Disclaimer – I do not own BMT world, it belongs to Trudi Canavan

Capture

Sonea crouched down out of sight, her senses straining to pick up any of the animated conversation now taking place. She had stumbled across a group of Ichani in one of the small courts off the main street. Luckily they had been too involved in their discussions to notice her arrival so she was able to find cover undetected. From what she could see and hear, it seemed as if someone was directing the next phase of their attack.

She felt the pounding of her heart increase and experienced the sudden rush of excitement that impending battle always seemed to create at the thought of action. This is what I am meant to be! she though exultantly. Perhaps Akkarin was right and I was wrong, I am meant to be a Warrior. She couldn't help but smile at the memory of how strongly she had resisted his command to learn Warrior skills from Yikmo and how she had eventually gone, grumbling, to her private lessons. But now, she was grateful for Akkarin's foresight. Along with those memories came the quiet voice of Yikmo cautioning against excitement. A Warrior is always in control. A Warrior plans coolly and not while consumed with battle rage. A Warrior thinks and plans before acting.

She forced herself to listen and slowly, her heartbeat returned to normal as she concentrated once more on trying to hear the Ichani. She had learned some of their language as part of her studies with Akkarin, but she was not as practised as she would have liked to be, but she gleaned enough to understand this group was planning a direct assault on the Fort. And it was the buildings they wanted. The leader had been quite clear, the prime purpose was to take and hold part of the buildings so that they could use the stored magic. Killing magicians was useful but not their prime purpose; that would be left to others.

Others? Did that mean the sea-borne Ichani? Have they regrouped and landed?

Sonea decided her best course of action was to follow when the group moved off. She could always call for help, if she needed to, once their attack on the buildings started. Perhaps she could pick off any stragglers and weaken them before they got to the Fort. The group seemed to be composed of a majority of young males, with only the leader and three or four others being what she thought of as experienced. Sonea wondered just how many young black magicians were being trained in the Wastelands and where the Ichani were getting the slaves to support them. The Guild has not been so lucky recruiting young magicians, she thought, remembering the empty rooms and the low number of names in the Register of Novices. It seemed that the Guild was falling in numbers at the exact time that the Ichani were increasing theirs. Given the relative strength of black magicians compared with ordinary magicians, the loss of new Guild magicians could not have come at a worse time. In addition, the Guild itself was in a weak state, with the different factions vying for power.

But Sonea could not afford to be side-tracked into dwelling on Guild shortcomings. She had the current situation to deal with. The group had come to the end of their deliberations and moved purposefully off. She gave them a little time for a head start, before following carefully behind them. She listened out for any mental communication from Guild magicians, but Akkarin's prohibition seemed to be holding firm. She could hear the Ichani, but they sent so quickly, her relatively poor understanding of their language prevented her from learning much.

She seemed to be following them for ever, up one street, round a corner, across an alley, then down another street, but it could only have been a few minutes. After all, Corres Town was not a large settlement, although the twisting, narrow streets which turned back on themselves several times in as many yards, made it seem so. She was concentrating on moving quietly, so she was lucky not to run into the group which had stopped a short distance ahead of her.

They were clustered round their leader and she supposed they were getting last minute instructions. She didn't recognise the area, but she could feel a faint crawling along her skin which told her they were near to the Fort. Ahead of her, the Ichani split into two groups, each with two or three older magicians. Now she had a problem. Which group to follow? She had no way of knowing which group would give her the best chance of disposing of as many Ichani as possible. Akkarin would be able to work it out, her mind suggested slyly, but she ignored it. Akkarin wasn't here and she had a matter of a few seconds to make up her mind, as the two groups went in opposite directions.

There was no logical reason for choice, so it came down to her best guess. In the end, she chose to follow the larger group, telling herself that if they proposed to attack the Fort, then they would send more black magicians there. She had no idea what the others were going to do, but as she could not find out, she dismissed them from her mind.

Corres Town itself seemed bereft of its citizens. The only people moving were the Ichani and herself. She caught glimpses of frightened faces at the windows of some of the dwellings they passed, but mostly the town was empty, with only the dull background noise of the people pleading to be let in the Fort showing there were still inhabitants in the area. After a few more minutes of moving through a number of narrow streets, Sonea found herself in a small square. She could hear the noise of the crowd in front of the Landgate more clearly now, so it seemed unlikely that the gates had been opened. She watched as the Ichani had another short discussion, then they formed into a wedge shaped group, with the leader at the head and began to move off again. They were obviously preparing to force their way through the crowd blocking the way to the Landgate.

Sonea rapidly reviewed her strategy. Once their assault on the Fort started, she would attack them from the rear. It would be unexpected and with her extra black magician's power, she should succeed in disrupting their progress. That should allow time for the Guild magicians in the Fort to join in. Hopefully Akkarin's Warriors would be able to hold the Ichani at bay. It all depends on who 'the others' are, she thought, if they are already in the Fort…..

The square led into another, similar space. The crawling sensation along her skin was becoming more pronounced. It couldn't be far to the Fort. The wedge in front of her hesitated and as they did so, a line of figures stepped out to confront them. It was the five remaining Guild magicians she had followed out of the Fort.

Akkarin and Balkan were in the centre, their black and white robes creating a strong contrast, flanked by Osen in his Administrator's blue on their left and Regin on their right, with the other Warrior standing slightly to the side and in front of Osen. They stood silently in place, almost daring the Ichani to try to pass them.

The Ichani stopped abruptly. Sonea could hear rapid mental communication from them. Before they could make a move. Balkan spoke.

"You will go no further."

"You cannot stop us," the leader replied in heavily accented Kyralian. "Step aside and thank your gods that we have other urgent tasks than killing magicians."

"I say again, you will go no further." Balkan's voice was steady and as he spoke, Sonea felt rather than saw his shield snap into place. Everyone else followed suit and the first forcestrikes were exchanged. The Ichani stood firm under the Guild's onslaught, concentrating their strikes against Balkan. The Warrior moved quickly towards the Ichani, stepping in front of Balkan to protect his High Lord. Sonea desperately wanted to shout and tell him not to get too close.

Everything suddenly happened at once. The Warrior began to attack the lead Ichani, but his strikes had little effect. Regin moved forward in support, but he was quickly flanked by two Ichani who concentrated on weakening his shield. He was forced to leave the Warrior to fend for himself and look to his own defence. Akkarin pushed Balkan behind him and strode forward, sending powerful stunstrikes as he went, creating the maximum amount of noise to disrupt the attack. Then the Warrior was down, his body hidden under several Ichani. Akkarin succeeded in piercing a shield, cutting and draining almost simultaneously, but it was not enough to save the Warrior. Before Akkarin could kill another of his attackers, Sonea saw through the Warrior's eyes as a jewelled knife was drawn swiftly across his throat and felt the fiery bite of the blade, before the pictures faded.

Meanwhile, Osen had pulled Balkan back even further, giving Akkarin and Regin room to attack. It was time for Sonea to fulfil her mission. She transformed her dull brown shirt and trousers into the black robes provided by the King and moved out into the square, behind the attacking Ichani just as she had planned. She began her assault immediately, catching a young Ichani by surprise. He was down and drained almost before he knew what was happening.

The rush of his power surprised her, it was strong, much stronger than she had expected. But she had no time to waste. She tackled the next one. By this time, others had realised they were being attacked from behind, and three or four turned to deal with her. Akkarin and Regin were duelling with the leaders, so there was no help from them. Sonea concentrated, clearing her mind of everything except Warrior tactics, carefully placing her strikes to cause the maximum disruption. Her own shield came under sustained attack and she could feel parts of it thin, but she merely increased the level of power, recklessly using all she had obtained from her last kill.

She angled her knife so that the jewels flashed. Her nearest opponent saw it and hesitated, realising at once what possession of it meant. That provided all the time Sonea needed. His shield splintered and she grabbed his arm and cut it deeply. The boy pulled away, but she was already taking his power. This time, there wasn't much and it was all over in a few seconds.

Sonea felt the exact moment when her shield was breached and she whirled away from her fallen opponent ready to face the next attacker. It was another young boy. His face was contorted with hate as he sprang towards her, shattering the remnants of her shield as his knife scored her arm heavily. For a precious second, Sonea was disorientated by the blow and her attacker used the time to push her to the ground, his knife pressing deeply into her flesh.

She bucked beneath him and managed to wrench her arm away from his knife, making sure she Healed the cut. Again she felt the bite of the blade, but again she was able to move sufficiently to allow Healing.

What are you?

Her opponent was confused by the way her cuts disappeared, but he didn't let his confusion interfere with his attack as he struck again. She had to do something to change their relative positions. Yikmo's quiet voice came to Sonea's aid once more as she coiled her legs beneath her and used them, with a hint of levitation, to lever her body upwards, knocking the boy to the ground. This time, she made sure he couldn't move as she sank her knife into his throat, the blood and power gushed out over her covering hand. This one was strong and she relished the rush.

She pushed herself upright and glanced around. Regin was still exchanging strikes with an Ichani, whilst Akkarin was sending powerful strikes, several dead Ichani at his feet. He had not looked in her direction, nor outwardly acknowledged her presence, but she heard his soft mental voice whisper in her head, Welcome Sonea….. and she wondered at the total lack of surprise in his voice.

Osen and Balkan were standing some distance from the battling magicians, using their own power to direct forcestrikes against any of the Ichani who were exposed to their view. They did not have many opportunities because the foreign magicians were close to Regin, Akkarin and Sonea. Out of the corner of her eye, Sonea saw Regin falter and stumble under the power of a strike from his opponent. For the moment, she was unable to assist him, as two more young black magicians launched themselves at her. She fended them off easily. These were much weaker than her previous opponents and it only took her a few minutes to dispose of them. She had ceased to think about the death of individuals, now she was reacting to attacks as a series of mechanical tasks. Hold her own shield. Punch her way through theirs. Slash and drain. Over and over again, she performed these tasks, losing count of how many she had killed. In between the deaths, she had time to notice that Regin had killed his opponent, whose body disappeared in a flash as the trapped magic sought its escape.

The numbers of Ichani were dwindling fast. Most of the younger ones were dead, but there was a core of older, more powerful and experienced enemies who were much harder to defeat. They were clever enough to avoid close quarter fighting, contenting themselves with trying to disrupt the Guild magicians' shields, bent on creating an opening they could exploit.

Sonea and Akkarin were battling together, a few feet in front of Regin. Osen and Balkan were a little further behind Regin, their strikes having little impact on events. Still, it does give them something to do and they will feel part of the struggle, Sonea thought uncharitably. Suddenly, her opponent, who had been concentrating hard on trying to destroy her shield, suddenly began to look happier and she didn't understand why. As she stared at him, a big grin spread across his face and he disengaged from the struggle. She saw that Akkarin's opponent had done the same.

Disconcerted, she broke one of Yikmo's most important rules and glanced behind her. Her heart lurched and seemed to stop, before continuing its beat.

The second group of Ichani, who had earlier gone off in another direction, were crowded into the square. They were firmly holding Balkan and Osen immobile, each with a jewelled knife pressed against his throat.