Sambrian lay on his side in the wreckage and prepared to die.

He was trapped beneath the remains of the outer gates. The hardened steel lay twisted and crazed into a cage around his body. A small section of wall trapped one leg, and he had several deep cuts on his thigh that had soaked the lower half of his robes with his own blood.

He could hear the sound of whatever was being used to cause this destruction hissing through the air overhead, and he stiffened involuntarily, waiting for the final blow.

At the advanced age of seventy nine, he knew he'd lead a full and prosperous life, but this certainly wasn't the way he'd planned it to end. And who would Send him?

The reminder of the obvious results of this attack brought a sheen of tears to his eyes. The children housed in this compound were most likely all dead, along with many of his fellow Summoners.

He'd never even seen what manner of weapon had been used. It was just as the survivors of the stadium disaster had said...all he'd seen was a bright flash against the clouds, and then the terrible sounds of crumbling stone. He guessed it was one of the lesser towers on the outer wall that had collapsed around him. He remembered the chunks of stone and powder raining down on him as he ran for the gates.

Sambrian realized that he very much did not want to die. He struggled in vain against the stones trapping his leg, and gasped as pain shot up through his hip. He could feel the fear beginning to overcome him and he grew angry at his own weakness. Sambrian clenched his jaw and began to run through the meditation exercises that he'd learned as a young apprentice.

Slowly his mind began to calm and he opened his eyes again. He couldn't see much, pinned as he was, but he had plenty of air, so he couldn't be too badly buried.

Suddenly, through the sounds of screams and tumbling rock, he heard a sound that was very welcome, indeed.

"Yunalesca! Are you here?" someone cried. "If you can hear me, shout!"

A rescue party! Sambrian somehow managed to wriggle one arm loose, and grabbed at a chunk of concrete. He began banging it on the metal bars of the gate arched over him, and shouted, "I'm here! Help me!"

"Over here!" the man cried. Sambrian could have sobbed with relief when he felt a rush of cool air on his cheek, as some of the stones were finally moved away.

"Lord Sambrian!" shouted his rescuer. Hands grabbed at him, and he groaned as they shifted his injured leg.

"Wait! He's injured!"

Sambrian's eyes snapped open. "Lord Legolas! What are you doing out here! You could be killed! They are still out there!"

Legolas' bloodshot eyes crinkled up in amusement. "Same old Sambrian. Never a thank you!" He gently shifted a large chunk of the wall that had fallen on his mentor, and freed his leg. "You're going to be okay, I think. Too grumpy to die, anyway."

Legolas sobered and leaned down to him. "Was Yunalesca with you?" He wrapped an arm around Sambrian's waist, and carefully lifted him to his feet.

Sambrian broke out in a fine sweat when he tried to put his weight on the leg. "No. She wasn't." He gritted his teeth and began limping forward, leaning heavily on Legolas. "She never came to her lessons. I was on my way to the palace, to collect her. That young woman is worse than her father at following orders."

Legolas blinked and looked down at Sambrian as they maneuvered through the rubble. "She never came here? That can't be. Lord Zaon had strict orders to accompany her to the compound, and you know him...He'd never shirk his duty to Yunalesca."

Sambrian scowled. "Be that as it may. She never reported to her classes. Her tutor contacted me this morning, and I assured him she would be there by this evening."

Legolas fell silent, realizing that no one would be reporting to classes at the compound for a very long time. He gritted his teeth in impotent rage.

One of the guards that had accompanied him to the site, suddenly stopped and pointed at the overcast sky. "There! Look!"

Legolas squinted his gritty eyes at the sky. He blinked, and looked again. There! Movement...a small ship, darting under the clouds.

"My gods!" he breathed as another unnatural flash lit the clouds.

The primary building, that housed the staff and management section of the Summoner's complex shuddered and leaned at a crazy angle. The group stiffened and shouted as they realized what had happened.

With a shriek of tortured metal and stone, the building slowly collapsed onto the main walkway, leading to the central shopping district.

The stones under their feet shuddered in sympathy and the walkway cracked and sank. By some miracle, it didn't collapse completely. Large sections of it tumbled away into the lower city district, and Legolas imagined he could hear the screams of the poor souls living there.

Sambrian whispered a short prayer for the dead, and said firmly, "We have to get out of this area. Obviously, they are targeting the compound, and we must get ourselves to safety."

Legolas and the guards nodded in agreement and they gingerly made their way back to the palace.

It was beginning to rain in earnest by the time Legolas managed to get the group to the relative safety of the palace grounds. He'd delivered Sambrian into the waiting hands of the healers, and headed across the courtyard intending to report his discovery to his liege.

"Legolas!" a feminine voice cried out. "Thank the gods you're all right!"

Tisha sprinted across the grounds and flung herself into his arms. She stayed there a moment savoring the familiar feel of him, before pushing herself away and scowling up into his face. "What was going through that minuscule mind of yours, huh?" she shouted, hands planted firmly on her hips. "Wait, never mind," she continued, holding up one slim hand. "Nothing! As usual!" She punched him, hard, in the chest. "You could have been killed!"

Legolas stared at her. He rubbed his chest absently, and said, "I'm sorry. You're right. But I had to. Yunalesca is missing. And I have to see Yevon, right away. I know what's doing this!"

It was Tisha's turn to gape. "What do you mean? What's doing this?"

Legolas turned and squinted into the rain. "There.." He pointed up to the clouds.

Tisha sighted up his extended arm, and gasped as the tiny ships were revealed amidst the lightning. Her face hardened and she snarled, "How dare they!"

Legolas' eyes widened as he felt the hairs on his arms rise up involuntarily. He backed slowly away from his wife as the wind seemed to pick up and swirl around them. She stared into the skies and sparks seemed to crackle around her head in a nimbus of light. Her pale eyes glowed, and she raised her arms up, shrieking, "NO MORE!"

The lightning, which had been a tenuous pale thing, more of an afterthought in the gentle storm, suddenly cracked across the clouds. It joined and merged into a coruscation of eldritch fire. At her cry, it leapt down from the heavens and joined with Tisha, who was lit up like a newborn goddess. Her hair swirled around her head dancing against the light, and Legolas fell to one knee, shielding his eyes. Her eyes narrowed in fury and she pointed one slim hand at the offending ship. A bolt of retribution flew from her fingertips and enveloped the craft, instantly frying it's guidance systems. It spiraled down into the sea, a threat no longer.

Within moments, the entire squadron had been decimated.

Legolas stared at this new aspect of his wife, eyes wide. She turned to him and shuddered, seeming to settle herself, and the excess energies drained away into the earth. "There," she said dusting off her hands. "They won't bother us again."

And fainted into her husband's arms.