Chaosmage (40 page)

“Did you bring them here? The parasites?” asked Balfruss, gesturing at the twitching things in the jars. “They're from beyond the Veil, aren't they?”

Polganna showed the first sign of regret, although it was so fleeting he wondered if he'd imagined it. “My experiments didn't always start out well, but I learned from my mistakes. What lives beyond the Veil is too unpredictable. The same test can produce different results three times in a row. So I moved on to focus on safer areas of study.”

It was the closest thing Balfruss thought he was going to get to an admittance of regret. Polganna had brought the first of the Forsaken through to this world from beyond the Veil, destroying a city and all of its remaining population in the process.

There was a vague flicker of movement behind Polganna's head but he ignored it and focused on her face.

“Do you know how many have died in Voechenka because of your abandoned experiment?”

“If it became a problem I would have dealt with it.”

“How many people have to die before you consider it a problem?” asked Balfruss.

“Don't be so dramatic,” chided Polganna.

“If everyone is dead, how will your knowledge help them?”

Polganna stared at him in shock and then began to laugh again. “You're serious. Help people? I'm not going to help them,” she said, appalled at the idea. “Most of them aren't worthy. They don't care what happens. They kill each other over nothing. A scrap of land. A flag. A crown. No, I'm not going to help them. Whoever is strong will survive. Eventually I would have sought out those worthy few and shared a little of my knowledge. But not yet. Not when there's still so much to do.”

Polganna chuckled to herself and shook her head at what she obviously saw as an amusing and ludicrous idea.

He would almost have preferred it if she'd seemed unstable, but she wasn't at all. She was sane, but her view of the world was dramatically different to his. Everything Balfruss had ever done with his magic had been to help people and save lives. Polganna saw everyone in the world as nothing more than ignorant and unworthy children. If she had her way it would be just the same as when he was at the Red Tower. Secrets would be parcelled out but only when she decided they were ready for such knowledge, and history would repeat itself.

“I think I've heard enough,” said Balfruss, gritting his teeth and readying himself for what came next.

Polganna noticed the change in his tone and posture, as she offered him a grin that showed too many teeth. “Are you really going to try and fight me with magic?”

“No. Absolutely not,” said Balfruss. “Magic would be completely useless against you.”

“Good,” said Polganna, looking back at her book, thinking the matter closed.

“Steel on the other hand will kill you, just like any other person.”

Polganna slapped her hand on the book and glared at him. “Insolent child! You dare threaten me,” she hissed as he drew the axe from his belt.

She was so focused on him that Polganna didn't know about the sword until it burst out the front of her chest. Balfruss finally released the thin camouflage weave he'd been maintaining and Tammy shimmered back into view. He felt as Polganna tried to reach for the Source but the
star
-
metal
blade stopped her.

With a quick movement Tammy yanked
Maligne
free and stepped back. Polganna fell forward onto her table as blood began to spread out in a pool. Balfruss stalked towards her, both eyes alert in case of any sudden movement. But Tammy had struck true and pierced the woman's heart. It had taken her a long time to slowly creep into the room and then move behind Polganna without being seen.

“Are you sure you don't want me to finish it?” asked Tammy.

“No. I need to do this,” said Balfruss.

“I'll be outside,” she said, touching him lightly on the arm.

“Thank you, my friend.”

Tammy smiled and went out the door without looking back.

“Think about what you're doing,” said Polganna, gesturing weakly at her surroundings. “Think about what you could learn.”

The rage inside was bubbling up so much that Balfruss started to shake. “How many lives did one volume cost?” he said, pointing at the shelves full of identical books. “A hundred? A thousand? Ten thousand?”

Polganna remained unapologetic. “Without me it will take years for you to unravel even a fraction of my knowledge. You don't have the stomach to do what's necessary to extend your life. You'll be dead before you accomplish anything of note.”

Her words had a peculiar effect, as an icy calm swept through Balfruss. He gripped his axe with both hands and felt his shoulders relax.

“I'm not going to steal it. I'm going to destroy it. Every single page of your life's work,” he said. Before she could attempt to make a deal he quickly brought the axe down on the back of her neck.

The body slumped to the floor but her head remained on the table. One eye continued staring at him until eventually the light faded from it.

Leaving everything where it was Balfruss walked to the door, turned and then summoned an inferno. He started at the back of the laboratory, concentrating the fire on the books, watching as the leather curled up and blackened. The blaze quickly spread from there around the room as glass jars exploded, spraying alcohol everywhere.

He fed more energy into the fire until it was hot enough to set the timbers ablaze and the roof began to collapse. The heat from the fire was intense but he didn't move away, watching as the flames rose up into the night, burning up every dark secret. Channelling more power he maintained the temperature until he was certain that everything inside was on fire and that the blaze would keep going by itself for a few hours. He intended to make sure that nothing remained, not even her bones. Every twisted Talent and horrific piece of magic she had ever uncovered would be lost.

W
hen Tammy returned to the camp with Balfruss she was surprised to see there were people standing guard on the wall. The defenders thought Voechenka was free of the Forsaken and yet those on the wall seemed nervous.

In the courtyard they found a peculiar tableau awaiting them. Roake was kneeling in the middle of the square with Zannah stood over him, her sword resting against the back of his neck. Off to one side the plague priest was sat on a barrel, watching with mild interest as he worked his way through a bottle of wine.

As they approached, Zannah nudged the skeletal form of Roake with her boot, waking him from a doze. Tammy noticed he was now so emaciated that all of the tendons in his face and neck stood out like steel wire. His skin was turning yellow in places and was so tight across his skull she wasn't sure he could speak without it tearing. His eyes seemed to have receded even further back in his skull and were surrounded by deep black pits. Air wheezed in and rattled out of his body and the pause after every breath made her think that the next could be his last.

“They've returned,” said Zannah, kicking him. “Now, tell us what you know so I can cut off your head.”

Roake ignored the boot digging into his back, perhaps because he didn't care or had suffered worse in the past. Tammy felt a growing sense of loathing as he worked his jaw several times before it clacked open like a rusty trap. Despite the smell they had to move closer to hear the dry rasp of his voice.

“They're defeated, but not all dead,” whispered Roake.

“Tell us something we do not already know,” said Zannah. She was seething with rage and seconds away from killing what little remained of the man kneeling before her.

Roake tried to speak again but this time almost no sound emerged, just a faint wheeze.

“Here,” said Kai, approaching and shoving the bottle towards Roake. Moving like an old man Roake feebly gripped it with both hands and tipped the neck towards his open mouth. Red wine gushed down his face and chin, but some splashed into his mouth, making him choke and gasp. A few seconds later Tammy watched as some of it trickled out of the wound in his side, soaking into the ground.

“I can still feel them out there,” said Roake, gesturing beyond the city with one hand. In doing so he dropped the bottle and it smashed on the ground, spraying the remaining wine across the stones. It was an unpleasant reminder of the blood that had been spilled, and that not very far away Alyssa had died. This must have occurred to Zannah as she pressed the blade harder against Roake's neck, nearly toppling him over in the process.

“Where?” she asked.

“Where do you think?” asked Kai, frowning down at the spilled wine. “They went back to mummy dearest.”

“Mother?” said Zannah.

“The Forsaken are parasites. They were spawned by something. It's what has been feeding on the city.” Kai shared a knowing look with Balfruss, who shifted uncomfortably as the priest stared at him.

“The brood mother,” whispered Roake, drawing all eyes back to him.

“Do you know where to find it?” asked Tammy.

“In the maze,” said Roake.

“We know where that is. So we don't need you any more,” said Zannah, raising her sword.

“I can guide you through the maze. You'll never find it without me,” whispered Roake.

Tammy watched as Zannah's arm shook, her anger battling with common sense. It would take them weeks to search the maze without Roake, and by then some of the Forsaken could have slipped away.

“Then we leave immediately,” said Zannah. She lifted Roake to his feet with one hand. “Are you coming?” she said, including everyone in her glare.

“Of course,” said Tammy, and Balfruss nodded in agreement. Now that he had full control of his magic again he would be a powerful ally against the remaining Forsaken and the brood mother.

“We need to make sure that every single parasite is destroyed,” said Kai. “I might be able to help with that.” He didn't say how but no one chose to argue. Tammy thought she should at least mention that he wasn't carrying any weapons, but for some reason she didn't.

“Do we even know what the brood mother looks like? Or how big it is?” she asked instead.

They followed Zannah out the gate, who was shoving Roake ahead of her down the road. “If you've been out on the lake then you've seen it,” said Roake. “It's been eating fishermen for months.”

Even though she knew the way, Tammy followed Zannah and Roake east, retracing her path towards the abandoned church of the Maker. Behind her came Kai and Balfruss, who was keeping one wary eye on the city around him and the other on the priest.

When they reached the church they followed Roake to the rooms at the back. The door that led to the underground tunnels had been torn off its hinges, no doubt from the surging press of Forsaken bodies. Beyond the door they found the empty basement and the entrance to the maze, a yawning black pit.

“Let me,” said Balfruss, making a peculiar circling gesture with his hand. A small pale blue light, the size and shape of an egg, appeared in his palm. It gave off a dull glow but peeled back the shadows, almost in layers, so although it wasn't bright it helped them see quite clearly in the gloom. Balfruss passed the
mage
-
light
to Tammy, and she was surprised that it didn't give off any heat and weighed almost nothing. If she closed her eyes she wouldn't have known it was even there, resting against her palm. When she raised her hand it followed a second behind, as though it was tethered to her.

Zannah didn't need any such light as she had perfect night vision and when the Sorcerer offered one to Roake he declined.

“I can barely see, besides, I can feel them,” said Roake, offering them a grisly smile that showed off his few remaining teeth clinging to black gums.

When he offered one to Kai the priest just shook his head, and whispered something which made Balfruss frown.

Zannah led the way and the others held their light as low as possible so as not to disrupt her night vision. A step behind her came Roake, who shuffled along with increasing difficulty, but Zannah did not slow her pace, not even for a second, and he never once complained. Balfruss came next, then the priest, and Tammy brought up the rear.

The
mage
-
light
never flickered, for which Tammy was grateful as without it they would have been in complete darkness after the first corner. Roake gave directions with complete certainty, never once hesitating at a junction. Tammy tried to keep track of the route they'd taken, looking for something to distinguish one tunnel from another. There was nothing to see. No markings on the walls, no moss or even a crack in any of them. Each was as mottled and indistinct as the next.

The suspicious part of her mind wondered if Roake was simply directing them into a trap but she discounted the idea. Whatever he had become, and whatever remained, Roake seemed determined to keep his promise to Alyssa. Despite being so close to death, in a way Tammy had never seen before, he forced himself on, one step at a time. Something made him keep going beyond any mortal endurance and she didn't believe it was hatred.

At the next junction Roake paused and pointed off to the left. “There's someone there,” he said. “A few Forsaken. Perhaps it's an ambush, but the others are this way,” he said, pointing to the right.

“Allow me,” said Balfruss, stepping up to the mouth of the tunnel. “I'd suggest you all avert your eyes.”

Tammy turned around, keeping her eyes on the tunnel they'd just come from. Despite that, she saw a flicker of orange light at her eye corners and felt a wall of heat against her back. A quick glance over her shoulder showed a spear of fire roaring down the tunnel from Balfruss's outstretched hand. A few seconds later she heard the scrambling of feet and then screams as the Forsaken ambushers were roasted alive. The stench of burned flesh was hideous, unlike any meat she'd ever smelled before. With a wave of his hand Balfruss summoned a small breeze, redirecting the smoke and odour away from them.

“This way,” said Roake, turning towards the tunnel on the right. As Kai reached the junction he paused, sniffed the air and peered into the darkness. All Tammy could see beyond the circle of light in her hand was a solid wall of black. Kai clearly had some magic of his own, because he stared into the dark and then grunted, “They're gone. We have to make sure they're all dead. If even one escapes, this could happen all over again.”

“How do you know?” Tammy managed to ask, even though something in her mind was telling her not to question the plague priest. Her instincts told her there was a lot more to him than the obvious.

“Better you don't know,” he said and even though a voice inside was screaming at her to ask him another question, the larger part of her seemed satisfied with his answer.

They pressed on into the heart of the labyrinth, moving through the seemingly endless darkness. Despite her best attempts Tammy lost track of their route and then she lost track of time. Occasionally Roake would pause and point, before turning to look in another direction. Balfruss would investigate, usually with fire that illuminated the tunnel and the lurking creatures within. The magical fire he produced was so hot that after only a few seconds the Forsaken were reduced to piles of ash and a few charred bones.

When they reached another junction Roake stopped again and Balfruss went to investigate. As she peered over their shoulders to see what was ahead, Tammy heard a scuffing sound behind her. Spinning on her heel she brought her sword down in a tight arc. The blade sliced open the Forsaken's torso and it fell back, screaming in pain. Two more came for her, stepping on their thrashing friend, but in such a tight space they couldn't take advantage of their numbers. Tammy stepped forward to meet them, chopping the arm off one and stabbing another in the throat. She made short work of them after that, stabbing each until they stopped moving. To make sure they were dead she beheaded them, which seemed to satisfy Kai.

“You need to see this,” said Balfruss.

They followed him a short distance down the tunnel to an opening that led to a large cavern. Green phosphorescent moss clung to the walls and ceiling, providing enough light for them to see that the ground was covered with lumpy mounds of writhing creatures. She couldn't quite see what they were, but each was about the size of two clenched fists and dark blue in colour. Each had no discernible limbs or features. It was just a wiggling lump of fleshy tissue, like a giant maggot.

A constant rustling sound ebbed and flowed like the tide as the creatures brushed up against each other. The air in the cavern was damp and there was a strong metallic smell like fresh blood. Even though the ceiling of the cave was almost three times Tammy's height, the creatures were piled so high they came up to her shoulder.

“What are they?” asked Tammy in a whisper.

“I have no idea,” said Balfruss. None of them were keen to step into the cave to find out.

“It's the birthing pit,” said Roake. “Each of these will become a parasite.”

Tammy stared in horror at the wriggling creatures. She tried to estimate how many were writhing around there and guessed they numbered in the thousands. At the far side of the cave there was an opening in the wall. A rushing sound announced the arrival of several new creatures that slid out of the twitching orifice before plopping down on top of the others.

The brood mother was still spawning.

“Will fire destroy them?” asked Balfruss.

“Yes,” said Kai. “But the moment you kill them, the brood mother will know we're here.”

“She already knows,” whispered Roake.

As Tammy and the others moved away from the cave she felt a change in the air. The temperature dropped and a shiver ran down her spine then
cherry
-
red
fire blossomed between Balfruss's outstretched hands. A second later the flames flew into the cave and the screaming began. It was shrill and high pitched like a child's, but no human had ever made such a keening sound. As dozens and then hundreds of voices merged together into one horrendous cacophony, pain erupted in her head.

Tammy fell to the ground, her skull pounding until the screaming finally stopped. Eventually she became aware of the sound of her own breathing and the pounding of her heart. Looking around she saw Kai was sat on his haunches not far away, waiting for everyone to wake up. Zannah was sat on the ground with her head in her hands, but was otherwise unhurt.

As Tammy pushed herself upright she saw that Roake was still on his back and, further along the tunnel, Balfruss was slumped against the wall. She was relieved to see that he was still breathing and appeared to be just a little dazed. Peering into what had once been the birthing pit she saw it had been scoured clean. Every creature had been turned to ash and even the moss on the walls had been burned away, leaving behind only a black oily residue.

“Are you all right?” she asked, offering him a hand.