That's OK,
Lets see how you do it
Put up your dukes,
Lets get down to it
Hit me with your best shot

~Hit Me With Your Best Shot-Pat Benatar~

It took longer than she liked for Cordana to find protective armor to fit her. She mixed and matched pieces of some of her sisters and some of Jarrod's, and covered the mess with her bladed cloak and helmet. While it felt right and good to her to be dressed for battle, her advanced pregnancy and her months of a sedentary lifestyle had made her slow and cumbersome. It worried her immensely that they would be too late but she steeled herself and used Khadgar's crystal to create a portal to him. Jarrod stepped through first, in full battle dress.

Khadgar was reading from a tome in the library and looked up in surprise as first Jarrod than Cordana stepped through the portal.

"My love!" he exclaimed, standing and going to her immediately. She pulled him behind her.

"Where is Kira?" she demanded.

Khadgar was confused. "Kira? She is around here somewhere, perhaps outside. She is never far."

Jarrod went outside immediately.

Cordana removed her helmet. "Khadgar," she said, trying to focus on her words rather than the mesmerizing quality of his beautiful eyes. "Jarrod did not send that warden to you, neither did I. In fact, it is not even Kira Dawntreader. It is Maiev. I am sure of it."

Khadgar blinked. "I highly doubt that, my dear one! Maiev as you described her would have put a knife in my back already, not served me."

"Ward us," she said firmly.

Khadgar pressed his lips to hers. What she was saying was not truly sinking in, not opposed to his finally getting to look on her, to kiss her once more and feel his arms around her.

She pushed him away. "Not now, Khadgar. We will have time together later."

"You are serious about this?" he asked still somewhat surprised. Of course she was. Cordana was not one for idle suppositions. If she had a gut instinct it was correct.

He warded them and she replaced her helmet.

"Cordana," he said. "I am not sure what you are thinking but let Jarrod and I handle this. You are not in any condition to handle an altercation. If it is indeed Maiev, she will not hesitate to try and harm you and our child. This might have been exactly the ploy she had in mind, to lure you back here!"

He reached through the front of the bladed cloak and touched her very substantial belly. "Light my dear one, our son's birth is imminent...please stay here."

She vanished into stealth and headed outside. No way was she going to hide in the Tower.

"Kira!" called Jarrod.

At the other end of the Tower courtyard, the other Warden was examining the Orb of Dominion. Garona, unable to see the Orb, grew violent and began hurling herself at the walls again.

"Kira!" said Khadgar sharply. "I have asked you to leave the Orb alone. Please come away from it."

Cordana wasn't going to play along with the ruse. There was no sense in continuing to allow Maiev to have her little charade.

"Take your helmet off, I wish to speak with you."

The other turned to them and stepped forward, allowing Garona to become once more pacified by the Orb.

"It is forbidden to remove the encounter suit outside of the Enclave," she said hollowly.

Cordana felt anger building inside her and unstealthed. "Just take it off Kira...or should I say, Maiev!"

Maiev laughed and removed it. "Have you come to try and reclaim your place as the happy housewife? Too late little Cordana," she said in a mocking tone. "You have been replaced in every way, isn't that right Khaddy?"

Cordana looked at her mate and wrinkled up her nose. Khaddy?

"You are vile," said Khadgar.

"That is not what you said last night," she smiled, but it did not reach her eyes which were dull and cold.

"I never knew a Warden of the Enclave to be so deceitful to an ally. Why would you do this? Cordana and I have never wronged you."

Jarrod approached his sister, his face filled with sadness. "What is this, Maiev...why have you allowed us to grieve your death for so long, and never a word to the contrary? What have we done to deserve your derision?"

Maiev's already cold expression grew even harder. "How about siding with the enemy?" She pointed towards Khadgar and Cordana. "I have seen what he will do in the not too distant future and he must be stopped!"

With a shriek she launched her umbral crescent into the air. Cordana deflected it and Khadgar shot her with a force missile and knocked her backwards into Garona's prison.

"Please!" cried Jarrod running to her. "Don't hurt her!"

Maiev was shaken and got to her feet, rage contorting her features. "Siding with them will not gain you my mercy brother! You were a fool before and you are a fool now!"

"Why do you say that? I thought we had gotten past all of that! Maiev you need to speak with me. Let us return to the Enclave!"

She shoved him aside. "Not until the traitors are dead!"

Jarrod moved in front of her, blocking her view of Khadgar and Cordana. "Explain this to me! Why do you say this about Khadgar, who has ever been a good man and true!"

Maiev laughed. "He will release them from the Vaults and unleash hell on our world! We need to stop this! He is going to fail in his mission here!"

Jarrod shook his head and gripped her shoulders, one of her blades cutting into his hand. "Khadgar would no more do that than you or I. And if something terrible happened and you are correct, you can be damned sure the Archmage will have a good reason for it!"

Maiev jerked free of his grip. "His pretty lies have gotten to you also. You forget I have spent this time with him and I know how deceitful he truly is!"

She stepped sideways and looked to Cordana. "Do you even know this man you have taken for a mate? Do you know his heart? You say you do, but I promise you little Cordana you have no idea who or what he is!"

Jarrod moved to stand in front of her again, but she shoved him aside once more. "And you, Archmage...dear sweet Khaddy with the silver tongue and the angel's touch...are nothing short of a demon. Show your pretty mate what you can do! I am sure she will be impressed! Come on...what are you waiting for?"

Cordana could barely contain the rage she now felt. Had she been at Sanctuary so long that she was no longer able to quell her emotions? Maiev was insane. Something had happened to her. Something that twisted her mind and fed her terrible lies.

Jarrod tried once more to reason with his sister. Cordana looked up at her mate.

"She is corrupted, Khadgar," whispered Cordana. "Perhaps not to the extent of Garona...but her mind is completely twisted. Has she been warded during her time here? Has she been in contact with that...that...thing?"

"I had misgivings about her from the moment we met. I could find no fault with her work, but she was just...off...in some way. I know she lied to me regarding her whereabouts. I also forbade her to go near the Orb when we were not working with it. I warded her during those hours but she removed the wards herself afterwards, saying she did not approve of arcane influences. She disobeyed me several times as I caught her hanging around the Orb on a few occasions."

Cordana sighed. "Are you able to imprison her, as you did with Garona? I can distract her while you prepare a trap."

Khadgar shook his head. "I will not allow you to engage her in battle. You are far too vulnerable."

"Jarrod will not help you. He is of the belief his sister is in her right mind. He is denying what he knows is the truth. Maiev at her best would be difficult for me, but she is not herself and is compromised by some very overwhelming emotions. This makes her weak and unsteady. I can handle her, Khadgar!"

Khadgar stared straight ahead. "No, Cordana," he said. "I will do this on my own."

She went into stealth. "Like the hells you will!" she said. "This is one of those times I am disobeying a directive, Archmage!"

"Dammit, Cordana!" he cried as he saw her umbral crescent spin through the air. Maiev, engrossed in tormenting her brother, was not expecting it and ducked away too late. The blade sliced into her arm, cutting her cloak. Blood ribboned onto the fabric and she cried out in pain.

"You will regret that, little Cordana!" she shrieked.

Khadgar had no time to worry over his wife. He began immediately to draw power and weave and fuse the arcane into a prison trap.

"Stop this! Both of you!" cried Jarrod. His emotions were in turmoil. He recognized something was wrong with his sister, but he was not willing to kill her for it, and Cordana was an extremely dangerous force when focused. Worse now that she was in a different mode, a woman protecting her mate.

"Cordana! Do not kill her!" he cried.

He heard Maiev's harsh laughter. "That little upstart couldn't kill me on her best day!"

You are wrong, Maiev, thought Jarrod. You are far too emotional. Pray that Cordana heeds my plea.

Both adversaries were in stealth. Cordana kept part of her focus on Khadgar ensuring that he continue his task unimpeded. She needed to keep Maiev enraged and focused on her. In the grip of tumultuous emotion, Maiev would not be able to fight properly.

"You have grown complacent and lazy Maiev," she said. "The sister I knew would never have let me hit her so easily!"

Maiev shrieked and struck out with her crescent. She was not acting out of training or instinct but feeling. In the same way practitioners of the Fel worked. It fed off their rage. The angrier you were within, the easier it was to command the Fel. Anyone technically could draw and use it, but the truly powerful warlocks used their emotion to fuel it.

With her incredible celerity and control, Cordana attacked Maiev and drove her towards the trap. She was not always able to score a direct hit, as Maiev's stealth was very difficult to track. It was one of her specialties.

However, the little bit of physical effort Cordana expended was tiring her, and she felt a sharp pain in her side. Darting to the far side of the trap she unstealthed slightly, remaining in battle stance. She wanted it to appear that she was losing her focus. She needed Maiev to run towards her.

The ruse worked. Maiev laughed and taunted her. But instead of engaging Cordana, she threw the umbral crescent. Cordana saw it and twisted away as she ordinarily would, but her shifted center of balance made her clumsy and she didn't notice the tree root until her foot hit it and she tumbled to the ground. The jarring impact on her body shocked and hurt her. She immediately vanished completely and got up as quickly as she could. Even invisible she was still an easy target for another Warden. Cordana had only gone a few steps when a spasming pain nearly doubled her over. With a grunt she fell to her knees. Please get her into the trap Khadgar, she silently entreated. I can't do this anymore. She lay her hands on her belly, the pain making her unable to stand.

"Maiev!" called Jarrod. He felt useless in this battle, he could not see his sister to engage her, and he could not draw her focus. He meant nothing to her, he was no threat to her present circumstance.

"Cordana, be careful!" he called out.

"She can be as careful as she likes, brother dear," replied Maiev. "I will kill her and her half breed whelp also!"

Khadgar had completed the trap and her words fueled an intense black rage in him that he had never felt. Not even on the day he helped slay his master did he feel such darkness within him. He no longer cared to trap the corrupted Warden, but wanted to send her to the twisting nether to dance with all the demons she liked.

"You will NOT!" he yelled, and released a volley of flares which, for a split second, showed him where his wife was as well as Maiev. He blinked to Cordana's side, then turned and let loose a terrifying barrage of arcane and fire. They hit a surprised Maiev and threw her into the air, breaking her stealth. She landed on Garona's prison bubble and slid down the other side. It was the only reason she survived the shards of ice and rock that hurtled towards her straight after.

"Khadgar! Stop!" screamed Cordana. She unstealthed and reached up and grabbed his hand, pulling on him.

Jarrod ran to his sister who lay unmoving in a heap. Garona was looking impassively at the scene, tapping on the side of the bubble a few times before returning to her hypnotic stare at the Orb.

"Maiev," he said. "Oh my dear sister! What has come over you? What madness has gripped you?"

He picked her up carefully.

"Bring her here Jarrod!" called Cordana weakly. "Khadgar has constructed a prison for her. She will be safe here."

"I cannot send my sister to the Vaults! It would kill her!" he exclaimed. His face was wracked with sorrow.

"No, she will not go to the Vaults. We will try and free her from her madness as we will Garona."

Another wave of pain overtook Cordana and she clutched her abdomen and hunched over with a groan.

Khadgar looked down at her and knelt by her side. "Cordana...what is it? Did Maiev hit you?"

She pulled her helmet off. "No...it's ok I will be fine, get Maiev in here Khadgar, before Jarrod does something foolish. He is overcome with emotion and cannot think properly."

Khadgar stood up. "Jarrod, something is wrong with Cordana. Get your sister into this prison now! Maiev is not stable enough for you to handle. Please! I need to see to my wife!"

Jarrod looked at Cordana and saw the pain in her eyes. Woodenly he walked to the glowing rune on the ground and lay his unconscious sister down. As he stepped away, a glowing bubble formed itself over her, just as it had over Garona.

"I will conjure food and water for her three times a day as I do Garona. What you see here is not what they see. They are in a pocket dimension of sorts, in a room with a bed and facilities and even a window that shows them a quiet outdoor scene. Garona is currently sitting at her window staring outside. The Orb has her enthralled but she does not see it as such."

"Khadgar..." Cordana groaned weakly. "Help..."

He looked at her and knelt back down. Her eyes were wide and frightened. "I think there is something dreadfully wrong with the baby, or with me...or..." she whimpered and curled up in a ball on the ground, clutching her abdomen.

"Oh light," he whispered. "I better teleport us to the infirmary at the garrison."

"No! Sanctuary...please..."

"Alright my love, Sanctuary it is." He gathered her gently into his arms, still kneeling.

In a flash of light they vanished, leaving Jarrod shell shocked and confused. He sank down to the ground beside Maiev's prison and tried to clear his tortured thoughts.