Chaosmage (7 page)

“Can we borrow a couple of horses to transport the supplies?” asked Tammy.

Rees shook his head. “They would be slaughtered for meat the minute you set foot inside the city. There are no animals anywhere in Voechenka. No cats or dogs, no birds, not even a rat. You'll have to carry the supplies.”

“The Embrace will not be denied,” muttered the guard, but no one except Balfruss noticed. Moving slowly so as not to cause any alarm, Balfruss released the axe at his belt, gripping it tightly in one hand. The guard remained unaware, muttering to himself and shaking his head. Like every other guard his
gold
-
tinted
skin was pale, but as Balfruss watched, it regained some of its natural sheen. The gauntness of his features began to fade and the heavy shadows beneath his eyes completely disappeared. The transformation took only a few seconds and when it was over the guard looked healthy and well rested.

“The Embrace. That's what it's called,” said the guard a little louder, and this time his voice carried around the room. “Those who come back.”

Rees wasn't really paying attention, but he nodded along. “That's right. The embrace, whatever that means.”

“The Embrace will bring you peace. It is glorious.” As the guard spoke he pushed himself away from the wall. His eyes burned with an intense passion, bordering on the zealous.

At the same time Balfruss stood up, keeping his axe ready to strike, just in case. Tammy glanced at him and quickly scrambled back from her chair, drawing
Maligne
. The unusual blade glimmered in the flickering torches, catching the light or perhaps reacting to something in the air.

The room began to empty as the priests sensed imminent violence and ran to get out of the way as quickly as possible. Rees and the other guards drew their swords, forming a ring of steel around the peculiar man.

“No, no, no,” said Rees. “Sornan. Not you.”

“What's happening?” asked Tammy.

“They got to him,” said Rees. “He's one of them.”

“It's far easier if you surrender,” said Sornan, beseeching his friends with a smile. By comparison their faces were tight with tension. Their discipline kept them from acting, but Balfruss knew all of them wanted to kill Sornan who, until moments ago, had been their friend. “Stand with me and together we will accomplish feats that seem beyond our reach. But now, as my eyes begin to open, I see what can be done.”

“What do we do, Sir?” asked one of the men. Rees seemed torn with indecision as a range of different emotions ran across his face.

“I've become more than I ever was,” said Sornan, reaching for one of his friends, who batted his hand away with the flat of his sword. “The pathways open to me now are vast and the truth is within ourselves. Don't turn away from this. The Embrace is the way to splendour and a future brighter than any we've seen before.”

“Shut up!” someone shouted, but the words had no effect on Sornan. His words, rhythmic and almost poetic, had the seemingly familiar ring of ritual or a religious sermon. Although none of the words was unusual, each fitted together in a way that made the skin crawl on Balfruss's scalp with their strange promises.

“Look now, brothers and sisters, the dawn of—”

Sornan stopped talking suddenly, then stared down at the sword sticking out of his chest. Rees was breathing hard, his hands trembling on the hilt, but with a sharp movement he yanked the blade free.

Nothing happened but Balfruss still reached for the Source, expecting to need his magic. Then something flickered behind Sornan's eyes. This was something that didn't belong. He sensed what felt like an inhalation of breath and an echo of something far away experiencing a moment of surprise. The feeling quickly faded and now the light had faded from Sornan's eyes. Blood, slow and dark, trickled from the wound, and he slumped backwards and died.

“Behead the body immediately,” said Rees, pointing at one of his guards. “You three, build up a pyre and burn it the moment the flames are hot enough.”

“What was that?” asked Tammy as the guards got to work.

Rees wiped his blade clean and then sat down, far more weary than when he'd stepped into the room only minutes before. One of the guards returned with a cloak, which they draped around his shoulders. Rees clutched it to him, suddenly cold and shivering as the adrenaline faded and shock took hold.

For a time the Captain said nothing, his eyes staring into the past, regret heavy upon him as if the cloak were made of lead instead of wool.

Finally, with eyes clouded by grief, he stared at Tammy and then Balfruss.

“If nothing is done, that will happen to us all. You must stop this madness before it's too late.”

K
ai's boots echoed loudly on the stone floor of the empty banqueting hall. Walking down the length of the vast table towards his seat, his attention was drawn to the Maker's chair. It towered over everything in the room. A huge edifice that was a constant, and seemingly eternal, reminder of the first and oldest of them.

No one had seen the Maker in a long time and yet his presence was still keenly felt around the world. Despite his absence time had not diminished people's belief in him or his power. There were a few theories to explain his absence, such as he'd grown despondent with the mortals and gone off into seclusion. Another claimed that he'd been driven mad. Yet another that he was actually still alive, living among the mortals as one of them. Kai wasn't sure what to believe, but throughout the many long years of his life he'd never seen the Maker in person.

With some trepidation Kai approached the chair, extending one hand towards it. At the last second he pulled back. Even he didn't dare touch it.

“I came as soon as I could,” said a familiar voice. Kai turned to see Vargus striding towards him with purpose. He always walked like that and didn't even know he was doing it. Somewhere in the back of Vargus's mind there was always a specific goal that he was working towards. His purpose might change with the years, but he was eternally driven and never drifted on the waves of fate. Vargus created his own path. He traversed the whims of mankind, but always kept moving forward. It was something that Kai was attempting to learn after nearly being unmade a few years ago by the idiot Lantern boy. A sneer twisted Kai's handsome features as he looked at the boy's empty chair and thought of his fate.

Every day more and more of the boy's followers turned away from him, choosing to follow the newly pious Lady of Light instead. His power would be waning as hers grew. If he returned at all he would be a shadow of his former self. Kai was looking forward to that day very much indeed. Then he and the boy would have words.

Vargus stopped behind his own chair but didn't sit down. “You said there was news.”

“You were right. There's something festering in Voechenka.”

Vargus grunted and moved to stand beside the far wall, holding his hands out towards something. In his version of this place it was probably a fireplace. For Kai the four walls were long windows, the glass tinted a sickly green. Beyond the glass were a myriad stars and brightly coloured planets extending in all directions as far as the eye could see.

“What have you found?” asked Nethun, his voice booming around the hall. As ever the old sailor was dressed simply in loose trousers and a plain red shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows. His bare feet left damp impressions on the floor and as he drew closer Kai felt an enormous weight press against him from Nethun's presence. Nearly as eternal as the Maker, he warranted extreme caution and a great amount of respect. Kai did his best to smother his surprise at seeing Nethun by looking around expectantly. “No one else is coming. It's just the three of us,” said the old sailor.

“Nethun brought this to my attention,” said Vargus by way of explanation. “What did you see?”

“Something is infecting the remaining people in Voechenka.”

“Is it something from beyond the Veil?” asked Nethun.

Kai shrugged. “Probably. They killed the infected man and burned the body before I had a chance to examine it. We're lucky that the city is remote, otherwise it would have spread much further and more quickly.”

“Do we need to take steps to keep it contained?” asked Nethun.

“I think it would be wise. There's only one route into the city. No one is allowed in or out, and guards patrol the surrounding countryside. A few have tried to escape over the mountains or via the sea, but none of them made it. Despite all of that one of the guards on patrol was infected.” Kai shook his head in alarm. “His Captain said he was only alone for a few minutes. Now they're working in pairs at all times. It will help, but only for a short time.”

“If the population of Voechenka is small in number, it sounds like whatever is infecting people has become desperate,” said Vargus.

“Either that, or it's just very hungry,” suggested Kai. As ever the others thought in very narrow human terms. They saw mortals as groups and families, not food. To them mortals were special and important, but to something from beyond the Veil every creature might simply be a different type of meat to consume. They had no way of knowing how it thought, what it wanted or even what it was doing by infecting people.

“Where are you now?” asked Nethun.

“At a garrison a few miles outside the city. Tomorrow morning we're going into Voechenka and then we'll be completely cut off.” The itch of worry blossomed into a frown on Kai's face.

“What is it?” asked Vargus.

“I can feel something lurking in the city,” said Kai, hating how vague he sounded. “Even at this distance. It's shrouded somehow, but it's there, like an itch in the back of my mind.”

Nethun grunted. “Makes sense. It's kept itself concealed from us for some time now.”

“There's something else,” said Kai, taking a deep breath. “At the moment of the guard's death, I saw something in his eyes.”

Sensing his unease, Vargus came to stand beside him, resting a reassuring hand on Kai's shoulder. “What was it?”

Kai studied Vargus carefully for signs of deception or guilt. He needed to know if his old friend had sent him into this knowing more than he said, or if he was truly unaware. Kai saw no trace of a lie. As ever Vargus was being completely straight with him.

“As the life faded from the guard, I saw something lurking behind his eyes.” Nethun came up on Kai's right side, a deep frown creasing his
weather
-
beaten
face. “Something was watching me.”

Vargus was on the verge of cursing, but he glanced at the Maker's chair and bit his tongue instead. Nethun turned away and stood with both palms resting on the table, his eyes deep in thought.

“I think Balfruss saw it too,” said Kai. “He's changed since he was in Charas.”

“Elwei says he's
become
,” said Vargus. “He's a Sorcerer, in the old sense of the word.”

That was a word that had not been used about a human in a long time. Kai contemplated what it meant and a shiver of anticipation ran down his spine. Some of the old ways had not died off, as some of the others around this very table had predicted. The Red Tower was being rebuilt and more old magic was being rediscovered all the time.

“He's definitely more aware. I'll have to be careful he doesn't see through my mask,” said Kai, gesturing at the youthful body of the man he wore. “They have three weeks to resolve this, after that they'll be declared dead. I suspect this is a last resort. If it fails the next step will be something more drastic.”

“They'll raze the city to the ground,” said Nethun, coming out of his stupor. “It's what I would do.”

Kai shrugged. “They've not said as much, but that would be my guess too.”

“Could it not be rebuilt?” asked Vargus.

“So much has already been lost. There's not much left,” Nethun pointed out. “Large parts of the city were destroyed during the occupation, and more has been damaged in the last few years.”

“What about the people still living there?” asked Vargus.

“After the war most refused to stay. They sailed abroad to start new lives away from the city and so many bad memories. My sailors took them all over the world,” explained Nethun. “Sadly it's a common story all across Shael.”

Kai knew that Vargus was finding it difficult to contemplate the idea of turning away from one's city, or one's country. After seeing the devastation in Shael, he could understand the need for a fresh start.

“I've been speaking to the guards about Voechenka. Anyone still in the city was too stubborn, or too stupid, to leave. When word spread about most of the city being abandoned it attracted a lot of people used to working in the shadows. Now there are several groups of mercenaries trapped inside.”

A foreboding silence settled on the hall as the others became lost in thought. Coming so close to oblivion had made Kai more cautious and even hungrier for power. When Vargus had told him about a city, full of the desperate and the dying, it had sounded wonderfully delicious. A ripe feeding ground for horrendous diseases that often festered in such isolated places. At one time Kai's power would have rivalled Nethun's. To be brought so low and to become so little was humbling, but with the possibility of real power in sight once more his need outweighed the potential risk.

“I'll have a few of my people keep watch on the guards. Make sure no more of them are infected,” said Nethun. “But I can't order them into Shael without it seeming like another invasion.” Most of his followers were sailors and the Vorga. The people of Shael had only just driven the latter out of their country and would not welcome their return, regardless of the reason. “Vargus, can you help?”

“I can call in some favours to keep it contained. It won't get out,” promised Vargus. Although Kai felt reassured that the shadowy presence in the city would not escape, it still left him with the responsibility of seeing that it was destroyed. He said nothing of his anxiety though, just gave them both a wolfish smile and vanished from the banqueting hall.

Something was waiting in the shadows of Voechenka and he was keen to meet it. Whatever it was, he knew it had never seen his like before and was in for a big surprise.