The stairs fell away underfoot. Kevin tripped, and recovered, held upright by the shove of the crowd. They had reached the concourse between the outer levels. Vaguely the Midkemian realized that Lujan directed their path with a purpose: by the stadium walls, surrounded by a wedge of beleaguered warriors, Mara’s litter showed over running heads, a flutter of green pennons against chaos.
A thunderclap pealed from the heavens. A gust struck down like a blow, as the detonation knocked many of those fleeing to the ground.
Kevin lurched forward, slammed into Lujan, and felt the warrior brace to preserve balance. The effort failed. Both men crumpled to their knees. Ears ringing, Kevin shouldered Mara’s weight. He shoved back to his feet, unmindful of scraped knees, and barged headlong toward the litter. The crowd soon recovered, closing in relentless panic, until his elbow and side were jammed painfully into the ridges of Lujan’s armour. Kevin held ground grimly, and nearly tripped again as his feet entangled in an obstruction that felt like a rag.
A warm rag: another unfortunate who had been trampled.
A victim who might yet be Mara, if he were to lose her in the chaos. Fighting a sickness in his stomach, Kevin gripped her silk gown until the force left his knuckles bone-white.
That instant, a fountain of energies erupted from the arena and sprayed across sky and clouds. The crowd wailed in consternation, heads turned heavenward to gawk. Driven by morbid fascination, some brash folk tried to stem the flow of mass flight for a better view of the display.
Kevin and Lujan used the respite to reach the wall, where a barrier of warriors in green closed around them, an eddy of calm in the turbulence. As the Midkemian set down his shaking mistress, a voice pealed out over chaos. ‘That you have lived as you have lived for centuries is no licence for this cruelty. All here are now judged, and all are found wanting.’
The magician: Milamber. Kevin knew a savage surge of pride, that a man from the Kingdom had dared to place righteous compassion before decadence.
The tone of the mob changed subtly. Driven by curiosity, and also by the beginnings of affront, a few people shouted in amazement. Movement swirled through the masses as more and more bystanders slowed their flight and shoved to reenter the arena.
‘They are fools that would linger here,’ Lujan shouted. ‘The mistress must be got safely home.’
Kevin reached out to steady Mara, saw blood on his hand, and belatedly remembered the knife. He made to surrender the weapon, but Lujan sharply shook his head. ‘I didn’t see you take that, and my eyes are blind if you use it in my Lady’s protection.’
Soldiers fell into a tight cordon, with Mara, Kevin, and a half-dozen hapless bearers clustered in a knot at the centre. Out of habit, the slaves moved to their places by the litter poles.
Then the voice of the magician echoed with unnatural force over the stadium. ‘You who would take pleasure from the death and dishonour of others, see then how well you face destruction!’
Kevin shouted, ‘To hell with the litter! Just run!’
Still greatly shaken by the commotion, Mara found her voice and shouted, ‘Yes, we must run!’
At Lujan’s order, the cumbersome litter was abandoned. The guards regrouped their formation on the fly, and the dash for safety began afresh.
A wind slapped outward from the arena, raising new screams, and setting the plumes of the officers streaming. Kevin felt his skin rise up into gooseflesh, and he marvelled at a sensation nearly forgotten since leaving home: cold. On Kelewan, no natural gust could carry such a touch of ice.
As if in response, Milamber’s voice cried, ‘Tremble and despair, for I am Power!’
A keening wailed upon the air as the Acoma cordon began their rush down the lower stairway. The blustery gust increased as Milamber shouted, ‘Wind!’
The gale swelled to a howl in response. A stink of death rode the gust and set Kevin and the staunchest warriors choking. They pressed on in their descent, forcing pained lungs to inhale. Mara’s face drained of colour, but she kept pace with her retinue, down the steep stairs.
Their path was maddeningly crooked. Forced to skirt others who had doubled over with nausea from the foul odour, Lujan called to his soldiers to keep step. Some who succumbed to sickness became trampled, while others were jostled and kicked by the flood of retreating citizens.
A low moan shivered the pavement. Created by nothing of this world, the sound tormented the ears with subsonics. The warriors increased pace, and Kevin caught Mara’s wrist to aid her down the last of the stairs. Ominously, the shadows deepened; the atmosphere darkened, and the sun vanished from view. Clouds gathered above the stadium and swirled in a monstrous vortex.
That Milamber stood at its centre Kevin never doubted. He flung off fear with a laugh. ‘He’s going to make one hell of a show!’
Breathlessly jogging at his side, Mara shot him a confused look. Belatedly, Kevin realized he had slipped into the King’s speech. He repeated his remark in Tsurani.
She forced a brave smile.