17th Day of Fireseek, 565 CY
The Brass Dragon Inn, Furyondy

The wave of mental energy crashed into the two fighters, causing them to gasp and grab their heads. Although they did not suffer from the fear effect that a non-psionic would, the sensation was just as excruciating. Aslan grimaced in pain. With the possible exception of that ambush by the intellect devourer four years ago, this was the strongest psionic assault he had ever experienced. A quick glance at Sir Dorbin showed that he was suffering as much as he. Slowly, the paladin twisted his head to eye where his Talent told him the attack was coming from.

As he had expected, it came from a point on the ground. Nodyath was in fly-form or something similar. A rippling in the air that the paladin knew was only visible to the target's attack or another psionic originated about fifty feet away, on the far side of the pit. It formed a cone, thus catching both Aslan and Dorbin in its field, and extending at least ten feet beyond them.

Aslan gritted his teeth. All right, Nodyath. We know you can dish it out. Let's see how well you can take it! He knew it was impossible to use Talent disciplines while under assault, so he concentrated and let loose a psionic blast of his own back at Nodyath. A moment later, he sensed Sir Dorbin doing the same. There was a trembling they both sensed as their attacks struck home, but then Nodyath fired back again.

The paladin desperately tried to concentrate, despite the pain. Taking on both of us at once? He wondered to himself. Nodyath's my counterpart- he can't possibly have twice the defenses I have! He again blasted back at his unseen foe, as did Sir Dorbin. Again, they sensed a direct hit, but the counterattack came swiftly. Aslan didn't dare turn his head away from the source of the attack, but he couldn't help but think about his friends. By Odin, let at least one of them have turned around before they went inside!

The attack continued. With a mighty mental effort, Aslan again set loose a psionic blast at his foe, but there was no accompanying blast from Sir Dorbin. Aslan glanced over from the corner of his eye.

The knight was down on his knees. His dark blue eyes, tormented, turned to Aslan.

The paladin understood instantly. Sir Dorbin had nothing left. Aslan cursed himself. Dorbin probably didn't match Aslan's capability even at full strength, and he had already teleported and used his growth discipline today. Nodyath had waited for just the right moment. Another wave of psionic energy slammed into them. Aslan's eyes closed from the sheer agony of it. A "white noise" was growing in his ears, and when he opened his eyes again, everything seemed just a little bit brighter than before.

"Aslan!"

The voice- Elrohir's, he thought, but he couldn't be sure, came through loudly, yet dim at the same time. Despite the feeling that his head was being slowly constricted in a vise, Aslan grinned, if only mentally. Can you take us all, Nodyath? He could hear now his companions running towards him and Dorbin. In just a few seconds, they'd be here with him. They-

The paladin's eyes widened. The field! They can't see it! They'll run right into it!

Aslan hurled another psionic blast at Nodyath, then painfully turned his head to see his allies. As he thought, they were running full-tilt, and were almost upon him. He managed to thrust out his hand.

"Stop!"

They pulled up just short of the invisible cone, expressions of bewilderment on their faces. Please, Aslan thought. One of you get it. He managed to get out, "Range!"

It was Elrohir, who had known Aslan longest, who hit upon it first.

"They're under psionic attack! If we get too close, we'll be caught in the field as well!"

Talass glanced over at her husband in alarm. "Elrohir, I know of spells that might help protect Aslan, but I've got to touch him!"

The ranger shook his head. "Find another way!" He shouted.

The attack continued.

Talass and Caroline, both hurling curses that Elrohir was pretty certain wouldn't be approved of by most of the gods he knew, started unstrapping their backpacks and other excessive burdens.

Tojo, his bow drawn and ready, was slowly moving laterally to the left, his eyes squinting to see some sign of their foe.

Jinella tried desperately to concentrate. The cleric knew a bluff wasn't going to work this time. She thrust her holy symbol in front of her and started chanting.

Aslan didn't remember falling to his knees, but that's where he was now. Another wave of sheer pain washed over him, and the vise on his head tightened. Sir Dorbin was now crawling on his belly, painfully slowly, clockwise around the edge of the pit. Aslan knew he'd never make it to Nodyath.

A partial feeling of calm came over him, the pain easing just a fraction. He looked up to see Jinella casting some kind of spell, and she knew she was the source of this partial relief. He didn't know what it was, but at least it helped him think more clearly, even if only for a few seconds.

"Aslan!" Elrohir yelled. "Where?"

The paladin's right hand shot out in the approximate direction of the cone's origin.

"Flank him!" The ranger shouted at the top of his voice. Sword and shield in hand, he slowly began to make his way counter-clockwise around the pit, staying at least ten feet from the edge at all times. Tojo mirrored his movements in the other direction.

That was good, Aslan thought, but as the energy smashed into him yet again, he didn't know if he would be alive to see the end of this battle.

His helm of telepathy- it probably boosts his mental strength as well, or he's got another magic item for that. Aslan couldn't believe it. From the beginning, he had utterly failed to predict any action of his own counterpart. Now he and all of his friends were going to pay for his mistakes with their lives. With a strangled scream, he let loose one last psionic blast at Nodyath, and fell on his face in the dirt. He began to crawl in the opposite direction as Sir Dorbin. You won't get all of us, he thought through the growing whiteness.

The attack continued.

Sir Dorbin paused and raised his head to face Nodyath's location. "Did you read my mind too, you abomination?" he snarled, and then yelled out "Fascio Luminiso!"

The ruby on his helm abruptly pulsed white, and a beam of pure white light about a foot wide shot out from it, narrowly missing its target.

"Hey, Nodyath! Catch!"

Caroline Bigfellow's shout cut through the cold air. It was followed by a leftover flask of oil from the day before, its cloth fuse alight, sailing through the air towards their unseen enemy. As Aslan watched, it arced down... and fell into the pit five feet short of where Nodyath was hiding, exploding harmlessly on the bottom.

A globe of absolute darkness twenty feet across, courtesy of Talass, suddenly appeared across the pit, but it's closest edge was ten feet to the right of Nodyath's position.

Elrohir and Tojo continued to move around the pit, their eyes straining to catch any movement along its edge at all.

Another shout from Sir Dorbin. Another beam of light just missing its quarry.

Again, a tidal wave of agony passed over Aslan, and the vise tightened once more. He couldn't take any more. He couldn't-

The attack stopped.

The others, seeing Aslan and Sir Dorbin slowly rise to their knees, and then to their feet, stopped moving but maintained battle-readiness. Aslan looked around. The rippling was gone, and he was pretty sure he had felt that distinctive ping of a discipline being used near him. So close to victory, Nodyath had exhausted himself, and used his last reserves to teleport away. At least, that was the paladin's theory, and a quick glance over at Sir Dorbin seemed to indicate that the knight was thinking the same thing.

"He's gone" Aslan gasped out. The others quickly moved over to him and Dorbin, and slowly walked them back to the inn.

Twenty minutes later, Aslan and Sir Dorbin sat in the chairs in the Tall Tales Room. They were wearing clean clothes, and blankets had been placed over their shoulders. They both slowly sipped cups of hot tea. The others had fussed over them until they had to gently but firmly shoo them away. Now, they were alone, save only for Mirage. Cooped up inside the inn during the attack, the wardog had been unable to come to the aid of his master, although Aslan was actually grateful for that. Nodyath could have easily killed Mirage with his Talent. The paladin stroked his dog's head slowly as he regarded the knight.

"Sir Dorbin?" Aslan asked softly.

The knight looked up from his tea at him. He looked absolutely exhausted, and Aslan figured he probably looked no better to him. He guessed at something he'd been thinking about for a while.

"You've hunted down other people with the Talent before, haven't you?"

Dorbin slowly nodded without comment.

"Ever encountered someone with Nodyath's power before?"

The fighter took another sip of tea and shook his head. "Not like him." He looked up again at Aslan. "Or like you."

The paladin sat back in his chair, lost in thought.

Sir Dorbin's voice was quiet. "He has so many possibilities open to him," he stated, his eyes looking right into Aslan's. "What are you going to do?"

Aslan was a long time answering, and in the end, it was the only thing he could say. And he didn't like it.

"I don't know, Sir Dorbin. I just don't know."