OoOoO

"High Obad."

At Mahir's command, Arzai arose from her seat in the royal viewing box. Her face was still, as expressionless as the stone mask of an executioner as she gazed down upon Gideo. Gideo, chained to the stake and without hope, could only stare helplessly back at her. The red sorceress's lips parted, she drew one long breath, and her scarlet eyes blazed with a sudden inner glow. Arzai held out a hand before her, and fire ignited on her palm. Gideo's hands curled into fists, bracing.

A rumbling of wheels and rattling of chains shook the ground, echoing throughout The Lair. Everyone in the stands – previously stock-still and silent as if frozen – looked around in confusion. In the royal box, King Mahir leapt to his feet and gripped the hilt of his sword, jaw clenched in outrage. Arzai, momentarily caught off guard, closed her hand, snuffing the flames. Every head turned in the direction of The Lair's main gate. Someone was coming. With a thunderous groan of wood and metal, the doors swung inward. Gideo strained to see, heart still hammering in his ears. Whatever this sudden interruption was, it had bought him a few more precious moments in this life.

Gideo's relief was short-lived. A cadre of city guards marched out onto the floor of the area, red cloaks swishing ominously, visors down. They marched in tidy formation, and in their midst, hands behind her back, walked a lone captive. The anger on Mahir's face melted into incredulous disbelief, to be replaced even faster by a predatory smile. Behind him, Prince Hithon and the Obads gaped, eyes wide. A ripple of shock quickly spread up and outward through the stands. Some even yelled aloud.

"The BlackPearl!"

"It's her! It's really her!"

The soldiers marched Vinie up before the royal box, past the stake where Gideo was chained. Vinie met Gideo's horrified gaze only just briefly, and her eyes were wide.

"Vinie!" Gideo choked. Then she looked away, and he hung his head in despair. "No..."

"What is this?" demanded Mahir, leaning forward over the railing, one hand still on his sword. "Explain."

"This is Vinie BlackPearl, the Factionist ringleader and traitor, Your Highness." One of the soldiers at the head of the group spoke up, voice echoing slightly from beneath their helmet. Another wave of exclamations swept the crowd. "She was arrested attempting to enter the Southern Gate. Forgive our interruption, but as the Officer in Charge I thought it best she be brought directly to you."

Mahir swept aside the officer's apologies without a second's thought. "You've done well, soldier, very well indeed. You and your unit will be richly rewarded for this, I promise you." Then the king locked eyes with Vinie's intense stare. "We meet again, Vinie PearlDiver, for the third and last time. As you can see..." Mahir indicated where Gideo stood slumped atop the pyre "...your timing is perfect."

Vinie's lip curled in pure hatred. "After what you did to Sahar and Utunma, I make a point of never being late again."

"Bold words for a condemned woman. You've faced execution before though, and were granted mercy. If you had just been grateful and accepted Amentherian law, as your ancestors did for centuries before you, there need not have been any more killing after your SeaSon husband. Because of you, hundreds of Gorians are dead. It is only fitting that you and Gideo SkinPainter now join them."

Vinie lifted her chin defiantly. "I am not my ancestors, and I will not submit."

Mahir opened his mouth to say something – perhaps to give the order to have Vinie placed atop the pyre beside Gideo – but he never got the chance. Instead, he was cut short by startled shrieks from the spectators.

Scattered throughout the arena, nearly fifty 'spectators' jumped to their feet, brandishing weapons and donning featureless red and white masks. The guards, distracted as they had been by Vinie's arrival, had not noticed as dozens of Stargazers quietly placed themselves amongst the crowd. Shedding plain cloaks and shawls in their wake to reveal fitted leather armor, the Stargazers leapt over benches and down stairs, moving like a pack of hyenas across a rocky hillside to surround the royal viewing box.

Down on the floor of The Lair, Vinie's so-called captors likewise shed their helmets to reveal the dark faces of Kiiss's family.

"Shields!" Ekene shouted, allowing Vinie to duck behind her as the guards on the arena walls raised their crossbows. They drew together into a tight, protective knot, just in time as dozens of bolts rattled off their 'borrowed' shields.

In the royal box, Arzai sprang into action. "Protect the king!" she ordered, rallying the other Obads behind her. Already the Stargazers in the stands were engaged in fighting with the Knights of Amenthis on either side. Arzai snapped her whip from her belt in a single motion. "Bvhoros!"

Bvhoros nodded grimly. To Roran he murmured a quick "Stay behind me" before pushing his apprentice back with Prince Hithon and the other Ovates. Bowing his head for a moment, when Bvhoros looked up again his eyes glowed a fierce green. There came a rumbling from beneath the royal box...not beneath, within. The railing in front of Bvhoros grew wider, taller, new stone seeming to grow around itself from thin air. In a matter of moments, a solid sandstone wall blocked the entrance to one side of the viewing box. On the other side, Stargazers encircled and cut down the four knights still remaining.

As all chaos erupted around him, Gideo could only watch from where he stood atop the pyre. He pulled fiercely on his chains, hoping perhaps to pull the anchor ring out of the post, but it would not budge.

"Look out!" he shouted to Vinie and the others on the floor of The Lair as soldiers began to pour in through the arena gates.

Vinie was not the only one who heard Gideo's cry. In the royal box, everyone had all but forgotten about the condemned man. Frandel's head jerked up, and a vicious smile pulled his lips thin. Beneath the Red Obad's singed eyebrows, amber light kindled.

Spinning away from the Stargazers rushing the still-open side of the royal box, Frandel flung a hand out toward Gideo. A ball of flames – trailing smoke like the tail of a comet – flew down from his fingertips. It struck the piled kindling with a loud hiss. Fire caught in the pitch-soaked wood easily, and with a roar sprang up into a merciless ring. Gideo's scream was pure terror.

OoOoO

"Gideo!"

Ignoring Dalar and Okoreo's warnings, Vinie ducked out from under the protection of Ekene's shield. She sprinted across the sand, heedless of the crossbow bolts that struck the ground inches behind her sandals. Between the Obads and the arrival of more First Company soldiers, Kiiss's family and the other Stargazers had all they could manage and more; no one came running after Vinie. Saving Gideo fell to her, and her alone.

The heat as Vinie rushed up to the edge of the pyre was intense. Her eyes pricked and the skin of her face felt tight just to even look at the flames. She could hear the kindling crackling and Gideo coughing already. If the heat was this bad from where she stood, Gideo must only have minutes, if not seconds. Mustering up all of her courage, Vinie screwed her eyes shut tight and leapt.

It only took a few moments for Vinie to scramble up past the fire into the center of the pyre. Grasping at burning branches stung her hands worse than touching metal left out in the midday Utunman sun. Pain bloomed across both her palms, as well as up her unprotected arms where the flames licked at her. Even once she was through, her instinctive gasps seared her throat and lungs. She immediately began to cough.

"Vinie! The chain!"

Hearing Gideo's voice – half-choked and filled with panic – immediately distracted Vinie from her own pain. Clambering to her feet, she found herself face-to-face with Gideo for the first time since leaving him in Danitesk. His eyes were so wide, Vinie could see herself reflected in them. Naked fear shone clearly on his face...but also a tiny glimmer of hope.

"Pick the lock!"

"Help me up!"

Flattening his back to the stake, Gideo slid down as far as he could stretch, bending his knees into a makeshift stool. Pulling her smallest knife, Vinie jumped up onto Gideo's legs and reached for the manacles on his wrists. Smoke was everywhere, making it hard to breathe, much less see through watering eyes. Standing on Gideo's knees was also a precarious perch. Vinie tried to work the tip of her knife into the lock...and was horrified to realize that the key had been deliberately broken off in the hole.

"It's jammed!" she cried out.

"Jump – cough - down."

Dropping down onto the pyre, Vinie fought to think clearly. Could she break the chain itself? Impossible, each link was nearly as thick around as a man's thumb. Could she perhaps cut through the stake itself, carving the anchor ring out? Dropping the little knife, Vinie drew her belawa instead. A few test chops at the wood behind Gideo quickly made it clear that that plan would take too long. Already the fire was closing in so tight around them that Vinie could feel her skin scalding. A terrible thought occurred to Vinie, and she eyed the blade. Could she do it? Could she cut Gideo free...by cutting off one of his hands? Inching back around in front of Gideo, she avoided looking at him. Gideo clearly saw the sword in her hand though.

"Do it," he gritted out.

Vinie sucked in a deep breath, and immediately choked on the smoke and heat again. Looking up at Gideo, there were tears in her eyes now that had nothing to do with the smoke.

"I can't..."

A strange look of resignation settled across Gideo's face.

"Then jump down. While you still can."

"Gideo, no-"

"Jump - cough - down, now Vinie!"

"No."

"Jump!"

"NO!!"

Vinie was decided. If she couldn't save Gideo, then she would die with him. The flames were so high now, she couldn't even see The Lair or hear the fighting beyond. She doubted it was even possible to survive crossing through the fire anymore. Dropping her sword, she stepped toward Gideo, away from the flames blistering the backs of her heels.

"I'm done outliving - cough - the people I love. Either I live with you, or not - cough - at all."

Gideo knew Vinie. He also knew when she was beyond arguing. His face twisted in despair. A sudden flare of heat from the flames made them both flinch. Their one comfort now was that it would not take long. Vinie reached out, intending to wrap her arms around Gideo's waist and lay her head on his heart.

Craaack

A sharp snap split the air, loud enough to be heard even above the fire. Without warning or explanation, suddenly Gideo's arms – still linked by manacles and chain – dropped down in front of him. The anchor ring dangled from the stake, snapped cleanly in two. Vinie and Gideo would have been dumbfounded if they were not still trapped, surrounded by walls of roaring flame.

It had been such a subtle thing, the work of an instant, and no one had noticed Bvhoros's attention shift momentarily away from blocking the Stargazers. Having done all he could (or was perhaps willing to do) the Green Obad refocused his efforts on defending the royal box. Confusion and panic were everywhere, with spectators trying to flee The Lair in all directions. The Skybridge was open, and many rushed across it, seeking refuge from the dreaded Stargazers in Castle Armathain. The assassins remained in The Lair, still determinedly trying to get to Mahir. Many had been forced to divert their blades to helping their leaders fight of the First Company soldiers down on the arena floor. More and more soldiers kept arriving though, and the Stargazers were beginning to look rather badly outnumbered.

Vinie and Gideo could not spare time to worry about their allies though. They turned this way and that, looking for any gaps in the fire through which they might escape. In every direction they were met by a wall of black smoke and orange flames. There was barely any room left for them to stand. The hem of Vinie's shirt caught fire, and she had to pinch it out quickly before being burned.

"- cough – Behind me!"

Pushing Vinie behind his much larger, taller frame, Gideo chose a spot to face the flames. Hands up trying to cover his face, he advanced. Vinie followed closely, clutching the back of Gideo's vest with her head down.

They only made it a few steps. With a howl of pain, Gideo was forced to jump back. Red burns were already visibly rising along his forearms and shins. Vinie stumbled backward with him, nearly tripping as another coughing fit racked her.

"Gideo..." she grabbed for his hand, even as her scalded palms cracked and bled. A plume of smoke enveloped them, but even though she couldn't see Gideo anymore, she could feel him squeezing her hand back.

It's over.

Then, all of the sudden, a rush of clean air came upon Vinie and Gideo, blowing away the smoke and leaving them gasping. Before them, an open path cleared through the inferno. Through streaming eyes they watched as, curtain-like, the flames peeled back to reveal the way to safety. Without hesitation, they threw themselves down off the pyre onto the sandy floor of The Lair. There they lay, gasping and choking, as behind them the stake was fully engulfed.

OoOoO

"Traitor!!"

Earlier, Bvhoros's small assistance to the doomed pair on the pyre had escaped wider notice. This time, however, everyone in the royal box saw Ijireen, facing the arena with her eyes wide and gleaming with inner fire. The teenaged Ovate was not just casting; she was using waking magic. Arms sweeping out to either side, Ijireen parted the wall of flames around Vinie and Gideo, clearing the way for them to escape. Arzai, granted a moment's reprieve by a blast of air from Davenir pushing the Stargazers back, was not the only one to notice what Ijireen was doing. Brand – cowering with Prince Hithon behind Roran – gasped aloud.

"You little Factionist!" Mahir roared. "I'll have your head!" Leaving Frandel to finish off the assassin whom he had already wounded, Mahir stalked toward Ijireen, sword leading.

"My lord, no!" exclaimed Bvhoros. Acting purely on instinct, he thrust out a hand toward Mahir. A slab of solid stone shot up out of the ground between Ijireen and Mahir, blocking the enraged king's path.

The momentary distraction stole Bvhoros's attention, and in that time, a pair of Stargazers managed to squeeze around the first wall Bvhoros had conjured. Roran saw what was coming while the Green Obad's back was turned.

"Master!" he cried out.

But it was too late. One of the Stargazers made straight for Mahir, while the other, cleverly, attacked the source of the blockade preventing the rest of the assassins from getting through. In the split-second that it took for Bvhoros to save Ijireen from Mahir, he was stabbed from behind by the long, poisoned knife of a Stargazer. As a Green Obad, the toxins of jungle frogs posed no threat to him. Poisoned or not, however, even sorcerers are not immune to a well-thrust blade. Bvhoros staggered, his conjured walls crumbling to dust even as he himself fell forward onto the ground.

Almost immediately, a dozen more Stargazers came pouring into the royal box. Between their arrival and Bvhoros' interruption, Ijireen was left with a small window of opportunity. Clamoring up onto the railing, she did not look back. It was a long way down to the floor of The Lair, but Ijireen jumped, dropping down out of sight just as the tip of Frandel's whip hissed and cracked behind her.

She landed hard, but she was young, and Ijireen's legs folded neatly under her as she absorbed the blow. She still limped as she sprinted across the arena though, yellow robes billowing behind her as she ran toward Ekene and the other Stargazers skirmishing with the First Company.

Back in the royal box, Roran did not even watch Ijireen as she escaped. He had eyes only for Bvhoros, his teacher. Leaving Brand and Hithon hiding behind the king's seat, Roran dodged and wove his way past Arzai and Frandel's smoking whips, Mahir's sword, and the swords of the Stargazers to reach Bvhoros. The Obad lay crumpled facedown, rock dust settling in his black beard and headwrap.

"Master!" shouted Roran again, reaching for Bvhoros. He turned the older man over onto his back, and as he did Roran's hands came away sticky with blood.

Bvhoros was conscious, but just barely. He grimaced, revealing teeth stained red.

"Roran..."

"Don't try to talk, Master. We'll get you back to the castle and-"

"Roran. Listen to me..."

Surrounded by the chaos of magic and fighting and shouting, Roran could barely hear Bvhoros. He pulled Bvhoros up onto his lap, and immediately regretted it when the Green Obad winced.

"We protect, Roran. Protect others...protect...Terra Erda...whatever you do, you protect. Do you understand...?!"

"Terra Erda? But Master, I-"

"You must...protect...time is coming..."

"Please Master, I don't understand! You can't leave us here like this!"

But Bvhoros was beyond words. He could only stare up at Roran, grip locked like a vice on his student's arm. In his final moments, Bvhoros's spring-green gaze slid past Roran's shoulder to land on Hithon.

"Áesliri," Bvhoros whispered, his eyes full of knowing. Then his final breath left him, and he fell limp in Roran's arms.

"Master please!!" Roran begged, but there was no answer. Tears fell down his face, painting splotches on Bvhoros's slack, dust-coated brow.

"Roran..." Hithon stood a few paces away, hesitating. In his desire to stay close to Roran, the prince had emerged from his and Brand's hiding spot behind Mahir's seat. A Stargazer, noticing this, broke away from a stalemated fight with Davenir and the Grey Obad's restraining winds. Now intent on their new target, the masked figure threw themselves across the royal box toward Hithon, dagger leading. Hithon reacted with fright, throwing up an arm ineffectually to shield himself.

Roran reacted faster. There was no time for a casting trance. All he knew was the pain of his master's death, and suddenly Bvhoros's final instructions made at least some sense. Protect. Emerald light flashed in Roran's eyes, and he reached out as if to seize the Stargazer from a distance.

The assassin did indeed stop short, or rather was struck to one side when a piece of railing whizzed through the air with the force of a hailstone. The impromptu missile knocked them clean off their feet, leaving Hithon blinking in shock.

"Get back!" Roran shouted. Springing to his feet, he ran back toward the king's seat, grabbing Hithon by the arm and hauling him with him. Entirely beyond caring that he was man-handling the heir to the throne, Roran dragged both Brand and Hithon as far to the back of the royal box as they could go. There they might be sheltered from attack from above by the carven overhang. Bundling both boys into a corner, Roran placed himself between them and the fighting. When he turned around though, it was to discover that the skirmish in the viewing box was shifting. No more Stargazers came to replace the ones felled by Mahir and the Obads. With a hurricane-force blast, Davenir tossed three at a time straight over the railing. Arzai's burning whip snaked overhead, leaving a trail of smoke before wrapping around the neck of a nearby Stargazer. Frandel meanwhile had decided that whips were not quite satisfying enough, and was hurling fistfuls of flame which exploded upon impact, whether they hit stone or flesh alike.

"Where's Bvhoros!? Where's Ijireen!?" Brand was crying.

They're gone, Roran wanted to snap. Gone like Master Tomur and Margalee were gone. Piece by piece, the makeshift family that was their Magicol was falling apart, leaving only the meekest...and the most dangerous sorcerers. Roran glanced over at where the Stargazer he had struck with a flying rock lay, unmoving, and wondered which of the two camps he fell into now.

OoOoO

By the time Gideo and Vinie managed to drag themselves to where Ekene and the others were fighting, the remaining Stargazers were largely overwhelmed. Soldiers just kept coming and coming, and now that they had had a chance to properly regroup there were even mounted knights riding into The Lair. Ekene greeted Vinie with a bleak nod; she was bleeding down the front of her stolen armor from a gash on her temple. Dalar cradled one arm, leaning on Okoreo, whose breastplate looked like it had taken several heavy blows. Anuli meanwhile was nowhere to be seen. There was also a strange girl in the robes of an Ovate standing in their midst, too light to be fully Undorian but too dark for a capital-born child. Crossbow bolts continued to rain down on them from the walls of The Lair, but every time one came close, the girl flung up a hand before her, and the bolt incinerated in midair.

"Kiiss will never be able to reach us," Ekene said grimly to Vinie. She pulled a spear away from a dead pikeman and flung it into the melee. A soldier cried out, but was promptly replaced by another.

Vinie, trembling with pain from numerous burns and still half in shock, could scarcely stay on her feet. Gideo was even worse off. She tried to flex her hands and realized that holding a sword wasn't even a possibility. She and Gideo were all but helpless, and the surviving Stargazers were fatally outnumbered. They weren't even fighting anymore up in the royal box. Mahir stood, arms folded, bloody sword at his side, watching as the city guard filled the floor of the arena. In their midst, scarcely fifteen Stargazers remained, including Vinie, Gideo, and their new Ovate ally.

Slamming her sword again her shield, Ekene screamed defiantly at the wall of soldiers.

"For Nalo!"

Okoreo and Dalar shook their swords and joined Ekene in her cry, shouting out the names of their dead loved ones, as did many of the other remaining Stargazers. Vinie could feel all the blood rushing from her head. Any second now, her legs would go out from under her and she would collapse. Gideo just stood there, staring dully at the hundreds of soldiers surrounding them, his burned, still-manacled hands hanging limp at his sides. Vinie was tired...so very, very tired...it felt like she had left every last bit of spirit left in her on that pyre.

"Zaneo...Sahar..." she closed her eyes and murmured. "Wait for us...we're coming." 

OoOoO