Alchymist (4 page)

Irisis
had not meant her words the way they were taken, but it was too late to
withdraw them.

The
wall of Snizort was four spans high and equally thick, topped with thorn bushes
scarred here and there by fire, and torn and smashed by catapult balls. The
wall had been breached in five places and was unmanned.

They
cruised along inside. The breaches, and the smashed gate, were piled with the
bodies of the dead, lyrinx and human. Other dead were scattered across the
enclosed space. Irisis saw no sign of live enemy, though from a high point she
could see columns of lyrinx streaming away to the south-west in the direction
of the Sea of Thurkad. Their withdrawal had been astonishingly swift.

Smoke
issued from a tarry bog and several of the pits, which would make access to the
underground city difficult. The ground above the node-drainer, which had risen
up in a red-hot dome just before the node exploded, was now a fractured, fuming
hole. Further off, though still inside the walls, the Great Seep formed a
bottomless cauldron of tar about a league across. The source of the tar at
Snizort, it was steaming gently. The exploded node lay some leagues to the
north, and underground, but it was too smoky to see that far.

The
sun touched the western horizon. Irisis looked the other way, back towards the
command hill. The scrutators must be inside the tent, with Flydd. She turned
towards Snizort again. 'There can't be any creature left alive underground,'
she muttered. 'The whole place is on fire.'

'That's
where you're wrong.' Fyn-Mah replied. "Tar burns hot, but it burns slowly.
Most of the city will yet be untouched. Let's go.'

'In
there? We'll choke before we've gone a dozen spans.'

'The
fire draws air to it. Away from the burning core, the air should be fresh. Our
orders are to get inside, if we can, and recover any of the flesh-formed
creatures left alive.'

'We
may get in,' said Irisis, 'though I doubt we'll ever get out again.' She said
it fatalistically. Having expected to die for so long now, in so many hideous
ways, she was no longer moved by the thought of danger. She indicated the
largest pit. 'That's where the scrutator and I entered last time. Though .., we
had the seeker to find the way for us.'

Irisis
wished Ullii were here now. Objects powered by the Secret Art appeared in the
little seeker's mental lattice, which was how they'd located the node-drainer.
Ullii could also see people with a talent for the Art, and most lyrinx. If she
were here now, they would be able to avoid any enemy who remained inside, and
quickly find the flesh-formed creatures that were their target. But Ullii had
disappeared.

'Go
down into that pit, Pilot Inouye,' said Fyn-Mah, pointing towards the largest,
which contained only a haze of smoke. 'Soldiers, ready your weapons.'

Inouye's
green eyes widened, but she nodded stiffly. The air-floater drifted towards the
pit, just a spear-cast above the ground. The soldiers pointed their crossbows
over the side while Irisis scanned the black, lifeless terrain. Nothing moved;
with luck, all the lyrinx were gone.

They
floated over the pit, a conical excavation in tar-saturated sandstone, with a
ledge path spiralling down. Inouye vented floater gas. The air-floater lurched,
steadied and began to descend through a rising trail of smoke.

'Where
do we go from here?' asked Fyn-Mah, at her elbow.

Irisis
did not answer at once. The black rock was featureless and it was taking her
eyes some time to adjust. Tunnels began to appear, extending off the path.
There were a dozen, at least, and smoke oozed from several. How could she
possibly tell? It had been dark when she had come down previously, the night
before last.

'We
went down 741 steps,' she said, counting them aloud. Fyn-Mah did the same and
checked her instrument again. 'There!' She pointed to a runnel near the base of
the pit. 'Take us to that point, Pilot.'

The
whirring of the rotor died to a gentle tick as they descended into the black
pit. The reek, hanging heavier than air at the bottom, stung their eyes. They
came alongside the tunnel and the soldiers tossed out grappling hooks, pulling
the air-floater up against the steps.

'We're
going in,' Fyn-Mah said to the captain. 'Bring five of your men. Scrutator
Flydd has ordered me to recover certain . . , items from inside. The remaining
four soldiers will guard the air-floater.'

The
captain shuffled his feet. He looked about fifteen years old and Irisis felt
sorry for him. 'I have orders to remain at my post.'

'Those
orders are superseded.' She stared him down. 'This mission is for the good of
the war, soldier, and we can't do it alone.'

He
regarded his boots, glanced up at her, then nodded. 'So you won't mind giving
your orders in writing.'

Fyn-Mah
took a small piece of paper from her chest pack, scribbled something on it and
stamped it with her personal seal. The captain read the document and put it in
his wallet.

'Wait
here,' Fyn-Mah said to Pilot Inouye. 'If there's danger, go up out of range and
keep watch.'

'What
if you don't come back?'

'Wait
until dawn. If we haven't returned by then, you are released back to your
master.'

The
underground had a different feeling from Irisis's previous visit. Then it had
been a vibrant, working city, still occupied by the lyrinx. Now it was a black,
reeking hell where the ceilings had collapsed into heaps of rubble, the floors
into fuming sink-holes and dead lyrinx lay everywhere. Fumes wisped down the
tunnels like black spectres: sudden winds blew hot and cold; and, always in the
distance, was the seething, bubbling crackle of burning tar.

They
struggled through into a less damaged area, where they sought for the
flesh-formed creature pens for hours without success. Fyn-Mah called out each
turn and intersection as they passed it, Irisis noting them down so they could
find the way out again. The air here was relatively clean, apart from drifting
wisps of fume. Some of the tunnels were still lit by lanterns fuelled with
distilled tar spirit, giving the air an oily tang, but they were guttering now.

Fyn-Mah
stopped where the tunnel split into four. Consulting directions on a scrap of
paper, she scowled. 'We must've taken a wrong turn. Do you recognise this
place, Irisis?'

Irisis
shook her head. 'The tunnels all look the same.'

'You're
not much use, are you?'

'Ullii
was leading us the other night,' said Irisis. 'It was dark, as I told you.'

'I
can find my way around in the dark,' said Flangers. 'You get used to that, up
on the shooter's platform. What if I were to take a few soldiers and go that
way?' He pointed to the right. 'You could check the other tunnels.'

Fyn-Mah
frowned. 'I don't want to split up, but I suppose there's no alternative.
Irisis, take Flangers and him,' she indicated a soldier so young that he had no
trace of beard, 'and go that way. We'll follow this tunnel. If you don't find
anything in half an hour, come back to this point.' She scratched a zigzag mark
into the wall with her sword. 'Don't get lost.'

'Let's
have a look through this door,' Irisis said to Flangers. They'd searched dozens
of chambers but had found nothing.

He
gestured over his shoulder to the young soldier, a pink cheeked, frightened lad
called Ivar. Irisis pushed the door open. Inside, in a damp, mist-laden space,
stood three rows of objects that resembled chest-high pumpkins connected by
grey vinelike cords.

'What
do you suppose they're for?' asked Flangers.

'Something
to do with flesh-forming. I expect; said Irisis.

He
swallowed. That dark Art was beyond the comprehension of the greatest hero.

Other
rooms contained similar objects, all with a vaguely organic appearance, all
equally inexplicable. They passed out into a round chamber with a series of
five closed doors on the far side.

'What
a warren!' Flangers wiped sweat from his brow.

He
opened the door on the left and uttered a low whistle. The room held ten cages,
well separated, and inside each was a creature unlike anything he had ever
seen: all horns, spines, teeth and armour plating. Each was different, and all
were dead, killed by blows to the skull.

Irisis
clutched the bars of the first cage, staring at the flesh-formed monstrosity
inside. The grey-green, coated teeth were like shards of glass. 'Imagine that
beast sticking its teeth into your leg while you're trying to fight the enemy.'

'It
could bite straight through bone,' said Flangers. 'And it looks fast. It'd be
hard to attack, too.'

'Doubtless
they're breeding thousands of them. Ivar/ Irisis said to the young soldier,
whose eyes were sticking out like boiled eggs, 'run and tell the perquisitor
we've found them. Can you find your way back to the place where we separated?'

'Yes,
Crafter.' Ivar ran off, glad to be going.

Irisis
continued around the room. She was examining a beast whose maw was half the
length of its body when Flangers called out, 'Irisis! This one's still alive.'

The
creature, a heavy-headed monster with as many teeth as a crocodile and a row of
yellow-tipped spines all the way down its backbone, lay on its side, its head
half-covered in blood. The mouth was open and a trickle of grey matter oozed
from one rimmed nostril. The chest did not move. As Irisis approached, the
yellow and black eye shifted slightly, then the warty lid came down over it.

'It's
dead now. We'll leave Fyn-Mah to check them,' said Irisis. 'Let's try the next
room.'

It
proved much the same as the first, and all the flesh-formed creatures were
dead. Irisis shuddered and headed to the third room. Here the beasts were
smaller, still spined and fanged but less armoured, more fleet-footed and with
larger brain cases.

'These
look smarter than the others,' she said, studying a creature the length of a
large dog. Even dead, it made her feel uneasy.

'They've
not long been killed,' said Flangers.

'They're
thick-skulled. It could take them quite a while to die. Let's try the doors on
the far side.'

They
took the door furthest to the right. It was dark inside, but as soon as she
entered Irisis could tell that this was different. There was no smell of blood,
and the stench of fresh ordure was strong.

She
motioned Flangers to hold up his lantern. The room had the same layout as the
others but the creatures were alive. They were smaller still — the size of
small dogs — and as the light fell on them they clawed at the bars.

'We'll
take one or two back,' Irisis said, walking along the row. She was wondering
how they could carry the cages without the beasts inside striking at them.

As
she reached the other end of the room, an unseen door opened and a lyrinx
stepped in. It was almost as startled as she was.

Irisis
took a step backwards, overcome by panic. The lyrinx, a tall female, carried a
bloodstained club. For an instant it stared at her, then swung the club. Irisis
cried, 'Flangers, look out!' and threw herself behind one of the cages.

Letting
out a deafening bellow, the lyrinx swatted the cage out of the way. Irisis
scuttled between two more, knowing she was not going to make it. The lyrinx was
too strong and fast. It sprang onto the cages, lifting the club high. The blow
would not just cave in her skull, it would splatter her brains halfway across
the room.

The
bars bent under the weight, one foot slipped through and the fanged creature
inside sank its teeth in. The lyrinx tried to jerk free, stumbled and came
crashing down on a pair of cages.

One
was crushed flat, along with the creature inside. The other burst open,
liberating its occupant, which darted into the darkness behind the cages.

Irisis
scuttled out of the way as the lyrinx struggled to get up. The little creature
was savaging its foot, snarling with bloodlust. The lyrinx roared, found its
feet and, with a mighty swing, sent the cage and its attacker creature flying
across the room to smash into the wall. It turned in her direction, limping
badly. She drew her weapon.

Flangers
appeared by her side, sword out. She had never been so glad to see anyone.

'Are
you any good with that?' he panted.

'Not
much. I normally use a crossbow.' Irisis had done sword training, and had a
natural aptitude, but little combat experience.

'Stay
to my left, one step back. Keep the point up.'

She
moved into position. 'What if we were to smash open a few more cages?' Already
she was deferring to his greater experience, a rare thing for her. 'A few of
these creatures would give even a lyrinx something to think about.' She had
heard tales of the flesh-formed nylatl that had so terrorised Tiaan, and later,
Nish.

'We'd
want to be sure the beasts would attack the lyrinx, and not us,' Flangers said.

The
lyrinx was only half a dozen steps away, advancing slowly. It was a big one,
head and shoulders above them, with scars on its right cheek and across its
breast plates.