Shadows in the Smoke - Chapter 42 - Special Ammunition

  “The Republic is surrounded by hostile powers that would like nothing more than to return the People to the oppression of the past. We can and do extend the hand of friendship to our neighbours, but it is vital that every Citizen remembers that that hand may be bitten off if we do not take care.”

  The Struggle for Freedom by Bjarne Midthun

  =====

  Another deafening clang sounded out as the necromancers’ second huge spell slammed into the wards. Once again, the silvery translucent dome surrounded the fort, arcs of magic discharging off it as it vented the magic from the enemy attack.

  This time Ester was ready for it. Despite her best efforts, she still winced at the impact, but that was all. It was very loud anyway, it wasn’t like that was an unreasonable thing to do even if she had completely confidence in the wards. Which she didn’t.

  Nevertheless, they held and so did she.

  Ester desperately wanted to unleash her own magic on the enemy witches, but Vegard was watching her and, much as she didn’t want to admit it, he was right that it probably wouldn’t have much effect.

  Off, further down the walls, orders were ringing out. When Ester looked that way, she could see the faint shape of the walls, bulging outwards as they followed the contours of the hill, but no more than that. Still, the soldiers there were doing something other than just standing and waiting while the undead broke their defences. Maybe that was what Vegard had been pointing her at.

  “What are they doing?” She hissed the question to him.

  “Shifting the cannons, they’ll have loaded them by now.”

  “The cannons? They’ll be far out of range, won’t they?” She knew she could hit far further than a cannon with her magic.

  “Oh yes.” Vegard sounded like the cat that got the cream. “Normally.”

  A crack tore through the air, loud enough it almost felt like a physical blow, followed a fraction of a second later by another. For a brief moment two bright lines, curving downwards slightly as they went, joined the fort with the undead army.

  Ester yanked her head sideways to follow their course and was still almost too slow to see the impact, right where the ritual had come from.

  A Schema exploded to life around the ritual casters; a dull yellow wall of magic imbued with far too much power. Not as powerful as the wards, but she couldn’t have dented it, even at point blank range.

  Almost the moment it appeared, the barrier vanished as the world broke around it in a distorting, green flare of Weiryd. Ester barely had time to process that before the second line slammed straight past the Schema and into the middle of the ritual casters.

  The sound of the explosion was a deafening roar, even from a couple of miles away, as a swathe of ground vanished into a roiling fireball that stretched into the sky, briefly lighting up the whole battlefield.

  Ester was left blinking light out of her eyes. Had they just…?

  She realised her mouth was hanging open and closed it. No one could have survived that. Well, perhaps a liche, but no human could have. The Republicans had just shot straight through an incredibly powerful Schema and obliterated a group of witches as if it was nothing. She’d thought their magic was unimpressive, but that was terrifying. Images of what that could do to the Empire’s armies flashed through her head. How had they even done that? How had the Republic lost at the Battle of Grathbridge if they could do something like that with just two of their cannons? Or maybe this was something new. She needed to survive, just so she could report back on this terrifying weapon.

  “Not bad, eh?” Vegard’s smug question broke Ester out of her stupor.

  “I…” She pulled herself together. “That was indeed impressive.”

  “Yep, you cr- imperials might not think so much of us, but we’ve got plenty of tricks ready for anyone that tries to oppress the People.”

  “You can…?”

  “Oh yes.” He sounded very sure of himself. Maybe a little too sure.

  “So, every time one of their witches casts a spell of any power, you can just obliterate them? This should be an easy battle then.”

  “Unfortunately,” it felt like Vegard had to drag the words out, “we have very limited ammunition here. So, our opportunities are limited. Otherwise, yes, that is how they would be dealt with if they were facing a field army.”

  Relief and fear warred with each other in Ester. She couldn’t be pleased at the death of the tiny spark of hope that grew with the idea that the Republicans might be able to win easily. But she’d never really expected that anyway. If it was that easy, they wouldn’t have been sitting in the fort slowly getting hungrier and hungrier. In a way it was a comforting thought. There was clearly some flaw in the Republican methods that made them less useful.

  Her mind raced as she tried to work it out. The ammunition must be expensive and difficult to produce. That fitted with the fort not having much. The Schemas to do something like that must have been both extremely complex and powerful. That wasn’t enough of an explanation though.

  Why hadn’t the Republic simply won the war by eliminating any powerful witch or liche that took to the field? Expensive as they no doubt were, shots like that would be far less costly than a powerful magic user.

  Then it came to her. It was so simple she’d almost missed it. Cannons were big, unwieldy things. They’d need someone to be using a lot of magic to give them something to aim for and then it would take time to load and aim the cannons. The explosion might be big, but without wrecking any defensive Schemas first it might not be all that effective. So, the undead had been foolish to stay in one place, using rituals to increase their power. It had made them an easy target. A single Mage, particularly a Battle Mage, moving around as they cast, would be almost impossible to target, even if the Republicans had the ammunition.

  It was a cold kind of satisfaction; really not comforting at all. However, at least she could be sure that the Republicans wouldn’t just smash through everything the Empire threw at them.

  With that thought in her head, Ester turned her attention back to the undead. A stunned silence had descended over both sides after the Republicans had obliterated the undead’s ritual casters. However, now things were starting to move again.

  The sound of thousands of feet, marching or shuffling towards the fort, once again echoed through the night. No more shots came from Republican cannons and, equally, nothing more came from the undead. It seemed that she would just have to wait.

  =====

  By the time the enemy had advanced another mile, Ester was practically vibrating with nervous tension. How could the Republicans wait so calmly? She glanced around at the waiting soldiers, dimly illuminated by the red witchlights. They were watching the undead too, but exchanging occasional quiet words, their guns laid against the wall at their sides.

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  She wanted to strike out, to do something other than just wait, but rigid self-discipline, hammered into her over years at the Academy, let her force herself to stand silently, watching and waiting for the signal that the battle was going to truly begin.

  Time seemed to drag slower and slower as the enemy got ever closer. Standing there with the anticipation building, Ester felt like she was going to explode. She had to force herself not to start making little balls of fire above her hands, just for something to distract herself with.

  She was looking down at her hands for what felt like the hundredth time when the signal came.

  The boom of a cannon shot echoed through the air and a second later light burst into the air, illuminating the army below them.

  “All yours, Mage Mazar.” Even Vegard sounded tense.

  Finally! Ester let out a breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding. The undead were frighteningly close. Why had the Republicans let them get that far before letting loose? Couldn’t they have started hitting them from further away? Surely they didn’t want the undead to actually reach the walls.

  The harsh light from the Republicans’ special ammunition illuminated blocks of men or creatures, she couldn’t tell, all marching forward, shields up in front of them. Others rode at their side or dashed from group to group. Were those necromancers? Normal witches? More powerful undead? Actually, were all of the witches down there necromancers or did the lands of the dead have people with the Talent who didn’t practice necromancy?

  Ester jumped as a series of cracks rang out as the Republican cannons fired. This time there were no blindingly bright lines connecting their shots to the enemy. In fact, other than the brief blasts of fire from muzzles, there was nothing to see. Not until the balls impacted anyway.

  Most slammed into walls of magic as witches blocked the shots. However, a few ploughed through groups of enemy soldiers. She watched in horrified fascination as a ball went into the ground, bounced and slammed straight through a man and his shield, cutting a line of crumpled corpses through the block of troops. In other places, balls exploded into magical fire, blasting holes in the undead lines.

  Ester jumped as magic flared along the walls and a series of fireballs arced up, before descending on the undead. She shouldn’t be standing there staring, it was time to fight! The Republicans all seemed to be focusing on fireballs, so she would too.

  “Saig gan cuvlug.” She barked the words and gestured with her hand in the fourth casting position. Her own spell formed in an instant, sending a raging ball of magical fire straight towards the closest group of enemies.

  Disjunction tangled with it, pulling the spell apart before it could hit. Ester didn’t wait for the spell to fully dissolve. She was already casting again.

  “Saig gan cuvlug.” She sent another. “Saig gan cuvlug.” And another. “Saig gan cuvlug.” And another.

  Across the enemy lines fireballs were exploding against Schemas or just coming apart in mid-air and hers were no different. Whoever was down there among the company troops she was targeting was utterly focused on disjunction and they were good at it.

  Ester glanced up at the cloudy sky. There was no point flinging her magic against theirs. She might get through eventually, but she’d just wear herself out battering strength against strength.

  Vegard hadn’t done anything. Was that because it was beyond him? He was only a Cantrist and he’d been able to enhance his body. Maybe that was what he was focused on. Most Adepts were only much good at one or two things, presumably it was the same for Cantrists.

  “Saig gan cuvlug.” Ester idly sent another fireball off, not bothering to put much power into it. Let whoever was down there think she’d already worn herself out. “Cantrist-Sergeant, can you cast a fireball?”

  “Me? Uh, no. Not one worth shit anyway. I’m better up close.”

  Ester huffed with annoyance, that wasn’t what she’d wanted to hear. “Can you do something that looks like a fireball at least? Make them think you’re me?”

  It would be a poor illusion, but she just needed the enemy witch to be distracted for a second or two.

  “Uh, yes, fine. Give me a moment.”

  “Saig gan cuvlug.” Ester sent another fireball arcing towards the enemy as Vegard gathered himself.

  Just as Vegard cast, the Republicans’ light finally fell to earth, plunging the battlefield back into darkness.

  “Fjal railati spèittan’ai’saig vlidsich kel’mar njadh’ai’kattreachd.” The green of the Weiryd flared around Vegard as he cast and Ester put a hand on the parapet to keep herself steady. His spell was weak, there was far more light than heat in it. Even if the enemy witch wasn’t there to block it, Ester doubted it would actually kill anyone from so far away. Nevertheless the fireball he flung towards the undead looked big. Hopefully that would be enough.

  “Gr?nnek nvatn ai’diwaien ai’saig vlidsich jel’ai’saarde’ai’njadh.” Ester’s knees buckled slightly as she put everything she had into the spell, demanding that the world bend to her will.

  The unseen witch among the enemy troops tore Vegard’s spell apart in a brief flash of disjunction, but her own spell was propagating through the sky in front of them, multi-coloured bands of magic spinning together. The witch’s disjunction reached for it, but this wasn’t like the fireballs. The witch was late and this time they were no closer to the spell than Ester.

  For a brief moment the sky took on an eerie blue glow and then her magic came together.

  Ester saw the exact moment the witch realised what she’d done. His disjunction vanished from her spell and magic flared around the troops. Too late.

  Lightning flashed down into the middle of them and hit a half-formed barrier. A second bolt struck an infinitesimal moment later and slammed through the barrier into the troops below, then a third and a fourth. Each one illuminating the enemy soldiers for a brief instant. Ester held the spell with unyielding will, dragging lightning down from the sky in a series of brutal explosions.

  She wasn’t sure how many bolts struck before she released the spell, but each one showed her a blue-lit tableau of ever more destruction. The rolling thunder of their strikes battered at her, providing a backdrop to the nightmarish scene below, as she forced the spell to continue until it felt like the sky had been drained dry.

  With a gasp of relief, Ester let the spell fade away, plunging everything back into darkness. Half a second later, the thunder stopped too. She reached up and wiped her forehead with a trembling hand. She was actually sweating despite the cold.

  The boom of a single cannon sounded and once again light shot into the sky. The block of disciplined enemy soldiers had been obliterated, replaced by a few dazed men and a field of churned up mud and snow. What had been maybe two hundred men was simply gone. She’d killed over a hundred people in seconds. Or maybe they’d just been undead. To her surprise, Ester didn’t particularly care.

  She felt weak from the effort, but that would pass in a few seconds and then perhaps she could find a different group to target.

  The Republicans around her hardly seemed to have noticed, they were still watching over the walls, guns in hand. All except Vegard.

  He was standing there, open mouthed.

  “Fuck me.”

  Ester barely heard the muttered words over the sound of cannons and explosions, but they still brought a smile to her face. This was why she’d come here. It was horrible and it was terrifying, but she was truly making a difference and maybe, just maybe, she’d be able to truly prove herself.

  =====

  Despite her obliteration of the closest unit, the enemy continued to press forward towards the walls, but their tactics changed, at least where Ester could see.

  There were still cohesive units pushing forward, under the cover of their shields and witches, but as she was gathering her energy to strike out at one of them, Ester saw something else.

  Small figures rushing forward at a dead sprint. She had no idea how they were able to do it in the dark on rough snowy ground. It didn’t seem to slow them down at all. They must be undead; Ester’s hands tightened into fists.

  “Saig.” She burnt one of them to ash, but others kept coming. There were so many of them.

  “Os’ellende’ai’saig gan cuvlug.” Ester cast again, a more complex, powerful spell. The huge fireball shot out from her to land amidst the running undead and exploded with a roar, catching several of them in its blast. But it wasn’t enough.

  She pursed her lips. They were too far apart. She could kill them one, two or even three at a time, but that wouldn’t be enough. They were moving too fast for her to hit them all.

  “Aim!” The shout rang out across the walls and on both sides of Ester Republican soldiers raised their guns to their shoulders.

  With a jolt she realised that must mean they were close enough for the smaller weapons to hit them. She might not be able to kill them all, but she could at least thin their numbers as much as possible.

  Her eyes landed on one running figure. “Saig.” It vanished in fire.

  “Fire!” The Republicans’ guns crashed. A few undead stumbled and fell, not many though.

  “Load!

  “Saig.” She destroyed another. “Saig.”

  The Republicans’ guns barely had time to reload and fire once more before the undead were at the foot of the walls. They left smoking corpses behind from Ester’s magic, but there were too many of them and she couldn’t even see them when they were at the bottom of the walls.

  She risked a look over the battlements and recoiled in horror. Dead, rotting faces looking up with hanging open mouths. They were climbing the walls. They were scrambling up their sheer face as if they were simply crawling along the ground.

  Ester took a deep breath, trying to slow down the frantic pounding of her heart. These weren’t the slow moving walkers of the Marcni vaults. They must be the ghouls Jakob had described and they’d be at the top of the walls in seconds. Then they’d tear her and the Republicans apart. She needed to stop them! Beside her she felt magic churning dully as Vegard fed it through his body.

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  Dramatis personae:

  Ester Mazar - Chartered Mage, ooo shiny! Oh yes fireball for you, fireball for you, everyone gets fireballs!

  Vegard - Cantrist-Sergeant in the garrison troops, don't tell the crown-licker, but I'm actually a bit scared of her.