Geomancer (Well of Echoes) (52 page)

T
iaan was woken by thuds and crashes that shook the building. A gloomy light came through the ice. She ran to the entrance but the plug remained in place. ‘Ryll?’ she yelled through the space around the block. ‘What’s happening?’

There was no answer. She heard more thuds, a roar of pain from a lyrinx, higher screams. With a
hiss-thump
, something came through the wall, pinning the bearskin to the floor. It was a spear from a clanker javelard.

Tiaan did not waste time wondering how she had been tracked, or how they had got clankers up here. Somehow they had, which showed an absolute determination to take her back or destroy her. Why? It could not be because she’d run away from the breeding factory. No runaway was worth such a hunt. Was it because she’d saved the life of the enemy? It could be. The Histories of the lyrinx wars contained many tales of treachery and, whatever it took, the traitors were always hunted down. The Council of Scrutators believed in making examples.

They must also be hunting her because she was an artisan. The secret of controllers would be invaluable to the enemy and Gi-Had was making sure they did not get it.

Either way she could never go home. And to make matters worse, withdrawal still ebbed and flowed within her. When a pang struck she was incapable of thinking about anything else.

Throwing on her coat, she took up the spear and waited. Faint cries came from outside, and the roars of lyrinx. The building shook as if a catapult ball had struck it. Ice fell from the roof.

The trapped feeling grew. Tiaan hacked at the wall with the spear, but had not made more than a fist-sized indentation when there came a ghastly echoing scream from outside, a lyrinx death-cry, surely.

The sounds of battle continued. Tiaan had just resumed her futile work when the ice plug was thrust in and Ryll’s head appeared. He scrabbled through the gap, kicked the plug back and gasped, ‘Get ready!’

‘My people have come!’ She did not say it with any joy.

‘And they tried to kill you before.’

Ryll began to claw at the wall: across, down, across, up, with the same furious energy as he had shown in scouring his way into her ice sphere after the avalanche. The raking strokes flung ice halfway across the room. There was an intense look on his face that she had not seen before. Fear? Or fury at what was happening outside?

The plug ground forward. Ryll leapt across the room and slammed it back. Anguished cries came from the other side. He jammed the spear into the ice in front of the plug, bound her wrists with a strip of leather and resumed his frantic work.

The plug moved, hit the spear and stopped. His gouges in the wall had now outlined a block almost her size. Putting his shoulder to it, he heaved. The block did not budge. Shaking his head, Ryll gouged faster.

Another blow shook the plug, snapping off the point of the spear. The plug crept forward. Was it better to be captured, or taken by Ryll? Could she escape both? Indecision paralysed her.

The plug was heaved through and a soldier’s head appeared, a savage, bloody, human face. Tiaan shrank away.

The soldier cried, ‘Run, artisan!’

Ryll jerked her against his side. ‘If you want to see your crystal again,’ he said in her ear, ‘you’ll come with me.’

Tiaan tried to swallow. Her dry tongue rasped against the roof of her mouth.

The soldier’s face hardened and he levelled the crossbow. From this distance he could not miss. His finger tightened on the release. Ryll twisted violently but the impact slammed him into the wall and her hand slipped free. A gasp escaped him. The soldier dropped the crossbow and lunged at Ryll with the spear. Ryll slashed and then weaved away, holding his shoulder. The soldier went after him.

Tiaan took two steps but a pang of withdrawal drove her to her knees. She cried out with the agony of longing, so strong that she lost track of the struggle on the other side of the room.

A blurry face appeared in the tunnel. Irisis crawled through, carrying a bloody sword, and fell on the pack. Not finding what she was looking for, she put the sword tip to Tiaan’s throat. The withdrawal eased.

‘Where is it?’ Irisis ground out. ‘Where is the crystal?’

‘They took it from me,’ Tiaan whispered. ‘Can’t you tell?’ She held out a shaking hand.

Irisis glared into her bloodshot eyes. Tiaan caught her breath, expecting to be skewered through the throat, but Irisis turned away.

‘What are you doing?’ cried the struggling soldier. ‘Take her!’

‘She doesn’t matter,’ snarled Irisis over her shoulder as she scrambled down the tunnel. ‘The crystal does.’

Ryll drove the soldier back to the tunnel with sweeps of his good arm. The man took refuge there, roaring, ‘Help! I’ve found the artisan.’

Tiaan watched, numb inside, her arms around her pack. Nothing mattered now but the crystal – she had to get it back.

Ryll kicked ice in the man’s face, grabbed her, hit the block with his good shoulder and it fell through. Freezing air roared in. Wrapping his arms around her, he forced through the wall with his back. As the soldier darted forward, stabbing with the spear, Ryll leapt onto the domed roof and kicked with both feet. The block fell in, then the ones on either side. He almost went with it as the rest of the roof collapsed.

The soldier disappeared under the ice blocks. Ryll gave a convulsive twist in mid-air, his vestigial wings flapping uselessly, and tumbled off the side. Tiaan saw her chance to escape them all. She ran around the corner but her legs stalled, as if she was hobbled. She tried to go on but the withdrawal would not allow her. She must be going the wrong way – away from the crystal.

Ryll hobbled into view, his muzzle darting from side to side. Not seeing her against the wall, he went the other way, disappearing into the driving snow.

Where could the crystal be? Probably in the main ice house. Creeping along the wall, she came face to face with Gi-Had. Each stopped, staring at the other. Gi-Had was terribly wounded. Claw marks across his chest had exposed ribs and breast bone. His coat was crusted with frozen blood.

Even so, his face lit up. ‘Tiaan!’ He threw out his arms. One bloodstained hand had two fingers missing.

Tiaan stalled, her mouth open. His reaction made no sense.

He took a staggering step toward her. ‘What is the matter, artisan?’

She choked. ‘I … can’t,’ she gasped. ‘Must find the crystal …’ She backed away.

‘Why, artisan?
Why
?’ Gi-Had fell to his knees.

She turned, desperate to escape the look in his eyes, but crashed into Ryll, who grabbed her. She struggled weakly. As the lyrinx carried her away, she caught a last glimpse of the overseer, supporting himself on the tumbled blocks of the ice house. He was staring after her. She knew she would never see him again. Despair and self-loathing boiled up inside her.

Ryll ran through the fog and ducked behind another ice house.

‘Where are you taking me?’ she gasped.

‘Far away,’ the lyrinx said.

‘What about the other lyrinx?’ Her mouth was dry.

‘They will die defending us,’ Ryll said gravely.

‘Even the children?’

She could see the pain on his face now, more poignant because he was unlikely ever to have children of his own. ‘Alas! There are many soldiers and four clankers. You humans are deadly ingenious. We had no chance. The catapults killed three of us in our sleep.’ His head darted around, then he jerked her back.

Two soldiers ran across the gap between the ice houses, calling out to a third Tiaan could not see. ‘The roof’s collapsed. She must be under it.’

‘Irisis was in there too,’ said the other.

Ryll’s hand went across Tiaan’s mouth. He dragged her the other way.

‘Where is my crystal?’ she mumbled. Without it, her dreams were nothing.

‘Gone with Besant. It is safe with her. You’ll see it again, soon.’

The withdrawal eased at once. Tiaan looked around. Purple blood ran in a thin stream from his shoulder. Behind them the wind blew a clear passage through the snow clouds.

‘There they go!’ someone roared.

Something flashed between the two furthest snilau. Nish squinted against the snow.

‘Hey! It’s Tiaan. The beast is getting away with her. Get moving, Ky-Ara.’

Pur-Did thumped on the roof and the clanker began to move, sluggishly and with much groaning of the drive trains. He tried to aim the javelard but the pair had disappeared. Nish opened the top hatch.

‘What’s the matter?’ he yelled down.

‘Oil has gone cold. I can’t go any faster until it warms up.’

‘Anything I can do to help?’

‘Not a thing!’ Ky-Ara was manipulating the knobs in jerky motions that betrayed his anxiety. ‘Not a damn thing!’

Ullii huddled up against the back corner, shaking. Any kind of violence was unbearable to her. Nish wondered what had happened to Irisis. He’d not seen her since the skirmish started. She could well be dead.

The clanker ground around in a great circle before Pur-Did picked up tracks heading toward the edge of the plateau, which was not far away.

‘Follow them!’ Nish shouted, unnecessarily. The shooter smiled at his naive enthusiasm.

Ky-Ara called up through the hatch. He sounded uneasy. ‘I must let the sergeant –’

‘No time!’ Nish yelled. ‘If the wind comes up we’ll lose them. They’ll be over the edge, and by the time we get the clankers down they’ll have gone into the mountains where we can’t follow.’

If there’s anyone left to follow, he thought. The carnage had been terrible. They might run their quarry down only to find themselves alone. And then, barring a lucky shot from the javelard, they would also die. How quickly the advantage had been lost.

The clanker turned onto the tracks, bumping lethargically along. Nish cursed their slow pace. The lyrinx had seemed to be limping but must be going faster than this.

Up ahead, the footprints descended into a gully, ploughed through deep snow, and up onto the side where the cover was thin. The operator kept going straight.

Nish swung inside, ignoring Ullii cowering in the corner. ‘Down there!’ he cried, pointing. ‘Can’t you see?’

‘Deep drifts that way,’ said Ky-Ara. ‘We’ll never get through them. It’s quicker along the rim.’

The clanker did seem to be speeding up. They tracked along the edge, a shorter distance than the winding gully bottom.

‘I can see them!’ Nish roared. He stuck his head out the back. ‘Fire! Fire, damn you!’

The man did not fire. ‘Bloody fool!’ said Nish, climbing onto the top. ‘What’s the matter?’

Pur-Did said patiently, ‘I can’t train the javelard that low.’

Nish threw himself back in, issuing instructions. ‘Down there! He’s got to have the front pointed down or the spear will go over their heads.’

‘We know our jobs, artificer,’ Ky-Ara said coldly. ‘Keep out of our way and let us do them.’

He slowed, turned and tipped the front over the edge. The mechanical legs pounded. The lyrinx came into view, running down the valley, hauling Tiaan by one arm. The beast was limping badly. Oh, for a crossbow!

Fire! Nish said to himself. Now;
now
!

The shooter did not fire. The angle was still not right. Nish felt like kicking him off his seat and using the javelard himself.

‘Just not low enough,’ Pur-Did called through the hole, picking icicles from his warty nostrils. ‘Try a bit further down, Ky-Ara.’

Ky-Ara reversed the machine, its iron footpads squealing as they cut through snow to stone beneath. Gravel showered down the side of the gully, the clanker turned and, moving much faster now, clattered along the rim. A few hundred paces on they tried again. Here the rim was benched, allowing the clanker to get further down. Ky-Ara moved it into position. They waited.

Tiaan and the lyrinx appeared. Her hands were bound, though surely she could have outdistanced the hobbling creature had she chosen to. Was she a traitor after all?

Agonising seconds passed but still the shooter did not fire. ‘Go!’ Nish roared, pounding on the roof.

‘Damn thing’s jammed.’

Soon it would be too late. The lyrinx had only checked for an instant. As it continued, Nish noticed something strange about this one. It had no wings.

‘Free!’ yelled the shooter. ‘Turn around, Ky-Ara. If we can’t get it coming, we’ll get it going.’

‘Blasted shooters!’ cursed Ky-Ara. ‘Useless clowns.’ He turned, backed, turned again. Nish kept his eye to the porthole. The fleeing pair ran right below them. A pang struck Nish’s heart. He did not want her to die.

‘A bit further down at the front,’ Pur-Did yelled.

Ky-Ara hesitated. ‘We’re too close to the edge.’

Nish’s fury boiled over. Was he the only one who wanted to catch them? ‘If you don’t want to be a clanker operator,
just say so
!’ he said in a deadly voice. ‘I’m sure my father the perquisitor can replace you.’

Ky-Ara choked, looked around wildly, and then edged the machine forward, sideways and forward again. His teeth began to chatter as he waited for the call, ‘Enough!’

It did not come, because rock beneath the right-hand side crumbled and they slipped sideways. A whole slab gave; the clanker tilted over. Ky-Ara moaned, frantically working to right the machine, but it was too late. The clanker rolled, crashed onto its roof and kept rolling.