The way of courage, p.11
The Way of Courage, page 11
Bess smiled at his droll tone before saying, “We’re close enough. Are you up for the dash?”
He grinned and said, “Lead the way, Lady Blaze.”
Bess unsheathed her new swords—she’d made sure to bring the way-lord’s—and set off at a run down the tunnel which led to the Spider’s lair, her aether weave searching ahead of her. The spiderlings left as guards had heard the explosion and were gathering to protect the way to the central area of the Spider’s domain, but they were too slow. Even as they slammed access doors shut, Bess wove a spell to blow them open, crushing defenders who had barricaded the path.
As they neared an opening, Bess could sense a large room where a dozen people were grabbing files and gold and moving toward a smaller exit at the other end of the room. Bess sent a weave of gravity to pull everyone back toward the centre and then slam them into the ground. She left them for Nick and Flawed and rushed through the exit and into a tunnel that was strewn with dropped files and an occasional bar of gold.
There was a door closing ahead of her which she flung open with a blast of air. Then, pre-warned by the weave which searched ahead of her, she threw herself forward and under the barrage of gunfire from the dozen or so muskets that had been aimed at the entrance. She knocked all except two of those in the room off their feet using balls of compressed air. As Bess approached the two she’d left standing, Nick and Flawed moved into the room with their teams to deal with the others.
Bess could feel more defenders heading in their direction and knew they’d be swarmed within a minute. Ignoring Sabrina, Bess turned to the one she knew was Nerralie and said, “Spider, you have a choice. You’re defeated, but get your people to lay down their weapons and only you will die. Earnest will take over but will absorb the spiderlings. The other way is messier. More people will die, and in the end, none of your people will have a role in Earnest’s operation.”
Nerralie laughed and said, “Why would I care how you treat my spiderlings? Besides, I’m not certain you’ll survive once they get here. No matter how strong a mage is, they can always be killed if you throw enough at them.”
Bess’ senses showed several mages approaching, so she used her aether to drag two tables from against one wall and forced Nerralie and Sabrina onto them. Using aether, she pulled swords from the people Flawed and Nick had killed, bent them and used them to shackle the two women to the tables. Any move to try and free themselves would cut deep into their flesh. Bess waved at Nick to get their teams back into the tunnel and to take the prisoners and tables with them.
The others had just left when one of the doors flew open as a mage lifted blocks of stone from the floor and threw them against the barrier. As the mage stepped into the room, Bess could sense dozens of spiderlings behind him, waiting for the battle to be over before charging forward. From his robes, this mage was Tarlonin. He stepped forward, but when he saw Bess, he stopped. “Well, this changes things. I knew aether had been used but didn’t expect you. Let me leave, and I’ll say nothing.”
Bess shook her head and said, “No, my being here is sanctioned. Surrender, and I let you live; that’s the only deal I can make.”
As the mage began nodding, he cast a spell toward Bess, which she turned back on him. He wasn’t prepared, and as it hit him, his flesh turned to stone. Bess ignored the one scream he managed before his head became solid. She then waited for the other two concentrations of aether to approach. The spiderlings behind the now-dead mage had turned and headed away from Bess; they knew they had no chance against a mage.
The two points of aether were coming down the same tunnel, and Bess suspected both were Heptatic. She rewove her shield before setting four traps near the entrance, which would trigger as they entered the room. She’d read about the traps in one of the books she had on the Time of Darkness which described how some mages had protected their homes.
As the first one entered the room, he set off the first two traps Bess had placed on the floor. This first was a spell that briefly accelerated time in a small hand-sized section of space as it moved in an expanding spiral from the floor to the ceiling. The second drove a finger-sized metal spike upwards. As it penetrated flesh, it began branching into an increasing number of thinner spikes the higher it rose. His foot had landed on the needle trap, and as needles were pushed up and through his leg, he screamed and tried to get his balance. This brought his other foot down on the time spiral. It pulled ball-sized pieces of flesh from his body as he fell forward.
Although the second mage triggered the next two, he’d had time to modify his shields. Although both traps exploded against his newer defences, they were only partially deflected. One, which sent a gravitational pulse toward the ceiling, did some damage; the bottom quarter of his right leg was crushed into the thickness of a finger. The other, which was purely a physical attack using plasma, splashed off the shield, and although his robes started to smoke, his shield protected him from anything more serious.
His response showed a level of control that was as good as anything Bess had seen. He smiled as he used his aether to begin rebuilding his leg while moving carefully into the room with a crutch he made from ice. Instead of waiting, Bess sent a sheet of lightning at him, which sparked against his shield, blocking his sight. She sped up the rate at which she experienced the space-time continuum and brought her katanas around, only to find he was ready. As he blocked them using his aether, he hurled an arm-thick spear of ice at her chest. It burst against her defence, showering the room with sharp shards and driving her back several steps.
He put his almost rebuilt foot down and stepped toward her. He said, “I know things even the way-lords have never learned; it’s time to say goodbye to the abomination.”
As he’d been talking, Bess had been weaving a complex ribbon of aether using both hands. When she’d finished, she kept up a flow of aether to it. As he said, ‘abomination’, the end of the word was almost inaudible as he suddenly found it hard to breathe. Bess watched as he poured aether into his shield, but this did nothing to reduce the pressure he could feel pressing down against his chest.
Bess had noted that his shield had been less effective against gravity, and she’d set the ribbon up to rotate outside the extremities of the shield. Being gravity, the effect, on the other hand, was still felt inside the barrier. Several of his ribs snapped before he managed to counter the spell, but his loss of attention allowed Bess to find a seam in his shield. Using her focus, she ripped it apart and sent a stream of plasma to burn through his flesh and cook his heart.
With the mages dealt with, Bess called Nick, Flawed, and their teams back into the room to wait for Earnest. Sabrina started to say something, but Bess filled her mouth with a ball of compressed air and made her way to where Nick had placed Nerralie. Bess said, “You ordered people to kill my children.”
The woman looked defiant. She said, “I did. It was a huge contract and worth the risk. If you’d stopped meddling in Forsaken affairs, I would have never taken it. What you gave Earnest from the Stone House files gave him too much precedence, too much influence. Once that happened, war was inevitable. I just needed to deal with both of you before he got too big.”
“Now, he has all your things and will be even bigger.”
“Humph, don’t think you’re safe, Mage. He always turns on those close to him. You’re doing his dirty work at the moment, but one day, you’ll be a piece of flesh in his way, and he’ll simply toss you aside as he’s tossed others aside in the past.”
“Maybe, maybe not. You, however, won’t be there to say ‘I told you so’. I promised Earnest he could have Sabrina; you, however, are mine.”
As she finished speaking, Bess brought her katana from her shoulder and removed the Spider’s head.
CHAPTER 13
Bess had to wait about ten minutes before Earnest, spattered in blood with a rapier in one hand, appeared. After glancing at the dead mages and Nerralie, he walked over to where Bess was. He said, “Thank you. With the mages on Spider’s team, we’d have never succeeded on our own. When we’ve finished clearing out the tunnels, I’ll have your part of the deal collected. I’ll make sure none of it disappears.”
“Why not use both the carrot and the stick? Let your men know I’ve asked you to divide a tithe of everything that’s collected between them. If they decide to steal instead, then they’ll lose more than just their share.”
“I’ll do that. I see you dealt with Nerralie quickly.”
“I’m not interested in torture; letting her know she failed was sufficient. I just want people to stop trying to harm my children. Now, if she’d succeeded in doing that, then I’m not sure how long she would have been alive for.”
“I think you’d have done the same. Torture comes from a particularly nasty mindset, a mindset you don’t have.”
He turned to Sabrina and said, “What did you do with your father?”
Bess removed Sabrina’s gag. After swallowing a few times, Sabrina said, “He was so weak. He told me what a disappointment I’d become and wanted me to reach out and ask you to be merciful. Don’t worry, I didn’t make him suffer too much.”
“Any last words?”
“What? You’re going to kill me for doing exactly what you’d have done? I’ve heard the stories of your early days. What I did wasn’t even close to what you did.”
“I didn’t kill family, and I didn’t torture people for fun.”
“Seriously, you think a day of torture is worse than years chained up in a brothel before being cast aside. You’re a fine match for Bess then. Two self-righteous deluded fools who’re blind to the people they destroy even as they try and justify the destruction they leave in their wake.”
Earnest nodded and said, “Maybe, maybe I am deluded. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a nice person. Still, even during my darkest days and bloodiest deeds, I didn’t betray family.”
“Sure you did. Do you really think I’m not aware of who my real father is? I found your letters to my mother. Did you know she killed herself because you spurned her after Aunt Melly died? Her diary explained everything, Father.”
Earnest shook his head and said, “No, I’m not your father, and I never was. If you read the letters, then you know that was the understanding we all had. Your father wasn’t able to have children, but he wanted them to be of our blood. What I did was out of duty and love. It was love for my brother, not for your mother, and Melliandra gave both her permission and blessing. At the time, I thought it was my duty, but I’m not sure of that anymore; it hurt your mother, and over time it devastated Melliandra. Your mother knew that at the time, but she forgot after Melliandra died and built it into something it never was.
“No, you are my niece, or you were. Now, you’re a traitor, an enemy. It’s strange, but neither of my children really wants what I’ve created. If I’d known you wanted it, I would have trained you, and it probably would one day have been yours. Instead, you tried to kill my children, and you tortured my friend.”
“Friend? You have no friends! You have tools that you use then throw away. Nerralie told me of how you treated her.”
“That’s another long story, but as with most stories, it has two sides, and the hurt goes two ways. It is hard to have friends in my business, I know that, but it isn’t impossible. Bess has been upfront with me about her values, and I’ve been honest with her. We understand the boundaries. From the way you ran and hid, it is clear that you also knew the boundaries; you stepped outside them, and as a result, you will reap the consequences.”
Sabrina opened her mouth to say something else but paused as Earnest’s rapier pierced her heart. She looked up at him as her fate dawned and as the light in her eyes faded. Bess said nothing as Earnest turned away to give orders for the disposal of the bodies. When he was finished, he walked over and said, “Are you OK to get back?”
“Yes. I’ll head back. Earnest, I’ve no idea which part was the lie, but when she answered about what she did with her father, she was being deceptive.”
Earnest acknowledged the comment, then turned to organise his gang while Bess headed back to get her horse and head home.
The next morning after an early breakfast, Bess used the same weaves of the night before to make her way into the city in the hope that anyone watching would think she was still on the island. Once on land, she changed the weave so that they both looked old and worn out and made her way to the Academy of Magic. When she arrived, she was escorted to the stables and then to Andreas’ office. She was kept waiting in the reception area for a few minutes before being told that he was free.
Andreas stood as she entered and said, “Welcome, Free Mage Bess Fielding. Before we deal with the use of the training area, my daughter asked me to ask if you would drop in to see her before you leave, if it was at all possible?”
“I’d love to. I’m not sure how long the training will take, but I’ll drop in before I go.”
“Thank you. Now, for the training, Mage Nasir has sent messages for a range of battlemages to make their way to Tar Eylia for what he’s called ‘Additional Training’. None have arrived yet, but he asked if you could begin by working with some of our best mages, some of whom worked as battlemages before becoming teachers. Today, I’ve arranged for Mage Elias to work with you in combining spells with weapons, and then Mage Michael offered to work with you using fire. The aim is a combination of attack and defence. Next, I discussed this proposal with Mage Nasir, and he said I should check with you first. I would like for students in years three through five to have an opportunity to watch the training. I don’t mean for the entire time, but each year has classes in using spells in conflict, and I think it would help improve their own use of aether.”
Bess considered the request in silence for almost half a minute, then said, “If you think it would help, then that will be OK with me.”
“Thank you.”
Andreas’ voice seemed to chill suddenly, and his demeanour changed to one full of menace. “Lastly, Mage Nasir explained that you have an apprentice. This eightday, several other faultys have had their debts cancelled, and I wanted to know if you had decided to increase the number of apprentices you have?”
Bess smiled and said, “Senior Mage Andreas Windstorm, I will answer you if you can tell me what each of the four wants most out of life.”
He sat back, surprised, and said, “How would you expect me to know that?”
“I don’t. I doubt you’d even remember their names if you didn’t have a mage’s eidetic memory. My point is that I doubt you care what happens to them. I might have answered if I thought you had their welfare at heart, but instead, I suspect you are only concerned about how their freedom might affect your academy. In my opinion, Faulty Town is a blight on the Academy of Magic, and at its best, it is a poorly run prison; at its worst, it is Tarlonin’s only legally acceptable form of slavery.
“Even the name denigrates and abuses citizens of the empire. I’ve no problem watching people to make sure they have control of their aether, but selling them into indentured servitude is an abomination. If that question was too hard, then I’ll make it easier. Do you know the names of those who have committed suicide this year?”
Andreas was almost glaring at Bess, but then lowered his eyes and said, “I do not.”
“Each one of them was pulled from everything they knew in life. Even those with wealthy families have been so conditioned by the experience that for most, they are left to wither, and their families do not even try to help them escape the burden of debt. They were given into your hands, and you failed them. It is the academy that is faulty, not those in Faulty Town. You threw away your rejects without a second thought. Thirty-two have committed suicide so far this year; six were from my year.
“The oldest of the thirty-two was a man called Grenfield; he was fifty-three. He’d been trapped in Tar Eylia for thirty-eight years, and the only job he was able to find was as a night-soil collector. Last year, his only friend was killed by the guards when they mistook him for a man they were chasing. Grenfield had nobody left who cared for him at all. He was born in a mountain village deep in the Central Highlands, in the area over which I am now duchess. He never got to reconnect with his family or his people. I only found out after he was dead, and I feel guilty for not helping one of my people. So, you can expect more people to pay off their debts in the eightdays to come.”
Andreas said nothing when Bess finished; he just stared at her. After a minute, Bess got to her feet and said, “Thank you for organising the training facility to be free. I’ll head over now if that’s OK.”
The principal came to his feet and nodded. “Yes, I think that would be best. One of our students is waiting outside. She will show you to the training area. She’s been assigned as your liaison and is excused from class for today.”
Bess acknowledged the comment, then said, “Thank you, it will be good to catch up with Dianthe again.”
“How did you?…No. Never mind.”
Dianthe was waiting outside and stepped forward to give Bess a hug. She said, “I’m so glad you’re alive. I cried for days when they said you were dead, then decided it wasn’t true. I didn’t doubt you had a breakthrough; I just dismissed the foolish idea that you hadn’t been able to control it.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t let you know I was OK. I had to remain dead.”
“No kidding. Oh, sorry, I was told not to forget you were now a duchess, your Grace.”
Bess poked her tongue out and then said, “I’m still Bess. OK, I know that isn’t true, but it is for you.”
“You’re a mother too.”
“I am. I had twins; a boy and a girl. I love them passionately, and they light up my day. Of course, I still have to find their father and kill him, but other than that, we’re a happy little family.”
