Thief’s Magic (44 page)

I should have bought some gold and gemstones to exchange.
There hadn’t been any time or opportunity. At the least, he might be able to use Kilraker’s remaining money to bribe the sorcerers into letting them go.

Sezee had unlaced her boots and was tying them together, looped through her belt. Since she knew about swimming, he decided to follow suit. Veroo had done nothing, her attention no doubt taken up with driving the aircart.

He glanced to the north and felt his heart skip. The Dart was closing in faster than he had guessed. Watching it approach, he tried to ignore the fluttering within his stomach.

What will they do?
The Academy wanted to keep its secrets safe. To do that it needed to destroy Vella and silence Tyen. The sorcerers in the Dart had probably heard about the aircart driver who had ordered Tyen to shore only to receive a broken arm and lose his aircart. So they knew their quarry would put up a fight. The Academy may even have decided that, if Tyen couldn’t be captured, it had no choice but to order its sorcerers to kill him.

But what of Sezee and Veroo? Surely the Academy would not risk the lives of the two women, even if they had not worked out the pair were of the West Isles’ royal line. It might consider the women accomplices and therefore criminals, or even rebels. Tyen might have told them the Academy’s secrets. Nobody would hear about their deaths if they happened out at sea, unobserved and leaving no evidence.

He shivered. It was better to be prepared for the worst, he decided. At that thought the press of responsibility settled on his shoulders like a heavy coat. Sezee and Veroo were here because of him. They would not now be in a stolen aircart heading to the Far South if they hadn’t helped him. They might still have learned about the distant land by another means and sought to go there if they hadn’t met him, but they would have travelled in safer company.

I must make sure they make it safely to shore at the least
, he thought.
Even if it means being captured. Even if it means being killed.
But what of Vella? He frowned, then nodded to himself at the obvious answer. He must find a way to slip her among Veroo’s belongings.

That decided, he turned his thoughts back to the coming battle and considered what he knew of magical fighting.

It all came down to using as little magic as possible to the greatest effect. Moving and stilling were the least taxing ways to use magic in battle. Heating and cooling were those two actions intensified, but the greater the temperature change the greater the magic required. Attacking by heating the air and throwing the resulting “fire” ball was much less economical than projecting a missile at the enemy.

The most common weapon in a fighting aircart was a stock of arrows. They were small and sharp and didn’t add much weight. Cannon and shot were too heavy. A skilled sorcerer could launch hundreds of arrows at once. A sprung bow or two were kept on board fighting aircarts in case the sorcerer ran out of magic or flew into Soot, though they were less useful as they could shoot only one arrow at a time.

Unfortunately, he did not have a supply of projectiles on board. At least, nothing that would cause his enemy any discomfort. Throwing his, Sezee’s and Veroo’s shoes might cause a few bruises, but they didn’t have a large supply of those either.

He was probably better off saving magic for defence, anyway. The first thing an attacker would do was attempt to take hold of the enemy aircart, as Tyen had done when he’d stolen this one. To prevent that he could take hold of it himself, but that took more power than simply creating a shield of stilled air the enemy couldn’t reach through. And the shield had the twin purpose of repelling missiles.

Reaching out to either side, he took in magic and used a little of it to still a thin layer of air before and above the aircart, about twenty paces away on the side facing the Dart. He made it strong enough to slow an arrow rather than stop it, to conserve magic, and orientated it with the cart so it moved along with it. The other cart was close enough now that he could make out the shapes of the two occupants and sense the trail of Soot streaming behind their vehicle. As he watched he saw black emptiness billow out on either side as the sorcerers prepared to attack.

Glancing towards the coast, he saw that it was now a line of green below mountains grown darker and more distinct, with paler peaks visible behind them.

We’re not going to make it.

A shock went through him as something passed through the barrier. An arrow tumbled down and landed in the sea. He muttered a curse.

“What?” Sezee asked. “You stopped it.”

“Yes,” he agreed. “But I should have caught it. We have nothing to throw at them.”

“What about this?”

He tore his gaze from the Dart and looked down. She held a small knife with a curved, notched blade. It was a surprisingly nasty-looking weapon.

“You’ve been carrying that all this time?”

“It comes in handy. Especially when Veroo and I are separated.”

“Do you know how to use it?”

“If you mean in a fight, then yes.”

He shook his head. “Then keep it. If nothing else, you might need it to cut ropes or something—”

At a further shock he looked up again. Another arrow tumbled towards the water. This time he reached out and caught it with magic, moving it to his hand. Before he could send it back towards the Dart, however, the air between the aircarts filled with thin, dark lines. Trying to catch several at once was like trying to grab a handful of twigs. He settled for grabbing them one at a time, but had caught only three when Veroo called out:

“We’re dropping.”

It was subtle, but now that Veroo had pointed it out he could feel it. With a sinking feeling he looked up at the capsule. The front appeared unharmed, though he could only see the bottom half. As he turned to examine the rear, Sezee made a small noise of surprise. She was staring up, crawling backwards away from him.

Following her gaze, he froze, startled to see a long blade suspended a mere hand’s width from his nose. It was attached to the end of a spear, protruding from the belly of the capsule.

He cursed as he realised his mistake. He’d been taught that it was better to save strength by protecting only the side of a cart facing the enemy. Moving something in a direct line only required that a sorcerer propel it that way, while sending it on an indirect path meant controlling it for the entire journey, which took more magic and concentration.

Which was effort worth expending if one simple strike brought the enemy down. The sorcerers in the Dart had moved the spear behind Tyen’s aircart then propelled it through the capsule. With the capsule blocking the view upward, Tyen could never have seen it coming.

He cursed again, then apologised to Sezee.

“Oh, this is no time for manners,” she told him. “Are you going to pull that out?”

He shook his head. “If it didn’t come all the way through it might have barbs.” Drawing more magic, he extended the barrier around the entire aircart so it formed an elongated bubble. No longer helped along by the wind, the aircart slowed a little.

“So there’s an even bigger hole in the top of this?”

“Probably.” He felt sick with disappointment. It had been a stupid mistake, not protecting the whole aircart.
But it’s what I was taught to do. It’s not like I’ve done this before
, he reminded himself, but he felt no better.

“Tyen,” Veroo called, her tone full of warning.

He whirled around to see that the Dart was angling towards the coast, clearly intending to head them off. Then he saw that the land ahead was closer than he’d dared hope. Trees covered it – a forest larger than any he’d seen before stretching towards the mountains. It grew right to the water’s edge, where a small cliff outlined the break between water and earth.

“There’s nowhere to land,” Veroo pointed out.

“We’ll find a clearing. Open all of the lower valves of the capsule and move air inside, heating it as you do.”

“Already am,” she replied.

Which was why they weren’t rapidly heading for the water. Tyen turned his attention back to the Dart, which was steadily drawing closer and ahead of them. Soot was blossoming all around it as the sorcerers took the magic he and Veroo would need to drive and defend the cart.

He saw, then, the Dart occupants’ ploy. They would fly in front, robbing the way ahead of magic. The obvious reaction would be to turn the aircart to avoid the Soot. The Dart would turn the same way, slowly circling around until they had the aircart trapped within a ring of Soot, spiralling in until Tyen and Veroo had used up all the magic within.

Tyen could try to bluff them, turning one way to begin with, then dashing the other way across the Dart’s Soot trail in the hopes of escaping the trap. But the Dart was faster and would soon be circling around them in the other direction.

They could keep weaving back and forth in this way, but with a torn capsule the aircart would soon end up in the sea. They needed to fly directly to shore.

Then we’ll have to fly in the Dart’s Soot trail
. He and Veroo could do it for a while if, before they reached it, they gathered enough magic to drive the cart and hold the shield. He looked closer at the blackness. If the trail’s width was an indication, his reach might be a little greater than the sorcerers’.

He moved past Sezee again to stand close to Veroo as the Dart moved between the aircart and the coast. The sorcerer not driving the Dart moved to the rear of its chassis, a large cylinder tucked under one arm from which he was pulling arrows. He sent them in multiples, each time sending one or two arrows on an arching path to strike Tyen’s shield from the side or back.

“What do you want me to do?” Veroo asked.

“Keep flying straight.”

“Into the Soot?”

“Yes. Take as much magic as you can from all directions before we reach it.”

“That means there’ll be nothing for you—”

“Don’t worry about me.”

Soot surrounded them as Veroo drew in magic, moments before they entered the void.

It always seemed to Tyen that the air was cooled and sound dampened within Soot. He had enough magic left to hold the barrier in place as he reached out in all directions, beyond the edges of the void. He sensed magic within his grasp. Felt it drifting towards him, naturally flowing in to fill the gap the sorcerers had made. He seized it.

Veroo gasped and looked up at him. He kept his attention on the Dart. Looking closely, he saw that he had even managed to rob the magic from around and beyond the other aircart.

He straightened, surprised. “Well … that worked better than I expected.”

“Are all Academy sorcerers like you?” Veroo asked.

He shook his head. “I have no idea. There’s so little magic in Belton that we’re only allowed to use it in the Academy grounds, and nobody uses more than they have to.” He shrugged. “I’m starting to suspect I may be a bit stronger than the average.”

“It was a waste you being there,” she told him.

He blinked, remembering his own thoughts about the Academy’s rejection of her. Before he could think of a way to tell her this, she looked ahead and cackled with glee.

“Their propellers have stopped! They’re descending.”

His heart skipped as he saw she was right. But the Dart was coming to
a level
with them which meant … He looked down. The sea was a lot closer than it had been before the capsule had been damaged. Disturbingly close.

“So are we,” he muttered.

“We’ll make it to shore,” she assured him.

He looked ahead and shook his head at her optimism. More likely they’d crash into the trees, or the low cliff. He could try to push the aircart higher with magic, but he needed solid ground to push against, and the capsule support struts weren’t designed for such stresses. If they were going to repair the capsule and use it to cross the mountains, the less damage done to it the better.

The attack from the Dart had stopped. The driver had abandoned his seat and had joined his companion, both moving about hastily.

“We’re gaining on them,” said a voice at Tyen’s shoulder. He looked back to see Sezee standing behind him, the rope railing gripped in white-knuckled hands. “Will they shoot at us as we pass?”

Tyen nodded. “Probably. How much magic do you have left, Veroo?”

“I’ll get us past them, I think.”

He was relieved to hear it. Though he could drive the cart and hold a barrier at the same time, he’d rather not have to when he needed to keep his attention on the sorcerers. Veroo shifted direction, obviously intending to give the Dart a wide berth.

“No, pass them as close as you can,” he told her. “The sooner we reach land the better.”

The front of the aircart drew level with the rear of the Dart. The two sorcerers were no more than twenty paces away. They turned, each steadying a large sprung bow resting on the struts of the Dart’s capsule. Twin arrows shot towards Tyen. As they reached the stilled air of his barrier they passed through, but their path had slowed so much they dropped towards the sea. He caught them with magic.

The sorcerers notched and cranked two more arrows. Tyen couldn’t tell if they were holding a barrier, but it was likely they had put all their remaining magic into one. He turned the arrows to face the Dart. Yet he hesitated. The sorcerers were no danger to him right now. He did not want to kill anyone needlessly.

But what will happen when – if – we reach land? Will I regret not taking advantage of this opportunity?

They would have sensed him taking magic. They knew he was stronger. If he were in their position, he’d withdraw and return with more sorcerers.

He could ensure they took longer to do so.

Propelling the arrows towards the Dart and through his own shield, he gave them an extra push when they neared the capsule. They encountered a weak barrier but broke through it and pierced the Dart’s capsule. As the sorcerers sent more arrows he did the same, but this time their barrier repelled the attack. They did not send more. When the aircart overtook the Dart, Tyen propelled the arrows he’d collected earlier towards them. These encountered no barrier at all, and made splashes as they broke through the other side of the capsule and landed in the sea.