"This way." She pushed through a nearby door. The hall was cramped, taking labyrinthine twists until it ended in a narrow door. The roars and rumbles increased dramatically, and grainy light glimmered from the cracks in the doorframe in shades of flame. Nyori wasn't sure she wanted to step into the field of battle, but there seemed no choice. She pushed the door open to a view of a small courtyard.
It was on fire.
Smoke billowed everywhere. People either dying or severely wounded cried out in agony. Somewhere above, the clash of steel and fearful shouts were audible. Bodies fell from the walls like missiles of flesh, striking the ground with bone-shattering force. Nyori wanted nothing better than to turn around and go back inside, but Leilavin strode by her as though walking through a spring meadow. She gazed at the chaos without concern.
"Where are you taking us, Mistress? Why here?"
Nyori shielded her eyes from the smoke that threatened to choke her. "I don't know…"
Someone staggered their direction.
Leilavin was by her side in an instant, twirling onyx daggers in her hands. Nyori held up an arm to forestall her. She peered at the approaching figure. "Dradyn…?"
He slumped against the wall, staring as if he did not see her. Behind him, Ayna emerged from the shadows, coughing. She appeared uncharacteristically disoriented. Nando supported her, staring at Nyori in shock.
"Nyori? What are you doing here? I thought you had been captured."
"I was. We escaped." She pointed at Dradyn. "What is he doing here?"
"Ayna claims to have broken the akhkharu's hold on him. He is here to help."
Nyori looked at Dradyn, who met her gaze with sorrowful eyes. "I am sorry, Nyori. I tried to fight it, but they were too powerful. If it were not for Shama Ayna…" His jaw clenched. "I will do anything to make amends for what I've done, this I swear."
Nando gestured to Leilavin. "Who is your new friend?"
Nyori hesitated. What could she tell them? "This is—"
"Zana." Leilavin bowed in such a meek manner that Nyori nearly gaped in shock. "My name is Zana. I was a captive seeking to escape this place. The Shama aided me."
Nando gave a dismissive nod. "We were led into a trap, it seems. Ayna was able to spirit us away." His eyes became haunted. "If that never happens again, I will die a happy man."
Nyori glanced at him. "If what?"
Nando only shook his head as if trying to eradicate painful memories.
Ayna regained her composure as she surveyed the scene. "I am sorry for that, but staying would only have led to our deaths. Dhamphir radiate an aura of sickness that makes them impossible to defeat in close quarters."
Dradyn gave her an accusing stare. "You left Rhanu and the others to die."
Ayna rounded on him. "Do you think it was done on purpose? Rhanu was beyond the range of my reach. Fortunately he has the aid of Titien. He is harder to kill than most. And we needed to be here, where we can do the most good."
Dradyn placed a hand over his stomach as though fighting nausea. "If you could do…whatever you did, why didn't you just do it from the start instead of going through the tunnel in the first place? And why didn't you take everyone with you?"
"Shadowmelds are complicated, Dradyn. The akhkharu are far more skilled than I. I had to be close to my target, or we might have been lost forever. As it was, I was stretched to the breaking point taking you and Nando."
Nyori gave a start. "You are able to travel as the akhkharu do? I did not know you possessed such power, Ayna."
Ayna adjusted the dangling pouches attached to her wide belt. "There are some secrets not shared easily by the Sha, Nyori. And a Shadowmeld is an ill thing to learn. You will understand in time. Although not many of our ranks have the ability to focus the Disciplines, those who do recognize how dangerous they are. What I just did could have easily killed us instead of transporting us here."
The roars of the battle drew nearer, and the ground shifted beneath their feet. Nyori took a wary glance around. "We need to get going. What are you planning to do?"
"We plan to open the gates and let the army advance in full. Dradyn has been here and knows where to go." Ayna looked at Dradyn. "We are in your hands now."
He shook off his dizziness and looked around. "There is a turnstile on the inside of the wall that houses the gate controls. We have to find it and open that gate."
"Lead, then. We will follow."
They quickly moved alongside the walls of the palace as though the soaring construction could protect them somehow. Nyori kept a sharp eye out for the enemy. She heard the roar of the sea of men outside the gates, but she could do nothing for them if her small party was captured or slain.
"There." Dradyn's voice startled her. He gestured to something a few yards away. Affixed to the outer wall was an outbuilding, not much larger than a sentry box.
No one appeared to be nearby.
"This makes no sense." Dradyn's face was uneasy as he took a cautious step forward. "This place is always guarded closely. Stay here, Shama. I will go first."
Leilavin darted in front of Nyori, shoving her backward. "Behind you!"
Dradyn's chest ruptured at that moment, casting crimson mist that floated across the air. As a sound like a dying wind gasped from his throat, something moved behind him. A writhing visage of the stone and shadow came alive, twisting the red-painted blade that had stabbed Dradyn from behind. He fought for life, for the strength to lift the axe in his hand, but his fingers disobediently opened. The weapon rang as it struck the ground.
Followed by Dradyn's corpse.
Nyori was surprisingly unafraid as the surface of the attacker shimmered and coalesced into a humanoid figure. She knew of the Craft of Vizardry the akhkharu used to disguise themselves or blend into their environment. The fear she should have felt was missing. She gazed at Dradyn's stiff and lifeless body and recalled the many times when others had lain prone and cold from the attacks of the akhkharu. She felt no fear.
Only anger.
"You saw me." The attacker dropped his camouflage guise; his form rippled as he revealed himself. The older man's voice was amused. He was not tall, but held himself proudly. He wore loose shades of purple and crimson, with a sinewy dragon embroidered cross the breast of his tunic. A long goatee framed his chin, gusting in the wind. Nyori felt that she knew the face. It was like staring at an older version of Han.
The man shook drops of blood from his dao blade and wiped it with a fold of black silk. He gazed curiously at Leilavin. "My guise should have been completely undetectable. Who are you, woman?"
Leilavin's daggers whirred when she hurled them at the attacker. She darted forward while they were in the air, summersaulting into a flying kick. Her opponent was faster, dancing past the daggers in a blur of movement and jumping to meet her. Leilavin's kick missed, but his leg dropped like a hammer. The ground fractured from the force of her body's impact.
Nando roared and lunged with his sword. When the stranger flung a hand his direction, the blow of Transference struck Nando with such force that his body went limp before he hit the ground.
Nyori took a step forward. "Nando!"
"Focus on the fire, Nyori." Ayna traced symbols in the air before speaking the command: "Isatum."
The flames roared at her command, snaking from where they burned and streaking the direction Ayna pointed. The heat cast ripples across Nyori's vision and practically seared her lungs as she tried to focus and aid Ayna in directing the fire at the stranger.
He merely smiled as the flames struck an invisible barricade that Nyori knew had to be fashioned from Tropos, the Craft of wind and air. The barrier shimmered in brilliant colors as the heat seared against it.