The High Lord

I won't be far away.

Sonea nodded. She watched him stride away to the intersection and disappear into a side passage. From behind her came the faint sound of footsteps.

Slowly the footsteps grew louder. A faint light began to reflect around the turn. It brightened rapidly, and Sonea backed away. A globe light appeared. She blocked the brightness with a hand, then gasped in feigned horror.

The Ichani woman stared at her, then smiled.

'So it's you. Kariko will be pleased.'

Sonea turned to run, but as she did her foot caught the hem of her dress and she fell to her hands and knees. Avala laughed.

That would have been an impressive bit of acting, if I'd meant it, Sonea thought wryly as she struggled to stand up. She heard footsteps come closer, then a hand caught her arm. It took all her self-control not to blast the woman away.

The Ichani pulled Sonea around to face her. A hand reached toward Sonea's head. Grabbing the Ichani's wrists, Sonea tried to send her mind out into the woman's body, but encountered a resistance.

Avala was shielding.

The barrier lay at the surface of the woman's skin. Sonea felt a moment's admiration for Avala's skill, but it was soon replaced by panic.

She would not be able to use her Healing powers on the woman.

- Fight her, Akkarin instructed. Bring her down past the intersection. We must get her between us so she cannot escape.

Sonea sent out a wave of force. Avala's eyes widened as she staggered backward. Sonea lifted her skirt, spun around, and ran down the passage.

A barrier flashed into existence before her. She smashed it down with forcestrike. A few steps later she passed the intersection. Another barrier appeared. She stopped and turned to face the Ichani.

The woman smiled triumphantly.

- Kariko. Look what I've found.

Sonea saw an image of herself looking thin and small in the long dress.

- What a pathetic-looking creature she is!

- Ah! Akkarin's apprentice, Kariko replied. Search her mind. If one is here, the other might be close by - but don't kill her. Bring her to me.

Sonea shook her head.

- I'll decide when and where we meet, Kariko, she sent.

- I look forward to it, Kariko replied, as does your former mentor. Rothen, isn't it? I have a blood stone of his. He will watch you die.

Sonea gasped. Rothen? But Rothen was dead. Why would Kariko bother making a gem of Rothen's blood?

- Does this mean Rothen is alive?

- Probably, if he does have a blood gem, Akkarin's mental voice whispered through her ring. But he may be lying in order to upset and distract you.

Avala was drawing closer. As she passed the intersection of passages, Sonea felt a mingled relief and anxiety. The woman was between her and Akkarin now. Once Akkarin stepped out, however, Avala would recognize him.

- Kariko can't be completely sure you're here until he or another Ichani sees you, she told Akkarin. We could trick him into thinking I'm here alone. So if I fight Avala alone...

- Yes, Akkarin agreed. If you grow weak, I will take over. Just keep out of her reach.

As the Ichani attacked, Sonea threw up a strong shield then retaliated with powerful strikes of her own. There was no strategy or trickery in Avala's attack and, as with the fight with Parika, Sonea realized she could use little of her own training to gain an advantage. It was, she decided, a brutal race to see who ran out of strength first.

The air grew hot in the passage, then the walls began to glow faintly. The woman took one step away, then suddenly everything turned a bright white. Sonea blinked, but she was too dazzled to see anything.

She's blinded me!

Sonea almost laughed aloud as she realized that Avala had used the same trick she had used to escape Regin's gang years before. Except the novices hadn't learned enough about Healing to...

Her sight returned slowly but steadily. She made out two figures in the passage before her. Avala was closest. Behind her was Akkarin. He was attacking the Ichani with relentless savagery. Avala glanced back at Sonea, her expression fearful. Her shield abruptly disappeared, her strength gone, then Akkarin's last strike threw her against Sonea's shield. There was a sickening crack, then the woman slumped to the ground.

Sonea watched, heart still racing, as Akkarin slowly approached the woman. Avala's eyes opened. Her expression changed from pain and anger to a satisfied smile, then her gaze slid to somewhere beyond the walls and she let out a long, final breath.

'Is it just me,' Sonea said, 'or did she look a little too happy to be dying?'

Akkarin dropped into a crouch. He ran a finger under the collar of the woman's jacket. As he continued examining her clothes, Sonea saw that one of Avala's hands was slowly relaxing. As the fingers uncurled, a small red globe fell onto the floor.

'A blood gem,' Sonea hissed.

Akkarin sighed and looked up at Sonea. 'Yes. Whose it is, we can only guess, but I think we should assume the worst: Kariko knows I'm here.'

Rothen blinked in surprise as an image of a woman flashed into his mind. As he recognized her, he felt a fierce joy. She's alive!

'Sonea!' Balkan exclaimed. 'She's here!'

- Ah! Akkarin's apprentice. Search her mind. If one is here, the other might be close by - but don't kill her. Bring her to me.

- I'll decide when and where we meet, Kariko.

Sonea's reply was defiant and fearless. Rothen felt a surge of both fear and pride.

- I look forward to it, Kariko replied, as does your former mentor. Rothen, isn't it? I have a blood stone of his. He will watch you die.

Suddenly Rothen couldn't breathe. The image had been sent by the Ichani woman. Who must be trying to capture Sonea right now. And if she did...

'Rothen?'

He looked at Balkan and Dorrien, and found them staring at him.

'You made a blood stone?' Balkan asked in a low voice.

'Kariko did. At Calia...' Rothen forced himself to take a breath. 'He read my mind and saw Sonea there, then made the gem.' He shuddered. 'Since then, I've been seeing and... feeling the deaths of everyone he's killed.'

Balkan's eyes widened slightly, then he grimaced in sympathy.

'What is a blood stone?' Dorrien asked.

'It enables the maker to see into another's mind,' Balkan explained. 'Though Kariko actually made it, it is attuned to Rothen because he used Rothen's blood.'

Dorrien stared at Rothen. 'He captured you. Why didn't you say?'

'I...' Rothen sighed. 'I don't know.'

'But what he did to you... can you stop yourself seeing these deaths?'

'No, I have no control over it.'

Dorrien's face was pale. 'And if they catch Sonea...'

'Yes.' Rothen looked at his son. 'And this is the secret you couldn't tell us, isn't it? She's here and so is Akkarin.'

Dorrien opened his mouth, but no words came out. He looked from Rothen to Balkan uncertainly.