Yalishandela: I'm sure that would have been super exciting too, but Akkarin rushes to the rescue of the damsel in distr... er Lorlen. But more shall not be revealed here :D
Hmm, an exciting question. I think Sakakan mages are strong because of their culture of strength. So probably stronger by natural potential than some guild mages, that's also hinted at once by Avalla.
Whether Lorlen, Sonea or Akkarin is strongest is hard to say. I think Lorlen's natural potential is similar to Akkarin's, at least that was mentioned in a conversation between the two. I also believe that both would have developed their powers naturally, had they not been unleashed before. Whether Sonea is only equal or superior to the two is hard to say, especially since she is still developing her powers. In any case, Lady Vinara believes that she will one day be more powerful than Akkarin. (Derived from her remark after the fight against Regin).
Methodically, Akkarin combed the streets around the hospital, looking for a clue to catch the spy. His thoughts kept wandering, sometimes to Lorlen, who was once again withdrawing from their friendship, and then again to Sonea, who only spoke the most necessary things to him. Tired, he ran his hand through his hair. To make matters worse, the nightmares had increased again. Sometimes he saw Kela die, then again the spy grabbed Sonea on her way home and she died in agony. Their quarrel didn't make things any better. He had become used to reliving Kela's death over and over again. Finding Sonea in his dreams, on the other hand, was unpleasant. Especially since she was still angry with him for adjusting her timetable to give her more free time. Akkarin had actually rather expected gratitude, but not that Sonea would oppose him so childishly.
He sighed and concentrated on his task again. He would deal with Sonea later, when she had finally realised that it was best for her the way he had changed her plan.
Leaning casually against a wall in a dark corner, he pulled his hood over his head and felt into his surroundings. Nothing unusual. Still, he had the feeling he was on the right track. And if there was one thing he had learned, it was to rely on his gut feeling. Once again he concentrated on his magical senses and felt a small magical impulse at the edge of his consciousness. Slowly he pushed himself off the wall and followed it towards the north gate.
Akkarin was sure that this was not one of the mages who frequented the cottage quarter from time to time. He was not blind to what some mages did, especially those with offbeat sexual preferences.
At a moderate pace, the High Lord approached the source of the impulse when suddenly his senses were literally flooded. Someone was casting poorly veiled magic. Unobtrusively, Akkarin lengthened his stride and turned a corner, just in time. A man in tattered clothes was bending over a dress lying on the ground. His blade was reflected in one of the few streetlights. Akkarin knew he had to act quickly.
"So Kariko has sent me a new toy," he called out in Sachakan. At the same time, he sent out a light punch to test his opponent's shield. It was not particularly strong.
As intended, the Sachakan let go of his victim lying lifeless on the ground.
"Kariko will reward me for your death," he promised threateningly, completely forgetting his victim.
Akkarin laughed softly and covered the slave with a hail of what seemed to be powerful force blows to make him neglect his shield. This had to be done quickly, such an opportunity would not present itself to him again so soon. At the same time he cursed the fact that Cery had not been able to clear the area before. Keeping the people quiet would be expensive.
The Sachakan shifted from threatening to fighting and relentlessly sent strong blows at Akkarin's shield to break it. In doing so, he neglected his own cover, which the High Lord took advantage of, distracting him with a few highly visible blows from the front, while the real attack came from behind and below. At these points the Sachakan's shield was weak to save magic. At the last moment, the slave deflected the blows. Akkarin cursed softly. This was far too flashy and taking far too long. He needed a distraction to get at the man and take his energy.
Akkarin let his attacks fall into a simple pattern as he surveyed his surroundings. To his left were only buildings, behind his attacker directly in front of him was open street. The alley they were standing in consisted of firmly trampled, damp earth, which was of no use to him either. To his right were two barrels, next to which lay the Sachakan's victim. Blue fabric peeked out from under the dark, long cloak, which seemed strangely familiar to Akkarin. But he would have to deal with that later.
He let his trained gaze wander further to a pile of rubbish - perfect.
Without stopping his attacks, he sent his magic to the pile and began to rain down an intricate web of magical and non-magical attacks on the enemy. It worked better than he had hoped. Surprised by the sudden physical attack, some of the objects pierced the shield and hit the man. Akkarin cursed softly as his opponent suddenly collapsed in a fountain of blood. He had not meant to do that. With quick steps he rushed towards the black magic without dropping his own shield. With a fright, he recognised the cut on his opponent's throat, from which the lifeblood was by now running slowly. He had no choice but to take the remaining magic from him to prevent a catastrophe. When he finally withdrew his now bloodied hand, he cursed violently. He would have needed the man alive.
Groaning, his opponents victim stirred behind Akkarin and the High Lord fell silent. High time to leave. But the familiar voice at his back made him stop mid-motion: "I guess it was one of those spies, wasn't it, my old friend?"
Akkarin was persistently silent on the way back to the guild. Astonished and with a good headache from the stun, Lorlen had watched Akkarin kill the stranger attacker. Within seconds Lorlen had realised that Akkarin could not have simply staged this fight, after all Lorlen himself had not even known he would be there until a few hours ago. Besides, he had watched the fight long enough to know that the mage from outside the guild had to be a black mage. The power of his blows had made Akkarin's shield waver.
It quickly became clear to Lorlen that it was Akkarin who was fighting the foreign mage in torn clothes. Their last fight in the arena might have been many years ago, but the High Lord's fighting style had changed little.
The fight was over faster than Lorlen could collect himself. Only when Akkarin rose, cursing, had Lorlen finally shaken off the after-effects of the stunning blow enough to speak.
After that, everything had happened very quickly. The High Lord had ordered Lorlen to wait for him and then searched the body, uncovering a red sparkling stone which he destroyed with a well-aimed blow.
Although a thousand questions were buzzing around in his head, Lorlen did as the High Lord asked. He had watched in amazement as Akkarin had beckoned a man to come and dispose of the body. Afterwards he had told him to follow him. Together they had entered the street of thieves, at least Lorlen suspected it was the street of thieves. Astonished, he had discovered that Akkarin had his own access to it, which explained a lot.
No sooner had they entered the underground room from Sonea's memory than Takan came in through the other door, closely followed by Sonea.
"You are back. Are you hurt? Where did all this blood come from?" gushed the novice and she hurried towards the High Lord, concern clearly evident on her face.
'Interesting', Lorlen thought. 'So Sonea really is on his side.' Not that he was surprised. After all he had observed, it had been almost ridiculously obvious.
"Master," Takan said quietly, concern written all over his face.
Akkarin raised both hands. "Not my blood," he said quietly. "But it's good to know you're talking to me again, Sonea" Lorlen could hear the amusement in his voice.
The novice paused in mid-motion and snorted angrily. "That doesn't mean I'm not still angry," she snapped, then sighed. "Even though you may have been right that it was all a bit much, High Lord".
"And you have every right to be angry. I should have included you in this decision". Now his voice sounded almost gentle to Lorlens surprise.
Again Lorlen thought 'interesting'. This was on a much bigger scale than he had assumed. And clearly it was not meant for his ears. He cleared his throat loudly before he would learn things that forced him to act.
