Akkarin's body was aching. He was exhausted, his power drained to almost nothing, and it felt like he'd been run over by a gorin or two.

He groaned as he blinked the stars away from his vision to find a Magician crouched next to him. Blue robes. Lorlen? No. Lorlen was dead. This must be Osen.

Why was he on the ground? Had he fainted? Surely not. The last he remembered he had enough power to maintain two shields and fight and now he had next to nothing. It was barely enough to keep him awake.

'Shield!' Someone shouted.

Osen slapped a hand on his arm and formed a shield around the two of them before a burst of raw power swept over them.

What was that?

There were some dull thuds quickly followed by some cries and grunts of pain.

That first burst of raw power must have completely shattered his outer shield and had thrown him across the Arena to land at the feet of Administrator Osen.

'Everyone stay back. Do not approach her.' Balkan's voice rose above the slightly panicked talking of the Magicians.

Her? Sonea!

Akkarin pushed himself to his feet, pausing only to push away the encroaching darkness, and looked around for his wife.

She was exactly where she had started the battle, give or take a few feet, and she was crouched low to the ground warily eyeing anyone that came too close.

He took a few wobbly steps towards her, ignoring the Magicians that tried to warn him away.

'Sonea?' He called.

She doesn't answer; she doesn't even register that he had spoken.

'Sonea?' Akkarin called again, louder this time.

No response again.

Sonea? Can you hear me? Please respond, Sonea.

There's nothing. No response. Not even recognition.

His heart was beating loud in his ears. Something was wrong. Really wrong.

Without taking his eyes off his wife, Akkarin calls to the Magicians around him.

'Please could somebody heal me? And if anyone has any power they can spare, I would greatly appreciate it if I could have some power to defend myself if needed.'

Lady Vinara walked into his line of sight and touched his hand. The feeling of exhaustion disappeared and his vision cleared.

'Do you know what's wrong with her?' Akkarin asked, glancing towards Lady Vinara for a second.

'I don't know, Akkarin, not without getting close to her. My guess would be some sort of protective instinct linked with some sort of physical or mental trauma. This is the first time she's fought since the Invasion, correct?'

Akkarin swore, which earned him a raised eyebrow from Lady Vinara.

'Yes.' He swore again. 'I should have thought about that before I started bringing her into these sessions. How could I have been so stupid? I didn't even want her to fight today. You know the reason why, Vinara.'

'Yes, and you have to think of that reason and sort this out quickly. For their sake as well as the Guild.'

'But how? We can't get close, and she's not responding to any ways of communication. What if she just keeps draining her power?'

'She may do, but I believe she'll instinctually not completely drain herself. The reason she has a shield up is to protect her body. However you do need to try and get her to drop her shield and stop attacking everyone. She'll listen to you more than anyone else here, you just need to find a way to get it into her head that we're not going to harm her.'

'That's it!' Akkarin turned to the rest of the Guild, who had been watching him talk with Vinara. 'Who has Sonea's blood stone today? I need it. Don't touch it though, I don't know what is going through her head at the moment and I can't be sure that she isn't thinking about black magic.'

Akkarin noticed Lord Suni, one of their Escorts and a potential Black Magician, running towards him from the entrance to the Arena.

Akkarin met him halfway, keeping an eye on Sonea at the same time, and slipped the ring on as soon as it was handed to him.

Intense fear. That was what he felt when he read Sonea's surface thoughts.

Fear. The Ichani. Keeping her baby safe. Protecting him. Not enough power to keep her family safe.

Sonea? Can you hear me?

Akkarin?

Yes, it's me. I'm using the blood ring.

I'm scared, Akkarin. There are so many Ichani and I can't...I can't keep us safe.

Akkarin got a flash of the Arena from Sonea's perspective. Each Guild Magician had been replaced with an Ichani, some they had fought before and some were a blend of faces. Her fear increased tenfold when she saw his black robes in amongst the 'Ichani'.

Akkarin! You have to move! You're surrounded by the Ichani.

It's okay, Sonea. They're not going to harm me. Look. I'll walk towards you and they won't touch me, okay?

Akkarin could feel Sonea's fear warring with her trust.

They're not Ichani, Sonea, as much as they look like they are. They're just Guild members and your brain is tricking you into thinking they are Ichani as a way to protect yourself and the baby.

They're not?

No, and you know that too, Sonea. Akkarin could see her mind trying to split fiction from reality, but she was having trouble with it because her fear was still so present in her mind. Now, I'm going to talk to them and get them to leave the Arena, okay?

Sonea paused. I'm scared, but I trust you. I love you, Akkarin.

I love you, too, Sonea. Both of you.

Akkarin slipped out of Sonea's mind and addressed the Guild without taking his eyes off her. 'I need everyone to slowly back away from Sonea and I and leave the Arena. I promise you are not in any danger from attack.'

The Magicians slowly walked to the edges of the Arena and made their way out into the stands. Akkarin watched as Sonea's eyes darted between him and the retreating Magicians. Her shoulders dropped slightly as the last robe swept into the passageway and Akkarin started walking towards his wife.

When he was around twenty paces away, he encountered a powerful shield. How was she still able to maintain such a strong shield? She must be dangerously low on power.

Sonea, I need you to remove the shield. I can't get to you otherwise.

Okay.

Sonea dropped the shield and slowly pushed herself to her feet as Akkarin closed the distance between them.

Within seconds Sonea was sobbing in his arms, her arms wrapped around his torso and her fingers clenching the fabric.

He bowed his head over her, pressing his lips into the top of her head.

'It's okay, Sonea. You're okay.'

Sonea's body shook as it released the tension that had been building in her since the beginning of the fight. He could see, through the blood gem, that her fear was disappearing but she could remember what she did to the Guild and the horror at her actions was building.

'This was not your fault, Sonea. Do you hear me? None of this was your fault. You were pressured into doing something you weren't ready for. It's not your fault.'

Sonea's breathing was becoming erratic. She pushed away from him, trying to gulp down air.

Akkarin took her face between his hands and gently forced her to look at him.

'Sonea, you're having a panic attack. You need to slow your breathing.'

He could see her trying to breathe slowly but the images of the last hour kept pushing to the forefront of her mind.

'I can't,' she gasped. 'I can't.'

'You can, Sonea. If you don't, the baby could not be getting enough oxygen. Follow my breathing.'

She looked up at him, panic in her eyes. Then he felt a pain in her abdomen through the blood stone and her eyes rolled into the back of her head.

'No!' He cried out as she started to fall towards the sand. He caught her and gently lowered her the rest of the way. 'Sonea!?'

He automatically went to heal her but his store of power was so low that if he tried to use any he'd risk falling unconscious beside her.

Vinara! Dorrien! There was a pain in her stomach and she collapsed and I can't do anything. I need you.

On our way, Akkarin. Vinara replied. Try and keep her cool.

Akkarin pulled at the tie on Sonea's robes and once it came undone he pushed her robes away from her torso. He slipped a hand beneath her shirt to try and see what was wrong with their child.

Guiding his mind through Sonea's body, he breathed a sigh of relief as he observed his child's heartbeat. It didn't seem to be in any distress, but Healer studies was not his most knowledgeable form of magic and he could be missing something. He'd been trying to learn the basics to help with Sonea's pregnancy and the care of their baby, but he would never be as skilled as a fully trained Healer before it's birth.

A thudding of feet on the sand made Akkarin look up. Dorrien was sprinting towards him, and Vinara wasn't too far behind. The Healer skidded to a stop and fell to his knees beside Sonea.

Dorrien immediately placed his hands on the skin of Sonea's stomach and Akkarin could sense him doing a full check-up on Sonea and their baby.

'What happened, Akkarin?' Vinara asked as she walked around to the other side of Sonea.

'She thought every Guild Magician was an Ichani and protected herself and the baby. When I got her to drop the shield, she started having a panic attack and I couldn't talk her down. Just before she fell unconscious, I felt a pain in her stomach through the blood ring. Is the baby alright? Is Sonea?'

Dorrien looked up. 'The baby is fine. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it. It may have started to feel distress when Sonea was having her panic attack and kicked her. That was probably the cause of the pain she felt.'

Akkarin breathed a sigh of relief, but the tension didn't leave his body. 'And Sonea?'

'Dehydrated, exhausted, and drained. I've given her a little healing, but not enough to wake up. She needs time for her body to recover naturally without adding any more stress.'

'What do we do?'

'I'd recommend that she stays in the Healer's Quarters overnight.' Vinara replied. 'We'll give her a sedative so that she stays asleep for the whole night and then see how she is in the morning. You'll need to stay with her until she wakes up because you should be the first person she sees just in case she still thinks all Guild Magicians are Ichani.'

'I wasn't going to leave her side anyway so that makes no difference. Do we go now?'

'Yes,' said Vinara. 'There's no point in delaying it. Are you going to carry her?'

'I'll need a bit more energy to do so, but yes.'

Dorrien immediately placed his hand on Akkarin's wrist and gave him a reasonable amount of power.

'Thank you.'

Then, Akkarin gently lifted his wife up off the ground and cradled her in his arms before walking to the exit of the Arena.

The journey to the Healer's Quarters was followed by whispers. No doubt due to the story of what had happened in the Arena, but also because Sonea's pregnancy was no longer a well kept secret.

Akkarin wasn't sure what he felt about that. He was glad that he didn't have to keep his child a secret anymore, but he knew that a lot of people were going to gawk at Sonea and judge the two of them when they knew nothing of their life. Akkarin sighed. That was a problem for tomorrow.