A/N : I'm sorry it took so long to get this posted. I want to say a special thank you to my beta jenniferlupin for braving technical difficulties of the most aggravating sort in order to get her corrections to me. ;)

Chapter Four

When Clair woke to the rumble of a muffled explosion, she thought, at first, that she was still in Arias and that they were under attack by a Glyphian raiding party. She was already on her feet and pulling on a pair of nondescript grey trousers beneath her nightshirt before her mind, muzzy with sleep, recalled to her the fact that the war was over and that she was in her room in Castle Aquaria. As another explosion rocked the castle, causing the walls around her to tremble, she pulled on a pair of boots, snatched a dagger she kept at hand for emergencies, tucking it into her trousers, and stepped out into the hall.

It was pandemonium.

Residents of the castle and soldiers alike scurried every which way and it was a far cry from the scene she would have witnessed if this had indeed been Arias. There, the members of the Shield Legion would have been rushing to their posts and the remaining inhabitants running to shelter in what might have looked like chaos, but was in fact a well rehearsed dance. Arias was used to attacks; Castle Aquaria was not.

She managed to snag one of the soldiers as he was running past. She had to shout to be heard over the cacophony. "What's going on?"

"Lady Clair! I don't know. Something at the gate..."

"What about the Queen?"

He shook his head. "I think I saw members of the Shield Legion heading towards her quarters."

"All right. You two!" She called to two other soldiers who were headed towards the gate. They stopped in their tracks as they recognised the commander of the Shield Legion. "I want you to get these people out of the hallways. Get them to the conference room on the second floor and set a guard. It's an easily defensible location. Stay there until you hear otherwise."

"Yes ma'am," they chorused. She waited only long enough to see them begin directing the crowd, telling them to the take the east stairway. Receiving directions seemed to calm them and Clair hurried on her way. Though the regular castle guard was evidently unused to this sort of situation, her soldiers knew what to do; after all, defending Aquios in the face of an attack was what they had originally been trained for. There were only a small number of them here right now and they could not hold the castle alone, so their priority then became reaching the Queen and coordinating with her personal guard to ensure she was secure.

Clair's heart thudded in her chest as her boots pounded the steps to the upper floor, taking them two at time. Once there she hurried to the Queen's room, just off the throne room and, under normal circumstances, accessible to no one save the Queen herself and her personal guard. It was with a sense of pride that Clair spotted most of the Shield Legion already gathered before the door, most of them in nightclothes of one sort or another, but all armed and already taking up defensive positions. One of them, wearing only a pair of linen undershorts and his sword, looked abashed, but saluted along with the rest.

She nodded her approval and turned to the matter at hand. "What's our status?"

"Commander Clair, Her Majesty's personal guard have the Queen secure."

"Does anyone know what's going on?"

"Lady Clair!" She spun on her heel at the familiar voice of Farleen. Tynave was only a pace behind as they ran into the audience chamber and towards the members of the Shield Legion.

"Tynave, Farleen. Do you have any information about what's happening?"

"A group of men armed with strange weapons," replied Tynave. "At least forty."

"What kind of weapons?"

"They fire white beams almost like the runological weapons, but they're much smaller," said Farleen.

A white beam? That sounded like the weapons Nel had described. But that was impossible, wasn't it? "What did these men look like? Are they soldiers?"

Tynave shook her head. "They're not in uniform. Some even looked like bandits or hired thugs. They've already taken the gate."

Clair's thoughts raced, several worst case scenarios running through her mind. If these were weapons like those the Vendeeni had had then they were in a great deal of trouble indeed. The Vendeeni's weapons were amazingly advanced; a single shot from one such device had nearly killed Nel at Kirlsa. However, the Aquarian forced possessed runology and the Vendeeni's weapons and those who wielded them were still vulnerable to runology and runological weapons. While that did not entirely level the playing field, it was their greatest asset. Technology, even that from the stars, could be beaten; they had proven that already and they would do so again today if need be.

"All right..." said Clair slowly, already formulating a course of action. "This is what we're going to do. Van," she said turning to the young man, one of her runologists she had recently transferred to Elena's research unit, "we're going to need the prototypes Professor Elena has been working on– all three of them. Bring two of them to the east stairwell and one to the west. You three," she said gesturing towards three of the armed men in the ranks, "go with him and help bring them up. When you're done pull up the ladder in the weapons fabrication room and make sure the equipment controls are locked."

"Yes, ma'am."

Clair then turned to address another of the runologists. "Dima, you'll be stationed in the weapons development lab. The fact that it's open to the fabrication room on the first floor makes it vulnerable. Keep yourself out of sight and report if they make any attempt to reach the second floor via the fabrication room."

"Yes, Commander!"

"Tynave, Farleen, Aida, and whoever has a crossbow come with me. We're going to the first floor to buy some time. The rest of you take up position at the top of the east stairwell."

"Yes, ma'am!" And with that the Shield Legion jogged to their separate assignments. She didn't need to tell them that time was short. Tynave, Farleen, and Aida, as well as three more soldiers armed with crossbows, fell into step behind her. She glanced behind quickly to see who they were: Baren, Wrin, and Lina, all good officers who had fought in the final battle at Arias.

Clair had just reached the chamber entrance when she spotted a tall, robed figure approaching them. "Professor Elena?"

Elena bowed her head slightly. "Lady Clair, I've been apprised of the situation and I'd like to offer my services."

At these words Clair could not help but be grateful and proud to have such people at her side in the midst of this chaos, people willing to do anything they could to protect their home and their country. "Thank you, but I can't possibly allow that. You said that you thought I could do more behind the front lines, but that's true of no one more than it is of you. If you stand with us, we'll have to risk ourselves all the more to keep you safe." Elena nodded. "There is one thing you could do, though..."

"Yes?"

"We're using the prototypes you showed me as part of our defence. You said the wiring tends to overheat? After how many shots exactly and how long does it need to cool afterwards?"

Her lips pursed, Elena thought on this a moment. "The optimum firing pattern is three shots every five minutes. Any more than that and you risk shorting out the wiring which, in the worst case, could cause the runological cannon to explode."

Already Clair's mind was assessing, calculating, running scenarios in an attempt to formulate a strategy. "Thank you, Professor. That helps a great deal. Now please, return to the conference room. We'll take care of things here."

"Be well, Lady Clair."

Clair nodded and then they were off at a run heading towards the east staircase. They slowed once they reach the stairway where the sounds of running water from the aqueducts below covered the sound of their footsteps. It was only when they reached the first floor, away from the sound of water rebounding through the open stairwell, that they were able to make out the sounds of battle. As they rounded the corner to the main hall and were within sight of the palace entrance, they were able to catch a glimpse of the combatants. A handful of soldiers rushed through the palace doorway ducking left or right as a flurry of white beams followed after them. One beam struck home, lancing through one soldier's back and continuing straight through him. He cried out and fell and did not move after that. The other beams continued straight into the Chapel doors and blew them part. The air exploded with shards of wood and glass.

"Go!" she called out to the castle guardsmen. "Regroup at the top of the east stair. We'll take things from here."

"But, Commander–"

"That's an order. Go!"

As the soldiers raced towards the stairway Clair and her unit took up positions on either side of the doorway. She hazarded a look beyond the doorway, ducking back in as a crowd of armed men opened fire. Once again, white beams shot through the open entrance to the palace and towards the Chapel. Clair cringed as she heard glass shattering, knowing the beams must have reached the huge rose window on the Chapel's far wall. The weapons had excellent range, that much was obvious, for even now the men were a good hundred and fifty feet away, still in the outer courtyard and not yet in the antechamber that led to the palace proper where she and the others waited.

"We just need to buy time," said Clair, mentally trying to imagine how close the men were as each second passed. They had already destroyed the huge oak doors that led into the castle; now it was just a matter of walking straight through the antechamber, but they were moving cautiously rather than simply rushing in. "We're going to create a wall of flame in the entranceway of the chamber ahead. We'll need to make it continuous. Farleen, you first, then you, Aida, and then me. Wait until the moment they're about to set foot in the castle." Usually one needed to maintain visual contact with the target in order to use runology. If they tried to directly attack their enemies they would need to see them, but that would not be necessary in order to use a spell on a fixed point. She and the others were all familiar enough with the castle grounds to keep the target in their mind's eye and thus be able to hold the flame without seeing the doorway. Still, using runology continuously rather than in short bursts was extraordinarily taxing, hence the need to alternate casters.

Snatching up a shard of glass from the floor Clair angled it so that she could see a pale reflection from outside. They were close. She held her hand up and counted down with her fingers. When she balled her hand into a fist Farleen drew a deep breath and called on the runes of flame. There was a roar of fire and screams erupted from outside. The screaming continued for several moments and Clair shut her eyes and reminded herself that these men had chosen this path and were responsible for whatever harm came to them.

The remaining men began to shoot blindly through the fire, but there was nothing to hit and the shots again went safely past the members of the Shield Legion and into the Chapel of Apris. Clair signalled to Aida to take over the spell. The shooting continued, but, as the spell was then passed off to her, Clair was too occupied with casting the runes to be chagrined at the sounds of breaking glass and shattering stone that came from the Chapel behind her. As she felt the toll of the spell beginning to wear on her she passed it on to Farleen. "Tynave," she said turning to her.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"I want you to check on the progress in the fabrication room. Report back here when they have the runological cannons in position and bring Van."

"Yes, Lady Clair." And then Tynave was sprinting down hallway and turning into the west corridor. Hopefully it would not be long.

By the third time Clair was casting the spell, she was beginning to feel the fatigue that came with the use of runology. During her training they had practiced holding spells for long periods; several of her classmates, misjudging their endurance, had passed out in the attempt, a mistake that could be deadly in battle.

The men stopped shooting finally and she supposed they had decided to wait them out. They likely knew how taxing such use of runology would be; she could use that to her advantage. "Farleen, I'm going to let the flame go for a moment. Baren, Wrin, Lina,you'll have a few seconds before they start attacking again so take your shot and make it count." With a nod, they took up positions from which they could fire their crossbows into the doorway across the antechamber.

"Now!" Clair released the flame. It vanished instantly and an moment later the three crossbows fired. Sounds of alarm followed from outside and immediately the rebels opened fire once more, but Baren, Wrin, and Lina, had taken cover and Farleen had called the flames back again.

"Well done," said Clair. She kept her eyes on Farleen who had grown pale, sweat on her brow and her hands trembling. Aida, too, had noticed for she at once took up the spell. They would have to begin passing the spell on at shorter intervals now. It was with great relief that Clair spotted Tynave and Van racing towards them.

"Van, we're casting a spell of flame on the palace entrance. I need you to take my place and hold here for another few minutes until I give the signal."

"Yes, Commander."

"Tynave, you're with me." And with that Clair took off down the corridor with Tynave close behind her. She came to a stop when she reached the top of the west stairway where two members of the Shield Legion were standing by one of the runological cannons, chests heaving and dripping with sweat from the strain of getting the cannons up the steps.

From the top of the staircase she had a perfect view of the lower flight of stairs. Yes, this would work perfectly. She took a deep breath before she spoke. "I want you to aim the cannon at the middle of the lower half of the stairway and fire."

"What?"

It was difficult to say whether the looks on her soldiers' faces were more of shock or of horror, but she pressed on regardless. "We can't defend both stairways. If we destroy this one they'll have to concentrate their fire on the eastern stairway and we'll make our stand there."

"But Commander," one of the men protested, "we can't just blow up part of the castle."

"I'm giving you an order and I take full responsibility for this." He nodded, a little uncertainly, granted, but he did set about adjusting the cannon and Clair turned to the other man. "Go tell the others what's happening and have them set the other two cannons so that they're aimed towards the bottom of the eastern stairway."

"Yes, ma'am." And with a salute he was off to the opposite end of the castle where the rest of the Shield Legion waited.

"Tynave, as soon as we're ready here head down and tell Farleen and the others to fall back to the eastern stairway with the rest of us."

"Yes, Lady Clair."

Runological weaponry was not difficult to operate and required no runological training– that was the whole point after all– so it took the soldier little time to prepare the cannon. He glanced towards Clair, awaiting the order. Closing her eyes a moment, she took a deep breath. She hated what she was about to do, but there was no other way; if they were to successfully defend the castle, its inhabitant, and the Queen herself, this needed to be done.

"Fire."

As soon as he did, they both ducked for cover as the blast from the runological cannon struck the lower half of the stairs and sent chunks of pale stone flying in all directions. With a groan and a splash that sent water high enough to soak Clair, the shattered stone crashed into the aqueducts that flowed beneath the raised stairway, leaving a gap some twenty feet long, too great a distance for the enemy to bridge. It was done.

Tynave was off and running already as Clair turned to the soldier. "Bring this cannon to the east staircase with the others. After that take up position here and warn us if the enemy tries anything."

"Yes, Commander."

Brushing away strands of wet hair that clung to her face, Clair ran to meet the rest of the Shield Legion. Their expressions when she came around the corner were grim, but they saluted and awaited her orders.

"Runology will be key here as will the timing for the cannons. They're still experimental and overheat if fired too often. The cannon fire will be staggered at one minute intervals. In between we'll use runology to keep the enemy at bay. Remember that their weapons are deadly at long range so we have to stay behind cover as much as possible. Stay low. We have the high ground so we'll have an advantage; they will be much easier targets than we'll be. Tynave and the others will be returning momentarily. Hold your fire until then. Let's go."

A round of "Yes, ma'am" and "Yes Commander," followed and then they began taking up position on the far end of the upper flight of stairs where they had a clear view of the lower area from which the enemy would be approaching.

Moments later Tynave and the six others who'd taken up position by the entrance appeared around the corner and made their way up to the second floor. They looked unharmed, though the three runologists appeared pale and on the verge of collapse."Wrin, Lina, Baren, take up positions. Pick off any of the enemy you can with your crossbows. Farleen, Van, Aida, take cover and rest for now."

Farleen made it two steps down the hall before her trembling limbs gave way and she sank down against the wall. Tynave went to check on her but she seemed to be fine so Clair turned her attention to the rest of the Legion. There was a good chance that by the end of this all the runologists would all be in a similar state. But there was not much the others could do; swords were all but useless in a battle such as this one.

In the few moments of silence that followed, Clair found her thoughts turning to Nel, wondering if she was safe. It seemed, however, that for once it was she rather than Nel who was in the greatest danger. She tried to imagine what Nel might be doing. Would she still be prowling the streets or gathering information at the tavern at this time of night or would she be asleep in her room at the inn? Clair held on to that last image of Nel tucked safely beneath her blankets, her head resting on a pillow, and thought of the way the oftentimes stern lines of her face relaxed when she was soundly asleep. At least today when she fought, she would have the comfort of knowing the one she loved was well.

And then the silence was shattered by the sound footfalls, dozens of them, echoing through the castle hallways. The rebels moved cautiously, but did not stop to check any of the side rooms. Clair wondered if they possessed the same sort of device Fayt had had which allowed them to detect the presence of enemies at a distance and, if they did, how accurately so.

The Shield Legion could not see very far down the east corridor from where they had taken up position, so it was only by sound that they knew when the enemy finally neared the end of the corridor. Clair glanced towards the soldiers positioned by the cannons and they nodded. An instant later a barrage of white beams shot towards them as the armed men appeared at the bottom of the stairs. The first cannon fired a beam much like those of the enemy weapons, only larger and bright enough to sear her eyes as she watched it stab into the enemy ranks. It struck two men, leaving nothing but ash where they'd stood, and gouged the stone floor, leaving a fair sized crater. The force of the blow knocked several of the men off their feet and the first pair of runologists leaped forward, taking advantage of the enemy's confusion to. They called on lightning and fire and soon two more of the rebels had fallen.

"Get back under cover," she shouted, as she saw that one of the runologists was about to attempt another spell. The enemy was recovering quickly and several of the rebels had opened fire and one white beam caught the runologist in the chest; he was dead before his body hit the stone steps. The other managed to duck and, lying flat against the steps, struggle upwards to safer ground.

The second cannon fired, but already the rebels were drawing back to the bottom of the stairway beyond the range of the cannons and the runologists' attacks. There was a pause of a minute or so during which Clair could only assume they were rethinking their strategy. In all likelihood they had not taken into consideration the presence of runologists in the castle, nor of members of the Shield Legion. They had probably expected to face little resistance save the castle guard who would be helpless against their technologically superior weapons. But relying only on might without proper planning and strategy was a grievous error on their part, one she intended to take full advantage of.

What followed when the rebels did reappear was a game of cat and mouse; several men would come out from under cover, ducking low to fire upwards while the runologists, similarly positioned on the opposing flight of stairs above, cast spells, unleashing the power of elemental forces upon their foes while Wrin, Lina, and Baren provided cover fire with their crossbows and the occasional blast from one of the runological cannons.

Clair didn't know how long they could hold out, but they had no choice for there was no help on the way. Either they held here or the castle and the Kingdom of Aquaria itself would fall.

ooo

Clair was not certain how long the battle had lasted. It was still night. The stone bannister along the stairway had been blasted to pieces, giving them that much less cover from their enemies, and the steps themselves on both the upper an lower flights were pockmarked from the blasts of the alien weapons and from the discharge of runological energy. She's lost four runologists so far and another– Van– was injured; enemy fire had grazed his left leg and the charred wound was bleeding freely. She had asked for volunteers from the group ensconced in the conference room to come and tend the wounded and the runologists who'd succumbed to fatigue. It was difficult to tell how many of the rebels they'd managed to disable, but several bodies were visible at the bottom of stairs. She had had one of the regular soldiers take Dima's place watching over the weapons fabrication room. Dima could use runology and Clair needed everyone with any runological ability here. Crossbow bolts were in short supply; the runologists were becoming increasingly fatigued; one of the cannons, scalding hot to the touch, was out of commission; and the other two were growing dangerously hot as well.

Glancing over her shoulder during a lull in the fighting, Clair counted the number of runologists who lay passed out or panting and unable to stand so weak were their trembling limbs, and felt something twist in her stomach. Their ability to continue to hold their position was rapidly diminishing. The enemy had for some time now been employing tactics meant to wear them out and it was working. Aida and Dima were at the top of the stair prepared to act, but they were the only remaining pair still standing. Some of the others would recover if given a little more time to rest, but for the moment this was it.

She returned her attention to the stairway as the sound of rapid weapons fire, more intense than it had been in some time, shattered the momentary stillness. A small group had ducked out from cover. One of the cannons was fired, though to little effect, for the men had already retreated. However, only a few seconds later a group a dozen strong made a run for the stairway. Aida and Dima leaped forward to meet them, but before they could get the spells out, a stray shot caught Dima in the arm. Aida, who was already fighting exhaustion managed only a weak flame which Clair knew would not be enough to drive back the attack.

Without hesitation, Clair stepped onto the stairway, ducking down for cover as she called on the most powerful lightning runes she knew. The air crackled with electricity and a column of lightning struck repeatedly at the cluster of men on the steps, killing one while two more were knocked off their feet. The rest kept coming. "Fire the cannon!" shouted Clair, throwing herself flat on the steps as she felt one of the white beams lancing by her, a hair's breadth from her side. If she died here would Nel ever know? She dismissed the thought from her mind as quickly as it had appeared and concentrated on the next spell. She felt as much as she heard the cannon firing overhead and down towards the soldiers, but already a few of them had reached the top of the first flight, past the range of the cannons and were turning towards the second flight. Clair called on flame to drive them back. The foremost man screamed as the runological flame seared his flesh, but as he fell a charge was released from the weapon in his hand, lancing over Clair's head and striking one of the overheated cannons. Immediately it began to emit a high pitch whine of increasing intensity.

She was still pinned down on the steps, unable to rise due to the enemy fire which had resumed from the bottom of the stairway, so had to resort to shouting to the nearest member of the Legion. "Push it down the steps!"

"What?"

"The cannon."

"But Commander–"

"Now!"

He and another soldier began heaving the cannon down the steps. Clair scrambled to get out of the way as it thundered past. She was just a few paces away from the top of the stairway and the rest of her unit when the cannon exploded.