Risen, p.17
Risen, page 17
part #12 of Alex Verus Series
Nimbus raised his eyebrows at me. ‘You’re accompanying Captain Landis, I understand? Then the solution seems simple. Make sure the marid has no spare forces to send.’
‘Don’t give me that crap! If that accumulator fires, the marid loses, and if I can figure that out, it can too. It’ll make damn sure it gets someone here, even if it has to lose half its ifrit in the process. Why would it care? All it’ll be losing is host bodies. It can just get more.’
Nimbus turned. ‘Mage Sonder, Mage Verus appears upset. I suggest you escort him from the premises.’
Sonder hesitated.
‘You aren’t expecting to hold the windmill or the accumulator,’ I told Nimbus flatly. ‘That’s why you’re setting up the video link. Those men are a screen. The idea is that by dying, they’ll buy enough time and give enough warning that when those jinn smash down the door to the windmill, Lumen can fire her shot.’ I looked at Sonder and Lumen. ‘Tell me I’m wrong.’
Neither Sonder nor Lumen met my eyes.
‘Verus, I really don’t have time for this,’ Nimbus said. Unlike the others, he wasn’t looking away; he looked irritated. ‘Given your recent activities, you clearly have no compunction about sacrificing men.’
‘If all you want is a sacrificial force, you don’t need to assign men at all. You could use traps, or automated defences—’
‘Which would not slow an attacker for long enough,’ Nimbus interrupted. ‘Human defenders raise the possibility that any of them could be a mage. This requires the jinn to neutralise each in turn before moving forward.’
‘Then,’ I said quietly, ‘maybe you could explain why every single one of those “human defenders” is from the same squad that disobeyed orders to arrest me last week in Hyperborea.’
Sonder and Lumen both looked at Nimbus. Apparently this was news to them as well.
‘Sacrificing troops is standard Council doctrine,’ I said. ‘But this? This is over the line even for you.’
‘Why?’ Nimbus sounded impatient. ‘Council security are used as a screening force. You know that; they know that. They know the risks when they take the money.’
‘And you’ve told them that, have you?’
‘If the accumulator fires, the marid loses,’ Nimbus said. ‘Your words, not mine. The chance of winning this war is well worth twenty-three casualties.’
‘Then if it’s that important, fortify this place properly. Mages, more men—’
‘Who would then be at risk,’ Nimbus said. ‘Ideally Captain Landis will be able to pin down all of the ifrit with his own attack, but the marid will do all it can to redeploy them here, and yes, it is possible that it will succeed, in which case a significant number of those defending the accumulator will die. With that in mind, any forces stationed here must be considered expendable.’
‘And those twenty-three are the most expendable?’
‘Mages are a limited resource,’ Nimbus said. ‘Normals are not. Particularly unreliable ones.’
‘You don’t need—’
‘I’m sorry, Verus,’ Nimbus interrupted. ‘Were you reassigned to the Keepers when I didn’t notice? Were you promoted from journeyman to lieutenant to captain, and then to director? Did you spend twenty years working for the Light Council until you were recognised and promoted for your efforts?’
I looked at Nimbus through narrowed eyes.
‘No,’ Nimbus said with a curl of his lip. ‘You never rose beyond journeyman Keeper, and that only because a Dark mage was able to force you in through a loophole. And now you think that because your friends on the Council have managed to cover up your crimes, you can waltz back in. Well, Verus, you have no friends here. You’re a jumped-up Dark mage who reached your position through nepotism and corruption. Nothing more.’
‘Talisid gave you orders to listen to me,’ I said. But it was a weak reply and I knew it.
‘Which I have done,’ Nimbus said pleasantly. ‘If you have objections to how your advice has been received, you are of course free to tell Talisid your reservations.’
I was silent.
‘I’m glad we understand each other.’ Nimbus began to walk past me, then paused. ‘Oh, and Verus? This is the second time in two days you’ve spoken to me with this level of disrespect.’ His voice hardened. ‘I am Director of Operations of the Order of the Star and if you do it a third time I will have you thrown into a cell. Do I make myself clear?’ Without waiting for an answer, he strode out.
Lumen and Sonder hesitated, looking at me, but the futures in which they spoke flickered and died. They followed Nimbus out and I was left alone.
Fifteen minutes to go.
The barracks had been abandoned, the contents packed away into spatial storage. Landis was delivering a last briefing to his assault force, gathered on the grass before the windmill. Luna and Ji-yeong were there, but I was keeping my distance.
The accumulator had been set up in the windmill, along with a big flat-screen monitor providing a video link to Sonder and Lumen. Deployed around the windmill were the men being left to guard it. Light machine gun emplacements had been set up on the towers overlooking the area, and on top of the windmill itself. I could see their barrels pointing up to the clouded sky. They’d do nothing to stop an ifrit.
I hadn’t even tried talking to Talisid. I knew what he’d say: Nimbus was in command, casualties an inevitable part of the operation, very regrettable, et cetera. And if I kept pushing, he’d raise an eyebrow and make some comment along the lines of how my hands weren’t exactly clean either.
I looked out over the sea. Much as I hated to admit it, Talisid and Nimbus had a point. I’d killed more than twenty-three people over the past month. A lot more.
Was I just being a hypocrite here? I didn’t like Nimbus – he was arrogant and cold. But if I picked any random mage from the British Isles, admitted everything I’d done over the past month, then asked them to compare that to what Nimbus was doing now . . . they’d judge me as worse.
It’s a disturbing feeling, realising something like that. As far as most people were concerned, I was one of the bad guys, and I wasn’t sure they were wrong. The part that really bothered me was that, when I looked back on the decisions that had brought me here, all of them had made sense at the time. There hadn’t been a moment where I’d had a clear choice between good and evil. I’d just had to choose between bad options, over and over again, and things had kept getting worse.
Was there a point at which it had all gone wrong? There had been the point at which Anne picked up the ring, and I’d kept it secret. Then after she’d been possessed, when I’d tried to cover up what she’d done in San Vittore. The attack on Arachne’s lair. The choice I’d been given in Richard’s shadow realm. Facing Abithriax in the bubble realm . . .
Maybe that had been it. That, at least, had been a clear choice. I’d sought out Abithriax, challenged him for the fateweaver and killed him.
But if I hadn’t, Anne and Variam would be dead . . .
I shook my head. No easy choices, no easy answers. And now I was keeping company with generals and politicians, the sort of people who make these kinds of choices every day. Pick option one, these people die. Pick option two, it’s some other people instead. Pick option three, and both groups live, but the problem isn’t solved and will come back at some unspecified time in the future, at which point it’ll probably be worse. Make your choice, and don’t take too long, because tomorrow you’ll have to do it all over again.
Maybe this was how you turned into someone like Levistus. Having to fight for your own position while also having to decide between life and death for the people below you every single day. Over time you’d get numb to it, and eventually you’d stop feeling anything at all. Was I becoming like that?
I didn’t know, and that frightened me.
Five minutes to go. I walked over to Landis.
Landis was going over the attack plan one final time. ‘Remember, the bulk of the enemy forces are going to be shadows.’ He was all business now. ‘Cut through them quickly and don’t slow down, because they won’t stop coming and we need to push as far as possible in the first three minutes. The primary threat will be the two ifrit.’ He glanced over at me. ‘Still two?’
I nodded.
‘Rearguard, remember, your duties are screening only. If enemy reinforcements push across the bridge towards you, pull back immediately. We are anticipating a full-strength push from the keep and I do not want you to get in their way! Rejoin the main force if possible, and if worse comes to worst get out of the line of advance and sit tight. They won’t want to slow down for stragglers.’ Landis looked around. ‘Everyone understand?’
There were nods.
Landis looked to his left. ‘Compass?’
Compass stepped up, a small pixie-like blonde woman with a spring to her step. One of the few women in the Order of the Shield, she was a space mage and Landis’s gate specialist. ‘All right, boys, it’ll be two gates!’ she shouted. ‘Three minutes!’
There was no more chatter. All around, soldiers were doing final checks on their weapons, mages testing their shields. Luna walked quickly over. ‘The ifrit mages in the tombs,’ she said quietly. ‘It’s Caldera and Barrayar, right?’
‘Yes.’
‘They were the first ones Anne took,’ Luna said. ‘So they’re probably possessed by two of the generals, right?’
‘Yes.’
‘But you haven’t seen Variam in any of the futures.’
‘No.’
‘It’s supposed to take a while for her to summon up one of those jinn,’ Luna said. Her eyes weighed me up. ‘And she must have spent most of last night on that ritual. So . . . maybe she hasn’t had time to possess Vari?’
I didn’t answer.
‘What do you think the chances are?’
‘About zero.’
Luna sighed. ‘I figured.’
‘Two minutes!’ Compass called. I felt the signature of space magic as she started her spell.
Ji-yeong walked over to us. She had her shield on her left arm, and was adjusting her sword in its scabbard. The Council communicator focus in my ear pinged. ‘Nimbus to command group,’ Nimbus’s voice said. ‘All teams report in.’
‘Alpha team ready,’ Rain said in his deep voice.
‘Beta team ready,’ Landis said briskly.
‘. . . Gamma team, ready,’ Sonder said.
‘Gamma team, status,’ Nimbus said.
Lumen spoke over the focus. ‘Accumulator is primed. We can activate remotely at any time.’
‘Confirm charging time estimates.’
‘Minimum charging time to break the keep’s wards and threaten the focus crystal is twelve minutes,’ Sonder said. He sounded nervous. Sonder’s not a battle mage, and this was probably the first time he’d been involved in something on this scale. ‘To guarantee complete destruction of that entire section, we’ll need to charge for seventeen and a half minutes before firing.’
‘Understood,’ Nimbus said calmly. ‘Captain Rain, Captain Landis, you are required to keep your targets engaged for seventeen and a half minutes. Confirm.’
‘Received and understood,’ Rain said.
‘Received and understood,’ Landis said. Whatever he was feeling, he didn’t let any of it show in his voice.
‘Begin final countdown,’ Nimbus ordered.
‘One minute!’ Compass shouted.
‘I don’t like this,’ Luna said quietly to herself.
‘Ji-yeong, stay close to me and Landis,’ I said. ‘If we get tied down with the ifrit, we’ll need you to deactivate the shadows’ spawning mechanism. I’ll cover you while you do.’
Ji-yeong nodded.
‘Thirty seconds!’ Compass shouted.
‘Confirm ready to attack,’ Nimbus said.
‘Ready,’ Landis said curtly.
‘Ready,’ said Rain.
‘You are cleared to attack,’ Nimbus said. ‘I repeat, you are cleared to attack.’
‘GO!’ Landis shouted, his voice booming out over the crowd.
On either side of Compass, just above the grass, a gate shimmered and formed. The first Council forces went through at a run.
12
Luna, Ji-yeong and I jumped through.
We came down on a stone bridge over the sea. Behind was the castle with its looming walls and towers; ahead were the tombs, a single curving building with arrow-slit windows mounted on a rocky pillar rising out of the water.
There was no time to look around. Keepers and soldiers were moving through the gates in a steady stream, crossing the bridge at a jog. I caught a glimpse through the crowd of black shadows guarding the entrance to the tombs: gunfire stammered, there was a flash of magic and the next I saw the shadows were gone.
I stepped to one side, motioning Luna and Ji-yeong next to me. The Council forces kept streaming past for a few seconds more, then the flow stopped. Compass was the last one through, letting the gates close behind her.
Gunfire echoed from within the tombs, and I could sense battle magic: fire, lightning, ice. Over the tactical channel, I could hear combat chatter: progress reports, terse directions. Landis’s men were fanning out, destroying any shadows they found. A soldier called out an alert for jann; a second later there was a flash of magic and the order to move up.
Tobias was directing a group of soldiers and mages at the entrance to the tombs. ‘. . . hold here,’ he was saying. He glanced at us as we walked past, then turned back. ‘Remember, look out for humans. If they’re serious, that’s . . .’
I glanced back up at the looming castle. No sign of movement. ‘Come on,’ Ji-yeong said. She was staring at the tombs, keyed-up and eager.
‘Patience,’ I said. ‘You’ll get your chance to fight.’
The inside of the tombs was gloomy and cold. I led Luna and Ji-yeong up the stairs. No shadows or jann were left. We passed one soldier with a bloody arm, leaning against the wall while a medic bandaged the wound, but it looked as if there hadn’t been much resistance. That wouldn’t change until—
‘Mage contact!’ a soldier called over the comm. ‘Mage contact in the central chamber. Force magic attacks, one man down.’
‘Hold position,’ Landis replied instantly. ‘Second and third squads, converge on the central chamber.’
‘Go,’ I said.
We ran up the stairs, our footsteps echoing on the stone. Inside my head, I was counting off minutes. As soon as Anne – the marid – realised what we were doing, it’d send reinforcements. We had to do as much damage as possible before then.
And then we came out, and there was no more time for thinking about anything except the battle in front of us.
The main chamber of the tombs was a wide, flattened oval, coloured in browns and greys. Magelights glowed from holders spaced around the room. The walls were lined with sarcophagi, each set back into the stone, with walkways joining them in giant rings. There were rows and rows of sarcophagi, each stacked on top of another and set a little back, running all the way up to the ceiling. Hundreds and hundreds. I knew from Ji-yeong that each was the birthplace of a shadow.
Fully half of the sarcophagi were respawning their inhabitants. Inky darkness would gather around the stone, then slowly coalesce, taking the shape of a smoky humanoid with white eyes and wings. The process was slow, but there were a lot of sarcophagi, and a steady stream of shadows were forming, coming awake and flapping clumsily down from their balconies to fight.
Fight, and be destroyed. Landis’s men were spread throughout the first third of the room and they were destroying the shadows one after another with bullets and spells and charged blades. The stammer of gunfire and the flash of spells filled the room. Most of the shadows died before even reaching the floor.
But the real threat wasn’t the shadows. Halfway across the room were two figures, one bulky, one slim, engaging Landis’s mages with earth and force magic. Caldera and Barrayar.
I took it all in at a glance and broke into a run. The room was chaos, screams and shouts and flashes, fifty men and a hundred shadows all fighting at once. Somehow, though, it all made sense. Through the fateweaver I could sense the lines of the battle, the inflection points. The shadows weren’t important – Caldera and Barrayar were the obstacles. A shadow got in my way and I cut through it without slowing down. I could feel the sovnya pulling me towards Caldera and Barrayar. It didn’t want constructs; it wanted the jinn.
Caldera was fighting two mages at once: an ice mage called Hoarfrost, and an air mage I didn’t know. She was outnumbered, but shadows kept flapping down to distract the mages, splitting their attacks. A Council soldier lay crumpled against the wall.
Hoarfrost threw a volley of ice spikes. They shattered against Caldera’s skin: she threw out a hand towards the air mage and some spell knocked him backwards, then I was charging Caldera and she spun to face me.
Caldera’s eyes met mine for a second. I expected recognition, anger, but she might have been looking at a piece of furniture. She started some sort of ranged spell, realised at the last second that I was too close and swung a punch.
My armour wouldn’t do a thing against a blow like that. I turned my attack into a diving roll; Caldera’s punch passed over my head as I came up behind her. The sovnya slashed out, and Caldera batted it away with a clang.
She’s faster. I jumped out of range of Caldera’s counter. A shadow tried to grab me from behind; I skewered it and circled left to come at Caldera again. Caldera turned to face me – and Ji-yeong stabbed her in the back.
Caldera staggered. Ji-yeong had been shadowing me and had darted in as soon as Caldera had been distracted. Caldera started to turn, and Ji-yeong drove her short-sword into Caldera’s side, under her ribs.
Caldera barely seemed to notice. She finished her turn, wrenching the sword out of Ji-yeong’s hands, and drove a punch straight at Ji-yeong’s head.
And that would have been a dead Ji-yeong, if she’d been a normal human. But the Korean girl had the enhanced speed and strength of her life magic, and enough combat experience to not freeze up. She jumped away, Caldera’s blow just barely missing her, and Caldera started to turn back towards me.
