‘Bedig, you’re with me,’ she said. ‘Doreen, you’re in charge of the rest.’

  She strode towards the door, her head held high. She passed the end stall where the bodies of the three younger Rahain captives lay bloody amid the straw, and her anger grew.

  She reached the entrance, Bedig a pace behind. He smiled at her, his fingers drumming on the handle of his crossbow.

  ‘What the fuck do ye want?’ Keira yelled through the doors. ‘I was sleeping.’

  ‘Mage,’ said Brendan, a smile in his voice. ‘Apologies for wakening you, however I believe I may have temporarily misplaced a few of my warriors inside your barn.’

  ‘Aye? Why would you send them in here?’

  ‘To end a rebellion before it could start,’ he said. ‘Now listen. I’m prepared to forgive and forget whatever may have gone on inside the barn, but I’d like my warriors back first.’

  Keira frowned. ‘Yer officer’s dead.’

  There was a pause. ‘Unfortunate. And the others?’

  ‘Six of them are making themselves comfortable in a cattle stall while we speak.’

  ‘And the Lach captains?’

  Keira shook her head. She glanced back into the barn, and saw Leah helping to move bodies into the end stall.

  ‘Two are dead,’ she said, facing the door. ‘I’m keeping the other one. To get her, you’ll have to come through me.’

  ‘Will she swear allegiance?’ Brendan said. ‘As you yourself did, not so long ago?’

  ‘I might be able to talk her into it,’ Keira said, ‘but she’s still smarting from you murdering Big Lynn, as am I, for that matter. Ye didn’t need to kill her.’

  ‘She was trying to encourage an armed uprising against the forces of the council,’ Brendan said. ‘We’re all that’s keeping the Rahain out of Brig and Domm, and I won’t tolerate anything that endangers the lives of the thousands of refugees sheltering in the Domm Pass. Surely you can understand that? Your parents are there, I believe?’

  ‘What about the rest of the Lach?’

  ‘As I said, we’re only after their officers, the warriors will be safe, as long as they swear loyalty.’

  ‘I doubt many will do that.’

  ‘A few already have,’ he said, ‘and if your captain in there does the same, then I’m sure more will follow.’

  Keira frowned.

  ‘Here’s the deal,’ Brendan said. ‘You send out my warriors, and then the remaining Lach captain has until dawn to swear loyalty, or we’re coming in.’

  Keira nodded behind the thick beams. ‘Dawn, then.’

  ‘At least Big Lynn left a load of booze, eh?’ Bedig grinned, as they sat in a rough circle, drinking Brig ale in the fading light of the barn.

  ‘A pity it’s so shite,’ Keira said. ‘It smells like sweaty feet.’

  ‘It’s better than the stuff you drink in Kell,’ he said. ‘Cider? Listen, apples are for eating, not drinking.’

  ‘Shut it, ya Brig bawbag,’ Keira said. ‘You know fuck all about decent booze.’ She glanced over at Leah. ‘Any of that whisky left?’

  ‘No,’ Leah replied, staring at the floor. She had sat in silence for most of the evening, while the squad had carried on, and made the best of it. Except Baillie, Keira noticed, who sat gazing at Bedig with sad eyes.

  ‘Pity,’ Keira said. ‘Best drink in the world. Domm whisky can go and fuck itself, Lach whisky kicks its arse into the fucking ocean.’ She sighed. ‘Right now, every distillery in Lach will be in ruins, or sitting abandoned, and every distiller is dead, or shackled in chains somewhere in lizardland. Fuck knows when we’ll see decent whisky again.’

  ‘Yer talking shite,’ said Doreen. ‘The Domm make the best whisky, and the best ale. Our brewers are legendary.’

  ‘Only in yer own minds,’ Keira sniggered.

  Leah raised her eyes. ‘Big Lynn is dead,’ she muttered, ‘and all ye can talk about is whisky?’

  Keira frowned. ‘And ale.’

  ‘Aye,’ said Bedig, ‘booze in general.’

  He ducked as Leah threw her mug at his head. It crashed off the rear wall of the barn, spraying brown liquid over the hay-bales.

  ‘Do none of you give a fuck?’ she cried, standing. ‘How many other Lach are lying out there dead, stabbed in the back by Brendan?’

  ‘Simmer down,’ Keira said. ‘If we didn’t care, then why the fuck did we save ye?’

  Leah glared at her. ‘I’m never swearing allegiance to that bastard.’

  ‘So ye keep saying.’

  ‘I mean it. I’d rather die.’

  Leah leant over and picked up her longbow.

  ‘When they come,’ she said, ‘I’m going to shoot as many as I can before they get me.’

  ‘Ye won’t need to,’ Keira said. ‘Brendan’s not getting his greasy hands on ye.’

  ‘Have ye got a plan, boss?’ asked Lacey.

  The squad watched her in the half-darkness of the barn. There was a low level of illumination coming through the high window slats, but there were no lamps or fires allowed. She frowned. There was still no sign of Kylon, Kalayne or Baoryn. At first she had assumed that they were hiding somewhere inside the barn, but as the hours had passed she suspected they had somehow managed to get out.

  ‘I’ll take that as a no,’ Leah said.

  ‘Shut it, I’m thinking,’ Keira snapped.

  ‘What is there to think about?’ Doreen said. ‘Brendan’s guards have us surrounded. If Leah doesn’t submit come dawn, then everyone here’s dead, except Keira of course. Not even Brendan’s stupid enough to execute the last Mage of Pyre.’

  ‘We could try breaking out,’ said Bedig. ‘It must be close to midnight by now. We wait a few hours and slip away.’

  ‘You dumb Brig,’ Doreen yelled. ‘That’s suicide. They’ll rip us to pieces before we get ten yards.’

  ‘Shut yer mouth, ya Domm cow,’ cried Baillie.

  Doreen stood, clenching her fists.

  Keira sat back, smirking. She heard a low whistle.

  She frowned. ‘What’s that?’

  The force of an enormous explosion outside the barn flung Keira and the others to the ground. Her ears rang from the deafening roar, and the ground shook. As she lifted her head from the straw, there was another almighty crash, and the sound of stone splitting.

  Screams and cries arose from outside, and Keira staggered to her feet in the dusty darkness of the barn. She coughed. ‘I can’t see a fucking thing,’ she said, but couldn’t hear the words over the ringing in her ears.

  The doors to the barn were slid open, and Kalma appeared in the entrance, silhouetted by the flames rising from the farmhouse.

  ‘Out, get out!’ she called to them.

  ‘Come on,’ Keira yelled, pulling Lacey to her feet. She turned to Leah. ‘Stay close.’

  The squad scrambled and ran for the door. Keira emerged into the yard, and halted amid the pouring rain. The farmhouse was in ruins, its roof caved-in, and a fire was raging through the interior. To their left, a five-yard stretch of the cattle-shed had vanished, and a deep gouge ploughed its way through the steaming earth where its walls had stood.

  Keira’s eyes turned upwards, to the high cliffs running to the south of Netherfarm, not far from where she had captured Baoryn. She ignored the pandemonium erupting in the yard, as warriors shouted and ran, and squinted through the darkness. At the top of the ridge, she saw a couple of pinpricks of light.

  ‘The bastards are up there,’ she muttered, as the squad followed her stare. ‘Lizard stone-throwers.’

  ‘Where’s Brendan?’ Doreen cried, the rain dripping down her face.

  ‘He was in there,’ Kalma said, pointing at the ruins of the farmhouse, ‘with all the other commanders.’

  ‘The light’s moving,’ Bedig said.

  Keira squinted, and her mouth opened.

  ‘They’re getting ready to drop another one on us,’ she yelled. ‘Take cover!’

  She grabbed Lacey’s arm, and ran through the yard, towards the edge of the buildings and the dark grassy banks of the stream. Over the screams she heard a low whistling. She turned her head to see a huge boulder fly through the air. It struck the side of the barn, obliterating the wall and bringing the roof crashing down. A second later, another rock, a yard in diameter, hit a section of the defensive dyke, smashing the stones and warriors that stood there into the darkness beyond.

  ‘We’ve got to get up there,’ Keira yelled. ‘Take those fuckers out.’

  ‘It’s a fucking two-hour hike,’ cried Doreen, as the squad gathered on the grass. Most were weapon-less, and some had no boots on. Leah and Bedig were among the few well-armed.

  Keira frowned. ‘The gorge, then. We need to get away from the farm.’

  She turned, her eyes seeking the dark entrance to the deep valley. She paused.

  ‘Shit.’

  Pouring through the gorge were companies of Rahain, line upon line of soldiers, with shields and crossbows. They were moving up the line of the fast-flowing burn, shooting down any warrior fleeing the bombardment.

  Keira froze, the rain saturating her hair and clothes. Hundreds, more, were coming through the gorge, filling the narrow valley floor, and rolling towards the farm and the dyke. Two more boulders smashed through the buildings of Netherfarm, sweeping aside everything in their path. She ignored them.

  ‘We have to leave,’ Lacey said, tugging her sleeve.

  Keira smirked. ‘And go where?’

  Lacey said nothing.

  ‘They’re flushing us out like rats,’ Keira went on, ‘sending us down towards their great palisade wall, where they’ll pick off any bastard lucky enough to make it that far.’

  ‘So what’ll we do?’ cried Bedig.

  ‘Fuck it,’ Keira said. ‘This is as good a place as any to die.’

  The squad stared at her as she turned to face the farmhouse. The flames were low, fizzling out under the heavy and constant rain, but there was enough to work with.

  She returned her glance to the advancing Rahain.

  ‘If this is where we die,’ Keira said, ‘let’s make sure we take as many lizard bastards with us as we can.’

  She raised her hands.

  ‘Form a line,’ yelled Doreen. ‘Protect the mage.’

  Bedig and the others ran out, making a half-circle in front of Keira. She smiled, her eyes on the approaching Rahain.

  Someone tapped Keira on the shoulder.

  She turned.

  Leah swung her right fist and punched her in the face.

  Chapter 6

  Leadership Qualities

  Hills above Netherfarm, Brig Pass – 30th Day, Last Third Spring 504

  Keira awoke shivering, her clothes damp. A cold wind was biting through her, and the side of her head throbbed, and not from a hangover. She opened her eyes. The sky was heavy and grey, and she was lying in a patch of long grass, wet from the early dew. She groaned.

  ‘Morning, mage,’ said Lacey, crouching by her feet.

  Keira spat, then retched, but nothing came. The chill was burning through her bones.

  ‘Here,’ Lacey said, passing her a small jug.

  The mage sat up, swayed, and took a drink. She grimaced. Domm spirits. She took another swig and passed it back, her skull pounding.

  Lacey gazed at her. ‘You all right?’

  Keira said nothing. She wasn’t in a fit state to think, never mind speak. She felt like she had been whacked over the head.

  Her eyes narrowed and she stared at Lacey.

  ‘Where is that cow?’

  Lacey shrugged and looked away. Keira followed her gaze, and saw other warriors, scattered crouching or sitting amid the long grass on the hillside. She noticed a woman with blonde hair.

  ‘Pyre’s tits, there she is,’ Keira muttered, trying to get to her feet. ‘I’ll kill her.’

  She stumbled, falling back onto the wet ground.

  ‘My fucking head, she’s burst it.’

  ‘It’s just a wee bump, mage,’ said Bedig, keeping low as he approached. ‘Nice to see ye awake. At least one of us got some sleep last night.’

  Keira put a hand to the side of her face, and felt a large raised bruise under her right eye.

  ‘Hey, Leah,’ Bedig called out. ‘She’s awake.’

  Within seconds they were surrounded by warriors. Some Keira recognised from her squad, while there were others she didn’t know. She saw Kalma and Doreen, walking with Leah towards her. She forced herself into a sitting position.

  Leah stopped before her.

  ‘I’m sorry about the bruise,’ she said, ‘but I’m not sorry I hit ye.’

  Keira scowled at her. Memories of the previous evening swirled around her mind. Was Brendan dead?

  ‘I would have killed those fuckers,’ she muttered, her jaw sore to move.

  ‘There were thousands of them,’ Bedig said. ‘Ye’d be dead if we’d stayed. We’d all be dead.’

  ‘I couldn’t let ye throw yer life away,’ Leah said.

  Keira put out her arm. ‘Help me up, somebody.’

  Doreen and Bedig each took a hand, and they lifted Keira to her feet.

  ‘What’s the plan, mage?’ Leah said.

  Keira frowned. ‘I don’t know about you lot, but I need a piss.’

  She staggered off, leaving the others gazing at her back as she stumbled through the tall grass. She found a thick clump of gorse, and went to its far side, out of the squad’s eye-line. Her feet slipped on loose slate, and she grabbed hold of a branch, gasping and scrambling as she realised she was on the edge of a cliff. She crashed back into the undergrowth, sweating, and turned. A yard ahead of her was a hundred-foot drop to the bottom of the valley. She laughed. That would have been a funny way to go.

  She pulled down her leggings and looked out at the view, the wind chilling her bare arse. Below, she could see the ruins of Netherfarm. Nothing moved among the destroyed buildings. There were several large gaps in the long drystane dyke, and heaps of bodies lay scattered by the banks of the river, and there were more clustered down the valley beyond the dyke.

  ‘Ye got yer arse handed to ye last night, eh?’ said Kalayne.

  He stepped back as she swung her fist at him. She pulled up her leggings.

  ‘You dirty old bastard,’ she cried. ‘I should throw you off the cliff.’

  Kalayne shrugged. ‘I wasn’t looking.’

  ‘Not just for that,’ she said, ‘for fucking abandoning us yesterday.’

  She stood, and gripped his arm, her teeth bared.

  ‘I didn’t know what was going to happen,’ he said. ‘Let go of me.’

  She felt a soft pressure in her mind.

  ‘Don’t use yer fucking tricks on me,’ she spat.

  ‘Let him go,’ said Kylon.

  Keira turned.

  She released Kalayne, and he took a few steps back, rubbing his arm. Kylon stood close by, a long, leather coat across his shoulders. His eyes were staring at her.

  ‘Where the fuck did you go?’ she said.

  ‘Kalayne and I, we, I needed to talk.’

  Rage built inside her like a fire.

  ‘And what about me?’ she cried. ‘Why couldn’t ye talk to me? Ye can speak to that old fucker, but ye can’t open yer mouth to somebody ye say ye love?’

  ‘I do love you, Keira.’

  Keira strode past them, noticing Baoryn skulking by Kylon’s side. She walked back to where the warriors sat.

  She pointed at Kalayne.

  ‘Can you all see him, aye?’

  The warriors looked at her like she was crazy.

  ‘You mean Kalayne?’ said Lacey. ‘Um, aye.’

  ‘Good,’ Keira said, sitting on the grass. ‘Listen up, because the mad old bastard is about to explain to us why he decided to leave yesterday, just when we fucking needed him.’

  Kalayne raised an eyebrow, and ambled forward.

  ‘Keira has a tendency to exaggerate my abilities somewhat,’ he said. ‘There’s nothing I could have done, had I been in Netherfarm during the Rahain ambush. If I’d been down there, I suspect I’d be just as dead as Brendan.’

  ‘What abilities, old man?’ said Doreen. ‘And yer wandering eye doesn’t count.’

  He looked around at the warriors assembled on the grassy hillside.

  ‘How many are here?’ he said.

  ‘Thirty-two,’ said Kalma, sitting by Leah and Bedig. ‘Not including yourself, Kylon and the lizard.’

  ‘His name’s Baoryn,’ Kylon said.

  Kalma shrugged. ‘Me and Doreen are the only squad-leaders, the rest are a mixture of whoever was around when we fled.’

  ‘Right, well then…’ Kalayne said, before trailing off into silence. His eyes went hazy for a long moment. Just as the warriors were getting restless, he started, shaking his head.

  ‘The Rahain force has almost reached the palisade wall,’ he said, staring at the warriors, ‘driving the remaining clansfolk onwards to where thousands of crossbows are ready for them. Apart from you, there are no other groups of clansfolk at large in the Brig Pass. There’s the odd straggler, and several lying wounded and dying, but you lot are the only decent-sized force left.’

  The faces of the warriors fell.

  ‘Force?’ said Doreen. ‘Have you seen the state they’re in? Half have no weapons, and some didn’t even remember their boots. And what are we going to eat? Leah and Kalma are the only ones with longbows, are they supposed to catch enough for us all?’

  Kalayne frowned at her as if she were a stupid child. ‘I have no interest in mere logistics.’

  Doreen shook her head.

  ‘We may as well go back to Domm,’ she said. ‘See if we can intercept a supply wagon coming down from Brig. Otherwise we’ll die up in these hills.’

  ‘What does the mage think?’ said Leah.

  Keira smirked. ‘The mage doesn’t give a fuck. The mage wants to get drunk.’

  Leah leapt to her feet, and for a moment Keira thought the Lach woman was going to lunge at her, but she turned, and strode off down the hillside.

  Kalayne pointed at Keira as he gazed at the warriors.

  ‘This is what I have to work with,’ he said, ‘a fire goddess who behaves like a bear with a thorn in her paw, always ready to lash out without thinking. At the same time though, you’ve all seen her fight, eh? You know what I’m saying. Did you see her at Marchside? Whoosh! If she was willing, would you follow her?’

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11