already starting to think like a killer, reducing them to pieces in a game.
“How are we doing?” Lejihk asked.
Baluka looked around. “Hard for me to tell …”
“We’ve lost five to lucky strikes from the enemy, and expended half of our strength,” Hapre told him. The woman was clearly strong enough to read the minds of most of the Restorers’ fighters. “The enemy are harder to read,” the woman said. “They’re not working in groups, as we are, and there is no leader. It’s less efficient.”
“But we can’t read Dahli’s overall strategy from their minds, only individual orders.” Baluka shook his head.
Rielle could see him questioning the Restorers’ strategy. The sorcerer shielding each group had to give the fighters within it gaps through which to strike, indicating where these were with subtle signs that could only be seen when close by. This meant that an attack from the enemy might coincidentally find a gap, penetrate the shield and kill someone within. Fighters inside the shield could also shield themselves to prevent this, but it doubled up on the use of magic. Each of Dahli’s fighters shielded only themselves.
“We’ve killed more of the enemy,” Lejihk observed.
“Yes, but only as they arrived.”
Only those I killed, Rielle thought, and shivered.
“Deaths in sorcerous battles tend to come all at once at the end,” Hapre told the Traveller. “Once one side is too depleted to shield.” Her lips pressed together. “At least, that is true when the fighters are trained and organised. In a free-for-all, it can be bloody all the way to the end. Ah! There’s another lot. They must have arrived elsewhere and walked here.”
Rielle turned to look in the direction Hapre was squinting in. Sure enough, a group of about twenty sorcerers was marching towards the fight. Reading their minds, she saw that they had indeed arrived at a distance in order to avoid the weakness she had exploited.
“They believe they’re the last group,” she told Baluka. “From the furthest neighbouring world to Dahli’s.”
“So this is all of them?”
“They believe so.”
“Now that they’re all here, they’ll start trying to work out how strong they are,” he told her. “Watch and tell me what they conclude.”
She did, and a little while later told him. “More than half of their fighters are depleted.”
“And ours must be more than that by now.” Baluka’s frown deepened. “This is going to be close.” And we’ll not have much left to tackle Dahli, let alone Tyen. He was hoping Rielle and Tyen would cancel each other out in strength, though in reality it came down to how much magic either had been able to gather in preparation.
“More arriving!” Ankari warned.
“What?!” Hapre exclaimed. “Dahli must have kept this lot secret from the rest.”
Rielle spun about to face the new threat, arriving behind one of Dahli’s forces. She stretched out her mind to seek theirs. As she read their minds, she let out a gasp of surprise. “No!” she told them. “Not Dahli. These are ours!”
“But …” Baluka began, then he stopped as two more groups arrived behind the other enemy fighters. “What’s going on?”
“They are some of the supporters who provided magic for our fighters,” Hapre answered as she read the truth from the newcomers’ minds. “Including most of the Travellers who came to us, led by Ulma. They decided to gather more magic after they left us, and these fighters volunteered to follow and join us.”
Baluka looked stricken. “I told them to go home. Not all of us need die if we fail. There should be some of us left to continue the fight if the Raen returns.”
“It is up to my people to decide how much they are willing to risk or sacrifice, and when,” Lejihk told his son.
Baluka looked at his father, then grimaced and nodded.
Hapre nodded. “Their doing this without telling you—deciding at the last possible moment—means that Dahli’s spies could not have learned of it soon enough to report it to him.”
The reinforcements were indeed engaging Dahli’s forces now. The barrage from the three enemy groups on the original Restorers’ army abruptly weakened. Watching the minds of the enemy, Rielle saw doubts growing. Dahli had said they should retreat to his base world if they began to fail. A few had already concluded the battle was lost, and were waiting for others to give some sign they agreed. Nobody wanted to be the first to retreat, however, knowing how it would appear disloyal to their leader, a man known to value loyalty above all else.
Then one of Dahli’s fighters crumpled as her strength failed before she could retreat behind the protection of the others. A moment later another collapsed, and a third shrieked as he was enveloped in flames. Shouts rang out among them and combined to form a mutual decision. Hands grasped arms. Men and women vanished, leaving a couple of fighters who hadn’t linked in time. They were smashed to the ground before they realised their mistake.
The silence that followed was brief; then the reinforcements hurried to join the Restorers’ army and the air filled with questions. Rielle lowered Baluka and the generals to the ground, then sought out Ulma. The ageless Traveller hugged her, then turned to watch Baluka as he moved through the fighters, seeking estimates of strength, replacing exhausted sorcerers with newcomers in each group. It was done quickly, and soon the crowd had been divided into two.
“Go,” Baluka told the depleted sorcerers, and they disappeared, taken away by one sorcerer strong enough to get them beyond the dead worlds. He turned to the rest. “Stay in your groups, one shielding and the rest fighting. Hapre, Rielle, Lejihk, Ankari and I will travel a little in front again so that we may take the foremost position when we arrive.” He walked into the centre and linked hands with Rielle and Hapre. “On to Dahli’s base.”
The pitted landscape of dead lakes faded into white.
TYEN
“INTO THE CENTRE OF THE ROOM!”
Dahli’s shout made both Tyen and Qall jump. Looking around, Tyen saw that men and women were appearing in the hall, most within the square of lamps but a few within the danger zone. They walked over to surround the chairs. Many started as they saw Qall, bowing quickly before they followed Dahli’s order to turn and to face outwards.
Qall ignored the reactions of Dahli’s followers. He slowly rose to his feet, the box gripped tightly in his hands, and stretched his neck to look over the heads of the sorcerers. Tyen stood and looked around. A crowd of more than fifty now surrounded them. More were arriving.
The crowd parted briefly to allow Dahli and Zeke through. Without glancing at Qall or Tyen, Dahli strode to an empty chair and stepped up onto the seat, kicking the cushion out of the way. Zeke leapt up onto another.
“Shield and keep watch,” Dahli called. “Call out when you see them.” He looked down at Qall. “Do you remember what I said you should do?”
Qall nodded. At once the room darkened, and yet Tyen could still see clearly. His senses adjusted, telling him that it was the sudden lack of magic he’d noticed. Stretching out, he could not find a scrap of it anywhere in the world. He thought of the local people, and wondered if they’d guessed who Dahli was, and the price they’d pay for their world being the location of a magical battle.
Copying Dahli, Tyen pushed the pad of his chair to the floor and climbed onto the seat. He looked down at Qall, expecting the young man to do the same. Qall seemed frozen, his face pale, but as Tyen looked at him, he twitched, shook his head as if to wake himself and sat down.
He can watch the fight through everyone’s mind, Tyen realised. So could I. He stayed put. It seemed too important and dangerous a moment to trust entirely to other people’s perceptions.
The room quietened. Dahli’s gaze constantly moved around the room, searching and alert. Reaching out to the minds around him, Tyen caught snatches of memory of the fight these men and women had left, retreating when reinforcements joined the Restorers. The enemy was more organised and had sustained fewer casualties, and when Dahli’s fighters had begun to fall in greater numbers they’d retreated.
All had been afraid they were about to lose the battle, and their lives … until they’d seen Valhan. Now they were filled with hope and defiance—and some confusion. Why hadn’t the Raen been fighting with them, instead of waiting here? Why was he now sitting, ignoring his surroundings?