Lord of Ashes

TEN

The sun had gone down leaving a blank, starless sky, but there was so much light from both within and without the city that Waylian could see almost clear as day. On the flat plain the Khurtas waited, torches burning bright as they bayed to the hidden moon in their grim foreign tongue.

Waylian had to admit, it scared the shit out of him.

The scores of magisters that surrounded him did nothing to ease his rising panic. They were the most powerful magickers in all the Free States, gathered in one place to do battle, but Waylian could not see how they would ever defeat the overwhelming number of savages waiting to swarm over the curtain wall.

The Wyvern Guard had gone out to greet them. Waylian didn’t really know what he’d been expecting — for them all to get slaughtered, more than likely. They’d trotted forward in a row, defiantly facing the thousands, just sitting there until the Lord Marshal had given his order to attack. Only two riders galloped forward to face the horde, though, and they’d both come back alive and with a standard of the Free States as their prize. It looked impressive enough, and had shown the Khurtas weren’t the indomitable force everyone thought.

Yet Waylian knew they were still the deadliest of killers, intent on bringing this city to its knees. No number of captured flags would ever settle the fear in his guts.

‘Hold your nerve, boy.’

He didn’t need to look to know it was Gelredida, standing beside him. As much as he wanted to heed her words, holding his nerve was easier said than done. Even with his redoubtable mistress by his side, Waylian felt like a rabbit in its hutch waiting for the foxes to arrive. Easy for her to say hold your nerve; she was a master of the Art, feared and respected and deadly as a viper. He was Waylian Grimm; a nobody, a neophyte, and he was just as likely to manifest shit from his arse as magick from his fingertips. Mind you, Marshal Ferenz would probably have disagreed about that. Not that Waylian had any idea how he’d managed to crush a man’s head with a word. Hopefully he’d work it out, and soon.

‘Stay behind me,’ Gelredida said. ‘And try not to get in the way.’

No need to worry about that! When the Khurtas came flocking over the wall the last thing Waylian Grimm would do was throw himself into the fray.

The Khurtas were beginning to get restless now, winding themselves up into a frenzy. Their siege engines were being rolled implacably towards the city walls and soon enough they’d be in range. In response, Waylian could sense the unease all around him.

Drennan spoke constantly to the apprentices in his charge, his voice a low grumble, but Waylian could tell his words were more of encouragement than rebuke. The youngsters in his care seemed focused; under the tutelage of the Archmaster they looked strong, mature and more than ready to face the advancing enemy. Waylian could only envy them for that. Though Gelredida had stopped treating him like shit on her shoe, he knew she still considered him beneath her — he still felt like a child in her presence and could only dream of sharing the autonomy the rest of these apprentices had been granted. Perhaps there was more to it, though; maybe it was her way of protecting him. Maybe she did have a beating heart beneath that frosty exterior. Or maybe she just had her own motives for keeping him on such a tight leash.

Further along the wall stood Crannock Marghil with his coterie of venerable magisters. They squabbled and clucked like a shed full of broody hens, some panicked at the rising disquiet amongst the Khurtas, others raising their own ire, as though they would need it to tap the Veil and unleash all the hells on the enemy when it finally attacked. For his part, old Crannock stood silently in their midst, an island of calm amongst the sea of thunderous old magickers.

The last Archmaster paced along the wall in front of his Raven Knights. Lucen Kalvor’s brow was furrowed as he stared out at the Khurtas, hands clenched behind his back, white fingers locked together, as if to unclasp them would unleash his magickal fury all too soon. The Raven Knights themselves stood like onyx statues, spears and swords gripped at the ready. If the Khurtas managed to scale the walls it was the Raven Knights who would stand between them and the magisters. A last line of defence. As much as Waylian had feared them during his time in the tower, he was grateful for them now.

Down below, the Khurtas had begun singing — a dozen different cants from their disparate tribes, some low and guttural like a funeral dirge, others ferocious like a last battle cry. It resulted in a cacophony that Waylian felt to the pit of his stomach, and it made him want to puke. To add to the din they smashed their weapons into their shields, the racket rising up and over the city, drowning out the serjeants and captains who were vainly trying to calm the city’s bannermen, rallying them with speeches and songs of their own.

Then, as suddenly as they had begun, the Khurtas fell silent.

It left a ringing in Waylian’s ears and he could only watch in fear as the echo of their clangour slowly died. From the centre of the horde a single voice cried out, shouting in their guttural northern tongue. There was no way of telling what he said, but it must have been bloody important, for every one of the forty-odd thousand savages stood and listened in silence. At any moment Waylian expected their ranks to break open and for the hellish form of Amon Tugha to come striding through their midst, but it never happened. That single voice just continued to speak, continued to cry above the silence as everyone stood waiting.

Though listening to that voice was like listening to his own funerary rites, Waylian didn’t want the warrior to stop. He knew what that would mean, that the battle would begin in earnest. As it went on he felt himself trembling at the knee, biting his lip, willing the voice on and on.

Until finally it stopped.

And the Khurtas charged.

Waylian’s hands began to shake. He glanced around, half wanting to see what the reaction of the other magisters was, half looking for somewhere to hide. Though there was a pall of fear all around, not one of the magisters moved from their spot.

That’s torn it, Grimm. You’ve not even got an excuse to run now!

Siege towers were dragged forward by beasts of burden, armoured and shielded in iron plate. Ladders a hundred foot long were carried by scores of screaming Khurtas, their shields raised against the flights of arrows raining down on them as they charged. In the distance Waylian could see a ram being pushed and dragged by men and beasts. To the rear of the horde trebuchets were being positioned, their forty-foot arms already winched in preparation of the death they would unleash.

Squinting down the length of the curtain wall Waylian could see archers firing in volley. Masses of arrows rained down, cutting through the Khurtas, but for every savage that fell another would take his place. For a moment Waylian felt panic grip him. There were no archers at this section of the wall. Who would stop the Khurtas climbing and attacking the Raven Knights head on?

For a moment he wanted to rush forward, to peer over the edge of the crenellated wall and see how close his doom was, but Gelredida’s order had been clear.

Stay behind her, Waylian. Don’t get in the way. Oh, and try not to get bloody killed.

He could hear the clatter of ladders from beyond the wall, but none of the magisters moved. Neither did the Raven Knights, holding their formation and awaiting Lucen Kalvor’s orders.

Waylian almost didn’t see the massive boulder as it flew out of the night. Almost didn’t notice it soar towards the gathered magickers like a silent meteor, ready to smash them all to pieces. Not that it would have mattered if he had; there was nothing he could have done about it anyway.

One of the senior magisters took a clumsy step forward, ducking his head and holding up an arm to the night sky. The boulder shattered at his unspoken command, splitting into myriad shards that landed all around them, peppering the platform like hail. A rock as big as a fist came to rest at Waylian’s feet and he stared at it for a moment, wondering what it would have felt like if it had struck him in the head.

Probably not much, you bloody dolt. Might have even knocked some sense into you.

Waylian watched the edge of the wall, expecting at any time a grim Khurtic face to rise up over the edge. He glanced to the Raven Knights, hoping beyond hope that they were not filled with the same fear and apprehension he was.

Something writhed in the dark between two of the wall’s merlons. At first Waylian couldn’t make it out, then it thrust forward, like the tentacle of some vast sea beast. It shot out, wrapping itself around a waiting Raven Knight and hoisting him into the air. With a powerful flick, the squirming appendage flung the screaming knight over the wall.

Lucen Kalvor bellowed for his men to brace themselves as yet more flailing tentacles appeared over the lip of the wall. In the dim light Waylian could see that they were not the arms of some land-borne leviathan but roots, as though the bowels of a tree had been animated and ordered to climb the wall. For a moment his mind flashed back to the arena days before, when that ancient tree had sprung to life intent on murder. Was this the same fell sorcery at work?

Does it actually matter a shit? You may well be about to die!

Branches battered against Raven Knight shields as the Khurtas began to seethe over the wall, their climb made easy by the vines and foliage that were even now growing up the sheer surface. One of the old magisters bellowed something long and loud and it wasn’t until Waylian squinted through the dark that he saw the old man had been impaled on a spiked branch.

‘At them,’ Crannock croaked, his voice rising above the din.

As the first wave of Khurtas surged forward Waylian felt the atmosphere grow heavy, pressure filling his ears and a metallic tang washing the air as a hundred magisters tapped the Veil in unison.

The first charging Khurta exploded in a shower of sparks and blood, his ribcage splitting open as though torn asunder by white-hot gauntlets. A second simply unfurled in curling ribbons of gore while a third was slammed to the floor and crushed as though by an invisible foot.

The animated branches retaliated in an instant, reaching towards the old men and women who had just repelled the first Khurtic onslaught. Waylian covered his ears against the screams as the venerable magisters, who had lived and taught in the city for decades, were torn apart. The Raven Knights ran forward to aid their masters, hacking at the writhing mass of branches, but they were too few to make much difference. An armoured body was flung past Waylian like so much discarded metal, while another’s head was torn from its shoulders like a doll in the hands of an angry child.

One of Drennan’s apprentices rushed forward, hands contorting to trace magickal sigils in the air, lips moving in some ancient incantation. At first the branches reached out for him, then pulled back as though repulsed by the youth’s presence. They began to wither, shedding bark and foliage, rotting before Waylian’s eyes. Then the young lad screamed. He grabbed his head, blocking his ears as though they had been assailed by a sudden massive pressure. Waylian almost covered his own ears as the scream rang out above the sounds of battle. Then the boy’s head burst into flames.

Waylian could only stare in revulsion before he suddenly girded himself against the horror. He darted forward as the youth fell, still on fire. The heat was intense as Waylian reached his side, but he grabbed the lad’s robe nonetheless, vainly trying to subdue the flames that consumed his head. Fire licked at Waylian’s arms, singeing the hairs as his sleeves began to smoulder. The lad’s screaming had ceased now but he still writhed, half fighting Waylian off, half fighting himself as the intense heat consumed him. Waylian beat at the flames as best he could, barely able to keep his eyes open in the face of the heat. By the time he had beaten the blaze down he realised the youth had stopped moving, his head now nothing more than a blackened stump.

All around was carnage as Waylian stared at the treacherous consequence of tapping the Veil before being fully trained. He almost didn’t see the Khurtas begin to flood over the wall. Almost didn’t look up in time to spot a savage eyeing him hungrily, blade in hand, eager for the kill.

Almost.

In a daze, Waylian spotted him at the last moment and he glanced around in panic, all thought of using his own fledgling powers gone from his head.

Well, you don’t want to end up a burned and blackened mess like our friend here, now do you, Grimm!

It was obvious from the look in his eyes the Khurta wasn’t going to hear any pleas for mercy and he certainly hadn’t come climbing over that wall for a chat about the weather.

He was going to kill Waylian without even breaking a sweat.

The Khurta grinned as Waylian began to move. He bared yellow fangs, sensing his prey begin to panic, feeling his blood pump the faster as Waylian tried to make his escape. But it was not escape Waylian was looking for. As the Khurta dashed towards him, sword raised, Waylian lunged for a spear dropped by a dead Raven Knight. His hands closed around the haft and he hauled it up, stunned at how heavy the spear was. He had seen such weapons wielded in the hands of the knights a score of times but could never have believed it would weigh so much.

The Khurta charged regardless, a scream of triumph baying from his twisted lips, just as Waylian levelled the spear tip. The Khurta rushed on, the last thing he expected was Waylian to defend himself. The impetus of his charge skewered him on the spearhead and it pierced his torso just beneath the ribs as he ran onto it a full two feet before realising his error.

His scream of triumph turned to one of dismay. All Waylian could do was stare into the Khurta’s wide eyes as he babbled in that sick northern tongue, screaming insults Waylian could scarce understand, though he didn’t have to be fluent to get the gist.

Still he gripped the spear as blood flowed down the haft. The Khurta weakened, dropping his blade and falling to his knees. His eyes turned hateful as he carried on his litany of curses.

‘I … I’m sorry?’ replied Waylian, not really knowing what else to say.

The Khurta spat a last insult from his lips before collapsing to the ground. Waylian just stared as the fighting raged around him. When he managed to pull himself together he found his nails were digging into his palms and his face was streaked with tears. Through salty eyes he glanced to his left in time to see a Khurta leaping at him. His charge had been silent. Waylian stood no chance against his axe.

The Khurta crumpled in flight, his neck twisting, his arms snapping and that wicked axe falling from his grip before he landed in a heap.

‘I thought I told you to stay behind me,’ said Gelredida, walking forward out of the night, glaring with a look of distaste.

‘I’m sorry, Magistra,’ Waylian replied. ‘But I was just-’

‘Never mind,’ she said, turning towards the battle. ‘There is still much to do. Stay close this time, and do try not to get in the way.’

Waylian nodded, but the Red Witch didn’t see him. She was already making her way towards the enemy. And Waylian had to admit feeling a little sorry for them.