'Raul? Preceptor DeBarres?'
'He wasn't a Preceptor in those days,' she said wistfully.
'I thought when you greeted him that you must know him…'
'Haven't seen him for years, but it's nice to see him again.'
'So, how do you know him? Did you meet in the war, or…?'
'It's a long story,' Kannis said. 'And Raul probably tells it more entertainingly than I would.' She glanced at the sky for a moment. 'I'd better get going. I've got to help with the pits being dug near the east bridge.'
'Be seeing you, then,' Gabriella said, stepping aside.
Kannis hurried on and Gabriella finished writing out her supply requests. Then she headed up to the market to buy a loaf and some cheese, before finally returning to the church.
The main doors were ajar and Gabriella knew she had closed them when she left. She didn't touch them as she squeezed between them, in case they squeaked and alerted anyone within. Gabriella set her purchases on a pew and padded as quietly as she could towards the transept, keeping close to the wall. Stepping into the nave would invite an arrow if someone was lurking above.
She risked a look back to the doors and saw that Erak had followed her in and was edging along the aisle on the other side. He flashed her a quick grin.
'What happened?' he whispered.
'I think we have a visitor.'
Above, Dai Batsen crept along the narrow ledge separating the ceiling of the nave from the inside of the bell tower. Below, two people walked right into his field of vision, though he had cloaked himself in shadows. They were his targets.
Pulling two short daggers from his belt, Batsen leapt.
Gabriella shoved Erak aside as a black clad man landed between them. She recognised him instantly as the man who had attacked her before. On any other day, Gabriella might have been afraid as well as wary, but not today. Today she was simply relieved, because the assassin was indeed a man and not an inhuman monster.
Gabriella lunged forward, while Erak circled round to stop Batsen from getting away. Batsen simply took it in his stride. The Order of the Swords of Dawn might fight on the Lord's behalf, but they didn't share His omniscience or omnipotence. Or His infallibility.
Batsen dodged back from Gabriella's whirling blades, pretending not to notice Erak outflanking him. When the wiry knight was close enough and about to attack, Batsen hit him in the gut with a back kick, without looking round.
Erak staggered back and Gabriella redoubled her attack. Batsen ducked under the blades. If he could stay in close enough, Gabriella wouldn't be able to swing well enough, and he could use his finger-length blades to better effect.
Then Gabriella unexpectedly slashed low, the flat of one blade sweeping Batsen off his feet. Batsen rolled, narrowly getting out from under the edge of Gabriella's foot as it slashed towards his neck.
Erak caught his balance and sprang back to engage Batsen again. Batsen sidestepped to keep the armoured Knight between himself and Gabriella. Batsen was faster with his kicks and punches and had his knives, but Erak was clothed in iron mail under his robes. All of Batsen's blows rebounded from Erak's armour as the knight blocked him. The dagger's blade scraped uselessly across the iron links of Erak's mail.
Batsen stunned Erak with a high-rising kick that made the Knight pull his head back and sent him stumbling back into Gabriella. Both Knights tumbled in a heap.
Batsen's breath burned his lungs and now he felt he had the measure of the two Knights and, while he refused to feel comfortable enough to underestimate them, he was satisfied that they did not outclass him. All that mattered was that he fulfilled his contract. Live or die, he would be doing his best to earn that purse.
Gabriella and Erak were back on their feet and advancing on him from either side. Gabriella let her expression clear. Let the enemy wonder whether she was angry or afraid, excited or overconfident. Let him not know who his enemy was. She was Gabriella DeZantez: Enlightened One of the Final Faith and defender of the people in the name of the Lord of All.
Batsen drew a straight-bladed smallsword from a sheath at his back and rolled the weapon around his wrist, testing the weight and balance. With his right hand, he smoothed down the front of his rumpled tunic and beckoned his opponents towards him.
They rushed him together, Erak's blade held low. Batsen bounded forward a couple of steps and leapt into the air between them. One foot hit the flat of Erak's blade as if it was a ladder rung and prevented him from swinging the weapon. The other foot caught Gabriella's shoulder, making her stagger aside.
Then Batsen was on the balls of his feet, blocking and parrying Gabriella's attacks. The sword-hilt jarred painfully against the heel of his hand with each block. Erak was on the other side of him, lunging forward with his weapon, but the assassin merely danced aside, forcing Erak to pull back for fear of hitting Gabriella.
Suddenly, Erak was upon him once again and Batsen found himself making side kicks to the Knight's hands, while fencing against the two blades that Gabriella was trying to drum on his head with. The trio danced around the nave like this for a moment, each seeking an advantage. Then something struck Batsen's ankle, and a sweep from Erak Brand's blade knocked the smallsword from his hand.
Before either Knight could move on him, Batsen stabbed backwards for Gabriella with an elbow and snapped a kick at Erak's head. Both Knights staggered back, allowing Batsen to slip a toe under his fallen smallsword and flick it up into his hand.
He fenced with Gabriella for a moment, then lunged for her throat. She batted the attack aside and pushed forward, driving the assassin back towards the altar. Now she had him.
The assassin didn't return to the attack. Instead, a startling, almost blinding, light blazed from his eyes, and he thrust out his left hand. Gabriella didn't know what that meant, but she knew it was meant to be bad for her, so she dove and rolled, just in time to avoid a bolt of lightning that shattered the air and ignited a pew.
Gabriella didn't quite understand what had just happened, but she rose and rushed at the assassin. He was blocking the door now, light beaming out from his eyes. He grinned, his left hand rising, and Gabriella understood that she had badly misjudged things. One man was not just one man. Not when he was a Shadowmage.
Batsen made a quick gesture and muttered a word that kept his mind in focus. Immediately, the torches flickered and the light in the church dimmed. Erak froze, and waved his hand around in front of his face as if he suddenly couldn't see, but Gabriella was more surprised to see Batsen walk right towards her, angling from the left, as if he thought she couldn't see him.
A swift kick to the chest, and a lunge that nearly skewered him, changed his mind. He looked utterly shocked and suddenly the light in the church was restored. Erak snarled and ran at Batsen. Batsen leapt onto a pew and thrust his hands upwards.
Without warning, the floor exploded upwards around Erak's feet, grabbing at his legs and holding him fast.
Seeing his target immobilised didn't make enough impression on Batsen to raise a smile, but it was an opportunity he was too professional to let go. He raised both hands slightly, pulling tendrils of fire out of the air and gathering them into a ball. Then, with a flick of the wrist, the ball of blinding flame shot across the chamber and exploded against Erak's head.
The fire engulfed him instantly and his screams almost drowned out the crackling of burning flesh. Sparks of infernal red and gold burned across his armour and out to his wide-flung hands.
What had once been Erak Brand dropped to his knees and stopped screaming as there was no more air in his lungs. He thrashed and twitched, melted skin and fats dripping from his hands, before finally lying still.
Gabriella couldn't believe her eyes. She felt as though all she could hear were Erak's dying screams.
She rushed out into the plaza, knowing that her assailant would follow.
