Disclaimer – I do not own BMT world, it belongs to Trudi Canavan
The Assault on Corres Fort
As Sonea watched, the area directly in front of the Landgate filled with people, the ones pushing from the back causing the people at the front to stumble and fall. The sounds of explosions came nearer and nearer and the growing panic in the crowd was palpable. The first wave of people reached the Landgate which was firmly shut. They began to pound on the huge wooden doors, but there was no movement from either the Guards manning the towers either side of the gates, nor from the gates themselves.
Surely the Guards will let them in, Sonea thought as she turned to look for an officer. Behind her, there were a number of Warriors and Guards milling about and amongst them, she caught a glimpse of Osen. Without stopping to think of the consequences, she pushed her way over where he was standing.
"Administrator, there are people at the gates trying to get in."
"We can't open the gates," the Administrator replied, looking around him distractedly. "They will need to take shelter in the town."
"But the town is under attack!" Sonea all but shouted. But it would not do to act out of character and become Sonea again, so she modulated her voice somewhat. "They have nowhere to hide in the town which is safe. They need the shelter of the Fort walls."
"I'm sorry, Healer," Osen replied. "I must see the High Lord," and with that he rushed off.
Sonea returned to the wall. Even more people had pushed their way towards the Landgate and she could see there were already a number who were injured. A memory of the Purges filled her mind, that time when magicians drove the dwells out of the inner city. Although they no longer took place, she had witnessed a number of them when she was very young and the sight of struggling men, women and children trying to escape whoever was causing the explosions reignited the anger she had felt during the Purges. She had to do something!
She looked for Akkarin, but he had gone. Nor were any of his Warriors in sight, so she guessed he had already put some sort of plan into action. Balkan was standing looking out over the sea so it was possible he didn't know about the people at the gate. She threaded her way towards him though the press of people.
"High Lord," she called when she got near to where he was, "High Lord, I must speak with you."
Balkan looked briefly round and gestured her closer, "What is it?" he asked brusquely.
"There are people trying to find shelter in the Fort," she explained quickly, "but the gates are shut. They need to be allowed in."
Balkan stared at her, "I cannot order the gates opened, we have to keep the Fort secure until we find out what is going on."
It was Sonea's turn to stare. "We know there are people out there who need help," she snapped. "The Fort is large enough to take them in. You can't leave them out there to be killed."
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Osen move until he was standing next to her. He took hold of her arm as Balkan continued, "I'm sorry, but until I have a clear idea of who is attacking us, I cannot risk opening the gates. There may be many attackers amongst the crowd and I am not prepared to let them enter."
Balkan turned away and at the same time Osen pulled on her arm, "Your skills will soon be needed elsewhere, Lady Jalette, so I suggest you leave the tactics and fighting to the High Lord and his Warriors and go where you are needed."
Sonea angrily shook him off and walked away. In the face of such stubbornness, she could do nothing. She looked back over the wall again. Even more people were pressing up against the gates and large numbers continued to stream out of the narrow streets. The sound of explosions was getting nearer and she thought she could begin to see the flashes. If only Akkarin were here!
Suddenly there was a tremendous shout from the other side of the Fort. She rushed over in time to see the last remains of the King's ship disappear beneath the waves. The other four ships were untouched. If she needed any proof that these were crewed by Ichani, then the complete destruction of the Kyralian ship provided it.
There was a surge in mental communication as witnesses tried to tell others what they had seen. By now, Sonea was better able to sort out the individual messages and to her horror, she began to hear Warriors talking about tactics.
They have to stop, she thought desperately, but Jalette can't tell them! It seemed the Guild had forgotten that the Ichani could hear them too. She looked for Balkan or Osen. Perhaps she could find a way to remind them, but they were surrounded by Warriors and she could see no way of getting to them.
MENTAL COMMUNICATION MUST CEASE! Akkarin's mental voice was overwhelming in its strength and the shock of it, more than the instruction itself, caused silence to fall.
Akkarin materialised from somewhere in their midst and moved swiftly towards the High Lord, a clear path opening up before him as people moved quickly aside. She was not close enough to hear their conversation but she could tell from the way Balkan was standing that he wasn't best pleased at seeing the King's Magician again. Akkarin spoke passionately and she watched the colour rush to the High Lord's face. He was obviously struggling to hold on to his temper, but whatever Akkarin was saying so firmly began to make an impression on Balkan and gradually his attitude changed. Finally he nodded acceptance and turned away to gather his Warriors.
Akkarin strode to the sea wall and placed both hands on it. Sonea felt again the strange tingling which indicated the use of black magic. She pushed forward a little until she could see what he was doing more clearly. She saw his fingers sink slowly into the wall and could almost taste the rush of power Akkarin would be gaining from the building. He left one hand in place on the wall, but raised the other until it was pointing in the direction of the incoming ships.
She craned her neck and saw the four ships were still close together, moving steadily towards the Fort. The tingling increased, then Akkarin released an enormous Forcestrike which landed dead in the middle of the oncoming ships, damaging one severely and causing the others to be thrown some distance away. Quickly, before the Ichani could respond, Akkarin sent another, this time targeting the leading ship. There was a brilliant flash and when it cleared, the ship was gone. There was not even a piece of debris to show where it had been.
The damaged ship had fallen back. Sonea could see men frantically running along its decks. The two remaining ships had drawn further apart and the Ichani began to send their own strikes against the Fort. Akkarin moved quickly to one side, just as a Forcestrike hit the crenulations where he had been standing. Bits of the wall splintered and were sent some distance by the force of the blast. Sonea quickly bent down to collect some pieces which fell near her feet. She quickly crumbled them and absorbed the power. It wasn't much, but she had learned to take power when she could.
She looked up to find Akkarin was standing quite close to her. His back was towards her, so she hoped in the excitement of his duel with the Ichani sailors that he hadn't noticed her. She could feel the tingling again, then he released another Forcestrike. In the meantime, some of his Warriors had joined him at the wall. She noticed they were separated into groups of four, with three feeding power to the fourth, who sent a variety of strikes against the boats.
They began to send a quickening stream of strikes against the ships, but the Ichani continued to reply, bits of the crenulations splintering away, but Sonea could sense a slight lessoning of their force. She glanced out to sea again and saw that Akkarin and his Warriors had forced the Ichani ships to retreat a little. The third ship had now caught up with the others and they formed a line directly in front of the sea wall.
She could see that the Ichani had not yet learned to work in coordination with each other and as a consequence, their return fire was ragged. Some even failed to reach the Fort at all, so she assumed that some of the black magicians were not as strong as others among the ships' crews. Akkarin and his Warriors continued to bombard the group of ships and soon she could see the results of Akkarin's plan. The ships were gradually driven apart and forced back, away from the Fort. Another group of Warriors came to join their fellows and Akkarin turned away and looked straight into Sonea's eyes.
A strange half-smile crossed his face, "You followed me up here, Jalette; how that reminds me of someone who also never did what she was told."
By force of will, Sonea prevented the tell-tale flush from staining her cheeks. Why had Akkarin chosen to stand right next to where she was? She smiled apologetically, "I was worried."
Akkarin came closer and tilted her chin with one long elegant finger, "You were worried about me, pretty Jalette?"
"Of course," she replied lightly. "I didn't mean to interfere. Please, go on with what you need to do, I'll be all right."
"When this is over," Akkarin said softly, "we must continue our most interesting conversation."
Then he was gone in a swirl of black robes. She had forgotten just how adept he was at vanishing, even when in plain sight. She sighed. If only he was not so taken with Jalette. Then she realised she hadn't told him about the people outside the gates. She turned round in a complete circle, hoping to catch sight of him, but it was no use. He had disappeared.
By now, the Warriors had succeeded in driving the Ichani ships a considerable way back from the Fort. Their strikes no longer pounded the Fort, but fell well short. She noticed that Wilden, although not looking fully fit, had joined his fellow Warriors and was directing their efforts. There was nothing more she could do up on the Warriors' Walk, so she turned to make her way down to the surface. She had to find someone who would open the gates, otherwise scores of people would be crushed.
The interior of the Fort was quiet, compared to the tumult outside. During her journey down to the entrance hall, she saw very few magicians and none of the King's Guard. However, when she neared the area outside the High Lord's private reception room she heard the sounds of a furious argument. She recognised Akkarin's cold cutting voice, the voice he used when he was very, very angry. Interspersed with his, was another voice. At first she didn't recognise it, then she realised. It was Balkan, equally angry.
She held back, standing on the stairs just out of sight of the magicians below and listened carefully. At first, the hugeness of the building made the voices blur and echo, so it was difficult to hear what was being said. All she could distinguish was the rise and fall of the two voices. But as she continued to concentrate, she began to hear more clearly.
"You just don't understand, Balkan," Akkarin snapped. "The Ichani are not just rogue magicians who are spoiling for a fight. They are black magicians, each with the strength of twenty of our best magicians combined. Neither you nor your Warriors can hope to defeat them. I am the only one here who can."
"My Warriors defeated them before….." Balkan began, but Akkarin's patience had gone and he interrupted before the High Lord could finish.
"That old lie!" he said scornfully. "Your Warriors were helpless. When I stood in front of the Guild gates holding the Ichani back, your Warriors were hiding inside the grounds. The people who defeated the Ichani then were Sonea and myself, no-one else."
Balkan said something Sonea couldn't catch, then Akkarin spoke again.
"No! You must stay here and tell your Warriors what to do. I've explained. Keep the sea-borne Ichani away from the Fort and prevent them from joining forces with the others."
"I will not let you leave the Fort alone!"
"I am the King's Black Magician, not yours. You must let me do my job."
"No," Sonea could almost hear Balkan proudly draw himself up to his full height before finishing his sentence, "I am the High Lord and I will not let you go alone."
"Very well, on your own head be it. Assemble a small group to protect you." Akkarin's voice was strangely muted. "But you must follow my orders, the most important of which is to prevent any Ichani from reaching the walls of the Fort."
He didn't explain further and Sonea wondered if Balkan knew about taking magic from buildings. She suspected not. Now her path was clear. Somehow she had to follow Akkarin and Balkan out of the Fort and into the town. There she could provide what might be vital extra support, if there were a lot of Ichani in the crowded streets. Even if they couldn't coordinate their attacks, the twisted lanes and gloomy courtyards would provide countless opportunities for ambushes to take place. All she had to do was to find a way out of the Fort without being seen.