‘Don’t stop!’ the scrutator snapped. ‘Silly cow looked back when I told her not to and has lost her sight.’
Irisis had not expected much sympathy, but a little more than that. ‘I was trying to help you,’ she sniffed.
‘Next time, don’t bother. Just do as you are told.’
‘There isn’t going to be a next time!’ she cried, tripping on a broken edge. He pulled her to her feet and they hurried on, faster than before.
‘True enough. They’re coming again.’
‘How did they survive?’
‘There must have been fifty or sixty out of sight down the slope. None of them would have been hurt, though it may take them a little time to get … past.’
‘How do you mean?’
‘Is there no end to your infernal questions? My working of the Art has left the place a little strange.’
No one spoke. Irisis kept going; she had no idea how. She just concentrated on putting one foot ahead of the other, then moving the first up to it and past, and then the other again. She could only think of one thing and it was far more important than the soldiers hunting them, or wondering what was going to happen at the other end – I want to see!
‘I’ve spotted them, surr.’ Yorme’s voice was deeper than Jym’s, a slow, rolling rumble.
‘How many and how far back?’ asked the scrutator.
‘It’s hard to count … At least forty. They’d be three hundred paces away.’
‘They can still do us harm from there,’ said Flydd, ‘if they realise it.’
‘I think they have, surr. A couple are firing but they’re shooting over our heads.’
‘Keep going.’
Something smashed into the stone not far away. ‘Was that a bolt?’ Irisis cried wildly. It would not have bothered her had she been able to see, but unsighted it was terrifying.
‘They’re shooting up into the air, hoping to drop one or two among us.’
They had been climbing gently for some time. Now they topped a rise and began to move along the easiest of slopes.
‘There’s the air-floater!’ Yorme exclaimed. ‘Just across the ravine, among the trees. We’ll get there yet.’
‘Don’t be so sure,’ the scrutator muttered.
‘How far to go?’ Irisis yelled. ‘And how far back are the soldiers?’
‘The same distance as before. It’s not them we’ve got to worry about.’
A deadly chill settled over her. ‘What do we have to worry about?’
‘Can’t you hear?’
Irisis could hear nothing but their feet upon the stone and the hammering of her heart. No, there was something else – a rhythmic thud-thud, thud-thud, and groaning rattles. A whole symphony of them.
‘Jal-Nish’s fleet of clankers is coming over the hill. They’re heading straight for the air-floater and they’re going to shoot it out of the sky.’
THIRTY-SIX
Fear of Jal-Nish drove Irisis on. She could almost see under the mask; the scarred, unhealing flesh, the foaming yellow muck oozing out and down his chin. Whatever horrors he had endured, she felt no pity for him. Jal-Nish had always been a selfish, unpleasant man, though good looks and an engaging manner had once veneered over his innate viciousness. He was now a monster, inside and out.
‘What’s happening?’ she yelled.
‘Don’t scream in my ear! I’m right beside you. The soldiers are gaining on us, though slowly. They’re wary of me now.’
‘What about the clankers?’
‘They’re closing the gap. The ridge drops away into a little rocky valley with a stream at the bottom. It’s stony there, but shallow; they’ll have no trouble getting through. Up the other side is a short steep pinch, but not too steep for skilled operators. Beyond that it flattens out and they can get into good firing position.’
‘How far is it to where the air-floater is going to pick us up?’
‘About a thousand paces.’
‘Signal it to come.’
‘There’s a heck of a breeze out here in the middle of the valley. It’ll be difficult for it to put down on the aqueduct.’
‘It would be worth it, if it cuts down the time the clankers have to get into position.’
‘You’re right! I’ll call it over.’
He began to wave. Irisis could feel it through his hand. He shook her hand free.
‘What are you doing?’ she cried, feeling abandoned. They could all run away and she would never know.
‘I may have to work my magic again. The soldiers are coming on.’
‘Can you do it again so soon?’
‘Probably not, though they don’t know that. At least, I hope they don’t.’ He did not sound at all certain.
‘Where are the clankers now?’ Her panic was rising again. Irisis felt utterly helpless, not a feeling she was accustomed to.
Flydd did not respond, though after an interval Jym said, ‘Almost down to the stream, marm. It runs directly below us but they’re further downstream.’
‘Call me Irisis,’ she said. ‘Has the air-floater lifted off yet?’
‘No, mar – Irisis. They’re just unfastening the tethers.’
‘They’re slow,’ she muttered.
No one answered. The seconds ticked by with awful slowness.
‘Aaah!’ Flydd cried.
‘What’s the matter?’ said Irisis.
‘Jal-Nish has sent up some kind of mancer.’
‘With the clankers?’
‘No, she’s on the aqueduct. She’s strong. I’m not sure I can best her in my condition.’
‘What’s she doing?’
Now she could hear his teeth chattering. ‘A-A-A! Mfgg! Gahh!’
‘Are you all right, scrutator?’ she cried. Using his name did not seem to be right, in front of the others.
‘I don’t think he can speak, Irisis,’ said Jym. ‘He’s being pushed backwards, ell by ell.’
‘Maybe we should try and hold him,’ said Yorme.
‘No!’ she snapped. ‘Don’t touch him. You’ll just make things worse.’
Irisis began to see images in her inner eye, like parts of the field. Someone was drawing on it and it wasn’t Flydd. It didn’t look like the clankers, either. It had to be the mancer and she must be a mighty opponent to disable a scrutator so quickly. Jal-Nish must have brought her specially for the purpose.
Irisis fingered her pliance and the field appeared, swirling like a rotor spinning through brown sugar-streaked porridge.
‘The soldiers are coming,’ muttered Jym.
The field was clearer than she had ever seen it. Was that because she had lost her sight, or was it something to do with the scrutator’s magic? She concentrated. Though Irisis could not draw power from the field, she had always been able to change it in subtle ways, nudging its billows and eddies into more suitable shapes. She did that now, folding one loop over on itself, again and again, until the resulting packet contained countless layers of its strange material, or rather, immaterial.
Flydd made no more sound, apart from the breath hissing through his clenched teeth, and that became ever softer. She felt like a mouse in a shoebox, unable to get out and knowing that the cat was coming closer. If Flydd was disabled, it was up to her to save them. The soldiers were useless against a mancer.
‘What are the clankers doing now?’ she said softly.
‘They’ve stopped in the centre of the valley. The nearest are trying to aim their javelards at the air-floater.’ It was Jym speaking.
‘Has it lifted?’
‘Yes. It’s coming towards us.’
‘Do you think they’ll hit it?’
‘Could do, though they’re at extreme range.’
‘And the soldiers in the aqueduct?’ asked Irisis.
‘Still creeping forward.’
‘I suppose they’ll be within range soon.’
‘A couple of minutes. At the most.’
‘Send a few bolts at them, not that it’ll make any difference.’
She heard the twang of the crossbows, followed by the sound of the cranks as they were wound back. ‘And the scrutator?’