Notes --- Actiooon! Or an attempt of one. The whole mist thing below is owed to my previous story "The Gate of Idramm", which has an inordinate amount of mist for a good portion of the fanfic, heh.

Disclaimer --- While I do wish that I had a hand in writing up the Tortallan universe, we all know that the ever-fabulous Tamora Pierce was its sole creator. So yeah, I don't own these characters. At all.

Chapter 14
Battle

Purple eyes blinked uncertainly at the scene before her. Alanna had volunteered to go into the portal first, and she was the one who'd taken in the sights before anyone else could. She could hear her friends asking if everything was okay, but the tugging feeling within the lady knight was egging her onwards. Compulsion took over, and she stepped forward, forgetting to let the others know what she was doing.

The terrain was difficult to travel in, and it was hardly visible through all the mist. Mist. Why was there more mist? It seemed to be the gods' idea of a joke, Alanna thought.

It was getting colder, and the Lioness' head began to spin. She tried to turn, and to her alarm, she found that she couldn't. What was happening? Alanna attempted to yell for help, but that wasn't working either. Instead, she moved onward, her feet involuntarily dragging her to what she dreaded was the ultimate trap.

"Damn that woman!" Thom spat out. He and Jonathan had run through the portal in unison. After having called out Alanna's name multiple times with no response, they had gotten suspicious, and it was decided that they'd send another two in. A powerfully sinister aura crept through the area.

"Mist. Again?!" Jon muttered, the memory of their adventures in Carthak still fresh in his mind. "This can't be good."

"Jon, I can't feel her anywhere," the lady knight's brother said, his voice low and on the brink of panic.

They heard the sound of hurried footsteps from behind and found that Numair, Myscha, and Alexa all came through. The silver-eyed girl sighed and tried to explain their lack of caution. "These two were worried and a little nervous on the other side. I suggested we all just pass through. There is something to say about safety in numbers, I must admit."

Myscha shivered. "Fog's setting in. How do you see in this blasted place?"

Black flames erupted from Numair's free palm. He pointed his Gift towards the mist and let the fires engulf them. They watched as the black gave way to a clearer, more translucent screen. Before they knew it, the mist thinned out to show the uneven terrain. There was, however, no lady knight in sight. Numair scowled. "She can't have gone that far so quickly. Thom, surely you can still feel her presence."

For a long moment, there was no answer from the red-headed demi-god. He bit his lip, and after the pause, shook his head. "I...I've lost her."

The cavern was dark and musty. A lone purple fireball followed the Lioness into the cave, the only bit of the Gift she could have mustered now. Even as her feet took her well inside the engulfing darkness, she was feeling the need to close her eyes and rest. Instead, Alanna remained as alert as possible. There must be some way to break free of this terrible force that was gripping her.

There! She could feel the unknown power falter, and she took that chance to pounce. With the reserve of her Gift, her purple aura set her body on fire. It was a different fire from what Alexa had ignited before. This magic protected and healed her. She only hoped she could last long enough to get out and find her friends.

Alanna could feel the darkness fighting to catch her again. The Lioness clenched her fists, amethyst eyes ablaze with determination. Slowly, she turned and began to take a step back towards the cave's exit.

A tall, lean-muscled figure stood at the opening, the shadow covering his face. He stretched his hand, and a yellowish sliver of the Gift streamed from his palms. In one quick instant, the Gift rushed towards Alanna, and the lady knight stumbled backwards, landing on the ground, her aura disappearing just as quickly. She swore loudly, frustrated at another obstacle in her way.

"I suggest not moving, Lioness," the man told her, his voice dripped with a wicked amusement. "You're only delaying the inevitable."

"Goddess burn you for this!" she hissed at him, reaching for the sword that she'd found at the armory. Alanna closed her hand on the sword's hilt and pulled it out. Even in the dark, she could still fend off attacks. All she needed was the slightest hint of movement and sound.

The man chuckled. "A fight in the dark, lady? I know your prowess is legendary, but not even you can best an expert swordsman flailing like that."

His statement was followed by the drawing of steel, and Alanna knew that he had unsheathed his own sword. The dim light of the cave grew larger when the lady knight's assailant moved closer. If only she could push him back towards the light...

With no warning, the man lunged at her. She met the tip of his sword with the hilt of hers, just quick enough to sidestep him. It wasn't so easy to move inside the narrow cave, though, and it was harder still to try to get behind him into the light. The man had known her plan from the beginning, and he moved just as swiftly as she did. Alanna guessed that he was one of the Chosen, and in any other circumstance, she might have respected him as a swordsman.

Both fighters ambled to better maneuver themselves, and once or twice they'd stumbled onto rock, only to get up as swiftly as they could. Alanna was so practiced in her drills and knowledgeable enough to know the limitations of the cave that she was able to anticipate her attacker's moves.

The tall man was a fantastic swordsman, but the Lioness felt him beginning to tire. They were both overreaching their strengths, but Alanna had made sure to keep her movements to a minimal. All she needed now was one more stumble...

She found it half a minute later, just as he took a step back towards the light. Alanna let out one triumphant yelp and swooped in for the final blow.

Alanna's attacker dropped his sword, and he crumpled to the ground. The coppery redhead stooped over the man's body and checked his breath. Satisfied that he was only unconscious, she sheathed her blade and moved towards the entrance of the cave. The lady knight wasn't sure how she managed to make it back out without being pulled in by whatever it was that lived in the darkness.

"Goddess, you must have blessed me today," she uttered her prayer of thanks. She felt slightly empty, but Alanna knew that she'd get her Gift back sooner or later. In fact, it might be a temporary advantage; nothing magical would be able to control her easily enough for the moment. The lady knight limped outside and found a seat just beside the cave. She remained stationary, pondering what she should do next.

It turned out that the Lioness didn't have to think for too long.

"Mithros be praised!" a relieved Jonathan exclaimed. He was waving at her at a distance. Behind him were Thom, Myscha, Alexa, and Numair.

She returned his greeting, albeit rather weakly. Thom was already rushing to her side. He hugged the air out of her, and she giggled despite the sore muscles. "Thom, I'm fine. You can let go now."

"He was promising Shakith and any other god who'd listen that if he saw you again, he wasn't letting go," Numair said behind the demi-god. "Still, I don't blame him, we're all feeling the same kind of relief, you know."

Alanna blushed. She untangled herself from her brother and sat back down. The Lioness pointed towards the cave. "There's a man taking a nap near the entrance. I'd drag him back out, but I'm tired. Best be wary, though."

Jon chuckled and beckoned to Myscha to come with him. The two disappeared inside the cave. Thom raised an eyebrow. "Were you fighting, sister?"

"Like I had much of a choice," she leaned back, the stone cooling her heated skin. "It was either that or have my innards splayed all over the rocks. He meant business, that one. How did you find me?"

"No thanks to your panicky brother, I'll tell you that much," Numair piped in, leading Alexa to sit beside the lady knight. Thom shot the king's sorcerer a glare, and the tall man grinned in reply. "He'd kept repeating that he couldn't sense you, over and over again. The dear princess here had to slap some sense into him."

"You didn't!" Alanna exclaimed, surprised.

Alexa hung her head, reddening. This was the first time that the lady knight had seen the girl blush. "I was sorry to do it, but I needed him to stay logical."

"I don't have the Sight as strong as she does," Thom explained, ignoring the smirks his sister and the king's sorcerer were shooting at him. "But she couldn't track you down either, not without a sort of object to trace you. Fortunately, I can still conjure your shield at will."

He did so just at that moment, letting the shield hover in mid-air. He waved his hand again and the lioness rampant disappeared. "Luckily for us, you also used your Gift at some point, which increased the trace."

The imperial princess nodded. "Lord Thom is a very gifted mage, Sir Alanna."

"And I am not?" Numair tried to sound offended.

"You can't really compete with a demigod, you know," Thom winked at him.

"I beg to differ."

The king and the lord of Tirragen were carrying the ends of Alanna's assailant outside, placing him on the ground. Jon sighed with relief. "No doubt about it. It's Count Peldor."

Myscha looked at Alanna with wonder. "You'd fought him? Without knowing he had leeching spells ready?"

Alanna made a face. "I didn't really have much of my Gift left to be worrying about leeching spells. It might take weeks for me to recover, I spent most of my energy warding off whatever it was that dragged me here."

"And fighting Peldor."

"I suppose."

The lord shook his head, still amazed. "It's no wonder she's your Champion, Highness."

Jon chuckled.

"Now that we're all nicely situated outside of where the Ysandir might be, anyone have some course of action?" Numair asked, returning the others to the problem at hand.

Alanna groaned. With all that just happened, she had almost forgotten about the Ysandir.