Risen

8

The Alex from ten years ago would have died in that courtyard. The lightning would have burned straight through his body, killing him instantly. The Alex from five years ago would have survived the first blast, but the shock would have left him stunned. The follow-up attack would have killed him a few seconds later.

But I was very different from my younger self. I had my imbued armour, and the fateweaver’s magic. More than that, I had its mindset. The fateweaver had been designed to command a battlefield, and the battlefield was where it was most at home.

In the split-second before Sam fired, I took in hundreds of possible futures. Nearly all of them saw me die in the next ten seconds. The first blast wouldn’t kill, but it would daze me enough that Sam could easily finish me off. In a few futures I was able to hurl myself out of the worst of the blast, but I’d still be caught by the edge of it. There were no futures in which I dodged: I was too close and the fateweaver couldn’t nudge Sam’s aim far enough off course.

But there was one future in which I broke away.

The lightning burst out from Sam’s hands, blindingly bright, and I pushed with the fateweaver, straining for the future I needed. The lightning forked as the fateweaver guided it, finding pathways in the air. Some of the charge went around me; more crackled through my armour. But there was too much power in the bolt to guide it all away, and instead of trying, I took the hit on my lower body, letting the electricity go through my legs and into the ground.

Every muscle in my legs and feet spasmed, and I kicked off from the courtyard like a gymnast. I did a full mid-air somersault, hit the ground, rolled and came up as another blast of lightning lashed the stone.

Sam was more than twenty feet away. It was hard to make out his features in the darkness but he looked surprised. When you hit someone with lightning, you don’t expect them to jump like a kangaroo. He recovered immediately, but the second’s pause had been enough and I was on my feet and dodging out of sight behind the courtyard machinery.

‘Alex!’ Luna shouted.

No! I snapped at her through the dreamstone. Break left!

Luna had stepped out to attack, her whip coming out in a swing, but as she heard my warning she dived sideways. Lightning crashed through the space where she’d just been.

He’s too strong, I sent telepathically. Ji-yeong, you too.

Ji-yeong had been circling around for a flank; now she halted. So what, then? she asked.

All three of us were briefly out of Sam’s line of sight, the tangle of machinery at the centre of the courtyard blocking his vision. Ji-yeong, stand there, I said, sending the image of the spot I meant. Luna, behind the buttress. When he comes over, hit him from all sides.

Telepathy is much faster than speech: we’d had the whole conversation in two seconds. Now that we weren’t poking our heads out, the futures forked. In some of them, Sam blasted the courtyard blind; in others, he advanced or jumped over.

I reached out for the strands of the future I needed and tapped an iron wheel in front of me with the butt of the sovnya. A faint clang echoed around the courtyard.

Lightning magic surged and Sam came soaring over the machinery in a thirty-foot leap. I was already moving and his strike split the paving stones behind me. Sam landed with a thud, tracking me as he prepared to fire again.

Luna and Ji-yeong came out at the same instant, the three of us forming a triangle with Sam at the centre. Luna’s whip snapped out and silver-grey mist lashed into Sam’s body. At the same time, Ji-yeong and I charged him from both sides.

Sam was midway through his next attack when he realised what was about to happen. If he blasted either of us, the other would get him in the back. As my sovnya began its thrust, Sam’s body went white, becoming blinding energy that flashed upwards in a lightning bolt.

Ji-yeong and I skidded to a stop, our blades halting inches from each other. Behind, I sensed the movement of the lift change, and I pointed towards it. Get in.

Ji-yeong obeyed instantly, breaking into a run. What about you? Luna asked.

I’ll follow.

You can’t—

We all go down at once, he’ll just cut the cables and watch us fall.

Luna hesitated.

I softened my thoughts slightly. I’ll follow, I promise. Go!

Luna ran after Ji-yeong. The old lift had reached courtyard level, and Ji-yeong was waiting impatiently by the door, a lever in her hand. As soon as Luna ducked through, Ji-yeong pulled the lever and darted after her. The lift descended with a shudder, Luna and Ji-yeong disappearing from sight.

I was alone in the courtyard. There was no sign of Sam. His lightning jump would have carried him out of range but he’d have had time to get back down to the edge of the rooftops. He would be up there now, looking to re-engage.

Parts of the courtyard had overhangs, blocking any direct view of the sky above. I drew back against the wall and called out softly, using the fateweaver and the echoes to twist the sound of my voice. ‘You’re fast, Sam. Or I guess I should be calling you Aether now.’

Silence.

I moved right, hugging the wall, careful not to let my footsteps ring out. ‘I remember that lightning trick from the last time we fought,’ I called up. ‘You remember? When you and Darren brought Anne here. You were working for Crystal then.’

The walls and shadows were silent. My ears were still ringing, but I could dimly make out the clanking of the lift. If Sam had been focused on the fight, he might not have noticed that it had shifted from going up to going down.

I kept talking, using the fateweaver to throw my voice. The narrow courtyard cast echoes, and it wasn’t hard to bounce the sound off a first-floor window, making it seem as if I was hiding in its shadows. ‘Crystal’s dead, by the way. Anne killed her. And from what I’ve heard, so’s Darren. You’re the only one left. But you’re not really left, are you? Because you’re not Sam, or Aether, or any of the other names you used. You’re something else, wearing his body. Is the real Sam still in there somewhere? Can you hear what’s going on, or is it—?’

The courtyard went white. Lightning split the sky, striking into the window opposite. Stone chips went flying, bouncing and skittering around the courtyard.

‘Okay,’ I said once the echoes of the thunderclap had died away. ‘Touchy subject.’

My feet and legs were still numb. They were moving, but not quite as fast as they should; maybe a ten or twenty per cent drop in agility. ‘So, jinn,’ I said. ‘Ifrit, general, whatever you call yourself. Are you sure you should be trying this hard to kill me? Because I think Anne would much rather take me alive.’

Silence. I’d expected the jinn to have dropped back down by now. I couldn’t get a handle on its reactions well enough to predict them. I widened my view of the futures and a variety of different attacks played out before me. The patterns were confusing, different from fighting a human.

‘Maybe she was in too much of a hurry?’ I called. ‘I’d think twice, in any case. She’s going to be very upset if you . . .’

I trailed off. One future was eclipsing the others.

The smell of ozone in the courtyard grew stronger. Light flickered and I turned to look. A mote of electricity sparked from a piece of scrap metal in the corner, first once, then again and again. More sparks flickered from the sheet metal piled against the walls, from the iron wheels behind, from the levers by the lift, from every part of the machinery at the centre. Everything metal was sparking.

The sparks grew brighter, crackling. The stink of ozone grew stronger. Electricity flashed, joining an iron bar to a sheet of metal, a piece of scrap to a railing, a wheel to a lever. A distant hum began to rise, faint at first, then growing louder and louder.

From the opposite side of the courtyard, the lift machinery clanked to a halt.

I took one look at the futures ahead, then lunged for the lift shaft.

Electricity exploded outward. It was as if my movement had triggered something, and a hundred tiny bolts of lightning flashed out, connecting every piece of metal in the courtyard with each other, the walls, the floor. I wove a path through them and realised in less than a second that it wouldn’t work, there were too many. The lightning was trying to path through me into the ground.

So I jumped. Air magic surged from my headband and sent me flying in a low arc.

Lightning flashed all around me in a lethal spiderweb. I couldn’t dodge any more but the fateweaver worked its magic, bending away the electricity, finding a safe path through the maze of death. Seconds seemed to stretch out as I soared through the air, strobing energy all around, every hair standing on end, half-blinded eyes seeing the black square of the lift shaft draw closer, closer—

I went flying through the doorway, slammed into the opposite wall, and fell. The roar and flash of lightning cut off and I was falling through darkness. The sovnya scraped the wall, sending me spinning; cables burnt the back of my hand.

I channelled through the headband, air magic wrapping around me. My spin slowed and stopped, my speed dropping until I was sliding downwards at a comfortable ten feet per second. The darkness felt warm, comforting. Light glimmered below and I saw the roof of the lift rise up out of the gloom to meet me.

My feet hit metal with a clang and I rolled forward, coming out of the shaft to drop onto bare rock. I spun instantly, the sovnya coming up. The lift was seven feet tall, the gap from the top of the lift to the edge of the ceiling three feet more. I held the sovnya back, ready to strike.

Seconds ticked by. My eyes were glued to that three-foot gap. If Sam followed me down, he would drop onto the roof of that lift. For an instant he’d be off guard, and I’d have the chance to cut through his shield and into his legs. I’d have to kill or cripple him with the first strike.

Silence. I held absolutely still. The lift shaft was silent as the grave. I looked through the futures and couldn’t find any in which Sam came down the shaft in the next few seconds. I searched further ahead. One minute. Five minutes. Ten.

Nothing.

He wasn’t coming.

‘Alex?’ a voice said from behind.

I exhaled and turned, letting the tension seep out of my muscles. Luna and Ji-yeong were standing just behind me, weapons ready. ‘We’re clear,’ I said.

We’d come down into a natural cavern beneath the castle bedrock, pitch-black but for Luna’s and Ji-yeong’s lights. Huge rusting iron pipes loomed up out of the darkness, silent and ominous, running away to the north and south-west.

Ji-yeong relaxed, lowering her short-sword to sheathe it at her waist. Magelights danced around her, four tiny spheres weaving over her shoulders and at her sides, coloured a bright vibrant green. ‘I didn’t think he’d be that strong.’

‘It’s not really him,’ I said.

Ji-yeong nodded. ‘That’s it, isn’t it? I’ve always been a match for Sam. But it isn’t Sam any more.’ She grimaced. ‘Everyone’s stronger than me now.’

‘You get used to it,’ Luna said dryly.

‘You know where these caverns go?’ I asked Ji-yeong.

‘This must be the old water main,’ Ji-yeong said. ‘It’ll run to the north caves. The western route should lead to the keep.’

‘North it is.’

We started walking. The caverns were ancient, smooth uneven rock that rose and fell under our feet. Luna and Ji-yeong stumbled occasionally, but Ji-yeong’s magelights flew low over the stone, illuminating the drops and holes. Hermes appeared briefly, painted green in the glow, then disappeared off ahead. ‘I gave you bad advice,’ Ji-yeong admitted.

‘Wasn’t just you,’ I said. ‘I underestimated him as well.’ I’d made the mistake of treating Sam as though he were human, and I’d nearly died for it. The feeling was starting to return to my legs, and with it was coming burning pain.

‘It wasn’t just the power,’ Ji-yeong said. ‘His style . . .’

‘Jinn don’t feel fear or pain the way we do,’ I said. ‘They don’t care about their host getting hurt.’ A normal lightning mage would have flinched when he’d seen my sovnya swinging towards him, tried to defend or dodge. Sam had just taken the hit and blasted me. ‘Even when he jumped away, it wasn’t because he was afraid. It was because he knew he was going to get his body destroyed if he didn’t.’

We walked for a little while longer while the burning in my legs grew worse. When it became hard to concentrate, I finally let myself stop. ‘I think that’s far enough. Ji-yeong, can you take a look at my injuries, please?’

Luna stood watch while I lowered myself down to lean against the rock wall. I had to hold back a sigh of relief as I took the weight off my feet. Ji-yeong knelt next to me, green light hovering at her hands as she placed a hand flat against my chest. ‘Electrical burns through both legs, especially the right thigh. Looks painful.’

‘Anything serious?’

Ji-yeong shook her head. ‘No, you were lucky. Internal organs were out of the path of the current. It’ll regenerate with . . .’ She tailed off, eyes widening. ‘What the hell?’

‘Oh, right,’ I said. ‘It was like that when I got here.’

Ji-yeong stared at my right arm. ‘What is it?’

‘A symbiotic imbued item. Don’t worry about it.’

‘That can’t be a graft. Is that . . . transmuted flesh?’

‘I said, don’t worry about it.’

‘If something had eaten my arm and was starting on my shoulder, I’d worry about it.’ Ji-yeong put up her free hand. ‘Fine. I won’t ask.’

‘Thank you,’ I said. I could see that Luna was listening very closely. ‘I’m going to path-walk. Stay quiet for a few minutes.’

Ji-yeong was as good as her word, and as her magic got to work the pain from my legs faded. I took advantage of the rest to see what was happening elsewhere in the castle.

Landis’s force from the Order of the Shield seemed to be doing reasonably well. They were still skirmishing, but the heavy fighting looked to be over and the futures where I reached out to their minds with the fateweaver were reassuringly free of panic. Whatever was going on, they seemed to have it under control.

Nimbus’s force was another story. All the futures in which I tried to open up a link rapidly broke down into chaos, and in a tiny but significant fraction the links cut off in pain and darkness, suggesting that the additional distraction of my presence had been enough to cause someone’s death. They were still in combat, possibly one that was not going well.

Richard’s group was an enigma. The only two mages from his group that I knew well enough to forge a link with were Richard and Vihaela, and there was no way in hell I was entering into telepathic contact with either. I couldn’t even say for sure whether they were in the castle, but all my instincts said yes.

I drew back to the present. Ji-yeong was finishing up, green light glowing softly around her hands, staring into my legs as if she could see through the skin. ‘Done?’ I asked.

Ji-yeong nodded and I got up. Weakness swept through me and I had to pull myself upright with my right arm, but the pain was gone, and as I tested my legs, they felt far better. ‘Much better,’ I said. ‘Thank you.’

‘You’ll need to eat in the next couple of hours,’ Ji-yeong warned. ‘Oh, and I wouldn’t go fighting any more jinn until you’ve had a night’s sleep.’

‘Well, I’ve got some good news as far as that goes,’ I said. ‘Looks like Anne’s throwing everything she’s got against the Council main force. We should be free to move for the next half-hour.’

‘So now that Richard’s done his completely predictable betrayal,’ Luna said, ‘what do we do?’

‘We join up with Landis.’

The three of us started walking again. Ji-yeong’s light illuminated the curved, shadowed walls of the cave, bright enough to drown out the glow of Luna’s torch. Hermes stayed ahead, appearing now and again in a flicker of movement before vanishing.

‘So . . .’ Luna said. ‘Not to ask a stupid question, but whose side are we on?’

‘We aren’t completely on anyone’s side,’ I said, ‘because no one’s completely on our side. You and I are here because of Anne and Vari. And Ji-yeong’s here because . . . Why are you here?’

‘I left all my make-up back in my room in the keep.’

Luna and I looked at her.

‘You know how hard it is to find decent lip stain outside of Korea?’ Ji-yeong asked. ‘The stuff you guys have is terrible.’

I kept looking at her.

Ji-yeong sighed. ‘Fine. I don’t like losing, all right? This castle was my home and I’m not running away without a fight.’

I nodded. I was pretty sure that was true as far as it went, although I knew there was more she wasn’t saying. ‘Anyway, for now, we can mostly trust the Council. Landis’s group, at least. As long as we’ve got the threat of Anne hanging over us, we’re on the same team. Richard is probably more hostile right now than he’s ever been. In the past, he needed me because of Anne. He doesn’t any more. If he can kill us, he will.’

‘And Anne?’ Luna asked.

‘There’s probably enough left of her that she’ll want to talk to us at least a little bit before enslaving us.’

‘You’re a real ray of sunshine lately, you know that?’

We kept going. At regular intervals, I checked on the futures in which I tried to contact Nimbus’s force. The combat kept going for another fifteen minutes, then died away.

At last the tunnel began to widen into a cavern. The air began to stir with a breeze, carrying the salt tang of the sea. Hermes came into view in Ji-yeong’s light, sitting with his tail curled around his legs. He looked to our right at the wall, where a small doorway led into a spiral staircase. We entered and started climbing. Up, up, up, step after step.

At last I stopped, feeling Ji-yeong and Luna come to a halt behind me. ‘Hey there,’ I called up softly.

My voice echoed around the spiral staircase. No answer.

‘Friendlies coming up,’ I called.

A voice called back down from up above. ‘No friendlies down there, mate.’

‘Mage Verus with my team,’ I called. ‘Confirm with Landis. He knows we’re coming.’

A moment’s pause. ‘Stay there.’

We waited for a minute before the voice called again. ‘All right, come on.’

Three Council soldiers were waiting at the top of the stairs, dressed in body armour and carrying rifles. One of them nodded at me. ‘This way, sir.’ He led us through a narrow tunnel. Light and the murmur of voices began to grow ahead of us, and as we came around a corner and out into the open, we walked out into bright light and noise.

The room was a huge stone structure built for some forgotten purpose, and had been turned into a combination mess hall and barracks in which dozens of Council soldiers were bustling about, laying out bedrolls and readying gear. Electric lights made the stone walls look almost friendly. A portable kitchen had been set up in the centre and men were lining up with bowls; I could hear sizzling and smelt frying sausages. In the corner was what looked like a small field hospital, marked out with white banners holding red crosses.

‘What are they doing?’ Ji-yeong sounded slightly insulted. ‘Camping?’

The man leading us acted as if he hadn’t heard. ‘Captain’s this way, sir.’

We walked through the men. I recognised a few and nodded. Many looked cheerful, and I heard the odd laugh. The hospital didn’t seem very crowded – it had four camp-beds, one of which was empty. Whatever the battle had been like, they’d obviously come through in good spirits.

Landis came ducking out of a doorway ahead. ‘Ah, Verus!’ he called cheerfully. ‘You and Mage Vesta made it in one piece, delighted to see it.’ He shook my hand and gave Luna a nod. ‘Oh, and Lady Ji-yeong, excellent! My men and I are very grateful for your briefing. Extremely clear and helpful. If you need anything, just ask.’

‘Uh.’ Ji-yeong looked taken aback. ‘Thank you.’

‘I should be the one thanking you, dear girl. Well then!’ Landis clapped his hands. ‘Time for some tea.’

‘Seriously?’ Luna asked.

‘Absolutely! Right this way.’ Landis wove through us and headed for the portable kitchen. ‘I don’t know about you, but between the battle and all the jawing, I’m quite parched.’

‘Um,’ Ji-yeong said, hurrying to keep up with Landis’s long strides. ‘Mage Landis? I don’t mean any disrespect—’

‘Of course! But a more profound form of disrespect is an unwillingness to come forward, wouldn’t you say?’

‘—but isn’t this dangerous? If there’s an attack . . .’

‘Four cups, please,’ Landis said to the man behind the stove, who nodded and turned to some sort of chrome and brass contraption that looked very similar to one I’d once seen in Landis’s house in Edinburgh. Landis turned back to Ji-yeong. ‘My dear girl, when it comes to military life, there are three things you’re always short of. Good intelligence, a hot meal and enough sleep. Whenever you have the chance to give your men the last two, you should take it.’

Ji-yeong looked around.

‘No, he’s not crazy,’ I told her. ‘If he’s let his men set up camp like this, it means we’re not due any attacks.’ I glanced at Landis. ‘At least not for a while?’

‘Not for a few hours, I’d expect. Thank you, Jamie.’ Landis accepted a steaming mug from the man behind the stove and blew on it before addressing us. ‘Sugar’s on the table there; do help yourselves. Even milk, God forbid. Well, as I was saying, we managed to bring the entire force through before the isolation ward activated and the gate collapsed. Our arrival triggered the alarms and their rapid-response force arrived in six minutes. By then we’d set up fire zones around the windmill, and the jinn and shadows were taken care of easily enough. The second wave was a little more troublesome, a mage by the name of Sagash. Acquaintance of yours, I believe?’

I sighed. ‘I’d been afraid of that.’

‘It did get rather sticky for a few minutes,’ Landis agreed. ‘A few bumps and bruises, but no fatalities, I’m happy to say.’

‘You fought off Sagash without anyone getting killed?’

‘We did have something of an advantage of numbers.’ Landis blew on his mug and took a gulp. ‘Tried to catch him, but he’s a slippery bugger. We’ve got pickets if he tries for an encore, but I rather suspect he’ll give us more respect next time.’

‘If Anne’s got Sagash, does that mean she knows everything about the castle defences?’ Luna asked.

‘Safe bet,’ I said. ‘Landis? What about the other force?’

‘Ah, yes,’ Landis said. ‘As they say, there is balance in all things. Director Nimbus, unfortunately, saw fit to delay his deployment while he attempted to verify your analysis. When he did send his force, it was a little late. The gate closed partway through.’

I swore. ‘How many—?’

‘Once through,’ Landis continued, ‘he took the remaining part of his force and attempted to follow the original attack plan. Unfortunately, this did rather attract attention and Miss Walker deployed the bulk of her forces against him. The fighting didn’t fully stop until ten minutes ago and I’m afraid it was rather bloody.’

‘How bad is it?’

‘Between dead, wounded, and those left behind, I’d estimate Nimbus’s force is down to around forty per cent strength. In light of this new development, the assault has been put on hold for the time being.’

‘On that subject,’ I said, ‘aren’t you supposed to be attacking?’

‘Absolutely!’ Landis said, waving his mug around. ‘According to the assault plan, established by no less an august presence than our very own Senior Council, all of us are driving on the keep at this very moment. Of course, that plan may not align perfectly with the current state of affairs as it might appear to us from our limited perspective here on the ground, but I have every confidence that the after-action reports will draw a veil over any such irregularities.’

Luna, Ji-yeong and I looked around. A collection of soldiers and Keepers from the Order of the Shield were listening in on the conversation with mugs of tea steaming in their hands. None of them looked as though they were about to go assaulting any keeps.

‘Well then!’ Landis said. ‘I really must go check on the pickets. Do have some of the sausages. Jamie is quite excellent at turning any rations you give him into a thoroughly pleasant meal. After all, what’s the point of extradimensional storage if you don’t get a good dinner out of it, eh?’ He clapped me on the shoulder and paused. ‘Oh, and Verus, I’d recommend giving Nimbus a little time to cool off. He isn’t in the best of moods right now and I rather suspect any conversation would turn out badly. Toodle-oo.’ Landis strode off. Two Keepers peeled off to follow him.

‘I’m going to talk to Tobias,’ Luna said. She walked over to the remaining Keepers.

Ji-yeong was staring after Landis. ‘That’s your captain?’

A nearby soldier laughed. ‘Stick around,’ I said. ‘You’ll see why they follow him.’

‘If you say so.’

‘He was the one who took on Sagash, miss,’ the soldier told Ji-yeong.

Ji-yeong looked startled. ‘He fought Sagash?’

‘Landis is one of the best battle mages I’ve ever seen,’ I told her. ‘And a good commander. Look around.’ I nodded at the soldiers and mages talking and laughing among themselves. ‘They just went through an attack, and they’re telling jokes.’

‘At least he’s confident . . .’

I sighed, my brief good humour fading. I took my mug of tea. He wasn’t, I sent to Ji-yeong through the dreamstone.

Ji-yeong gave me a surprised look.

Today was just the warm-up, I told her silently. A day from now, a good number of the people in this room are going to be dead. Get some sleep. Tomorrow will be bloody. I walked away without waiting for an answer.